Themed collection Most popular articles from National University of Singapore

Revolutionary self-assembled monolayers, represented by xPACz, have propelled the rapid improvement in the performance of inverted perovskite solar cells.

Thin-film composite membranes demonstrate tremendous potential for energy-efficient CO₂ capture from power generation, but many technical hurdles are to be overcome before practical, better-performing and cost-effective designs could be realized.

This comprehensive review delves into the critical relationship between process, structure, and properties in the context of manufacturing neodymium (NdFeB) permanent magnets using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology.

Hydrogels revolutionize treating chronic skin diseases by enhancing drug delivery and reducing side effects. This review explores hydrogel design, drug integration, and clinical trials, highlighting their potential to improve efficacy and safety.

Cutting-edge approaches to prepare PEDOT:PSS films/electrodes, significant progress on related devices are summarized; advantages, plausible questions, challenges, and suggestions are also presented for the continued development of modern electronics.

A comprehensive review of melanin's structure, identification methods, and biological activities, highlighting its potential for further development and diverse applications in various fields.

Stimuli-responsive chromic materials have received increasing research attention. This review summarizes the most cutting-edge carbon-centered radicals, with a focus on their structures, properties and applications as stimuli-chromic materials.

This review focuses on halide perovskite quantum dots (QDs) for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, discussing the structures and properties of perovskite QDs, the mechanism for CO₂ reduction, photocatalyst design, challenges and directions for future research.

Sorbent-assisted AWH and moisture-enabled energy generation are reviewed in parallel to reveal the correlation between these two technologies.

Schematic illustration for the development and emerging applications of biomimetic superhydrophobic wood, including a variety of preparation strategies, durability tests, and representative emerging applications.

A two-step method to fabricate COF nanosheets is proposed, comprising framework assembly and functional group switching. Functionalized COF-316 membranes were fabricated and demonstrated excellent separation performance.

An orientation-gradient co-optimized graded Gyroid-shellular (GGS) SiOC-based metastructure with conformal MXene coating (MXene@SiOC) is proposed to achieve wide-temperature-range microwave/infrared/1.06 μm-laser/visible-light-compatible camouflage.

Drastically enhanced sound absorption can be achieved in Helmholtz resonators by simply reshaping the cavity and bringing the cavity walls close to the pore.

Phototherapy-induced hypoxia boosts the chem-therapy of PEG-TPZ for enhanced theranostics.

A global trend towards miniaturization and multiwavelength performance of nanophotonics drives research on novel phenomena as well as surveys for high-refractive index and strongly anisotropic materials and metasurfaces, where hBN has a central role.

The color-preserving daytime radiative cooling can be achieved by selective spectral absorption of nanofibers.

Low-dimensional bismuth-based hybrid organic–inorganic halide perovskites (Bi-HOIPs) are intriguing scintillating materials due to their anisotropic nature.

Through DFT calculations, we quantitatively and explicitly elucidate the fundamental mechanism involved in CO₂ hydrogenation to ethanol on HKUST-1.

The composite material MAPbBr₃@MOF-5 exhibits not only significantly enhanced stability but also superior nonlinear optical properties under near-infrared laser pulse excitation.

We identify 62 Z-scheme heterostructures with excellent photocatalytic performance from 11 935 hetero-bilayer structures using high-throughput calculations and machine learning.

Highly conductive PANI/ATMP/AgNO₃ composite hydrogel electrodes for flexible high energy density supercapacitors.

Liver-based hydrogel transplanted hepatocyte and cholangiocyte organoids as an efficient cell source and therapy for renewal of hepatocytes, angiogenesis, restoration of hepatocyte functions and resolution of liver injury.

An efficient Pt-NiB@NF catalytic electrode is rapidly constructed by mild electroless plating and electroplating. It demonstrates long-term stability at industrial-scale current densities in neutral high-salt media and alkaline systems.

The ratio (R) of the production rates of CH₃OH and CO from electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction on Co phthalocyanine is related to the average CO₂ mass-transfer rate (ν) by a power function (R = 0.97ν^−0.78).

We demonstrate the post-synthetic conversion of polyethylene into functional polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries. To avoid end-of-life polymer electrolytes contributing to polymer waste, we further upcycle them into useful organic acids.

Systematic molecular dynamics simulations reveal the competition between CH₄ hydrate formation and phase separation of CH₄ in a mesoporous metal–organic framework MIL-101 at moderate subcooling.

Demonstration of how rational design affects self-trapped emission characteristics and scintillation properties in mechanochemically synthesised caesium copper halide perovskites.

Phosphorus atoms are selectively doped onto Ti₃C₂T_x MXene, leading to solely P–O doped species, which serve as new active sites to enable two-proton bonding/debonding process to boost charge storage ability of MXene.

Through regulated and less toxic MIL-101(Cr) synthesis and superabsorbent polymeric binders, this work reports MIL-101(Cr)-coated heat exchangers with twice the water uptake of the silica gel-coated control towards energy-efficient cooling.

The AC′ structure with B–B stacking exhibits a lower κ value due to the softer optical phonon modes. The strain further decreases κ by modulating the anharmonic phonon scattering.

Flexible Bi₂Te₃/PEDOT nanowire sandwich-like films with a zT of 0.27 were fabricated for cross-plane wearable thermoelectric generation and thermal mapping.

A cellulose-complexing strategy is developed for zinc electrolytes to achieve dendrite-free Zn anodes with ultrahigh Zn utilization rate, driving the development of a robust artificial SEI fabrication method via a dissolution–regeneration mechanism.

The electrocatalyst FeNi₃/NCS was prepared via the low-temperature pyrolysis of the melamine tube@FeNi-LDH heterostructure, which delivered impressive activity and stability towards water splitting with a low cell potential of 1.53 V at 10 mA cm⁻².

We show that the pore size of the gas-diffusion layer used in electrochemical CO₂ reduction affects CO₂ mass transport. This directly influences the local reaction microenvironment, controlling the selectivity between CO and formate on Ag catalysts.

The composition, electronic structure, and chemical properties of ZnO_xH_y films can be engineered by the choice of underlying metal support.

Varied-length conjugated polyelectrolytes (2–5 methylene units) containing CPDT-alt-BT were synthesized to study the optical, electrochemical, and morphological properties. These were used in accumulation mode organic electrochemical transistors.

A highly crystalline graphitic carbon nitride homojunction was synthesized by calcination of deep eutectic solvent precursors in NaCl/KCl molten salt media and exhibited excellent performance in selective photocatalytic oxidation.

Low-voltage OFETs with excellent mobility, steep subthreshold swing, and low operating voltage were achieved simultaneously based on a novel solution-processable high-k dielectric.

Regenerative endodontics represents a paradigm shift in dental pulp therapy for necrotic young permanent teeth.

A low-temperature liquid phase sintering method combined with post heat treatment was employed to prepare p-type Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃/SiC composites with enhanced thermoelectric properties.

A flexible Al₂O₃/TiO₂ nanofibrous mat with a 2.18 MPa tensile strength has been created by stress dispersion method for 2D and 3D evaporators. The evaporator has an ultrahigh solar-to-vapor efficiency of 116% and ensures 10 h without salt buildup.