Recent advances in soft materials and system integration technologies have provided a unique opportunity to design various types of wearable flexible hybrid electronics (WFHE) for advanced human ...healthcare and human–machine interfaces. The hybrid integration of soft and biocompatible materials with miniaturized wireless wearable systems is undoubtedly an attractive prospect in the sense that the successful device performance requires high degrees of mechanical flexibility, sensing capability, and user‐friendly simplicity. Here, the most up‐to‐date materials, sensors, and system‐packaging technologies to develop advanced WFHE are provided. Details of mechanical, electrical, physicochemical, and biocompatible properties are discussed with integrated sensor applications in healthcare, energy, and environment. In addition, limitations of the current materials are discussed, as well as key challenges and the future direction of WFHE. Collectively, an all‐inclusive review of the newly developed WFHE along with a summary of imperative requirements of material properties, sensor capabilities, electronics performance, and skin integrations is provided.
Recent advances in soft materials and system integration technologies have provided a unique opportunity to design various types of wearable flexible hybrid electronics (WFHE) for advanced human healthcare and human–machine interfaces. The most up‐to‐date materials, sensors, and system‐packaging technologies to develop advanced WFHE are provided.
Large-scale winter teleconnection of the East Atlantic/West Russia (EA/WR) over the Atlantic and surrounding regions is examined in order to quantify its impacts on temperature and precipitation and ...identify the physical mechanisms responsible for its existence. A rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis of the upper-tropospheric monthly height field captures successfully the EA/WR pattern and its interannual variation, with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) as the first mode. EA/WR’s climate impact extends from eastern North America to Eurasia. The positive (negative) EA/WR produces positive (negative) temperature anomalies over the eastern US, western Europe and Russia east of Caspian Sea, with negative (positive) anomalies over eastern Canada, eastern Europe including Ural Mountains, northeastern Africa and the Middle East. These anomalies are largely explained by lower-tropospheric temperature advections. Positive (negative) precipitation anomalies are found over the mid-latitude Atlantic and central Russia around ~60°E, where lower-level cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulation anomaly is dominant. Eastern Canada and western Europe including the Mediterranean region are characterized by negative (positive) precipitation anomalies. The EA/WR is found to be closely associated with Rossby wave propagation. Wave activity fluxes show that it is strongly tied to large-scale stationary waves. Furthermore, a stationary wave model (SWM) forced with vorticity transients in the mid-latitude Atlantic (~40°N) or diabatic heat source over the subtropical Atlantic near the Caribbean Sea produces well-organized EA/WR-like wave patterns, respectively. Sensitivity tests with the SWM indicate enhancement of EA/WR-like blocking over west of Scandinavia when the mean state is modified to have a positive NAO component that enhances upper-level westerlies between 40 and 60°N.
Polluted water resources, particularly those polluted with industrial effluents' dyes, are carcinogenic and hence pose a severe threat to sustainable and longstanding worldwide development. ...Meanwhile, adsorption is a promising process for polluted/wastewater treatment. In particular, activated carbon (AC) is popular among various wastewater treatment adsorbents, especially in the organic contaminants' remediation in wastewater. Hence, the AC's synthesis from degradable and non-degradable resources, the carbon activation involved in the AC synthesis, and the AC's modification to cutting-edge and effective materials have been modern-research targets in recent years. Likewise, the main research focuses worldwide have been the salient AC characteristics, such as its surface chemistry, porosity, and enhanced surface area. Notably, various modified-AC synthesis methods have been employed to enhance the AC's potential for improved contaminants-removal. Hence, we critically analyze the different modified ACs (with enhanced (surface) functional groups and textural properties) of their capacity to remove different-natured anionic dyes in wastewater. We also discuss the corresponding AC modification techniques, the factors affecting the AC properties, and the modifying agents' influence on the AC's morphological/adsorptive properties. Finally, the AC research of future interest has been proposed by identifying the current AC research gaps, especially related to the AC's application in wastewater treatment.
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•Dye-polluted wastewater is carcinogenic.•AC-based adsorption is a promising process for dye-polluted wastewater treatment.•AC's surface chemistry, porosity, and enhanced surface area are reviewed in detail.•AC modification techniques, tuning factors, and the modifying agents' are reviewed.•Research gaps in the application of AC in wastewater treatment are furnished.
Abstract
Recent advances in nanomaterials and nano-microfabrication have enabled the development of flexible wearable electronics. However, existing manufacturing methods still rely on a multi-step, ...error-prone complex process that requires a costly cleanroom facility. Here, we report a new class of additive nanomanufacturing of functional materials that enables a wireless, multilayered, seamlessly interconnected, and flexible hybrid electronic system. All-printed electronics, incorporating machine learning, offers multi-class and versatile human-machine interfaces. One of the key technological advancements is the use of a functionalized conductive graphene with enhanced biocompatibility, anti-oxidation, and solderability, which allows a wireless flexible circuit. The high-aspect ratio graphene offers gel-free, high-fidelity recording of muscle activities. The performance of the printed electronics is demonstrated by using real-time control of external systems via electromyograms. Anatomical study with deep learning-embedded electrophysiology mapping allows for an optimal selection of three channels to capture all finger motions with an accuracy of about 99% for seven classes.
By synthesizing recent studies employing a wide range of approaches (modern observations, paleo reconstructions, and climate model simulations), this paper provides a comprehensive review of the ...linkage between multidecadal Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) variability and Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV) and associated climate impacts. There is strong observational and modeling evidence that multidecadal AMOC variability is a crucial driver of the observed AMV and associated climate impacts and an important source of enhanced decadal predictability and prediction skill. The AMOC‐AMV linkage is consistent with observed key elements of AMV. Furthermore, this synthesis also points to a leading role of the AMOC in a range of AMV‐related climate phenomena having enormous societal and economic implications, for example, Intertropical Convergence Zone shifts; Sahel and Indian monsoons; Atlantic hurricanes; El Niño–Southern Oscillation; Pacific Decadal Variability; North Atlantic Oscillation; climate over Europe, North America, and Asia; Arctic sea ice and surface air temperature; and hemispheric‐scale surface temperature. Paleoclimate evidence indicates that a similar linkage between multidecadal AMOC variability and AMV and many associated climate impacts may also have existed in the preindustrial era, that AMV has enhanced multidecadal power significantly above a red noise background, and that AMV is not primarily driven by external forcing. The role of the AMOC in AMV and associated climate impacts has been underestimated in most state‐of‐the‐art climate models, posing significant challenges but also great opportunities for substantial future improvements in understanding and predicting AMV and associated climate impacts.
Key Points
There is strong evidence that multidecadal variability of the AMOC is a key driver of AMV and associated climate impacts
The AMOC‐AMV linkage is consistent with observed key elements of AMV, and it is important to use multivariate metrics to understand AMV
AMOC‐induced Atlantic meridional heat transport and net surface heat flux anomalies are crucial for many AMV‐related climate impacts
Renewable and sustainable energy production is essential for future technological requirements, owing to the ever-increasing environmental pollution caused by the use of non-renewable fossil fuels. ...The conversion of abundant solar energy to solar fuels by photocatalysis has been suggested as an adequate and alternative route to address the aforementioned issue. A wide range of catalysts have been studied, but their low photocatalytic efficiency due to rapid electron-hole recombination (e.g., C3N4) and high cost (e.g., Pt) have limited their commercialization. There is an urgent need to develop economically/eco-friendly, highly efficient, and robust catalysts for enhanced photocatalysis to tackle the energy crisis and environmental issues. Semiconductor-based catalysts are commonly used as excellent compound materials for photocatalytic reaction applications because of their tunable energy band edge potential, abundance, and less poisonous characteristics. On the other hand, these have limitations due to charge recombination, poor stability, and low conductivity. The current review emphasizes the recent progress on semiconducting materials integrated with carbon (biochar) materials, which are a good choice to minimize these issues. This review summarizes the progress of recent research works for the development of highly active biochar-based composite systems to promote further developments of biochar-modified semiconductors in photocatalytic applications. Biochar has played a pivotal role in photocatalysis because of its fascinating benefits, such as a good support material, enhanced the specific surface area, and numerous surface active sites. These properties have led to high charge shuttling and acting as an electron reservoir, promoting greater charge separation and reducing the energy bandgap. The typical applications of biochar-modified photocatalytic materials are reviewed mainly in photocatalytic hydrogen production and other energy and environmental areas, such as carbon dioxide photo-reduction and the abatement of polluted water/air treatment under solar light irradiation. This review focuses on the recent trends and future prospects for the development of ecofriendly biochar-modified semiconductor photocatalysts.
This review highlighted the synthesis of biochar and biochar modified catalysts, which includes various modification techniques for energy and environmental applications of photocatalytic water splitting, CO2 photoreduction and abatement of water/air pollutants. Display omitted
•Different synthesis methods of biochar (BC) and BC based catalysts.•Various activation and functionalization strategies of BC.•Clarify the role of BC based catalysts in photocatalysis.•Offer a new perspective to use BC based catalyst in energy and environmental fields.
Recent progress in electronic skin or e‐skin research is broadly reviewed, focusing on technologies needed in three main applications: skin‐attachable electronics, robotics, and prosthetics. First, ...since e‐skin will be exposed to prolonged stresses of various kinds and needs to be conformally adhered to irregularly shaped surfaces, materials with intrinsic stretchability and self‐healing properties are of great importance. Second, tactile sensing capability such as the detection of pressure, strain, slip, force vector, and temperature are important for health monitoring in skin attachable devices, and to enable object manipulation and detection of surrounding environment for robotics and prosthetics. For skin attachable devices, chemical and electrophysiological sensing and wireless signal communication are of high significance to fully gauge the state of health of users and to ensure user comfort. For robotics and prosthetics, large‐area integration on 3D surfaces in a facile and scalable manner is critical. Furthermore, new signal processing strategies using neuromorphic devices are needed to efficiently process tactile information in a parallel and low power manner. For prosthetics, neural interfacing electrodes are of high importance. These topics are discussed, focusing on progress, current challenges, and future prospects.
Recent progress in electronic skin research is broadly reviewed, focusing on the technologies required in the following three applications: skin‐attachable electronics, robotics, and prosthetics. Topics such as stretchability, self‐healing, biocompatibility, tactile sensing, chemical and electrophysiological sensing, wireless communication, large‐area integration, neuromorphic signal processing, and neural interfaces are discussed.
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•Strategic use of biochar for CO2 capture and storage (CCS).•Porosity of biochar proves a significant determinant for CCS.•Economic viability of biochar is superior in reference to ...other CCS materials.•Carbon negativity of biochar maximizes the effect of CCS.
Dramatic increase of CO2 emissions to sate the global carbon demand for chemicals, goods, and fuels has been regarded as one of the main contributors triggering global warming. Note that CO2 emissions are over the Earth’s full capacity to assimilate carbons via the natural carbon cycle. In these respects, CO2 capture and sequestration have been considered as one of the strategic principles to cancel out CO2 release from the anthropogenic activities in line with the use of fossil fuels. Thus, it is desirable to develop the efficient CO2 sorptive materials that are economically viable. Among CO2 sorptive materials, biochar (i.e., porous carbon-based materials) has been considered as one of the promising candidates. Indeed, a great deal of researches on biomass has been performed. Based on these rationales, this review laid great emphasis on informing the recent studies of activated biochars for CO2 adsorption, which were fabricated from various biomasses. Also, this review offered the up-to-date knowledge on the physicochemical properties of activated biochars in line with their synthesis procedures. Lastly, the effects of biochar properties on CO2 capture and separation was summarized with in-depth assessment of the activated biochars.
Indigo is one of the oldest known dyes and is a major component of dyes used for coloring jeans their classical blue hue. Traditionally, indigo was extracted from indigo-producing plants, but ...synthetic indigo has been in use since the development of efficient chemical syntheses, and presently, various indigo isomers and derivatives can be readily synthesized. Indigo can undergo an electron transfer accompanied by a distinct color change, due to a redox reaction made possible by its chemical structure and intramolecular organization. In addition, it exhibits excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. Its versatile functionality has inspired extensive research into indigo-derived chemicals for various applications over the past few decades. This review provides an overview of the recent indigoid applications in medical, cosmetic, and food industries, as well as in the manufacture of functional fibers, polymers, semiconductors, and sensors. This study also addresses the limitations of indigo applications, including those related to natural indigo, eco-friendly bio-dyes, and chemo-indigo.
•Recent progresses in the synthesis of bio-indigoids and their end-use applications.•Overview of various indigoids synthetic engineering.•Functional textile dyeing and functional polymer synthesis of indigoids.•Indigoid applications chemical sensors, solar cells, transistors, and medical.
Indigo is one of the most commonly used dyes worldwide. However, indigo dyeing technology and physicochemical treatment processes have generated potentially hazardous by-products and sludge, causing ...serious environmental pollution. Among indigo-treating technologies, biological treatments using a “green” catalysts of laccase and oxidase enzymes have been spotlighted. This review comprehensively assessed the whole cell-based discoloration and in vitro enzyme treatment of indigo (carmine) and process engineering, including enzyme immobilization and aggregation, for indigo degradation. Although both have various advantages, effective process design to obtain desirable biomass and enzyme production strategy with cost-effective manner should be considered for indigoids treatment. In addition, the supply of electron mediators and the removal of unexpected byproducts by the laccase should also be considered throughout the whole process. Therefore, further researches on enzyme and process engineering such as chemo-enzymatic process to obtain the desired performances at the industrial level were suggested.
•Recent progresses in degradation of indigo dyes by biological processes.•Overview of various microbial degradation of indigo dyes.•Enzymatic degradation and discoloration of indigo dyes and their activities.•Enzyme immobilization for indigo dyes degradation.•Future perspectives for degradation and discoloration of indigo dyes.
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