News on China's scientific and technological development.

China advances in medical science and technological innovation

Progress has been made in China's medical science and technology innovation in the past ten years, with a number of scientific and technological achievements having emerged, officials of China's National Health Commission (NHC) said at a press conference on Thursday.

According to the health regulator, it has led and organized two major national science and technology projects, namely, the development of new drugs and the prevention and control of infectious diseases since 2008.

A total of 80 new drugs were approved for marketing, 16 times the number before the two projects started, said Liu Dengfeng, an official of the Department of Health Science, Technology and Education at NHC. All of the drugs are globally new innovative ones that have not been approved and marketed anywhere else worldwide.

China has established 50 national clinical medical research centers in 20 fields, which are related to common illnesses.
In addition, 75 state key laboratories in the field of biomedicine have been established. Five national facilities for translational medicine, which is used to transform basic research results into clinical application, has been established, according to Liu.

The health regulator said, China's actions since the COVID-19 outbreak in identifying pathogens, conducting origin tracing and carrying out research and development of vaccines and drugs, were relying on the medical talents and technology platforms it has accumulated over the years.

The number of physicians in China hit 4.28 million at the end of 2021, with the number of 3.04 physicians per thousand population. It is close to the standard of developed countries, Liu added.

Chinese scientists developed new way to create flexible electroluminescent devices. They demonstrated a soft robot with the "artificial camouflage that can instantly self-adapt to the environment".

Paper published in English:

Integrated 3D printing of flexible electroluminescent devices and soft robots​

Abstract​

Flexible and stretchable light emitting devices are driving innovation in myriad applications, such as wearable and functional electronics, displays and soft robotics. However, the development of flexible electroluminescent devices via conventional techniques remains laborious and cost-prohibitive. Here, we report a facile and easily-accessible route for fabricating a class of flexible electroluminescent devices and soft robotics via direct ink writing-based 3D printing. 3D printable ion conducting, electroluminescent and insulating dielectric inks were developed, enabling facile and on-demand creation of flexible and stretchable electroluminescent devices with good fidelity. Robust interfacial adhesion with the multilayer electroluminescent devices endowed the 3D printed devices with attractive electroluminescent performance. Integrated our 3D printed electroluminescent devices with a soft quadrupedal robot and sensing units, an artificial camouflage that can instantly self-adapt to the environment by displaying matching color was fabricated, laying an efficient framework for the next generation soft camouflages.

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News report in Chinese:

利用多材料3D打印技术制造柔性电致发光装置​

南方科技大学机械与能源工程系副教授刘吉和团队描述了一种制造柔性、可拉伸发光装置的3D打印策略，该装置可与软体

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(10.250, -0.15, -1.44%)集成。他们用一个能根据背景改变颜色的软体机器人进行了演示，该策略或能用于开发下一代智能显示器、可穿戴电子器件和人造伪装。相关研究8月23日发表于《自然—通讯》。

柔性电子器件的传统制造方法涉及多个步骤和昂贵的工具，限制了它们在快速成型和定制化方面的应用前景。因此，亟需开发一种简易、多功能制造策略来满足技术和光学应用对柔性电致发光装置不断增长的需求。

刘吉和合作者报道了一种利用多材料3D打印技术制造柔性电致发光装置的方法。他们配置了可用于3D打印的离子导电、电致发光和绝缘墨水，并用该墨水制造出操作便捷、可按需生产的柔性可拉伸电致发光装置。

他们用该方法制作了一款可发蓝光的柔性腕带，还将该装置集成到一个软体机器人中，该机器人能像变色龙一样根据背景无时延地改变表面颜色。研究者指出，该装置即使在不同的机械形变模式（如弯曲、扭曲、拉伸）下依然具有电致发光稳定性。

“这种方法凸显出定制化在电致发光装置制造中的优势，或能用于为柔性电子器件和伪装系统开发定制化装置。”刘吉和合作者表示。

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China made a series of major breakthroughs in "natural rubber compound materials (天然橡胶复合材料)".

中国热科院在新型天然橡胶复合材料领域连续取得重要进展​

一、高性能复合导电纤维

MXene具有极高的赝电容性能，是制备储能纤维的优选材料。但是利用纯MXene制备的纤维韧性差，很难满足可编制的要求，限制了其大规模生产和应用。加工所科技人员通过在MXene纤维中引入CNTs（碳纳米管），利用界面调控和湿法纺丝技术，突破了高韧性MXene纤维制备技术，研制了高韧性、高强度、高导电的MXene/CNT复合纤维。优异的力学性能使其能够编织成用于能源储存的织物，扩展了MXene纤维作为高速率电极的应用，同时也为大规模湿法纺丝MXene纤维提供了新思路（图1、图2）。该工作以“Carbon Nanotube Boosts the Toughness and Conductivity of Wet-Spun MXene Fibers for Fiber-Shaped Super capacitors”为题发表在Carbon上，加工所为第一单位，联合培养硕士研究生赵旭和特聘专家张吉振博士为共同第一作者，陶金龙博士为通讯作者。

Abstract​

Mechanically strong and electrically conducting fibers, particularly those with high specific capacitances, are promising fiber-shaped electrodes for fiber- and textile-based energy storage devices like fiber-shaped

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(FSCs). However, a high loading of fillers or bridging agents is commonly required to fabricate fiber electrodes with good mechanical strength, which compromises

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and energy storage performance. Herein, an easily scalable wet-spinning strategy is reported to fabricate multifunctional Ti3C2Tx MXene/carbon

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(MXene/CNT) hybrid fibers from a harmonious mixture of

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and CNT in water and using acetic acid as a

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. The hybrid fiber achieved high strength (61 ± 7 MPa), good

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(1142.08 ± 40.04 S cm−1) and excellent energy storage performance (∼295 F g−1 at 5 mV s−1) at a very low CNT content of ∼1 wt%. When CNT loading increased to ∼9 wt%, the maximum strain at broken reached 161 ± 19 MPa and conductivity further increased to 1715 ± 22 S cm−1. The excellent mechanical performance allows hybrid fibers to be knitted into textiles for energy storage textiles. The assembled FSCs exhibit energy and power densities of ∼6.08 mW h cm−3 and ∼6440 mW cm−3, respectively. The excellent performance of MXene/CNT fiber and good feasibility for scalable production will open up new opportunities for the development of wearable and textile-based devices in the near future.

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二、可书写电子电路的MXene “墨水”

与传统印刷方式相比，直接在物体表面利用圆珠笔书写电路，提供了更多的个性化及可操作性。MXene是制备导电电路和电子柔性器件的理想原料之一，但是水溶性的MXene溶液因在室温下容易被氧化而不能长期保存。针对上述问题，加工所科技人员通过溶剂复配策略，突破了室温下可稳定保存的MXene油墨制备技术，研制了具有良好流动性和书写能力的MXene油墨，并成功用商用圆珠笔在柔性基板上书写电子电路，这种电路具有快速、准确的触摸性和水位测量响应，表明在柔性电子技术领域存在潜在应用价值（图4）。该工作以“Environmentally stable MXene ink for direct writing flexible electronics”为题发表在Nanoscale上，加工所为第一单位，孔娜博士为第一作者。

Abstract​

MXene inks are promising candidates for fabricating conductive circuits and flexible devices. Here, MXene inks prepared from solvent mixtures demonstrate long-term stability and can be employed in commercial rollerball pens to write electronic circuits on flexible substrates. Such circuits exhibit a fast and accurate capacitive response for touch-boards and water level measurement, indicating the excellent potential of these MXene inks in electrical device fabrication.

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三、高导电多孔泡沫

构筑高功率密度且充放电速度快的储能器件是发展便携式电子设备的关键技术。MXene作为一种新型二维高导电材料，其超高电容、良好的机械强度在储能器件设计方面展现出独特的优势。然而，受分子间范德华力的影响，导致活性表面降低，阻碍了电子的转移。针对上述问题，加工所科研人员采用牺牲模板法成功制备出具有高度互连孔道的MXene泡沫，丰富的孔道结构有效地扩大了比表面积，为层间的电子移动提供了足够多的有效位点，加快了电子转移速率。当其作为电极材料时表现出远高于MXene薄膜的电容，相较于已商用化的超级电容器，由MXene泡沫所制备的超级电容器表现出了远高于传统电容器的电化学性能，尤其是在功率和能量密度上实现了大的突破。此外，通过调控模板尺寸大小及其负载量，探究了孔径数量和尺寸调控对MXene泡沫内部电子转移的影响，揭示了模板尺寸对控制MXene基泡沫的孔径和孔隙率的重要性，为高性能超级电容器的多孔电极设计提供了重要参考（图5）。该工作以“Understanding the Effect of Pore Size on Electrochemical Capacitive Performance of MXene Foams”为题发表在Small上，联合培养硕士研究生吕可和加工所张吉振博士为共同第一作者。

Abstract​

Wearable electronics demand energy storage devices with high energy density and fast charging-discharging rates. Although various porous electrodes have been constructed, the effect of pore size on the capacitive performance of 2D nanomaterials has been rarely studied. Herein, flexible MXene foams with significantly different pore structures are fabricated using varying diameter polystyrene (PS) spheres (80, 310, and 570 nm), which shows uniform pores and interconnected pores providing enough active sites and a good electrical connection for electron transfer. Noteworthy, when MXene flakes and templates (310 nm) have a similar size, the foam delivers the highest gravimetric capacitance of 474 ± 12 F g−1 at 2 mV s−1 than others. Additionally, the mass ratio between MXene and PS controls the packing density of foams influencing the inner resistance of foam electrodes. A carbon nanotube is introduced to further improve the electrical conductivity of foams to achieve a capacitance of 462 ± 8 F g−1 at 2 mV s−1 and retains 205 ± 10 F g−1 at 1000 mV s−1, demonstrating promises in energy storage applications and providing an insightful guidance for designing 2D nanomaterials-based porous electrodes for supercapacitors.

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此外，加工所科技人员以天然橡胶泡沫和MXene为材料构筑了具有良好灵敏度和传感区间的柔性压力传感器，该工作以“Constructing conductive titanium carbide nanosheet (MXene) network on natural rubber foam framework for flexible strain sensor”为题发表在J Mater Sci: Mater Electron上，加工所为第一单位，张吉振博士和陶金龙博士为共同通讯作者。

Abstract​

Sensors, as one of the crucial components of wearable electronics, have attracted much attention due to their extensive application in healthcare, human–machine interfaces, electronic skins (E-skins), rehabilitation, and internet of things. However, there is still a challenge to fabricate flexible strain sensors with both good sensitivity and large working strain range. Herein, a facile, scalable, and low-cost strategy is developed to prepare highly sensitive strain sensors based on natural rubber foam and Ti3C2Tx nanosheeets (MXene/NR) by dip-coating method. The fabricated MXene/NR composite exhibits excellent strain sensitivity and large strain range. The gage factor of the MXene/NR composite reaches 14 in the strain range of 0–5% with a low pressure limitation of detection (435 Pa). Additionally, the sensing range is as large as 0–80% of strain and shows good stability during the pressing and relaxing cycles. It is demonstrated that the MXene/NR composite could be used to detect motions, such as finger pressing and step monitoring, suggesting it is a promising candidate for fabricating wearable electronics.

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The Hefei city-area quantum communication network officially goes online in Hefei, Anhui on Aug 28. This is so far the largest city-area quantum network in China.

The network links 8 core service sites (核心网站点) and 159 entry points (接入网站点) with 1147km of optical fiber. It can serve about 500 institutiion users with quantum-based secure communication and data encryption. It has more users and applications than other existing quantum networks in China.

The construction of the city-area quantum network started in 2012 as a prototype. Right now there are more than 20 companies doing business related with quantum-based communication, computation and precision measurement. A quantum technology industry sector is emerging in Hefei.

[FYI the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) is in Hefei. The university is leading in quantum communication in the world.]

合肥8月26日电 (记者 张俊)中国规模最大的量子城域网——合肥量子城域网26日正式开通。

据合肥市数据资源局局长陈睿介绍，合肥量子城域网包含8个核心网站点和159个接入网站点，光纤全长1147公里，该网络应用了业界领先的“经典-量子波分复用技术”，可为近500家机构提供量子安全接入服务和数据传输加密服务，是中国规模最大、用户最多、应用最全的量子保密通信城域网。

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据合肥量子城域网核心设备与技术保障单位——科大国盾量子技术股份有限公司项目总监周雷介绍，早在2012年，合肥就率先建成了合肥城域量子通信试验示范网，经过10年的发展，不仅验证了量子保密通信技术成熟度，还促进了相关产业发展。

目前，合肥已在量子通信、量子计算、量子精密测量等领域培育形成了20多家量子科技企业，初步形成较为完整的产业发展链条。

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Non-China related but posting here due to its significance

Scientists Grow “Synthetic” Embryo With Brain and Beating Heart – Without Eggs or Sperm​

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Scientists from the University of Cambridge have created model embryos from mouse stem cells that form a brain, a beating heart, and the foundations of all the other organs of the body. It represents a new avenue for recreating the first stages of life.

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The team of researchers, led by Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, developed the embryo model without eggs or sperm. Instead, they used stem cells – the body’s master cells, which can develop into almost any cell type in the body.

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The stem cells self-organized into structures that progressed through the successive developmental stages until they had beating hearts and the foundations of the brain They also had the yolk sac where the embryo develops and gets nutrients from in its first weeks. Unlike other synthetic embryos, the Cambridge-developed models reached the point where the entire brain, including the anterior portion, began to develop. This is a further point in development than has been achieved in any other stem cell-derived model.

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"Our mouse embryo model not only develops a brain, but also a beating heart, all the components that go on to make up the body,” said Zernicka-Goetz, Professor in Mammalian Development and Stem Cell Biology in Cambridge’s Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience. “It’s just unbelievable that we’ve got this far. This has been the dream of our community for years, and major focus of our work for a decade and finally we’ve done it"

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China Claims New World Record for Strongest Steady Magnetic Field​

AEROFUGIA, a company owned by Geely Group, reveals an electric flying car to make its first test flight by the end of 2022. Communication and guidance will be provided the GeeSats of GEESPACE, another subsidiary of Geely Group.

Zhang Xing's research group from the Aviation Academy of China reports a new discovery of interfacial nanostructures for solid-state lithium batteries

Tsinghua News Network, August 25th Recently, the micro-nano measurement team led by Professor Zhang Xing from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Tsinghua University has made important progress in the study of the nanostructure of the interface layer of all-solid-state lithium metal batteries. It was found that the single-crystal lithium sulfide layer formed at the interface between the lithium anode and the sulfide electrolyte at room temperature can effectively passivate the interface, while the polycrystalline lithium sulfide interface layer formed at 60 °C will lead to ultra-high interfacial impedance.

Figure 1. Display of research results
All-solid-state lithium metal batteries have broad application prospects in the fields of energy storage, electric vehicles, and portable electronic devices due to their significantly improved safety and energy density. However, the interface problem is still the key to limiting the performance of all-solid-state lithium batteries. The high-impedance interfacial layer caused by the instability of the electrode-electrolyte interface will dominate the internal resistance of the battery, especially for the interface formed by the sulfide electrolyte and the strongly reducing lithium anode. Numerous experimental and theoretical studies have shown that sulfide electrolytes have a narrow electrochemical window, and products such as lithium sulfide and lithium phosphide are generated when they are in contact with metallic lithium. However, the existing research mainly focuses on the precise determination of the interface reaction products, while the nanostructure of the interface layer, which is closely related to the battery performance, is rarely studied, which largely determines whether the interface can achieve good passivation.
Based on this, Zhang Xing's group and collaborators have used in situ impedance spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, cryo-transmission electron microscopy, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to study the nanostructure of the interfacial layer of lithium metal and sulfide electrolyte at different temperatures. structure and its evolution. Impedance spectroscopy and Raman test results show that the interfacial reaction product of lithium metal and sulfide electrolyte is mainly lithium sulfide, and the thickness of the interfacial layer increases significantly with the increase of temperature. The interfacial impedance of the battery kept at 60°C for 5 days will increase by more than 2 orders of magnitude compared with the initial state. The nanostructure of the interface layer was analyzed by cryo-transmission electron microscopy, and it was found that the interface layer formed by metal lithium and sulfide electrolyte at room temperature was single crystal Li 2 S, which had a good passivation effect on the interface; while at 60 °C, the interface layer was Significantly thickened polycrystalline Li 2 S, and the reaction process is accompanied by a disorder-order phase transition. Numerous grain boundaries, dislocations, and increased thickness within the interfacial layer at high temperatures lead to ultra-high interfacial resistance.

Figure 2. Impedance evolution and Raman spectroscopy analysis of metallic lithium-sulfide electrolyte interface at different temperatures

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of the nanostructure and evolution of the interfacial layer formed by a single Li dendrite and sulfide electrolyte at different temperatures
Further, the researchers used ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate the evolution process of the interface structure from the atomic scale, and found that at high temperature, there is a higher degree of structural disorder and reaction depth, and the sulfur atoms in the electrolyte and the lithium atoms in the metal lithium interact with each other. The spread is obvious. The radial distribution function evolution further proves the accelerated breaking of phosphorus-sulfur bonds at high temperature, and the formation of Li 2 S and a small amount of Li-P compounds. The simulation results indicate that the weak PS bond in the sulfide electrolyte is the root cause of the ultra-high interfacial impedance at high temperature. By simulating the protective effect of different kinds of artificial interface layers on the interface, the researchers found that the nitrides have ultra-high reduction stability, which is expected to completely suppress the interface side reactions. This study provides valuable insights into the nanoscale interfacial layer structure at the Li metal and sulfide electrolyte interface and will provide rational guidance for future interface design modifications.

Figure 4. Atomic-scale structural evolution of metallic lithium-sulfide electrolyte interface
The related research results are titled "Nanostructure of interphase layer between a single Li dendrite and sulfide electrolyte in all-solid-state Li batteries". Published online August 24 in ACS Energy Letters .

China’s Sun-probing satellite achieves 5 historic ‘firsts,’ data shared globally: developer

By Fan Anqi, Wan Lin and Published: Aug 30, 2022 09:51 PM


The press conference on August 30, 2022 releasing China's first solar probing satellite's observation results in Beijing. Photo: Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology

China's first solar probing satellite released its observation results in Beijing on Tuesday, setting five "world's firsts" which are of great significance to solar exploration missions and will boost China's influence in the field of space science.

Since its launch in October 2021, the satellite has collected and transmitted some 50 terabits (Tb) of observation data and 300 Tb of scientific data, all of it open for world players to share, and these observations have already been widely applied by scholars in the US, France and Germany, the Global Times learned from the project developer.

The satellite, named Xihe, . Weighing 510 kilograms, it operates at an altitude of 517 kilometers in a dusk-dawn Sun-synchronous orbit.

It's equipped with an imaging spectrometer, making it the first in the world to have realized spectral imaging observations of the H-alpha band of the Sun, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), designer and manufacturer of the satellite, told the Global Times in a statement on Tuesday.


Photo: CFP

The H-alpha band is one of the best spectral lines to study solar activity. By analyzing the data of this line, people can obtain changes of physical quantities such as atmospheric temperatures and velocity during a solar eruption, and study the dynamic process and physical mechanism of a solar eruption.

The spectrometer on the Xihe has a resolution of 0.0024 nanometers, about 10 times higher than the resolution of ground-based optical filters, reaching the international advanced level.

Each spectral scan image contains more than 300 photos, which can be regarded as a "CT scan" of the Sun's lower atmosphere. In each image, information of nearly 16 million points on the solar surface is reflected.

In addition to the H-alpha band spectral imaging, it has also for the first time in the world obtained the fine structures of the SiΙ and FeΙ spectral lines in orbit. Based on these observations, the activity occurring in the solar atmosphere can be recorded in detail, and the physical processes of solar activity can be studied.

So far, the Xihe has observed nearly 100 solar outbursts. Related research work is underway.

In another first, the satellite has applied magnetic levitation technology in orbit to increase accuracy and stability during operation.

The technology has raised the attitude control level of the satellite by one to two orders of magnitude, reaching the international advanced level. The technology will be promoted in next-generation space missions such as high-resolution remote sensing, solar stereo exploration and exoplanet discovery, among others.

"Solar activity has a great impact on Earth, especially the radiation of cosmic rays and solar wind, which can cause serious interference to the Earth's magnetic field, including communications systems. Therefore, it is necessary to study the movement of the Sun," Song Zhongping, a TV commentator who closely follows China's space program, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

China plans to carry out solar research programs including the Sun-Earth Lagrange L5 point exploration, observing the Sun from different directions and distances, to address important scientific questions such as the generation and evolution of the solar magnetic field and its relationship with solar activity, as well as the physical mechanism of solar eruptions and their impact on space weather.

The Sun-Earth Lagrange L5 point project is considered as vital for the development of solar exploration in China.

Using the special advantage of the Sun-Earth Lagrange L5 point, probes can stably observe the Sun and interplanetary space for a long time, and observe the active regions of the Sun that will face the Earth four to five days in advance. They can also monitor the whole process of a solar eruption spreading to Earth.

International solar exploration has entered a new stage, with various technologies and methods of all-dimensional, multi-view and multi-band exploration making great progress.

India plans to implement the AdityA-1 program in 2022, which will place a satellite in the halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system for integrated solar observation.

NASA's PUNCH mission, which consists of four suitcase-sized satellites, will be launched in 2025 to study the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, and how it generates the solar wind, according to Science Daily, a US-based media outlet.

A China-Europe joint space mission, Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, is scheduled to send satellites into space before the end of 2024 to study the interaction mechanism between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere.

Chinese researchers develop anti-SARS-CoV-2 nanomaterial​

Xinhua | Updated: 2022-08-31 09:51

BEIJING -- Chinese researchers have recently developed a nanomaterial that targets the spike protein of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Delta and Omicron, and promotes viral elimination.

The research published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology revealed an ultrathin two-dimensional compound nanosheet made of Cuprum, Indium, Phosphorus and Sulfur (CIPS) as a new agent combating SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The researchers from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, the Institute of High Energy Physics under the CAS, and the Kunming Institute of Zoology under the CAS developed the nanomaterial and its anti-viral mechanism.

According to the study, CIPS exhibits an extremely high and selective binding capacity for the receptor binding domain of the spike protein of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, such as Delta and Omicron.

Testing shows that when associated with CIPS, the virus is quickly eliminated by the host's macrophages, suggesting CIPS could be used to capture the virus and facilitate virus elimination by the host.

Testing also shows that CIPS can inhibit viral entry and infection in cells, organoids and mice, and effectively relieve lung inflammation in mice caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The study demonstrates the potential of CIPS as a nanodrug for safe and effective therapy to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection, and as a decontamination agent and surface-coating material to reduce SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.