Pengcheng Gao

This study investigated how material stiffness and surface texture differentially influence climbers’ sensory perception and biomechanical force patterns under dynamic versus static conditions. Twelve climbing hold designs—three materials (PLA, PEBA, TPU) crossed with four surface patterns—were tested on 30 climbers across three skill levels using sensory evaluation, six-axis force measurement, and physical characterization. Surface pattern dominated perception during dynamic climbing, while material properties became primary during static grasping, constituting a dynamic–static perceptual weight reversal. A three-layer association model revealed progressively decreasing correlation strength from physical properties through biomechanical force to sensory perception. Machine learning identified two grip strategy types varying with skill level. Individual grip force varied 22.7-fold, exceeding material or pattern effects. Gender differences in pattern preference were also observed. These findings challenge the assumption of a single optimal hold design and support context-specific, individualized climbing hold engineering.

The functionalization of two-dimensional nanochannels (2D nanochannels) or even subnanoconfinements using diverse responsive molecules represents a wonderful combination for smart ion channels. However, this combination requires the careful chemical design of responsive molecules to maintain the elaborate structure of the 2D channel. Herein, we report the functionalization of 2D channels using polydopamine (PDA), which acts as an adhesive agent for binding responsive molecules to graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and partially reduces GO to rGO, resulting in the formation of a stable 2D stacking structure. The positively charged two-dimensional channels, formed through interactions between analyte molecules and PDA, induce a rapid increase in ionic current, driven by deprotonation under nanoscale or subnanoscale confinement. Simulation results demonstrate a linear relationship between the current response ratio and decreasing positive charge density on the surfaces of the two-dimensional channels. The universal adhesion of PDA provides 2D channels with the ability to respond to temperature, potassium ions, and UV irradiation individually or in combination.

Vegetable fermentation represents a globally ubiquitous yet overlooked source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study quantified GHG fluxes and integrated 16S rRNA sequencing to elucidate the potential microbial mechanisms using a 90-day cabbage fermentation model. High-salt conditions enhanced cumulative CO₂ emissions 2.1-fold relative to the low-salt treatment. This amplification was driven by salt-induced osmotic dehydration accelerating dissolved organic carbon release from vegetable tissues, which likely fueled heterofermentative guilds (e.g., Leuconostoc) and resulted in elevated CO₂ production. Conversely, low-to-medium salt concentrations favored N₂O generation via nitrification and denitrification by salt-sensitive Proteobacteria (e.g., Enterobacter), whereas high salinity shifted nitrogen flux toward dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), thereby minimizing gaseous losses. Globally, vegetable fermentation is estimated to contribute between 16,483 and 56,872 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent annually. These findings establish vegetable fermentation as an important GHG source, offering new insights for mitigating the food industry's environmental footprint.

2D nanochannels have drawn significant interest as a means to develop nanofluidic devices with great potential for future sensing. Target recognition in the 2D nanochannels of a sensing system has been verified to change the ionic passageways to obtain high sensitivity, but until recently, the signal mechanisms have rarely been investigated. Here, explicit hydrophobic interactions and charge effects on target‐induced ionic signals are demonstrated by using hydrophobic 2D nanochannels and hydrophilic negatively charged DNA complex‐functionalized nanochannels. The comparison of the signals from two types of lithium salts with different anions (Tf₂N⁻ and Cl⁻ have similar dehydrated sizes, whereas Cl⁻ has larger hydration shells) in these functionalized 2D nanochannels reveals mechanisms of ion transport: 1) the hydrophobic interactions govern the selection of incident ions to allow the transport of ions with small hydration shells; 2) the charge effect enhances ion transport rates. On the basis of ion transport mechanisms, this strategy for target recognition has achieved detection of target DNA with a sensitivity of 1 aM. The results provide new avenues for studying the effects of target recognition on ionic signals, which is important for advancements in nanoscale sensing, nanofluidics, iontronics, and other related technologies.

Nanofluidic iontronics, including the field-effect ionic diode (FE-ID) and field-effect ionic transistor (FE-IT), represent emerging nanofluidic logic devices that have been employed in sensitive analyses. Making analyte recognitions in predefined nanofluidic devices has been verified to improve the sensitivity and selectivity using a single ionic signal, such as ionic current amplification, rectification, and Coulomb blockade. However, the detection of analytes in complex systems generally necessitates more diverse signals beyond just ionic currents. Here, we demonstrated that dual ionic signals, steady ionic switching ratio, and transient response time (t_s) act as detection signals modulated by dual-split gate voltages along the nanochannel for the detection of charged analytes. With an increase in gate voltage, the switching ratio decreases in both FE-ID and FE-IT, whereas the response time exhibits an exponential increase specifically in the FE-ID. Moreover, the response time shows no significant correlation with the external transmembrane voltage in the FE-IT. These results contribute to the optimization of reconfigurable iontronics through gate voltage modulation, providing a theoretical foundation for multiple ionic signal detection.