Small StructuresPub Date : 2025-10-20DOI: 10.1002/sstr.202500559
Linjing Su, Jingyan Xu, Rong Huang, Jinlan Liao, Lingyan Zhao, Ling Li, Zhi Zhang, Yuhao Xiong
{"title":"Flexoelectric Polarization‐Enhanced Gd‐Based Nanoflowers for Efficient Phosphatase‐Mimicking Dephosphorylation","authors":"Linjing Su, Jingyan Xu, Rong Huang, Jinlan Liao, Lingyan Zhao, Ling Li, Zhi Zhang, Yuhao Xiong","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202500559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202500559","url":null,"abstract":"Phosphatase‐mimicking nanozymes provide highly stable enzyme‐like activity but remain limited by their static catalytic nature. Herein, this study achieves flexoelectricity‐driven dynamic modulation of nanozyme activity by employing gadolinium‐based nanoflowers (GNF) with hierarchical ultrathin architectures. These structures possess curvature‐induced strain gradients and hydroxyl‐rich surfaces, which generate pronounced flexoelectric polarization under mild ultrasonic excitation. Finite element simulations reveal that mechanical loading induces localized strain gradients and surface potential anisotropy, forming a structural basis for dynamic interfacial charge redistribution. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that flexoelectric polarization lowers the activation barrier and shifted the rate‐determining step, transforming the reaction pathway. This polarization enhances the Lewis acidity of Gd 3+ sites and stabilized transition states, thereby accelerating phosphate ester hydrolysis. The GNF nanozyme exhibits excellent phosphatase‐like catalytic activity and enables the ultrasensitive colorimetric detection of biologically relevant targets, such as bovine serum albumin and fluoride ions, with low detection limits and robust matrix tolerance. This study pioneers the integration of strain‐gradient‐induced polarization into nanozyme catalysis, establishing a generalizable framework for constructing adaptive and mechanically responsive artificial enzymes.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/sstr.202500559","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147334072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dynamic Network Reconfiguration Toward Mechanically Robust Polymeric Foam via Ice Templating","authors":"Chenggang Xu, Xing‐Qun Pu, Runzhi Lu, Yongbo Jiang, Qian Zhao, Zizheng Fang, Tao Xie","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202500570","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202500570","url":null,"abstract":"Polymeric foams have garnered significant interest in advanced engineering applications due to their unique porous architectures. Ice templating represents a promising strategy for creating polymeric foams with tunable pore morphology, yet faces practical constraints including reliance on energy‐intensive lyophilization and/or insufficient mechanical properties of the resulting foams. To address this challenge, a strategy is developed to prepare mechanically robust polymeric foams by photo‐crosslinking ice‐templated emulsions. By incorporating dynamic hindered urea bonds into the emulsion, dynamic network reconfiguration is achieved, which dramatically improves mechanical properties. The resultant foam (≈65% porosity) exhibits tensile strength and breaking strains of 7.9 MPa and 533%, with toughness of 15.8 MJ m −3 . In addition, this strategy permits the construction of intricate 3D architectures using 3D‐printed sacrificial thermoplastic templates, expanding their potential applications in demanding engineering scenarios.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"6 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/sstr.202500570","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147332776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Construction of NH<sub>2</sub>‐UiO‐66@PCN‐224 Nanocomposites with Tightly Integrated Interfaces for Boosting Photocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction with H<sub>2</sub>O","authors":"Jinglian Fan, Yiming He, Wenji Li, Zhongxing Zhao, Zhenxia Zhao","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202500206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202500206","url":null,"abstract":"Converting CO 2 into high‐value‐added products via “artificial photosynthesis” under mild conditions is a promising yet challenging strategy for developing efficient photocatalysts. This study reports a simple two‐step solvothermal approach to fabricate the dual‐metal–organic framework (MOF) nanocomposite NH 2 ‐UiO‐66@PCN‐224 (NU‐66@PCN‐224) with tightly integrated interfaces, which achieves efficient CO 2 to CO photocatalytic reduction under light irradiation. The epitaxially grown PCN‐224, composed of Zr 6 clusters and tetrakis (4‐carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP), serves as a shell layer and a visible light‐absorbing antenna, thereby broadening the light absorption range of the composite material. Moreover, the tightly integrated interfaces of NU‐66@PCN‐224 enhance the mobility of photogenerated charge carriers, consequently enhancing its capability for CO 2 catalytic reduction. As a result, the combination of NU‐66 and PCN‐224 retains their individual advantages while achieving a synergistic enhancement of both adsorption and catalysis, further improving the photocatalytic performance. The as‐prepared NU‐66@PCN‐224 catalyst exhibits outstanding photocatalytic performance, yielding 74.6 μmol g −1 h −1 of CO under irradiation without sacrificial agents or photosensitizers. This work demonstrates a straightforward and effective method for designing MOF‐on‐MOF photocatalysts with enhanced photoactivity.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"6 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147333661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Biomass Nanofiber‐Assembled Superhydrophobic Aerogels with Simultaneously Enhanced Mechanical Strength and Shape Recovery","authors":"Xinyu Dong, Quyang Liu, Hao Zhuo, Yuan Cao, Yijing Zhao, Hongzhi Zheng, Linxin Zhong, Wei Zhai","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202500009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202500009","url":null,"abstract":"Oil spills and water pollution present significant environmental challenges, calling for the development of sustainable and efficient material solutions. In this study, aerogels are prepared from chitosan and sodium alginate, two renewable natural polysaccharides, through ultrasonication‐assisted nanofiber assembly combined with freeze casting. This approach leverages the inherent electrostatic interactions between two polysaccharides to assemble nanofibers, which are then aggregated into an anisotropic honeycomb‐like cellular microstructure during freeze casting. The addition of methyltrimethoxysilane further consolidates the nanofiber network, resulting in CSNF‐Si aerogels with a superlow density of 0.0198 g cm −3 , yet high mechanical strength (105.7 kPa at 80% strain) and shape recovery (95% after 80% deformation). In addition, the aerogels exhibit superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 151° and a rolling angle of 4.3°, enabling effective oil absorption with capacities reaching up to 90 times their own weight. They also demonstrate excellent reusability over multiple oil absorption‐release cycles, thanks to their enhanced shape recovery ability. Furthermore, this study presents a hierarchical fabrication strategy that synergistically integrates molecular, nano‐, and microscale designs to reinforce and functionalize aerogels for sustainable engineering solutions.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"6 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/sstr.202500009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147332366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small StructuresPub Date : 2025-02-17DOI: 10.1002/sstr.202400593
Zhichao Yu, Juqing Li, Qiurui Zhang, Pei Xiang, Jincheng Lei
{"title":"Laser‐Induced in situ Synthesis and Assembly of Nano‐Cotton TiO<sub>2</sub> Humidity Sensors with High Sensitivity and Fast Response for Real‐Time Respiratory Monitoring","authors":"Zhichao Yu, Juqing Li, Qiurui Zhang, Pei Xiang, Jincheng Lei","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202400593","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202400593","url":null,"abstract":"Humidity sensors functioned by 1D nanostructural metal oxides (1D NMOs) are promising for real‐time respiratory monitoring. However, the preparation and assembly of 1D NMOs on sensor structures are quite challenging due to the complicated synthesis procedures and vulnerability of nanomaterials. Herein, a multi‐laser processing technology is developed to fabricate nano‐cotton TiO 2 humidity sensors for respiratory monitoring. The nano‐cotton TiO 2 is in situ synthesized and assembled to the interdigitate electrodes of the sensor structure using the transmitted picosecond laser deposition. The as‐deposited TiO 2 layers are in situ post‐annealed by a CO 2 laser to optimize the crystallinity and phase compositions for humidity sensing. By investigating the evolution mechanism of the nanostructures of the laser‐induced plasma plumes during sputtering, it is demonstrated that the nanostructures of the laser‐deposited TiO 2 layers can be flexibly controlled by varying the target‐to‐substrate distance. The crystallinity, phase composition, surface roughness, and layer thickness of the nano‐cotton TiO 2 are estimated to evaluate the developed technology. The fabricated sensors exhibit high sensitivity and rapid response to the variation of relative humidity under both steady and transient states. To demonstrate for real‐time respiratory monitoring, the fabricated sensor is integrated into a commercial mask to monitor human's breathing under different respiratory modes.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"6 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/sstr.202400593","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147334137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small StructuresPub Date : 2024-12-11DOI: 10.1002/sstr.202400466
Han Zhao, Fangyu Zhu, Yusi Guo, Xuliang Deng, Wenwen Liu
{"title":"Metabolic Mechanism of Osteogenic Differentiation of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell Regulated by Magnetoelectric Microenvironment","authors":"Han Zhao, Fangyu Zhu, Yusi Guo, Xuliang Deng, Wenwen Liu","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202400466","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202400466","url":null,"abstract":"Conventional methods to stimulate the metabolism of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) for osteogenic differentiation typically involve systemic mobilization, which faces challenges including limited in vivo half‐life, lack of selectivity, and potential side‐effects. Therefore, localized modulation of BMSCs represents a more efficient and safer alternative. However, few studies have explored the regulation of a localized stimuli‐responsive microenvironment to activate osteogenic differentiation via mitochondrial pathways and clarified its underlying mechanisms. Herein, a novel strategy to accelerate the metabolic switch of BMSCs in tissue defects through targeted modulation using built‐in magnetoelectric biomaterials is proposed. BMSCs cultured in the magnetoelectric microenvironment exhibited an increased mitochondrial membrane potential, the highest oxygen consumption rate and enhanced adenosine triphosphate production. Furthermore, BMSCs in the magnetoelectric microenvironment demonstrated a successful metabolic switch of energy resource from glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation, indicating a strong tendency toward osteogenic differentiation. The highest multiclass metabolite profile, indicating the most active metabolic state, was shown in rats cranial defect model treated with magnetoelectric microenvironment. This research introduces a novel approach to accelerate bone defect repair by targeted modulation of BMSC mitochondria with magnetoelectric microenvironment and provides a promising direction for exploring the intrinsic mechanisms through which the magnetoelectric microenvironment promotes bone regeneration.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"6 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/sstr.202400466","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147332879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small StructuresPub Date : 2024-09-19DOI: 10.1002/sstr.202400345
Cong Xi, Yixin Nie, Hongjuan Wang, Cunku Dong, Jiuhui Han, Xi-Wen Du
{"title":"Thermal Methanol Synthesis from CO2 Using Cu/ZnO Catalysts: Insights from First-Principles Calculations","authors":"Cong Xi, Yixin Nie, Hongjuan Wang, Cunku Dong, Jiuhui Han, Xi-Wen Du","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202400345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202400345","url":null,"abstract":"Catalytic hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol offers a promising avenue for recycling CO<sub>2</sub>, enhancing environmental sustainability. Cu/ZnO has long been identified as one of the most effective heterogeneous catalysts for this reaction, yet the detailed understanding of its reaction mechanism and active sites remains incomplete. Recent advances have highlighted the critical role of defects, such as ZnCu steps and stacking faults on Cu surfaces, in enhancing catalyst performance. Here this concept is explored through first-principles surface simulations of six models, featuring diverse Cu–Zn combinations and specific coordination environments under realistic conditions. It is revealed that Cu/ZnO catalysts with kink defects, rather than surface ZnCu alloys, exhibit optimal activity for methanol synthesis. Specifically, the findings demonstrate how intermediate configurations and rate-determining steps vary with changes in surface structure and reveal the role of the kink in promoting CO<sub>2</sub> reduction to methanol through electronic structure calculation. Moreover, it is found that the predominant synthetic pathway for CH<sub>3</sub>OH from CO<sub>2</sub> involves the reverse water gas shift and CO hydrogenation, rather than the formate route, on Cu/ZnO surfaces with kinks.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142260162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Monodispersed Iron Selenide Nanoparticles United with Carbon Nanotubes for Highly Reversible Zinc–Air Batteries","authors":"Hua Zhang, Tong Zeng, Jiale Ma, Yue Jiang, Yang Huang, Yuxin Cheng, Haifeng Ye, Cuiyun Zeng, Chenghui Zeng, Minshen Zhu, Shuiliang Chen","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202400181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202400181","url":null,"abstract":"Developing electrocatalysts that exhibit exceptional activity without relying on noble metals, all while ensuring high efficiency and durability for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, poses a challenging yet highly desired task. Monodispersed nanoparticles on a conductive framework through strong metal–support interactions are known to show excellent catalytic performance. Herein, monodispersed iron selenide embedded in a carbon nanotube network is synthesized. Graphitic carbon shells enclosing monodispersed iron selenide address the primary challenge of nanoparticle catalysts—aggregation and corrosion of nanoparticles over repeated oxygen redox reactions. By amplifying the interaction of Fe with carbon nanotubes, the heterogeneous catalyst forms highly active centers for oxygen redox reaction from the coordinated iron atoms, along with conductive iron–nitrogen–carbon nanotube pathways for rapid charge transfer. As a result, the heterogeneous catalyst exhibits superior activity for both oxygen reduction (<i>E</i><sub>1/2</sub> = 0.88 V) and oxygen evolution (<i>η</i> = 360 mV@10 mA cm<sup>−2</sup>) and excellent stability of negligible degradation over 5000 cycles. The overall catalytic performance surpasses the noble metals. Therefore, rechargeable zinc–air batteries using the heterogeneous catalyst exhibit a high power density of 130.9 mW cm<sup>−2</sup>, excellent round-trip efficiency of ≈70%, and cycling stability for over 1100 h at 10 mA cm<sup>−2</sup>.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142260164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small StructuresPub Date : 2024-09-19DOI: 10.1002/sstr.202400230
Liu Yang, Junchao Wang, Tingting Liu, Hanze He, Xinyu Li, Xinglai Zhang, Jing Li, Song Li, Baodan Liu
{"title":"Synergistic Catalysis of Rh Single-Atom and Clusters Supported on TiO2 Nanosheet Array for Highly Efficient Removal of CO and NOx","authors":"Liu Yang, Junchao Wang, Tingting Liu, Hanze He, Xinyu Li, Xinglai Zhang, Jing Li, Song Li, Baodan Liu","doi":"10.1002/sstr.202400230","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202400230","url":null,"abstract":"Developing an efficient catalyst is the key to selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO<sub><i>x</i></sub> by CO (CO-SCR) to simultaneously address the pollution of toxic NO<sub><i>x</i></sub> and CO. Herein, a novel Rh/TiO<sub>2</sub>/Ti monolithic catalyst is designed and synthesized, featuring Rh species in the form of single atoms (Rh<sub>1</sub>) and clusters (Rh<sub><i>n</i></sub>). This catalyst overcomes the inhibitory effects of oxygen, achieving low-temperature NO conversion. The investigation substantively contributes insights into the strategic manipulation of active metal components, emphasizing the potential of single-atom/cluster catalysts to enhance efficiency. The Rh/TiO<sub>2</sub>/Ti catalyst has demonstrated exceptional catalytic efficacy, achieving 100% NO conversion at a low temperature of 190 °C in the presence of oxygen. Additionally, it exhibits remarkable stability and water resistance for practical applications. Moreover, comprehensive characterization confirms that Rh clusters and single-atom sites play an important role in the selective adsorption of NO and CO molecules, promoting the formation of –N<sub>2</sub>O species and ultimately resulting in the complete conversion of NO and CO to N<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub>. This study not only provides valuable guidance for designing high-performance CO-SCR catalysts but also underscores the potential of single atoms/clusters catalytic systems in both fundamental research and industrial catalysis.","PeriodicalId":21841,"journal":{"name":"Small Structures","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142260174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}