Vanadium‐based materials are fascinating potential cathodes for high energy density Zn‐ion batteries (ZIBs), due to their high capacity arising from multi‐electron redox chemistry. Most vanadium‐based materials suffer from poor rate capability, however, owing to their low conductivity and large dimension. Here, we propose the application of V2C MXene (V2CTx), a conductive 2D nanomaterial, for achieving high energy density ZIBs with superior rate capability. Through an initial charging activation, the valence of surface vanadium in V2CTx cathode is raised significantly from V2+/V3+ to V4+/V5+, forming a nanoscale vanadium oxide (VOx) coating that effectively undergoes multi‐electron reactions, whereas the inner V‐C‐V 2D multi‐layers of V2CTx are intentionally preserved, providing abundant nanochannels with intrinsic high conductivity. Owing to the synergistic effects between the outer high‐valence VOx and inner conductive V‐C‐V, the activated V2CTx presents an ultrahigh rate performance, reaching 358 mAh g−1 at 30 A g−1, together with remarkable energy and power density (318 Wh kg−1/22.5 kW kg−1). The structural advantages of activated V2CTx are maintained after 2000 cycles, offering excellent stability with nearly 100% Coulombic efficiency. This work provides key insights into the design of high‐performance cathode materials for advanced ZIBs.

This study reports biosensing using graphene field-effect transistors with the aid of pyrene-tagged DNA aptamers, which exhibit excellent selectivity, affinity, and stability for Escherichia coli (E. coli) detection. The aptamer is employed as the sensing probe due to its advantages such as high stability and high affinity toward small molecules and even whole cells. The change of the carrier density in the probe-modified graphene due to the attachment of E. coli is discussed theoretically for the first time and also verified experimentally. The conformational change of the aptamer due to the binding of E. coli brings the negatively charged E. coli close to the graphene surface, increasing the hole carrier density efficiently in graphene and achieving electrical detection. The binding of negatively charged E. coli induces holes in graphene, which are pumped into the graphene channel from the contact electrodes. The carrier mobility, which correlates the gate voltage to the electrical signal of the APG-FETs, is analyzed and optimized here. The excellent sensing performance such as low detection limit, high sensitivity, outstanding selectivity and stability of the graphene biosensor for E. coli detection paves the way to develop graphene biosensors for bacterial detection.

Owing to its electronic conductivity and electrochemical reactivity, polyaniline (PANI) can serve as the cathode for rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). However, it suffers from fast deactivation and thus performance deterioration because of spontaneous deprotonation during charge/discharge. Here, we report an effective strategy to improve the electrochemical reactivity and stability of the PANI-based cathode by constructing a π-electron conjugated system between PANI and poly­(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) on carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The impressive performance of the post-treated CNTs–PANI–PEDOT:PSS (t-CNTs–PA–PE) cathode is largely attributed to the −SO3 –H+ groups in PSS, which acts as an internal proton reservoir and provides enough H+ for PANI’s protonation, thus promoting its electrochemical activity and reversibility. Besides, the strong interactions between PANI and PEDOT:PSS assist the stretching of π–π conjugation chains, bringing about enhanced electronic conductivity. Consequently, the t-CNTs–PA–PE cathode achieves a high capacity of 238 mA h g–1, together with good rate capability and long-term stability (over 1500 cycles with 100% Coulombic efficiency). Through exerting the freestanding t-CNTs–PA–PE, a flexible ZIB was further constructed with both outstanding electrochemical properties and superior high safety. This work demonstrates the availability of conducting polymer cathodes for high-performance ZIBs, fulfilling the need of flexible electronics.

Polyaniline (PANI) is a promising cathode material for Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) due to its intrinsic conductivity and redox activity; however, the achievements of PANI in high-performance ZIBs are largely hindered by its instability during the repeated charge/discharge. Taking advantage of the high conductivity, flexibility, and grafting ability together, a surface-engineered Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene is designed as a silver bullet to fight against the deprotonation and swelling/shrinking issues occurring in the redox process of PANI, which are the origins of its instability. Specifically, the sulfonic-group-grafted Ti 3 C 2 T x (S-Ti 3 C 2 T x ) continuously provides protons to improve the protonation degree of PANI and maintains the polymer backbone at a locally low pH, which effectively inhibits deprotonation and brings high redox activity along with good reversibility. Meanwhile, the conductive and flexible natures of S-Ti 3 C 2 T x assist the fast redox reaction of PANI and concurrently buffer its corresponding swelling/shrinking. Therefore, the S-Ti 3 C 2 T x -enhanced PANI cathode simultaneously achieves a high discharge capacity of 262 mAh g −1 at 0.5 A g −1 , a superior rate capability of 160 mAh g −1 at 15 A g −1 , and a good cyclability over 5000 cycles with 100% coulombic efficiency. This work enlightens the development of versatile MXene via surface engineering for advanced batteries.

In article number 1603135, S.-Y. Zheng and co-workers develop a point of care device integrated with porous silicon nanowire forests for influenza virus capturing based on their sizes only. By dissolving nanowire forests in physiological aqueous environments, subsequently captured viruses could be released without damage for culturing, characterization, and other analysis. The device shows potential for virus discovery, isolation, and functional studies Nanotheranostics In article number 1602580, J. Lin, P. Huang, Y. Xu, Z. Li, and co-workers present a light/pH dual-stimuli responsive nanotheranostic for multimodal imaging such as two-photon luminescence, fluorescence, photoacoustic, photothermal imaging, as well as trimodal synergistic therapy such as photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, and chemotherapy. The cover image depicts how this activatable theranostic nanoplatform fights against cancer like "ten thousand arrows shot at once". Upconversion Nanoparticles Innovative strategies to unleash the freedom of the excitation wavelengths of upconversion nanoparticles have recently been developed. In article number 1602843, W. Huang, G. Han, and co-workers comprehensively review recent advances in the design, property tuning, and applications of ≈800 nm excited upconversion nanoparticles. These nanoparticles show superior potential for biosensing, bioimaging, drug delivery, and therapy. Shifting the upconversion excitation wavelength to a biological "sweet spot" at 800 nm offers opportunities for the further development of lanthanide-doped upcon-version nanoparticles. Recent advances in the emerging ≈800 nm excited upconver-sion nanoparticles, ranging from design principles and property tuning, to their current applications and future development, are discussed. reviews Upconversion Nanoparticles An ultrathin, lightweight, and wearable Li-O 2 battery with a novel segmented structure is first fabricated by employing a "break up the whole into parts" strategy. Superior battery performance including low overpotential, high specific capacity, good rate capability, excellent cycle stability, and high gravimetric/ volumetric energy density (294.68 Wh kg −1 / 274.06 Wh L −1) is successfully achieved even under repeatedly various deformation. communications A novel approach is proposed to enhance the thermal rectification ratio, namely, arranging two thermal rectifiers in series. Through theoretical analysis and molecular dynamics simulations on graphene/ phononic crystal structures, the results show that the series thermal rectifiers enhance thermal rectification ratio significantly , compared to a single rectifier. Meanwhile, the results of theoretical prediction match well with simulation results. A Series Circuit of Thermal Rectifiers: An Effective Way to Enhance Rectification Ratio Fullerene-like nickel oxysulfide hollow nanospheres with ≈50 nm are constructed by in situ growth on the surface of nickel foam by taking advantage of solvothermal reaction. The as-prepared composite exhibits exhilaratingly high HER...

We demonstrate the use of two different wavelength ranges of excitation light as inputs to remotely trigger the responses of the self-assembled DNA devices (D-OR). As an important feature of this device, the dependence of the readout fluorescent signals on the two external inputs, UV excitation for 1 min and/or near infrared irradiation (NIR) at 800 nm fs laser pulses, can mimic function of signal communication in OR logic gates. Their operations could be reset easily to its initial state. Furthermore, these DNA devices exhibit efficient cellular uptake, low cytotoxicity, and high bio-stability in different cell lines. They are considered as the first example of a photo-responsive DNA logic gate system, as well as a biocompatible, multi-wavelength excited system in response to UV and NIR. This is an important step to explore the concept of photo-responsive DNA-based systems as versatile tools in DNA computing, display devices, optical communication, and biology.

Platinum-based anticancer drugs are a class of widely used agents in clinical cancer treatment. However, their efficacy was greatly limited by their severe side effects and the arising drug resistance. The selective activation of inert platinum-based drugs in the tumor site by light irradiation is able to reduce side effects, and the novel mechanism of action of photoactivatable platinum drugs might also conquer the resistance. In this review, the recent advances in the design of photoactivatable platinum-based drugs were summarized. The complexes are classified according to their mode of action, including photoreduction, photo-uncaging, and photodissociation. The rationale of drug design, dark stability, photoactivation process, cytotoxicity, and mechanism of action of typical photoactivatable platinum drugs were reviewed. Finally, the challenges and opportunities for designing more potent photoactivatable platinum drugs were discussed.

Two-photon-regulated, shape-changing DNA nanostructures are demonstrated by integrating a DNA nanotube with a two-photon photocleavable module that enables the opening of the cavities of tube, and becomes partially single-stranded in response to two-photon excitation under 800 nm fs laser pulses.