Themed collection 2025 Materials Horizons Lunar New Year

This review explores various mechanisms enabling threshold switching in volatile memristors and introduces recent progress in the implementation of neuromorphic computing systems based on these mechanisms.

Flexible memristors enable high-performance wearable electronics with low power consumption. This review introduces the mechanisms, typical materials, and applications of flexible memristors. Potential directions and challenges are also discussed.

A systematic summary of fabrication technologies, a variety of structures and biomedical applications of polymeric microspheres.

This review encapsulates recent progress in evaporation-induced self-assembly of liquid crystal biopolymers. It introduces various anisotropic structures of biopolymers in thin film and try to figure out the formation mechanism of the structures.

Fully bionic E-skin based on the top-down assembled structure of a biomimetic hair–epidermis–dermis–subcutaneous tissue for multidimensional tactile perception is designed.

This study presents azobenzene-based hydrogels for photo-controlled, reversible adhesion. The ABOMe ionic hydrogel exhibits strong adhesion, self-healing, and underwater capabilities, advancing the field of smart biomedical and wearable adhesives.

This work reports a self-reinforcing ion-conductive elastomer with an ultimate strength of ∼51.0 MPa and an instant resilient efficiency of ∼92.9%, which can be utilized for grid-free position recognition sensors.

A hydrogen sulfide (H₂S)-generating semiconducting polymer nanoparticle (PFeD@Ang) is developed for amplified radiodynamic–ferroptosis therapy of orthotopic glioblastoma via a combinational action.

A multiple H-bonds crosslinking strategy is proposed with a poly(urethane–urea) oligomer to overcome the mismatch between the excellent mechanical properties and the good processability of 3D printable PU elastomers.

A self-rectifying ferroelectric tunnel junction that employs a HfO₂/ZrO₂/HfO₂ superlattice (HZH SL) combined with Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ layers is proposed.

An optimal strategy to enhance high-strain stress wave damping capabilities is proposed by using poly(disulfide)s with self-healing and chemical recycling capabilities.

Meeting the growing demands of attaining clean water regeneration from wastewater and simultaneous pollutant degradation has been highly sought after.

Due to the combination of interfacial polarization and depolarization, the energy density of BCZT-based lead-free ferroelectric reached 8.03 J cm⁻³ at only 425 kV cm⁻¹. High energy density with extremely low energy consumption was achieved.

A 2D redox-active pyrazine-based COF was solvent-free anchored on graphene for heterointerface regulation, displaying exciting energy storage and desalination performances.

We introduce a novel deep learning-based inverse design framework with data augmentation for chiral mechanical metamaterials with a Bézier curve-shaped bi-material rib realizing a wide range of negative thermal expansion and negative Poisson's ratio.

A novel core–shell microneedle system was developed based on GelMA and P_mL_nDMA to achieve a fast release of mangiferin and prolonged release of hMSC derived exosomes, ultimately leading to fast and scarless wound healing.

Embedded 3D printing of PVA hydrogels (PVA-Hy) was demonstrated via alkali-induced physical crosslinking (NaOH, 4% w/w), which was enabled by simultaneous salt-induced stabilization of PVA via aqueous two-phase system (ATPS).

We propose a brand-new pressure sensing principle of human-skin’s piezo-thermic transduction, and develop a multisensory pulse sensor, thereby offering a human-skin transducer concept for wearable blood pressure monitoring with generalizability.

A new facile and scalable interfacial locking engineering strategy is exploited to endow reversible microcages with infinite chemical recyclability to starting monomers, exceptional durability, high flame-retardant efficiency, and extensive applicability across diverse polymers.

The obtained bimetallic sulfide catalyst can be reconstituted as FeCoOOH, which has high efficacy for water splitting. The activation energy barrier of key reaction steps can be effectively reduced by dual-metal cooperation.