編譯｜馮維維
Nature,20 February 2025, Volume 638, Issue 8051《自然》2025年2月20日，第638卷，8051期
物理Physics
Spontaneous ordering of identical materials into a triboelectric series
將相同的材料自發地排列成摩擦電系列
▲ 作者：Juan Carlos Sobarzo, Felix Pertl, Daniel M. Balazs, Tommaso Costanzo, Markus Sauer, Annette Foelske, Markus Ostermann, Christian M. Pichler, Yongkang Wang, Yuki Nagata, Mischa Bonn & Scott Waitukaitis
▲ 鏈接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08530-6
▲摘要：當兩種絕緣的中性材料接觸并分離時，會交換電荷。長期以來的實驗表明，這種“接觸電氣化”是可傳遞的，不同的材料根據所獲得的電荷的符號排列成“摩擦電系列”。與此同時，這種效果也受到不可預測性的困擾，無法就其機制達成共識，并使人們對劇集所隱含的韻律和原因產生懷疑。
在這里，研究者揭示了接觸電氣化的不可預測性和順序之間的意想不到的聯系：名義上相同的材料最初隨機和非傳遞地交換電荷，但經過反復的實驗，有序地變成了摩擦電系列。他們發現這種演變是由接觸本身的行為驅動的——歷史上接觸較多的樣本對接觸較少的樣本負電荷。
通過在最小模型中捕獲這種“接觸偏差”，研究者在數值模擬中重建了初始隨機性和最終順序，并在實驗中使用它來強制出現我們選擇的摩擦電系列。通過一系列表面敏感技術來尋找接觸產生的潛在變化，他們只發現了納米級形態變化的證據，指出了一種與力學緊密結合的機制。研究結果強調了接觸史在接觸電氣化中的中心地位，并指出關注長期困擾這種效應的不可預測性，可能是理解這種效應的關鍵。
▲ Abstract：
When two insulating, neutral materials are contacted and separated, they exchange electrical charge. Experiments have long suggested that this 'contact electrification' is transitive, with different materials ordering into 'triboelectric series' based on the sign of charge acquired. At the same time, the effect is plagued by unpredictability, preventing consensus on the mechanism and casting doubt on the rhyme and reason that series imply. Here we expose an unanticipated connection between the unpredictability and order in contact electrification: nominally identical materials initially exchange charge randomly and intransitively, but—over repeated experiments—order into triboelectric series. We find that this evolution is driven by the act of contact itself—samples with more contacts in their history charge negatively to ones with fewer contacts. Capturing this 'contact bias' in a minimal model, we recreate both the initial randomness and ultimate order in numerical simulations and use it experimentally to force the appearance of a triboelectric series of our choosing. With a set of surface-sensitive techniques to search for the underlying alterations contact creates, we only find evidence of nanoscale morphological changes, pointing to a mechanism strongly coupled with mechanics. Our results highlight the centrality of contact history in contact electrification and suggest that focusing on the unpredictability that has long plagued the effect may hold the key to understanding it.
Direct experimental constraints on the spatial extent of a neutrino wavepacket
中微子波包空間范圍的直接實驗約束
▲ 作者：Joseph Smolsky, Kyle G. Leach, Ryan Abells, Pedro Amaro, Adrien Andoche, Keith Borbridge, Connor Bray, Robin Cantor, David Diercks, Spencer Fretwell, Stephan Friedrich, Abigail Gillespie, Mauro Guerra, Ad Hall, Cameron N. Harris, Jackson T. Harris, Leendert M. Hayen, Paul-Antoine Hervieux, Calvin Hinkle, Geon-Bo Kim, Inwook Kim, Amii Lamm, Annika Lennarz, Vincenzo Lordi, William K. Warburton
▲ 鏈接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08479-6
▲摘要：盡管中微子在宇宙中相對豐富，但卻是自然界中最不為人所知的基本粒子。事實上，在實驗相關源中發射的中微子的量子特性在理論上是有爭議的，并且中微子波包的空間范圍僅受反應堆中微子振蕩數據的松散約束，其傳播范圍為13個數量級。
在這里，研究者提出了一種方法，即通過精確測量鈹-7放射性衰變中釋放的反沖子核的能量寬度，來直接獲得相關量。衰變過程的最終狀態包含一個反沖的鋰-7核，它在產生時與一個電子中微子糾纏在一起。鋰-7能譜是通過直接將鈹-7放射性同位素嵌入高分辨率超導隧道結（作為低溫傳感器操作）來高精度測量的。
在這種方法下，研究者設定了6.2 pm反沖子的海森堡空間不確定性的下限，這意味著最終狀態系統的局域尺度比原子核本身大一千倍以上。從這個測量中，中微子波包的空間范圍的直接下限首席被提取出來。這些結果可能會在幾個領域產生影響，包括對中微子性質的理論理解，弱核衰變中的局域化性質以及中微子物理數據的解釋。
▲ Abstract：
Despite their high relative abundance in our Universe, neutrinos are the least understood fundamental particles of nature. In fact, the quantum properties of neutrinos emitted in experimentally relevant sources are theoretically contested and the spatial extent of the neutrino wavepacket is only loosely constrained by reactor neutrino oscillation data with a spread of 13 orders of magnitude.
Here we present a method to directly access this quantity by precisely measuring the energy width of the recoil daughter nucleus emitted in the radioactive decay of beryllium-7. The final state in the decay process contains a recoiling lithium-7 nucleus, which is entangled with an electron neutrino at creation. The lithium-7 energy spectrum is measured to high precision by directly embedding beryllium-7 radioisotopes into a high-resolution superconducting tunnel junction that is operated as a cryogenic sensor.
Under this approach, we set a lower limit on the Heisenberg spatial uncertainty of the recoil daughter of 6.2?pm, which implies that the final-state system is localized at a scale more than a thousand times larger than the nucleus itself. From this measurement, the first, to our knowledge, direct lower limit on the spatial extent of a neutrino wavepacket is extracted. These results may have implications in several areas including the theoretical understanding of neutrino properties, the nature of localization in weak nuclear decays and the interpretation of neutrino physics data.
物理化學Physical Chemistry
External Li supply reshapes Li deficiency and lifetime limit of batteries
外置鋰電源改變了電池的鋰不足和壽命限制
▲ 作者：Shu Chen, Guanbin Wu, Haibo Jiang, Jifeng Wang, Tiantian Chen, Chenyang Han, Wenwen Wang, Rongchen Yang, Jiahua Zhao, Zhihang Tang, Xiaocheng Gong, Chuanfa Li, Mengyao Zhu, Kun Zhang, Yifei Xu, Ying Wang, Zhe Hu, Peining Chen, Bingjie Wang, Kai Zhang, Yongyao Xia, Huisheng Peng & Yue Gao
▲ 鏈接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08465-y
▲摘要：鋰離子是可充電電池儲能功能的核心。目前的技術依賴于復雜的含鋰電極材料來提供鋰離子，以確保更長的使用壽命。因此，鋰貧乏材料被排除在電池設計之外，當活性鋰離子被消耗時，電池就會失效。
這項研究通過新的鋰電供應策略打破了這一限制。包括在外部將有機鋰鹽添加到組裝的電池中，在電池形成過程中分解，釋放鋰離子并以氣體形式排出有機配體。這種非侵入性和快速的過程保持了電池的完整性，而無需拆卸。
研究者利用機器學習來發現這些功能鹽，并確定了具有最佳電化學活性、電勢、產物形成、電解質溶解度和比容量的三氟甲烷磺酸鋰（LiSO2CF3）。與傳統鋰離子電池相比，該系統具有更高的能量密度、更強的可持續性和更低的成本。此外，商用LiFePO4電池的壽命至少延長了一個數量級。在重復的外部鋰供應下，商用石墨LiFePO4電池在11818次循環后的容量保持率為96.0%。
▲ Abstract：
Lithium (Li) ions are central to the energy storing functionality of rechargeable batteries1. Present technology relies on sophisticated Li-inclusive electrode materials to provide Li ions and exactingly protect them to ensure a decent lifetime. Li-deficient materials are thus excluded from battery design, and the battery fails when active Li ions are consumed. Our study breaks this limit by means of a cell-level Li supply strategy. This involves externally adding an organic Li salt into an assembled cell, which decomposes during cell formation, liberating Li ions and expelling organic ligands as gases. This non-invasive and rapid process preserves cell integrity without necessitating disassembly. We leveraged machine learning to discover such functional salts and identified lithium trifluoromethanesulfinate (LiSO2CF3) with optimal electrochemical activity, potential, product formation, electrolyte solubility and specific capacity. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrated a 3.0?V, 1,192?Wh?kg?1 Li-free cathode, chromium oxide, in the anode-less cell, as well as an organic sulfurized polyacrylonitrile cathode incorporated in a 388?Wh?kg?1 pouch cell with a 440-cycle life. These systems exhibit improved energy density, enhanced sustainability and reduced cost compared with conventional Li-ion batteries. Furthermore, the lifetime of commercial LiFePO4 batteries was extended by at least an order of magnitude. With repeated external Li supplies, a commercial graphite LiFePO4 cell displayed a capacity retention of 96.0% after 11,818 cycles.
Aqueous-based recycling of perovskite photovoltaics
鈣鈦礦光伏電池的水基回收
▲ 作者：Xun Xiao, Niansheng Xu, Xueyu Tian, Tiankai Zhang, Bingzheng Wang, Xiaoming Wang, Yeming Xian, Chunyuan Lu, Xiangyu Ou, Yanfa Yan, Licheng Sun, Fengqi You & Feng Gao
▲ 鏈接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08408-7
▲ 摘要：越來越多的硅光伏（PV）廢物表明，需要在新興光伏技術商業化之前考慮廢物回收的重要性。鈣鈦礦光伏是一種很有前途的下一代技術，回收其報廢廢物可以減少有毒廢物并保留資源。
在這里，研究者報告了一種低成本、綠色溶劑的整體回收策略，可以從鈣鈦礦光伏廢料中恢復所有有價值的成分。他們開發了一種高效的水基鈣鈦礦回收方法，也可以使降解的鈣鈦礦恢復活力。他們進一步將回收范圍擴展到電荷傳輸層，襯底，覆蓋玻璃和金屬電極。經過多次降解回收處理，回收裝置的效率和穩定性與新鮮裝置相當。
與填埋處理相比，這項研究的整體回收策略減少了96.6%的資源消耗和68.8%的與鈣鈦礦PV相關的人類毒性（癌癥效應）影響。有了回收，公用事業和住宅系統的電力成本也降低了。這項研究強調了鈣鈦礦PV在整體回收方面的獨特機會，并為可持續的鈣鈦礦太陽能經濟鋪平了道路。
▲ Abstract：
Cumulative silicon photovoltaic (PV) waste highlights the importance of considering waste recycling before the commercialization of emerging PV technologies. Perovskite PVs are a promising next-generation technology, in which recycling their end-of-life waste can reduce the toxic waste and retain resources. Here we report a low-cost, green-solvent-based holistic recycling strategy to restore all valuable components from perovskite PV waste. We develop an efficient aqueous-based perovskite recycling approach that can also rejuvenate degraded perovskites. We further extend the scope of recycling to charge-transport layers, substrates, cover glasses and metal electrodes. After repeated degradation–recycling processes, the recycled devices show similar efficiency and stability compared with the fresh devices. Our holistic recycling strategy reduces by 96.6% resource depletion and by 68.8% human toxicity (cancer effects) impacts associated with perovskite PVs compared with the landfill treatment. With recycling, the levelized cost of electricity also decreases for both utility-scale and residential systems. This study highlights unique opportunities of perovskite PVs for holistic recycling and paves the way for a sustainable perovskite solar economy.
生命科學Life Science
The structure of apolipoprotein B100 from human low-density lipoprotein
人低密度脂蛋白中載脂蛋白B100的結構
▲ 作者：Zachary T. Berndsen & C. Keith Cassidy
▲ 鏈接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08467-w
▲ 摘要：低密度脂蛋白（LDL）在脂質和膽固醇代謝中起核心作用，是動脈粥樣硬化發生和發展的關鍵因素，動脈粥樣硬化是世界范圍內導致死亡的主要原因。載脂蛋白B100（apoB100）是基因組中最大的蛋白質之一，是低密度脂蛋白的主要結構和功能成分，但其大小和復雜的脂質關聯給結構研究帶來了重大挑戰。
研究者使用冷凍電子顯微鏡、AlphaFold24和基于分子動力學的改進的綜合方法，在大多數區域展示了亞納米分辨率的apoB100的結構。該結構由一個大的球狀N端結構域和一個約61納米長的連續兩親β片組成，該β片像帶一樣包裹著LDL顆粒。準對稱分布在β帶兩側的是9個戰略性的鏈間插入物，它們延伸到脂質表面，通過遠程相互作用的網絡提供額外的結構支持。
研究者進一步將該結構與200多個分子內交聯的綜合列表進行比較，發現兩者之間存在密切的一致性。這些結果提示了apoB100的不同結構域如何協同作用以維持LDL形狀和內聚在不同粒徑范圍內的機制。更廣泛地說，它們促進了人們對低密度脂蛋白合成、形式和功能的基本理解，并將有助于加速潛在治療方法的設計。
▲ Abstract：
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has a central role in lipid and cholesterol metabolism and is a key agent in the development and progression of atherosclerosis, the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Apolipoprotein B100 (apoB100), one of the largest proteins in the genome, is the primary structural and functional component of LDL, yet its size and complex lipid associations have posed major challenges for structural studies. Here we present the structure of apoB100 resolved to subnanometre resolution in most regions using an integrative approach of cryo-electron microscopy, AlphaFold24 and molecular-dynamics-based refinement. The structure consists of a large globular N-terminal domain and an approximately 61-nm-long continuous amphipathic β-sheet that wraps around the LDL particle like a belt. Distributed quasi-symmetrically across the two sides of the β-belt are nine strategically located interstrand inserts that extend across the lipid surface to provide additional structural support through a network of long-range interactions. We further compare our structure to a comprehensive list of more than 200 intramolecular cross-links and find close agreement between the two. These results suggest a mechanism for how the various domains of apoB100 act in concert to maintain LDL shape and cohesion across a range of particle sizes. More generally, they advance our fundamental understanding of LDL synthesis, form and function, and will help to accelerate the design of potential therapeutics.
Engineered receptors for soluble cellular communication and disease sensing
用于可溶性細胞通訊和疾病感知的工程受體
▲ 作者：Dan I. Piraner, Mohamad H. Abedi, Maria J. Duran Gonzalez, Adam Chazin-Gray, Annie Lin, Iowis Zhu, Pavithran T. Ravindran, Thomas Schlichthaerle, Buwei Huang, Tyler H. Bearchild, David Lee, Sarah Wyman, Young-wook Jun, David Baker & Kole T. Roybal
▲ 鏈接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08366-0
▲摘要：哺乳動物合成生物學領域最近取得了一些進展，但仍然缺乏模塊化的合成受體，這些受體可以對可溶性配體做出強有力的反應，進而激活定制的細胞功能。這些受體在調節工程治療細胞的活性方面具有廣泛的臨床潛力，但到目前為止，只有針對細胞表面靶點的受體已接近臨床轉化。
為了解決這一差距，研究者采用了一種稱為合成膜內蛋白水解受體（SNIPR）的受體結構，用于可溶性配體的激活。SNIPR平臺可以被天然和合成的可溶性因子激活，具有明顯的低基線活性和高折疊激活性。研究者通過將嵌合抗原受體（CAR）T細胞的活性定位于可溶性疾病相關因子表達的實體腫瘤，從而繞過了在旁觀者器官中靶外腫瘤毒性的主要障礙，證明了受體平臺的治療能力。
研究者進一步應用SNIPR平臺設計與自然信號通路正交的細胞之間的完全合成信號網絡，擴大合成生物學的范圍。其設計框架使細胞通信和環境相互作用成為可能，擴展了臨床和研究環境中合成細胞網絡的能力。
▲ Abstract：
Despite recent advances in mammalian synthetic biology, there remains a lack of modular synthetic receptors that can robustly respond to soluble ligands and, in turn, activate bespoke cellular functions. Such receptors would have extensive clinical potential to regulate the activity of engineered therapeutic cells, but so far only receptors against cell-surface targets have approached clinical translation1. To address this gap, here we adapt a receptor architecture called the synthetic intramembrane proteolysis receptor (SNIPR) for activation by soluble ligands. Our SNIPR platform can be activated by both natural and synthetic soluble factors, with notably low baseline activity and high fold activation, through an endocytic, pH-dependent cleavage mechanism. We demonstrate the therapeutic capabilities of the receptor platform by localizing the activity of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to solid tumours in which soluble disease-associated factors are expressed, bypassing the major hurdle of on-target off-tumour toxicity in bystander organs. We further apply the SNIPR platform to engineer fully synthetic signalling networks between cells orthogonal to natural signalling pathways, expanding the scope of synthetic biology. Our design framework enables cellular communication and environmental interactions, extending the capabilities of synthetic cellular networking in clinical and research contexts.
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