Power supply represents a critical challenge in the development of body-integrated electronic technologies. Although recent research establishes an impressive variety of options in energy storage (batteries and supercapacitors) and generation (triboelectric, piezoelectric, thermoelectric, and photovoltaic devices), the modest electrical performance and/or the absence of soft, biocompatible mechanical properties limit their practical use. The results presented here form the basis of soft, skin-compatible means for efficient photovoltaic generation and high-capacity storage of electrical power using dual-junction, compound semiconductor solar cells and chip-scale, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, respectively. Miniaturized components, deformable interconnects, optimized array layouts, and dual-composition elastomer substrates, superstrates, and encapsulation layers represent key features. Systematic studies of the materials and mechanics identify optimized designs, including unusual configurations that exploit a folded, multilayer construct to improve the functional density without adversely affecting the soft, stretchable characteristics. System-level examples exploit such technologies in fully wireless sensors for precision skin thermography, with capabilities in continuous data logging and local processing, validated through demonstrations on volunteer subjects in various realistic scenarios.solid-state lithium-ion battery | multijunction solar cell | stretchable electronics | energy management | wearable technology R ecent ideas in materials science and mechanical engineering establish strategies for integrating functionality enabled by hard forms of electronics with compliant interconnects and soft packages to yield hybrid systems that offer low-modulus, elastic responses to large strain deformations (1-4). Such stretchable characteristics are qualitatively different from those afforded by simple mechanical bendability; the consequences are important because such properties allow for intimate, long-lived interfaces with the human body, such as the skin (5, 6), heart (7), and the brain (8), and for development of unusual device designs that derive inspiration from biology (9, 10). Many impressive examples of the utility of these concepts have emerged over the last several years, particularly in the area of biomedical devices, where work in skin-mounted technologies is now moving from laboratory demonstrations to devices with proven utility in human clinical studies (11, 12) and even to recently launched commercial products (13). Although schemes in high-frequency or ultrahigh-frequency wireless power transfer satisfy requirements in many important contexts (14, 15), opportunities remain for approaches in local generation and/or storage of power in ways that retain overall stretchable characteristics at the system level. Reported approaches to the former involve harvesting based on piezoelectric (16, 17), triboelectric (18), and thermoelectric (19) effects; the latter includes batteries (20-22) and supercapa...

The role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in pathogen recognition has been expeditiously advanced in recent years. However, investigations into the function of TLRs in non-infectious tissue injury have just begun. Previously, we and others have demonstrated that fragmented hyaluronan (HA) accumulates during tissue injury. CD44 is required to clear HA during tissue injury, and impaired clearance of HA results in unremitting inflammation. Additionally, fragmented HA stimulates the expression of inflammatory genes by inflammatory cells at the injury site. Recently, we identified that HA fragments require both TLR2 and TLR4 to stimulate mouse macrophages to produce inflammatory chemokines and cytokines. In a non-infectious lung injury model, mice deficient in both TLR2 and TLR4 show an impaired transepithelial migration of inflammatory cells, increased tissue injury, elevated lung epithelial cell apoptosis, and decreased survival. Lung epithelial cell overexpression of high molecular mass HA protected mice against acute lung injury and apoptosis, in part through TLR-dependent basal activation of NF-kB. The exaggerated injury in TLR2 and TLR4 deficient mice appears to be due to impaired HA-TLR interactions on epithelial cells. These studies identify that host matrix component HA and TLR interactions provide signals that initiate inflammatory responses, maintain epithelial cell integrity, and promote recovery from acute lung injury.

A facile strategy for the preparation of a nanoconfined Ti 3 C 2 /Ru cocatalyst by direct reduction of Ru 3+ ions without an additional reductant was developed. The in situ formation of TiO 2 nanosheets on the Ti 3 C 2 /Ru surface ensures the separation of the semiconductor and cocatalyst (TiO 2 −Ti 3 C 2 /Ru), resulting in charge segregation and migration more effective than those achieved by traditionally prepared Ru−TiO 2 −Ti 3 C 2 . Owing to its low Fermi level, the self-assembled Ti 3 C 2 /Ru cocatalyst accepted the photogenerated electrons and promoted H 2 evolution without an induction period, while exhibiting high surface structure stability. The changes in the work function and surface terminations of Ti 3 C 2 during the photocatalysis were revealed by DFT calculations and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. The efficient electron transfer enabled by the structurally separated Ti 3 C 2 /Ru-based photocatalyst significantly reduced the electron−hole recombination, increasing the photocatalytic H 2 evolution activity. This work provides a guiding design approach for future solar energy conversion with the semiconductor−cocatalyst system.

No abstract

The Ordos block, located in the western part of the North China Craton, is bounded by the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, the South China block, the Alxa block, the Taihangshan block, and the Yanshan-Yinshan mountains (Figure 1). The Ordos block has been a coherent geological terrain that has undergone minor deformation since at least the Mesozoic. Significant deformation occurred around its periphery during the Cenozoic, but had very little effect on its interior (Deng & You, 1985; Shi et al., 2020; The Research Group on Active Fault System around Ordos Massif, State Seismological Bureau, RGAFSO hereafter, 1988). Additionally, the Liupanshan fault system along the southwestern margin of the Ordos block accommodates crustal shortening produced by the northeastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau. The other sides of the block are bounded by extensional grabens such as the Yinchuan graben to the northwest, the Hetao graben to the north, the Shanxi graben to the east, and the Weihe graben to the south (Figure 1). Nineteen devastating earthquakes with magnitudes larger than 7 have occurred in the regions surrounding the block since the beginning of documented Chinese history (Deng et al., 1999; RGAFSO, 1988) (Figure 1). In contrast, no earthquakes with magnitudes larger than 6 have occurred in the interior of the block. Therefore, investigating the deformation of the Ordos block is essential for deciphering the interactions between active tectonic