Highly integrated devices that combine energy storage with multi-functional sensing capabilities are pivotal for advancing the practical implementation of intelligent microsystems. However, their development is often hindered by inefficient manufacturing, reliability degradation stemming from interfacial mismatches, and challenges in achieving high-performance, interference-free operation. Herein, we demonstrate an ultrafast and efficient strategy to construct a monolithic multifunctional sensing and energy storage system via the Joule heating effect. This strategy enables seamless integration of all components within 8 s, intrinsically mitigating interfacial incompatibility and signal interference. Through the instantaneous thermal activation, the energy storage unit of anode-free Zn-ion micro-battery delivers a capacity of 850 µAh cm-2 and energy density of 1060 µWh cm-2, superior to most reported aqueous Zn-based micro-batteries. With a rapid charging time of 150 s, it powers the integrated device for over 6 h, achieving an impressive 24-h standby under low-current conditions after full charge. Furthermore, this flexible monolithic system can be directly integrated into unmanned systems such as robotic arms, enabling autonomous environmental perception and adaptive decision-making via machine learning, with object identification and classification accuracy exceeding 99%. This work paves the way for next-generation autonomous microrobots, smart healthcare, and human-machine interfaces.
Li et al. (Sat,) studied this question.