Advanced Materials Technologies最新文献

Flexible Throat Patch

In article number 2400059, Wonki Hong proposes a sensory transformation approach for machine learning-based dietary analysis and voice recognition. Based on a flexible patch that converts the sense of tactile into hearing and taste, it analyzes the vibrations and movements of the laryngeal muscles to understand pronunciation and peristalsis to determine the type of food consumed.

Magnetic Microgrippers

In article number 2400292, Chia-Yuan Chen and co-workers develop a magnetic microgripper to grasp particles with different sizes per cycle. Precise control over the gripper's motion is achieved through the in-house magnetic coil system. The gripper arms can exhibit sequentially opening and closing to facilitate the concurrent release and capture of particles for various biomedical applications.

Smart responsive materials that can alter their function in response to environmental changes are attractive for their potential applications in intelligent devices and products. Herein, a smart material that exhibits reversible changes in multiple properties upon variations in humidity or temperature is created. The material spontaneously transits between hydrated and dehydrated states in response to fluctuations in the surrounding humidity or temperature. Consisting of a mixture of poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) with urea linkages (PPGurea) and ionic liquid [EMIM][TFSI], the transition is attributed to a series of synergetic interactions among various chemical components and groups, including ether-cation coordination, water-anion complex, urea-urea bidentate hydrogen bonds, and cation–anion electrostatic interactions. In the hydrated state, with a very small amount (4–5 wt%) of spontaneously absorbed moisture content, the smart material is soft, transparent, and conductive, and possesses rapid self-healing ability. Upon dehydration, the material transits into a phase-separated system with PPG-rich and IL-rich phases, resulting in opacity, severely reduced ionic conductivity, yet significantly enhanced stiffness, strength, and toughness. The drastic change in multiple properties makes it an intelligent material well-suited for various smart applications such as sensors, 3D printed optoelectronics and smart windows, which can automatically alter their functions to adapt to environmental changes.

The multi-beam discharge plasma sintering (MB-SPS) method is successfully applied to the preparation of Bi₂Te₃-based thermoelectric (TE) films with insulating substrates. Herein, the impact of uniaxial stress on the microstructure evolution and TE performance are explored systematically. The results indicate that the increase of uniaxial stress promotes the preferential growth of Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ (BST) grains along the (000l) crystal plane, leading to the remarkable increase in carrier mobility. The maximum (000l) preferential orientation factor reaches 80% for the BST/epoxy (EP) film sintered under 25 MPa, which is 3.08 times higher than that of BST/EP film sintered at 10 MPa. While the highest power factor reaches 2.36 mW m⁻¹ K⁻² at 300 K for the BST/EP film sintered under 20 MPa, increased by 97% as compared with that of the film sintered under 10 MPa. This work once again confirms that the MB-SPS technology is an effective approach to prepare high-performance Bi₂Te₃-based films with insulating substrates and demonstrates that the (000l) preferential orientation and TE performance of the films can be further enhanced by an appropriate uniaxial stress.

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites pose a significant societal challenge. In response, scientists are developing advanced technology to enhance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of such diseases. One such promising technology is microfluidic systems, which are utilized in organ-on-a-chip systems to replicate the microenvironments of organs. These systems have potential applications in drug screening, disease modeling, and personalized medicine. This review provides an overview of recent advances in organ-on-a-chip platforms and their potential for preventing and diagnosing various infections. After discussing traditional techniques employed in studying infectious diseases, the role of microfluidic platforms in detecting infections is delved in. It is expound on advanced microfluidic-based strategies for infection diagnosis, such as the polymerase chain reaction-based microfluidic devices, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay-based microfluidic devices, hierarchical nanofluidic molecular enrichment systemand µWestern blotting-based microfluidic devices, and smartphone-based microfluidic devices. Additionally, future research challenges and perspectives are discussed on microfluidic systems in biomedical and regenerative medicine applications. Consequently, microfluidic platforms have the potential to serve as fundamental frameworks for understanding infectious diseases, thereby leading to personalized regenerative medicine.hierarchical nanofluidic molecular enrichment system

Wearable technology excels in estimating kinematic and physiological data, but estimating biological torques remains an open challenge. Deformation of the skin above contracting muscles—surface-level muscle deformation—has emerged as a promising signal for joint torque estimation. However, a lack of ground-truth measures of surface-level muscle deformation has complicated the evaluation of wearable sensors designed to measure surface-level muscle deformation. A non-contact methodology is proposed for ground-truth measurement of surface-level muscle deformation using a 2D laser profilometer. It shows how three metrics of surface-level muscle deformation—peak radial displacement: r = 0.94 ± 0.05, surface curvature: r = 0.78 ± 0.10, surface strain: r = 0.83 ± 0.12—correlate strongly to changes in volitional elbow torque, further exploring the impact of measurement location or joint angle on these relationships. A nonlinear, lead-lag relationship between surface-level muscle deformation and torque is also found. The findings suggest that surface-level muscle deformation is a promising signal for non-invasive, real-time estimates of torque. By standardizing measurement, the methodology can help inform the design of future wearable sensors.

Magnetostrictive thin films, exhibit significant utility as functionalization materials for Surface acoustic wave sensors designed for magnetic field measurements. This research investigates the influence of annealing under vacuum and magnetic field at various temperatures on the magnetic properties of the FeCo/TbCo₂ thin film and therefore on the sensitivity of shear and Rayleigh acoustic waveguides functionalized with these magnetic layers. The observed effects include a reduction in magnetic anisotropy field and an increase in magnetostriction. XPS and TEM coupled with EDS microanalysis provide insights into the variations in the properties of the nanostructured magnetic film. To safeguard the magnetic film, a thin layer of SiO₂ is deposited on top, serving as a protective shield. The inclusion of this layer amplifies sensitivity to applied magnetic fields for modes with shear polarization while reducing sensitivity for Rayleigh mode. In ST-cut Quartz, the shear waves become waveguided upon the incorporation of magnetic thin films, with further enhancement achieved by introducing a SiO₂ layer. Rayleigh waves are evanescent modes, the penetration depth is in the order of wavelength, and the addition of SiO₂ decrease the wave confinement and therefore the sensitivity. The findings are supported by a theoretical model and experimentally validated results.

In recent years, multicolor electrochromic devices (ECDs) have attracted much attention due to their application potential for rich color similar to RGB mode. Although organic electrochromic (EC) materials are widely used in multicolor electrochromism because of their multicolor properties, remarkable weatherability remains challenging. Inorganic EC materials especially transition metal oxide are particularly attractive for excellent weatherability in ECD fabrication. Moreover, by selection of electrolytes, better ionic transfer efficiency can be rendered in the EC process. Although the morphology regulation of the EC film and the selection of electrolytes in the ion transmission layer play important roles in optimizing EC performance and have been extensively studied, a systematic and comprehensive review is lacking. In this review, the morphology regulation of the EC film and selection rules of electrolytes in the multicolor ECDs is focused, and the advantages and disadvantages of existing ways are discussed. The current application of multicolor ECDs is also outlined and it is hoped that this review can contribute some inspiration to designing and improving multicolor ECDs.