To enhance the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion battery anodes with higher silicon content, it is essential to engineer their microstructure for better lithium-ion transport and mitigated volume change as well. Herein, we suggest an effective approach to control the micropore structure of silicon oxide (SiO_x)/artificial graphite (AG) composite electrodes using a perforated current collector. The electrode features a unique pore structure, where alternating high-porosity domains and low-porosity domains markedly reduce overall electrode resistance, leading to a 20% improvement in rate capability at a 5C-rate discharge condition. Using microstructure-resolved modeling and simulations, we demonstrate that the patterned micropore structure enhances lithium-ion transport, mitigating the electrolyte concentration gradient of lithium-ion. Additionally, perforating current collector with a chemical etching process increases the number of hydrogen bonding sites and enlarges the interface with the SiO_x/AG composite electrode, significantly improving adhesion strength. This, in turn, suppresses mechanical degradation and leads to a 50% higher capacity retention. Thus, regularly arranged micropore structure enabled by the perforated current collector successfully improves both rate capability and cycle life in SiO_x/AG composite electrodes, providing valuable insights into electrode engineering.

Developing effective, versatile, and high-precision sensing interfaces remains a crucial challenge in human–machine–environment interaction applications. Despite progress in interaction-oriented sensing skins, limitations remain in unit-level reconfiguration, multiaxial force and motion sensing, and robust operation across dynamically changing or irregular surfaces. Herein, we develop a reconfigurable omnidirectional triboelectric whisker sensor array (RO-TWSA) comprising multiple sensing units that integrate a triboelectric whisker structure (TWS) with an untethered hydro-sealing vacuum sucker (UHSVS), enabling reversibly portable deployment and omnidirectional perception across diverse surfaces. Using a simple dual-triangular electrode layout paired with MXene/silicone nanocomposite dielectric layer, the sensor unit achieves precise omnidirectional force and motion sensing with a detection threshold as low as 0.024 N and an angular resolution of 5°, while the UHSVS provides reliable and reversible multi-surface anchoring for the sensor units by involving a newly designed hydrogel combining high mechanical robustness and superior water absorption. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of RO-TWSA across various interactive scenarios, including teleoperation, tactile diagnostics, and robotic autonomous exploration. Overall, RO-TWSA presents a versatile and high-resolution tactile interface, offering new avenues for intelligent perception and interaction in complex real-world environments.

Electrocatalytic nitric oxide (NO) reduction reaction (NORR) is a promising and sustainable process that can simultaneously realize green ammonia (NH₃) synthesis and hazardous NO removal. However, current NORR performances are far from practical needs due to the lack of efficient electrocatalysts. Engineering the lattice of metal-based nanomaterials via phase control has emerged as an effective strategy to modulate their intrinsic electrocatalytic properties. Herein, we realize boron (B)-insertion-induced phase regulation of rhodium (Rh) nanocrystals to obtain amorphous Rh₄B nanoparticles (NPs) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) RhB NPs through a facile wet-chemical method. A high Faradaic efficiency (92.1 ± 1.2%) and NH₃ yield rate (629.5 ± 11.0 µmol h⁻¹ cm⁻²) are achieved over hcp RhB NPs, far superior to those of most reported NORR nanocatalysts. In situ spectro-electrochemical analysis and density functional theory simulations reveal that the excellent electrocatalytic performances of hcp RhB NPs are attributed to the upshift of d-band center, enhanced NO adsorption/activation profile, and greatly reduced energy barrier of the rate-determining step. A demonstrative Zn–NO battery is assembled using hcp RhB NPs as the cathode and delivers a peak power density of 4.33 mW cm⁻², realizing simultaneous NO removal, NH₃ synthesis, and electricity output.

Recently, Professor Jie Kong, Associate Professor Jin Liang, and their research team from Northwestern Polytechnical University have systematically reviewed the design strategies, printing processes, and application progress of magnetically responsive materials in 4D printing. This study thoroughly analyzes the working principles and performance optimization methods of magnetically responsive shape memory materials, and demonstrates their innovative applications in fields such as biomedical tissue engineering, robotics, and intelligent devices. The relevant work was published in Research under the title "4D Printing of Magnetically Responsive Materials and Their Applications" (Research, 2025, DOI: 10.34133/research.0847).

A bold plan to supercharge immune cell ‘spies’ to better seek out and kill cancer cells has received a $17 million funding boost from the Australian Government.