Schwartzman part of team awarded $1 million Sloan Foundation grant
Grant and Award Announcement
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-May-2026 04:15 ET (21-May-2026 08:15 GMT/UTC)
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the rapid development of smart wearable and implantable electronic devices has greatly facilitated the daily life and healthcare sectors, and driven the demand for high-performance yarn-like energy storage devices. However, in situ integration of multidimensional nanomaterials on a single yarn while maintaining high stability and energy density remains a major challenge.
Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs), with their ultrahigh theoretical energy density, environmental benefits, and cost advantages, are considered a promising next-generation energy storage technology, but their practical application has long been hampered by the polysulfide shuttle effect and sluggish redox kinetics. To overcome these challenges, researchers from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, led by Prof. Gaoran Li, have developed an undercoordinated chromium single-atom catalyst (CrN3) that precisely tunes the local coordination environment to accelerate sulfur redox reactions. Compared with the conventional CrN4 structure, the CrN₃ motif optimizes 3d orbital electronic states and activates in-plane orbital interactions with sulfur species, enabling balanced polysulfide adsorption and reduced conversion barriers. Supported by theoretical modeling, advanced characterization, and electrochemical validation, the CrN3 catalyst endows LSBs with high sulfur utilization, long cycling stability over 1000 cycles, and excellent rate performance, while maintaining high capacity under practical conditions of high sulfur loading and lean electrolyte. This work highlights undercoordination engineering as a powerful approach for advancing sulfur electrocatalysts and accelerating the practical implementation of LSBs.
Current treatments for corneal neovascularization rely on invasive intravitreal injections, which limit patient compliance and carry significant risks. To address this, researchers developed a noninvasive dithiolane-based antibody eye drop using a small yet potent anti-VEGF single-domain antibody (sdVE01) and engineered carriers that enable efficient penetration into both anterior and posterior eye segments. Topical application of this nanoformulation significantly suppresses pathological blood vessel growth, offering a promising, needle-free therapy for ocular neovascular diseases.
Cobalt-free LiNiO2 (LNO) is considered a promising cathode for its high energy density and cost-effectiveness. However, its structural instability under deep delithiation severely limits practical application in next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Microstructure engineering enhances structural stability through precisely controlled lattice modulation strategies, particularly via high-valence element doping which effectively stabilizes the crystal framework through strong bonding characteristics and charge compensation effects.
As an important class of versatile organic compounds and reactive intermediates, epoxides are widely used in pharmaceuticals, pesticides, coatings, and other fields. They have high chemical activity and can be further converted into other high-value chemicals. Thus, the large-scale application and the huge market demands have attracted significant attention from numerous enterprises and research institutions.
Flexible electronics have been drawing significant attention for healthcare applications and show great promise for monitoring of blood circulation (e.g., postoperative monitoring of free flaps). However, existing methods for design and fabrication of interfaces with human skin still cannot meet the challenging clinical requirements of superior adhesion during monitoring and avoiding wound damage during peel-off. Now, writing in the journal National Science Review, a team of researchers from China and Singapore proposes a soft biosensor with universal responsive hydrogel interfaces for detecting blood circulation complications. They develop thermoresponsive and printable hydrogel inks to achieve rapidly high-precision patterning and wide-range adhesion regulation of interface layers. In clinical cases, the hydrogel biosensor can establish robust hydrogel/flap skin coupling for high-fidelity signal acquisition during monitoring, and ensure benign detachment to prevent tissue injury after monitoring. They achieve precise arterial perfusion monitoring based on the perfusion index (PI) via an 810 nm light source. Additionally, they propose a new metric, the balance index (BI), to monitor venous congestion. By analyzing BI, PI, and skin temperature, the biosensor enables accurate detection and differentiation of blood circulation complications.
A research team from Huazhong University of Science and Technology has developed a novel orbital modulation strategy to suppress anti-site defects in NASICON-type Na3MnTi(PO4)3 cathode for sodium-ion batteries. By Li doping to construct Li–O–Mn configuration, the strategy effectively enhances Mn–O covalent interaction and elevates Mn defect formation energy, thus eliminating voltage hysteresis caused by anti-site defects. The optimized Na2.97Li0.03MnTi(PO4)3 cathode achieves ultra-long cycling stability, excellent rate performance and wide-temperature adaptability, and the assembled pouch-type full cell further verifies its practical application potential. This study provides a new electronic structure regulation approach for the design of high-performance sodium-ion battery cathodes, paving the way for the development of low-cost and sustainable energy storage technologies.