Long-life energy storage batteries are integral to energy storage systems and electric vehicles, with lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) currently being the preferred option for extended usage-life energy storage. To further extend the life span of LIBs, it is essential to intensify investments in battery design, manufacturing processes, and the advancement of ancillary materials. The pursuit of long durability introduces new challenges for battery energy density. The advent of electrode material offers effective support in enhancing the battery's long-duration performance. Often underestimated as part of the cathode composition, the binder plays a pivotal role in the longevity and electrochemical performance of the electrode. Maintaining the mechanical integrity of the electrode through judicious binder design is a fundamental requirement for achieving consistent long-life cycles and high energy density. This paper primarily concentrates on the commonly employed cathode systems in lithium-ion batteries, elucidates the significance of binders for both, discusses the application status, strengths, and weaknesses of novel binders, and ultimately puts forth corresponding optimization strategies. It underscores the critical function of binders in enhancing battery performance and advancing the sustainable development of lithium-ion batteries, aiming to offer fresh insights and perspectives for the design of high-performance LIBs.

Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells, though dominating the photovoltaic market, are nearing their theoretical power conversion efficiencies (PCE) limit of 29.4%, necessitating the adoption of multi-junction technology to achieve higher performance. Among these, perovskite-on-silicon-based multi-junction solar cells have emerged as a promising alternative, where the perovskite offering tunable bandgaps, superior optoelectronic properties, and cost-effective manufacturing. Recent announced double-junction solar cells (PSDJSCs) have achieved the PCE of 34.85%, surpassing all other double-junction technologies. Encouragingly, the rapid advancements in PSDJSCs have spurred increased research interest in perovskite/perovskite/silicon triple-junction solar cells (PSTJSCs) in 2024. This triple-junction solar cell configuration demonstrates immense potential due to their optimum balance between achieving a high PCE limit and managing device complexity. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of PSTJSCs, covering fundamental principles, and technological milestones. Current challenges, including current mismatch, open-circuit voltage deficits, phase segregation, and stability issues, and their corresponding strategies are also discussed, alongside future directions to achieve long-term stability and high PCE. This work aims to advance the understanding of the development in PSTJSCs, paving the way for their practical implementation.

Researchers provide a near-complete genome map of Northern wild rice, uncovering evolutionary history and valuable genetic insights

Aqueous Zn-iodine batteries (ZIBs) face the formidable challenges towards practical implementation, including metal corrosion and rampant dendrite growth on the Zn anode side, and shuttle effect of polyiodide species from the cathode side. These challenges lead to poor cycle stability and severe self-discharge. From the fabrication and cost point of view, it is technologically more viable to deploy electrolyte engineering than electrode protection strategies. More importantly, a synchronous method for modulation of both cathode and anode is pivotal, which has been often neglected in prior studies. In this work, cationic poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (Pah⁺) is adopted as a low-cost dual-function electrolyte additive for ZIBs. We elaborate the synchronous effect by Pah⁺ in stabilizing Zn anode and immobilizing polyiodide anions. The fabricated Zn-iodine coin cell with Pah⁺ (ZnI₂ loading: 25 mg cm⁻²) stably cycles 1000 times at 1 C, and a single-layered 3 × 4 cm² pouch cell (N/P ratio ~ 1.5) with the same mass loading cycles over 300 times with insignificant capacity decay.

The advancement of flexible memristors has significantly promoted the development of wearable electronic for emerging neuromorphic computing applications. Inspired by in-memory computing architecture of human brain, flexible memristors exhibit great application potential in emulating artificial synapses for high-efficiency and low power consumption neuromorphic computing. This paper provides comprehensive overview of flexible memristors from perspectives of development history, material system, device structure, mechanical deformation method, device performance analysis, stress simulation during deformation, and neuromorphic computing applications. The recent advances in flexible electronics are summarized, including single device, device array and integration. The challenges and future perspectives of flexible memristor for neuromorphic computing are discussed deeply, paving the way for constructing wearable smart electronics and applications in large-scale neuromorphic computing and high-order intelligent robotics.

Without early detection, conditions such as congenital heart defects and familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) can quietly disrupt growth, energy levels, and long-term organ function.

Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) can detect these risks at the earliest possible stage. It shifts cardiac care away from crisis management toward proactive, precision prevention.