Pencil–paper on-skin electronics Xu, Yadong; Zhao, Ganggang; Zhu, Liang ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
08/2020, Volume:
117, Issue:
31
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Pencils and papers are ubiquitous in our society and have been widely used for writing and drawing, because they are easy to use, low-cost, widely accessible, and disposable. However, their ...applications in emerging skin-interfaced health monitoring and interventions are still not well explored. Herein, we report a variety of pencil–paper-based on-skin electronic devices, including biophysical (temperature, biopotential) sensors, sweat biochemical (pH, uric acid, glucose) sensors, thermal stimulators, and humidity energy harvesters. Among these devices, pencil-drawn graphite patterns (or combined with other compounds) serve as conductive traces and sensing electrodes, and office-copy papers work as flexible supporting substrates. The enabled devices can perform real-time, continuous, and high-fidelity monitoring of a range of vital biophysical and biochemical signals from human bodies, including skin temperatures, electrocardiograms, electromyograms, alpha, beta, and theta rhythms, instantaneous heart rates, respiratory rates, and sweat pH, uric acid, and glucose, as well as deliver programmed thermal stimulations. Notably, the qualities of recorded signals are comparable to those measured with conventional methods. Moreover, humidity energy harvesters are prepared by creating a gradient distribution of oxygen-containing groups on office-copy papers between pencildrawn electrodes. One single-unit device (0.87 cm²) can generate a sustained voltage of up to 480 mV for over 2 h from ambient humidity. Furthermore, a self-powered on-skin iontophoretic transdermal drug-delivery system is developed as an on-skin chemical intervention example. In addition, pencil–paper-based antennas, two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) circuits with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and batteries, reconfigurable assembly and biodegradable electronics (based on water-soluble papers) are explored.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The synthesis of alloys with long-range atomic-scale ordering (ordered intermetallics) is an emerging field of nanochemistry. Ordered intermetallic nanoparticles are useful for a wide variety of ...applications such as catalysis, superconductors, and magnetic devices. However, the preparation of nanostructured ordered intermetallics is challenging in comparison to disordered alloys, hindering progress in material development. Herein, we report a process for converting colloidally synthesized ordered intermetallic PdBi2 to ordered intermetallic Pd3Bi nanoparticles under ambient conditions by electrochemical dealloying. The low melting point of PdBi2 corresponds to low vacancy formation energies, which enables the facile removal of the Bi from the surface while simultaneously enabling interdiffusion of the constituent atoms via a vacancy diffusion mechanism under ambient conditions. The resulting phase-converted ordered intermetallic Pd3Bi exhibits 11 times and 3.5 times higher mass activity and high methanol tolerance for the oxygen reduction reaction compared with Pt/C and Pd/C, respectively, which is the highest reported for a Pd-based catalyst, to the best of our knowledge. These results establish a key development in the synthesis of noble-metal-rich ordered intermetallic phases with high catalytic activity and set forth guidelines for the design of ordered intermetallic compounds under ambient conditions.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Abstract
Materials keeping thickness in atomic scale but extending primarily in lateral dimensions offer properties attractive for many emerging applications. However, compared to crystalline ...counterparts, synthesis of atomically thin films in the highly disordered amorphous form, which avoids nonuniformity and defects associated with grain boundaries, is challenging due to their metastable nature. Here we present a scalable and solution-based strategy to prepare large-area, freestanding quasi-2D amorphous carbon nanomembranes with predominant sp
2
bonding and thickness down to 1–2 atomic layers, from coal-derived carbon dots as precursors. These atomically thin amorphous carbon films are mechanically strong with modulus of 400 ± 100 GPa and demonstrate robust dielectric properties with high dielectric strength above 20 MV cm
−1
and low leakage current density below 10
−4
A cm
−2
through a scaled thickness of three-atomic layers. They can be implemented as solution-deposited ultrathin gate dielectrics in transistors or ion-transport media in memristors, enabling exceptional device performance and spatiotemporal uniformity.
A NiCo2S4 nanoparticles composite, in-situ grown on rice husk hierarchical porous carbon, is synthesized through a facile one-step hydrothermal method for energy storage. The NiCo2S4 nanoparticles ...with a size of 20 ± 10 nm are homogeneously distributed on the carbon matrix, leading to a high material utilization and high capacity, significantly outperformed the pure NiCo2S4. The chemical bonds of C-O-Co and C-O-Ni between the NiCo2S4 nanoparticles and the carbon matrix not only result in a superior power density, but also improve the cycling stability. An asymmetrical supercapacitor is assembled using the composite material and commercial YP-50 activated carbon and shows high energy density, high power density and excellent cycling stability. The hydrothermal method can be extended to synthesize other composite materials for energy storage devices.
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•A rice husk hierarchical porous carbon - NiCo2S4 nanocomposite was synthesized.•The nanocomposite was prepared by a facile hydrothermal method.•Both electrodes and devices demonstrated high energy, power density and stability.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•A hierarchically porous carbon functionalized with Fe-Mn oxide was fabricated for superior removal of Hg(II) from water.•The composite exhibits high adsorption efficiency of 96.8% and fast ...adsorption rate for the removal of Hg(II).•The high efficiency is contributed by the synergy between physical and chemical adsorption.•The adsorption kinetics agrees with the pseudo-second order model, and isotherms are consistent with the Freundlich model.
The removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater by adsorption has been central to the environment for decades, where common adsorbent materials are often limited by poor efficiency, complex fabrication and long processing time. Porous carbon derived from biospecies holds promise to address the limitations. In this study we converted bagasse into a carbon composite having hierarchically porous structure; the composite’s dispersion phases – iron oxide and manganese oxide – were synthesized by a simple one-step liquid-phase reaction method. Featuring large specific surface area of 350.8 m2 g−1, the composite demonstrated exceptional Hg (II) removal efficiency of 96.8%, adsorption rate of up to 96.8% within 150 min and adsorption capacity of 9.8 mg g−1. In comparison with other removal materials, our work is outstanding in terms of both removal efficiency and synthesis simplicity. The high efficiency is attributed to the synergy between physical adsorption referring to hierarchically porous structure and chemical adsorption relating to functional complexation processes. It provides a new avenue for the development of high-performance adsorbent materials for heavy metal removal from aqueous media.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The synthesis of alloys with long-range atomic-scale ordering (ordered intermetallics) is an emerging field of nanochemistry. Ordered intermetallic nanoparticles are useful for a wide variety of ...applications such as catalysis, superconductors, and magnetic devices. However, the preparation of nanostructured ordered intermetallics is challenging in comparison to disordered alloys, hindering progress in material development. Herein, we report a process for converting colloidally synthesized ordered intermetallic PdBi
to ordered intermetallic Pd
Bi nanoparticles under ambient conditions by electrochemical dealloying. The low melting point of PdBi
corresponds to low vacancy formation energies, which enables the facile removal of the Bi from the surface while simultaneously enabling interdiffusion of the constituent atoms via a vacancy diffusion mechanism under ambient conditions. The resulting phase-converted ordered intermetallic Pd
Bi exhibits 11 times and 3.5 times higher mass activity and high methanol tolerance for the oxygen reduction reaction compared with Pt/C and Pd/C, respectively, which is the highest reported for a Pd-based catalyst, to the best of our knowledge. These results establish a key development in the synthesis of noble-metal-rich ordered intermetallic phases with high catalytic activity and set forth guidelines for the design of ordered intermetallic compounds under ambient conditions.
Full text
Available for:
IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The prevalence of orthopedic implants is increasing with an aging population. These patients are vulnerable to risks from periprosthetic infections and instrument failures. Here, we present a ...dual-functional smart polymer foil coating compatible with commercial orthopedic implants to address both septic and aseptic failures. Its outer surface features optimum bioinspired mechano-bactericidal nanostructures, capable of killing a wide spectrum of attached pathogens through a physical process to reduce the risk of bacterial infection, without directly releasing any chemicals or harming mammalian cells. On its inner surface in contact with the implant, an array of strain gauges with multiplexing transistors, built on single-crystalline silicon nanomembranes, is incorporated to map the strain experienced by the implant with high sensitivity and spatial resolution, providing information about bone-implant biomechanics for early diagnosis to minimize the probability of catastrophic instrument failures. Their multimodal functionalities, performance, biocompatibility, and stability are authenticated in sheep posterolateral fusion model and rodent implant infection model.
【Objective】High-frequency microwave carriers (GHz) with tunable capability have a wide range of applications in 5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (5G)/ 6th Generation Mobile ...Communication Technology (6G) wireless networks, radar systems, and satellite communications. Due to the relatively simple structure of the system, the large bandwidth and the low loss, the technical scheme of generating high-frequency tunable microwave carriers based on photonic technology has attracted extensive attention from domestic and international research teams. Current photogenerated microwave experiments are mostly conducted in C-band wavelengths because of the mature commercial devices. Meanwhile, the Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)-Radio Over Fiber (ROF) technology integrates the WDM technology with the ROF technology so as to flexibly realize the combining/splitting of microwave bands with the help of the combining/splitting of WDM system in the optical frequency domain. The ROF part of the system employs