Materials Horizons Blog

Taking a historical snapshot of chiral plasmonics, after discovery in the 19th century and becoming more important in the 20th century for pharmacological and biological applications, in the early 2000s, twisted plasmonic nanostructures revealed strong chiroptical responses. However, their fabrication remained complex and limited. The 2010s introduced enabling tools such as DNA origami, colloidal self-assembly, and metamaterials, allowing precise control over chiral plasmonic architectures—but mostly within specialized labs.

The chiral plasmonic community experienced a major shift in the late 2010s, driven by easier access to chirality-related technologies: compact circularly polarized light (CPL) sources and affordable CD spectrometers made chiral plasmonics widely accessible. A recent visit to the Gold 2025 conference (San Sebastian, May 2025) revealed how dramatically the plasmonics community refocused from purely morphological anisotropic materials to nanomaterials with explicit chiral asymmetry. Across sessions – whether on sensing or catalysis – “chiral” appeared repeatedly in presentation titles.

The recent Focus article by Santiago and team published in Materials Horizons brings a new paradigm into fabrication techniques compared to previous approaches: what if chirality could be written post-synthetically by light? Their last years studies and other’s referred in this article, centering on light-to-matter chirality transfer, presents a conceptual leap. By exposing initially achiral plasmonic nanostructures to CPL, one can induce asymmetric surface transformations—effectively allowing the electromagnetic field to sculpt chirality dynamically. This “optical handwriting” of symmetry is not just elegant—it’s potentially more scalable, adaptive, and informative.

What makes this emerging direction so promising? First, light-induced chirality eliminates the need for chiral templates or reagents, granting full spatial and temporal control through illumination parameters – angle, polarization, phase structure, intensity. Second, the process doesn’t just modify geometry – it can modulate surface chemistry, reaction kinetics, or even local field helicity. It’s an enabler of materials previously considered inaccessible by static synthesis methods.

Despite these promises, the critical questions is a mechanistic pathways of chirality inscription under CPL. What’s the role of photothermal vs. hot-carrier effects? How does local field enhancement affect enantioselective growth? Quantitative metrics – such as dissymmetry factor (g) and CD spectral shifts—must be systematically correlated with structural evolution, not just endpoint characterization. Or even can chirality of these plasmonic structures transferred to chiral organic molecules? There is still a wide room for investigations.

To find out more, please read:

Light-to-matter chirality transfer in plasmonics
Eva Yazmin Santiago, Muhammad Irfan, Oscar Ávalos-Ovando, Alexander O. Govorov, Miguel A. Correa-Duarte and Lucas V. Besteiro
Mater. Horiz., 2025, DOI: 10.1039/D5MH00179J

 

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About the blogger

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Dr Olga Guselnikova is a member of the Materials Horizons Community Board. She joined the Center for Electrochemistry and Surface Technology (Austria) to work on functional materials as a group leader. Dr. Guselnikova received her PhD degree in chemistry from the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (Czech Republic) and Tomsk Polytechnic University (Russia) in 2019. Her research interests are related to surface chemistry for functional materials. This means that she is applying her background in organic chemistry to materials science: plasmonic and polymer surfaces are hybridized with organic molecules to create high-performance elements and devices.

To combat climate change, we must reduce carbon footprints either through waste reduction or renewable energy. Plastic waste is a significant challenge, with millions of tons ending up in landfills and oceans each year. Thus, it is of immense importance to reduce or recycle plastic waste, or even convert it to useful materials. In a recent study, Z. Qiang et al. show how upcycled plastics, like polyethylene and polypropylene, can be converted into energy-efficient heating elements for clean hydrogen production, tackling both waste reduction and recycling issues simultaneously (Illustrated in Figure 1A). The key innovation in this study lies in transforming discarded plastic into a special kind of carbon material by a combination of techniques, including 3D printing, crosslinking, and pyrolysis (a high-heat process that breaks down materials) to turn plastics into a highly efficient heating element (Figure 1B). The plastic waste is first printed into 3D structures, then chemically treated to make it stronger. Finally, it’s heated to the point where it becomes carbon. This carbon material can then be used as both a catalyst support and a heater in ammonia decomposition for producing hydrogen without harmful emissions (Figure 1C). This simple carbon-based Joule heater heats up when electricity passes through it and is a more efficient method than traditional convection heaters, while offering quicker start-up and shutdown times. That’s a game-changer when it comes to making hydrogen production faster and more energy-efficient.

So basically, the Joule heating isn’t just about generating heat—it’s about doing it in a cleaner, smarter way. Traditional methods of heating can be energy-hungry and slow but using electricity to directly heat materials through Joule heating is much more efficient. In the study, this improved heating method sped up the ammonia decomposition process, allowing for faster hydrogen production. Even better, the process also reduces carbon emissions and energy use compared to conventional methods (Figure 1D, E). That means we can make hydrogen in a cleaner, more sustainable way, helping to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The exciting thing about this study is a double win for the planet. On one side, it helps address the massive problem of plastic waste by turning it into something useful. On the other side, it helps create hydrogen, a clean energy source to power everything from vehicles to industrial processes, without any harmful emissions, which paves the way towards zero carbon footprint.

It will be more interesting to see if this approach could also be used in other industries beyond hydrogen production. For instance, replacing the old, carbon-intensive heating systems used in manufacturing with these waste-derived Joule heaters could save massive energy consumption and reduce enormous emissions. Therefore, this research is a big step to address the real-world problem of waste, which will be no longer a problem, but a resource. By linking energy production with material recycling, we can close the loop on waste and make industries cleaner and more efficient. However, it would be preliminary to expect its use at larger scale in various energy sectors. Challenges like ensuring consistent carbon material properties at large scale, long-term thermal stability under high temperatures, and seamless integration with existing hydrogen production systems could be challenging.

To find out more, please read:

Upcycling of mixed polyolefin wastes to 3D structured carbon Joule heaters for decarbonized hydrogen production
Anthony Griffin, Jiachun Wu, Adam Smerigan, Paul Smith, Gbadeoluwa Adedigba, Rui Shi, Yizhi Xiang and Zhe Qiang
Mater. Horiz., 2025, Advance Article

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Dr. Shahid Zaman is postdoctoral fellow at the Hydrogen Research Institute, University of Quebec Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Canada, and a member of the Materials Horizons Community Board. He completed his Ph.D. in Material Physics and Chemistry from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2021. His research focuses on the development of nanomaterials for electrocatalysis, particularly in proton exchange membrane fuel cells and water electrolyzers.

3D printing has revolutionized the production of polymer-based materials, with the development of numerous printing techniques that continuously enhance speed, resolution, and accessibility. Among the most significant advancements is light-based 3D printing, which utilizes photopolymerization reactions to solidify inks, offering precise spatiotemporal control over the printing process. However, light-based 3D printing primarily relies on uncontrolled polymerization of (meth)acrylate and epoxide monomers/ cross-linkers, which yield non-functional, non-recyclable materials. To fully exploit the potential of 3D printing, there is growing interest in integrating advanced chemistries, such as dynamic chemistry, that enable the fabrication of functional materials capable of post-printing modifications in shape, properties, and functionality. Most polymer-based objects created through current 3D printing techniques cannot be chemically recycled due to the chemical inertness of the materials and the irreversible polymerization processes involved. Thus, it is imperative to incorporate new chemistries into 3D printing that enable the fabrication of advanced, functional, and chemically recyclable materials at the end of their lifecycle.

In a recent work by Du Prez and Nguyen, a closed-loop 3D printing process utilizing dynamic chemistry was reported. The authors synthesized an acrylate photocurable polymeric material based on dynamic β-amino ester cross-linkers, which can be used as an ink for 3D printing. Importantly, this material can undergo decross-linking via a transesterification reaction, resulting in the depolymerization of the formed polymer network. This process is not only reversible, enabling the making and unmaking of polymers, but it also operates under highly appealing and relatively mild conditions.

The team first synthesized an acrylate-terminated β-amino ester-containing cross-linker, which serves as a building block for the formation of a dynamic polymer network. This cross-linker was prepared via a one-step aza-Michael addition reaction. The process is straightforward and utilizes commercially available reagents, making the material easily adaptable for other researchers. These low-molecular-weight diacrylate polymers undergo photo-induced free radical polymerization, resulting in the formation of a dynamic polymer network.

This dynamic nature of the polymeric network enables thermomechanical reprocessing of the material. To demonstrate this aspect, the authors used compression molding (at 150 °C under 2 tons of pressure for 30 minutes) for reprocessability. The recycling procedure was repeated three times, with the material showing a slight increase in shear modulus and activation energy, while maintaining stable thermal properties and chemical integrity. The increase in temperature results in a reduction of cross-link density, demonstrating the role of dissociative exchange via (retro) aza-Michael addition. In contrast, polymeric networks without dynamic bonds did not exhibit any reprocessability, highlighting the promise of dynamic chemistry in enabling reprocessable materials.

In the next step, to demonstrate more advanced chemical recycling of this dynamic network, the team employed another reaction (transesterification) using a commercially available methacrylate with a hydroxyl moiety (hydroxyethyl methacrylate) as a decross-linker. The hydroxyl group of this functional methacrylate reacts with the β-amino ester, resulting in the decross-linking of the network and its depolymerization. This reaction is temperature-dependent and requires an optimized amount of decross-linker to achieve a high depolymerization yield. Notably, the depolymerization reaction proceeds without the need for any catalyst or solvent, making the procedure even more appealing. Upon depolymerization of the polymer network, the resulting mixture consists of methacrylate-terminated compounds, as confirmed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. These compounds can be further employed for another cycle of photo-curing, enabling the development of curable-depolymerizable dynamic materials.

In the final part, the team demonstrated the translation of this concept into closed-loop 3D printing using the dynamic photocurable resin. Multiple printing cycles were performed with recycled photocurable resin to assess the repeatability of this procedure. The resulting samples exhibited consistent shapes and appearances for at least three cycles, thus demonstrating repeatable printability after chemical recycling.

Overall, this study elegantly combines fundamental aspects of dynamic polymer chemistry and its application in 3D printing, further enhancing interest in dynamic chemistry for both functional and recyclable materials.

To find out more, please read:

Direct restoration of photocurable cross-linkers for repeated light-based 3D printing of covalent adaptable networks
Loc Tan Nguyen and Filip E. Du Prez
Mater. Horiz., 2024, DOI:10.1039/D4MH00823E

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Dr. Kostas Parkatzidis is a Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoc Fellow in the group of Professor Zhenan Bao at Stanford University (United States), working on the molecular design of polymer-based skin-inspired materials for various applications. Kostas obtained his PhD from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) under the supervision of Professor Athina Anastasaki where he focused on the development of advanced polymer synthesis and chemical recycling methodologies. He also holds MSc in Organic Chemistry and BSc in Materials Science and Engineering obtained from the University of Crete (Greece). Since 2023, Kostas has served as a Materials Horizons Community Board member.

Perovskite oxynitrides are intriguing materials with significant relevance in photoelectrochemistry and catalysis. Their crystallinity is often simplified using high-symmetry unit cells as a convenient approximation. However, this approach fails to capture the complex local atomic displacements of anions and neighboring cations caused by the differing ionic radii of oxygen and nitrogen anions. A recent study by the Seitz Group provides a more nuanced understanding of perovskite oxynitrides’ true crystallinity, using a newly synthesized calcium tungsten oxynitride, CaW(O,N)₃, as a model system. The authors leverage experimental and computational techniques to explore its crystal structure, focusing on distortion, anion ordering, and symmetry. This study highlights four key findings:

CaW(O,N)₃ exhibits structural distortion. The study marks the first successful synthesis of CaW(O,N)₃. Using a combination of density functional theory (DFT), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and neutron diffraction (ND), the authors reveal that this material adopts an orthorhombic Pnma average structure. This structure exhibits significant octahedral distortion and preferential anion site occupancy, highlighting its deviation from a purely symmetric model.

Symmetry models for perovskite oxynitrides need to account for disorder. The authors demonstrate that traditional high-symmetry models fail to capture the full complexity of CaW(O,N)₃. Instead, a low-symmetry model with a P1 space group—which incorporates a larger unit cell and random anion positioning—better represents the disorder inherent in the crystal. This disorder forms a “polymorphous network,” where the observed high symmetry is only an average, masking the true lower local symmetry of CaW(O,N)₃.

The structural disorder can be extended to other perovskite oxynitrides. The structural disorder observed in CaW(O,N)₃ was also identified in its analog, SrW(O,N)₃. Like CaW(O,N)₃, the authors obtained a better representation of the structural disorder in SrW(O,N)₃ by applying similar low-symmetry models, suggesting that such disorder is a common characteristic across perovskite oxynitrides.

Structural disorder in perovskite oxynitrides causes changes in electronic properties. Comparative X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) revealed differences in electronic structures between Ca- and Sr-based perovskite oxynitrides. SrW(O,N)₃ exhibits stronger covalency between its anions and W 5d orbitals. These differences are attributed to the distinct electronic configurations and ionic radii of Ca²⁺ and Sr²⁺, which alter the interaction of W with neighboring anions.

 

 

In summary, this study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the crystallinity and electronic properties of perovskite oxynitrides, emphasizing the importance of structural disorder. This work is a must-read for researchers studying heteroanionic materials, offering guidance on characterizing their structural and electronic properties through essential experimental and computational methods. Furthermore, it underscores the need for more sophisticated models to accurately represent these materials’ symmetry and local structure, accounting for the inherent complexities introduced by mixed anion occupancy. These findings are crucial for optimizing perovskite oxynitrides’ performance in catalytic and photoelectrochemical applications, where electronic and structural properties are pivotal in their performance.

To find out more, please read:

Synthesis and symmetry of perovskite oxynitride CaW(O,N)₃
Matthew E. Sweers, Tzu-chen Liu, Jiahong Shen, Bingzhang Lu, John W. Freeland, Christopher Wolverton, Gabriela B. Gonzalez Aviles, and  Linsey C. Seitz
Mater. Horiz., 2024,11, 4104-4114 DOI: 10.1039/D4MH00317A

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Raul A. Marquez is a Ph.D. in Chemistry candidate working with Prof. C. Buddie Mullins at The University of Texas at Austin and a Materials Horizons Community Board member. His research focuses on understanding the transformations of electrocatalytic materials and developing advanced characterization methods for energy storage and conversion technologies. Follow Raul’s latest research on LinkedIn.

Current ionic conductors, such as hydrogels and ionogels, offer diverse capabilities but also exhibit limitations. These systems rely on a substantial amount of liquid to provide a mobile environment for free ions, while a covalently crosslinked network enhances mechanical strength. However, the presence of liquid compromises thermal and electrochemical stability and reduces mechanical integrity. Furthermore, the covalently crosslinked network often results in irreversible polymer structures, creating a fundamental conflict between ionic conductivity, self-healing capabilities, and mechanical performance—challenges that are particularly pronounced in flexible and wearable ionotronic devices. To address these issues, many researchers are focusing on developing versatile ionic conductive elastomers with innovative polymer molecular structures. Yet, the design of liquid-free ion-conducting elastomers typically struggles to achieve high ionic conductivity due to restricted segmental motion of polymer chains in covalently crosslinked networks, leading to significantly slower ion transport efficiency and a reduced volume of free ions.

To enhance molecular segmental motion and ion transport, Ou and colleagues recently proposed a strategy that combines dual dynamic covalent bonds with non-covalent interactions. By integrating multilevel hydrogen bonds, disulfide bonds, and dynamic donor-acceptor (D–A) bonds into a polyurethane system, they developed liquid-free ionic conductive polyurethane elastomers (ICPEs), designated as SS₅₀DA₅₀–LiTFSI_z%. Polytetramethylene ether glycol was selected as the soft phase, whereas the ether chain segments engage in ionic transport through loosely coordinated lithium-oxygen (O–Li⁺) bonding interactions. This configuration facilitates the development of all-solid ICPEs characterized by high ionic conductivity. The well-designed structure of SS₅₀DA₅₀ enables self-healing at 130°C for 2 hours, achieving a high tensile strength of 58.90 MPa and toughness of 260.33 MJ m^-3, with a healing efficiency of 92% and complete recyclability. This performance is attributed to the dynamic covalent crosslinked bonds that maintain the relative positions of the polymer chain segments under tension, thereby maintaining the three-dimensional integrity of the network and substantially improving both the tensile strength and toughness of the elastomers. Additionally, the ICPEs (SS₅₀DA₅₀–LiTFSI_80%) demonstrated high mechanical strength (1.18 MPa), superior ionic conductivity (0.14 mS cm^-1), and excellent healing capacity (healing efficiency >95%), highlighting their potential as wearable sensors for physical rehabilitation training.

Because of their excellent sensitivity and durability properties, the SS₅₀DA₅₀–LiTFSI_80% elastomers are used in multifunctional sensors and triboelectric nanogenerators, capable of real-time and rapid detection of various human activities, and can recognize writing signals and encrypted information transmission. Furthermore, SS₅₀DA₅₀–LiTFSI_80% achieved an excellent open-circuit voltage of 464 V, a short-circuit current of 16 mA, a transferred charge of 50 nC, and a power density of 720 mW m^-2. Its outstanding output performance offers significant practical value for wearable electronics and self-powered products.

In summary, the innovative design of ICEs such as SS₅₀DA₅₀–LiTFSI_80% features a polyurethane matrix enriched with multiple dynamic bonds, including hydrogen and disulfide bonds. This design offers a more robust and sustainable alternative with enhanced functionality compared to traditional hydrogels. The improved mechanical properties, healing abilities, and recyclability of these materials make them pivotal for the future of flexible and wearable technology. The potential applications of these elastomers extend from sustainable wearable electronics to energy-harvesting devices and solid-state polymer electrolytes.

To find out more, please read:

Liquid-free ionic conductive elastomers with high mechanical properties and ionic conductivity for multifunctional sensors and triboelectric nanogenerators
Fangyan Ou, Ting Xie, Xinze Li, Zhichao Zhang, Chuang Ning, Liang Tuo, Wenyu Pan, Changsheng Wang, Xueying Duan, Qihua Liang, Wei Gao, Zequan Li,* and Shuangliang Zhao
Mater. Horiz., 2024, DOI: 10.1039/d3mh02217j

 

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Fang Cheng Liang is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and serves as a Community Board member for Materials Horizons. Before joining NUS, he was a Research Assistant Professor at the Research and Development Center for Smart Textile Technology at the National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan. He earned dual Ph.D. degrees in Organic Chemistry and Polymer Science and Engineering from the University Grenoble Alpes and National Taipei University of Technology in 2019. His research focuses on sustainable self-healing soft materials, liquid metal hydrogels, reconfigurable liquid crystal elastomers, and hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite applications in light-emitting diodes, triboelectric nanogenerators, soft robotics, and wearable electronics.

Patients with diabetes frequently develop chronic ulcers on their lower extremities that are extremely challenging to treat. To accelerate healing, numerous wound dressings have been developed to protect damaged tissue and possibly deliver therapeutics. However, few dressings can provide real-time monitoring of wound healing and patient health. Since diabetic ulcers are prone to persistent hyperglycemia, ischemia, prolonged inflammation, and bacterial infections, frequently assessing biomarkers is essential to optimize treatment and maximize healing outcomes.

In a recent work by Hou et. al., a multifunctional wound dressing is developed to not only shield diabetic foot wounds from insult and bacterial infections, but record wound site temperature, pH, and glucose levels. Additionally, the flexible electronic also monitors physiological signals such as patient heart rhythm and brain activity. To create the diagnostic dressing, a poly(ethylene glycol)-based polymer possessing cationic and anionic moieties, as well as the self-complementary hydrogen-bonding group, ureidopyrimidinone (UPy) is developed. The polymer abbreviated PADU after the first letter of each constituting monomer, forms flexible substrates due to intermolecular UPy interactions as well as ionic bonding between cationic and ionic segments.

 

 

When applied to metals, rubber, plastic, glass, and biological tissues, PADU substrates display remarkable adhesion, notably exceeding an adhesive strength of 13 kPa for both diabetic and healthy mouse skin. Following damage to the patch, dynamic hydrogen bonding also endows PADU materials with self-healing capabilities, restoring 96% of their original mechanical strength after 24 hours. In practical use this gives PADU substrates a huge advantage because may be able to sustain electronic function despite physical damage from bodily movement.

In addition to its superb mechanical properties, PADU was also found to exhibit antibacterial activity. Killing of bacteria is achieved through disruption of the cell membrane by cationic groups within the polymer, making it active against even drug-resistant pathogens. Co-cultures with mammalian cells and blood cells, however, showed no cytotoxic or hemolytic effects, and biocompatibility was further confirmed by subcutaneous implantation into mice.

When glucose, pH, and temperature sensors were printed on PADU substrates, real-time monitoring of environmental conditions were reported with high accuracy. Gold foil electrodes could also be easily integrated into the patch to produce dressings capable of collecting electrocardiograms, electromyographic signals, and electroencephalograms. Due to their strong adhesion to skin, PADU-based sensors could even collect electrophysiological readings while patients were in motion, exceeding the accuracy of commercial sensors.

The dressing developed in the work by Hou, et. al. surpasses the capabilities of most diabetic wound dressings due its multifunctional performance as an adhesive and versatile electronic. Although initially designed for diabetic ulcers, the technology will likely find broad use as a diagnostic dressing for any type of slow-healing wound. In future studies, electronic patches may even be studied as implantable materials to monitor surgical site healing or internal injuries. Overall, the work demonstrates the vast utility of flexible bioelectronics and highlights the importance of developing new devices that not only treat but monitor chronic wounds.

To find out more, please read:

Skin-adhesive and self-healing diagnostic wound dressings for diabetic wound healing recording and electrophysiological signal monitoring
Zishuo Hou, Tengjiao Wang, Lei Wang, Junjie Wang, Yong Zhang, Qian Zhou,   Zhengheng Zhang, Peng Li and Wei Huang
Mater. Horiz., 2024, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/D3MH02064A

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Kelsey DeFrates is a Materials Horizons Community Board member. She received her Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering at Rowan University (Glassboro, New Jersey) in 2018 and completed her Ph.D. in Bioengineering through the University of California, Berkeley – UCSF joint graduate program in 2023. For her thesis research, Kelsey worked with Professor Phillip Messersmith at UC Berkeley on the development of supramolecular materials for drug delivery and tissue regeneration. In 2023, Kelsey joined Professor Christopher Hernandez at UCSF as a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, where she is working to understand how bacteria sense and respond to physical stimuli. In future work, Kelsey hopes to use this information to develop engineered living materials for healthcare and sustainable building.

Neuromorphic computing, inspired by the structure of the human brain, aims to overcome the limitations of traditional computing architectures by more closely integrating processing and memory functions. It is believed that this approach is a step towards dramatically improving the efficiency of artificial neural networks by in-memory computing. Specifically, compared to conventional graphics processing units, the memristor crossbars connected by synapses would markedly enhance the training and inference of the artificial neural networks in terms of speed and power for natural language processing, image classification, and so forth.

Due to their tantalizing properties, including unique control of ionic processes, mechanical flexibility, and low cost processability, organic materials, such as small molecules, polymers, graphene oxides, and halide perovskites, have sparked considerable research interests for crossbar memristive materials for artificial neural networks. Nevertheless, some weaknesses, such as dissatisfactory environmental stability, irreproducible switching behavior, and lack of understanding of the switching mechanisms, inevitably limit their applications for such application. Thus, it is of vital importance to rationally design new organic materials for crossbar memristors and synapses, to thoroughly understand their mechanisms, and to characterize their performance.

Recently, Vishwanath et al. designed, fabricated, and evaluated one-dimensional halide perovskites for crossbar memristive materials for application in artificial neural networks. They synthesized two kinds of one-dimensional halide perovskites, one with the organic cation of propylpyridinium and the other with the organic cation of benzylpyridinium. The substituted pyridines were used as templating agents to construct the one-dimensional structures. Compared to the three-dimensional perovskites, these exhibit better resistive switching performance due to their larger band gaps.

In order to maximize the improvement of their reliability, endurance, and retention, a device configuration of Ag/PMMA/HP/PEDOT:PSS/ITO was adopted, in which the halide perovskites switching matrix is sandwiched between the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) isolated layers and the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). By employing the widely-used solution-processable technique, the team elaborately fabricated the largest dot point and crossbar halide perovskites memristive arrays so far (50000 devices across an area of 100 cm² and 16×16 crossbar).

Furthermore, they comprehensively analyzed the analog programming window for the halide perovskites. Concurrently, a spiking neural network with halide perovskite synapses was trained to classify the handwritten digits from the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology database, which corroborates the applicability of the spike-timing-dependent plasticity learning of one-dimensional halide perovskite memristive synapses.

In summary, this novel study pioneers a new path for high-performance neuromorphic computing with innovative halide perovskites as the active material. These insightful results not only offer a solid foundation for the future explorations of halide perovskites in state-of-the-art neuromorphic computing, but also highlight the significance of materials innovation in unlocking the potential of next-generation computing technologies.

To find out more, please read:

High-performance one-dimensional halide perovskite crossbar memristors and synapses for neuromorphic computing
Sujaya Kumar Vishwanath, Benny Febriansyah, Si En Ng, Tisita Das, Jyotibdha Acharya, Rohit Abraham John, Divyam Sharma, Putu Andhita Dananjaya, Metikoti Jagadeeswararao, Naveen Tiwari, Mohit Ramesh Chandra Kulkarni, Wen Siang Lew, Sudip Chakraborty, Arindam Basuf and Nripan Mathews
Mater. Horiz., 2024, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/d3mh02055j

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Wen Shi is currently an Associate Professor at School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-sen University and a Materials Horizons Community Board member. He received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Tsinghua University in 2017. From 2017 to 2021, he worked as a scientist at Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore. Dr. Shi’s current research interests are in theoretical computations and simulations of functional materials.