Controllable integration of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is leading to the creation of many new multifunctional materials. In this Research News, an emerging type ...of core-shell nanostructure, in which the inorganic NP cores are encapsulated by the MOF shells, is briefly introduced. Unique functions originating from the property synergies of different types of inorganic NP cores and MOF shells are highlighted, and insight into their future development is suggested. It is highly expected that this Research News could arouse research enthusiasm on such NPOF core-shell nanostructures, which have great application potential in devices, energy, the environment, and medicine. Controllable integration of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is creating many new multi-functional materials. In this Research News, an emerging type of core-shell nanostructure, in which NP cores are encapsulated by MOF shells, is briefly introduced. The unique functions originating from property synergies of different types of NPs and MOFs are highlighted, and insights into their future development are offered.
Recent progress in stretchable forms of inorganic electronic systems has established a route to new classes of devices, with particularly unique capabilities in functional biointerfaces, because of ...their mechanical and geometrical compatibility with human tissues and organs. A reliable approach to physically and chemically protect the electronic components and interconnects is indispensable for practical applications. Although recent reports describe various options in soft, solid encapsulation, the development of approaches that do not significantly reduce the stretchability remains an area of continued focus. Herein, a generic, soft encapsulation strategy is reported, which is applicable to a wide range of stretchable interconnect designs, including those based on two‐dimensional (2D) serpentine configurations, 2D fractal‐inspired patterns, and 3D helical configurations. This strategy forms the encapsulation while the system is in a prestrained state, in contrast to the traditional approach that involves the strain‐free configuration. A systematic comparison reveals that substantial enhancements (e.g., ≈6.0 times for 2D serpentine, ≈4.0 times for 2D fractal, and ≈2.6 times for 3D helical) in the stretchability can be achieved through use of the proposed strategy. Demonstrated applications in highly stretchable light‐emitting diodes systems that can be mounted onto complex curvilinear surfaces illustrate the general capabilities in functional device systems.
A generic soft encapsulation strategy is reported, applicable to a wide range of stretchable interconnected designs, including those based on 2D serpentine configurations, 2D fractal‐inspired patterns, and 3D helical configurations. Systematic studies demonstrate that the proposed method enables substantial enhancements in the stretchability as compared to traditional strategies, according to results of experiments and finite‐element analyses.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have undergone rapid development within the last decade, exhibiting exciting properties such as high efficiency, flexibility, and the ...potential for large‐scale fabrication through roll‐to‐roll (R2R) processing. Despite this, operational stability is recognized to be an ongoing challenge as prolonged device lifetimes are scarcely observed. This instability can be narrowed down to both “intrinsic degradation” and “extrinsic degradation,” with exposure to moisture and oxygen having detrimental effects on device performance. A means of delaying the degradation of flexible PSC and OPV devices is through barrier encapsulation. Despite glass encapsulation exhibiting ideal barrier properties, the potential for flexible devices and high‐throughput R2R fabrication requires the development of flexible barrier materials and encapsulation strategies. These barriers must demonstrate outstanding moisture permeation resistance, high transparency, chemical and thermal stability, and must be able to withstand repeated mechanical deformation. Herein, the fundamental principles of PSC and OPV devices are initially discussed, highlighting the degradation mechanisms and current stability obstacles. A review of the latest flexible barrier materials and encapsulation strategies follows, introducing stability studies that have been undertaken on flexible PSCs and OPV, along with suggestions as to the direction that future research may take.
Next‐generation flexible solar cells have recently undergone rapid development with a promising outlook for high performance and mass‐producibility. Protecting these devices from moisture and oxygen by effective encapsulation is essential to achieve the required operational lifetimes for commercialization. This article reviews flexible barrier materials and encapsulation strategies to improve the lifetime of flexible perovskite and organic photovoltaics.
On account of increasing demand for energy storage devices, sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) with abundant reserve, low cost, and similar electrochemical properties have the potential to partly replace ...the commercial lithium‐ion batteries. In this study, a facile metal‐organic framework (MOF)‐derived selenidation strategy to synthesize in situ carbon‐encapsulated selenides as superior anode for SIBs is rationally designed. These selenides with particular micro‐ and nanostructured features deliver ultrastable cycling performance at high charge–discharge rate and demonstrate ultraexcellent rate capability. For example, the uniform peapod‐like Fe7Se8@C nanorods represent a high specific capacity of 218 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles at 3 A g−1 and the porous NiSe@C spheres display a high specific capacity of 160 mAh g−1 after 2000 cycles at 3 A g−1. The current simple MOF‐derived method could be a promising strategy for boosting the development of new functional inorganic materials for energy storage, catalysis, and sensors.
Carbon‐encapsulated metal selenide electrodes with multiscale, multidimensional, and hierarchical architectures are successfully designed and synthesized via a general and facile metal‐organic framework derived selenidation strategy. Due to the novel and unique architecture design, these nanohybrid electrodes display ultrastable cycling performance as well as excellent rate capability for Na‐ion batteries.
The Front Cover shows the ability of a bis‐zinc‐porphyrin made by a small four carbon atoms linkage to be adaptable enough to engage in a close versus open form. This behavior was exploited in the ...selective encapsulation of one or two guest molecules depending on the nature of the guest and study conditions. Cover design by K. Kupietz. More information can be found in the Research Article by S. Kahlal, R. Gramage‐Doria et al.
Abstract
We demonstrated an effective poly(p-chloro-xylylene) (Parylene-C) encapsulation method for MAPbI
3
solar cells. By structural and optical analysis, we confirmed that Parylene-C efficiently ...slowed the decomposition reaction in MAPbI
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. From a water permeability test with different encapsulating materials, we found that Parylene-C-coated MAPbI
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perovskite was successfully passivated from reaction with water, owing to the hydrophobic behavior of Parylene-C. As a result, the Parylene-C-coated MAPbI
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solar cells showed better device stability than uncoated cells, virtually maintaining the initial power conversion efficiency value (15.5 ± 0.3%) for 196 h.
Encapsulating living cells within multilayer functional shells is a crucial extension of cellular functions and a further development of cell surface engineering. In the last decade, cell ...encapsulation has been widely utilized in many cutting‐edge biomedical fields. Compared with other techniques for cell encapsulation, layer‐by‐layer (LbL) self‐assembly technology, due to the versatility and tunability to fabricate diverse multilayer shells with controllable compositions and structures, is considered as a promising approach for cell encapsulation. This review summarizes the state‐of‐the‐art and potential future biomedical applications of LbL cell encapsulation. First of all, a brief introduction to the LbL self‐assembly technique, including assembly mechanisms and technologies, is made. Next, different cell encapsulation strategies by LbL self‐assembly techniques are explained. Then, the biomedical applications of LbL cell encapsulation in cell‐based biosensors, cell transplantation, cell/molecule delivery, and tissue engineering, are highlighted. Finally, discussions on the current limitations and future perspectives of LbL cell encapsulation are also provided.
The past few decades have witnessed rapid development of cell encapsulation by layer‐by‐layer (LbL) self‐assembly technology in various cutting‐edge biomedical fields. This review summarizes the state‐of‐the‐art and current biomedical applications of LbL cell delivery. Besides, in‐depth discussions on the current limitations are provided, and several potential directions for future development of LbL cell encapsulation are highlighted.
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