Textile‐based electronic techniques that can in real‐time and noncontact detect the respiration rate and respiratory arrest are highly desired for human health monitoring. Yarn‐shaped humidity sensor ...is fabricated based on a sensitive fiber with relatively high specific surface area and abnormal cross‐section. The response and recovery time of the yarn‐shaped humidity sensor is only 3.5 and 4 s, respectively, with little hysteresis, because of the hydrophobic property of these functional fibers and the grooves on the surface of the fibers, which is much faster than those of the commercial polyimide materials. Moreover, a battery‐free LC wireless testing system combined with the yarn‐shaped sensor is fabricated, which is further successfully imbedded into the intelligent mask to detect human breath. Based on the detection of LC wireless testing system, the frequency of 50.25 MHz under the exhaled condition shifts to 50.86 MHz under the inhaled situation of humidity sensor. In essence, the functional yarns with proper structure, would be an excellent candidature to the yarn‐shaped humidity sensor, in which there are good performance and wide application possibilities, eventually offering a facile method for the wireless detection of human physiological signals in the field of electronic fabrics.
A yarn‐shaped humidity sensor is fabricated using sensitive fibers with a relatively high surface area and specific cross‐section. It exhibits an extraordinary humidity sensitivity performance with little hysteresis. A full‐textile wireless and battery‐free humidity sensitive system is then successfully developed for the detection of human physiological signals, i.e., the respiration rate and respiratory arrest.
Bombyx mori silk fibers exhibit significant potential for applications in smart textiles, such as fiber sensors, fiber actuators, optical fibers, and energy harvester. Silk fibroin (SF) from B. mori ...silkworm fibers can be reconstructed/functionalized at the mesoscopic scale during refolding from the solution state into fibers. This facilitates the mesoscopic functionalization by engaging functional seeds in the refolding of unfolded SF molecules. In particular, SF solutions can be self‐assembled into regenerated fiber devices by artificial spinning technologies, such as wet spinning, dry spinning, microfluidic spinning, electrospinning, and direct writing. Meso‐functionalization manipulates the SF property from the mesoscopic scale, transforming the original silk fibers into smart fiber devices with smart functionalities, such as sensors, actuators, optical fibers, luminous fibers, and energy harvesters. In this review, the progress of mesoscopic structural construction from SF materials to fiber electronics/photonics is comprehensively summarized, along with the spinning technologies and fiber structure characterization methods. The applications, prospects, and challenges of smart silk fibers in textile devices for wearable personalized healthcare, self‐propelled exoskeletons, optical and luminous fibers, and sustainable energy harvesters are also discussed.
This review summarizes the progress of mesoscopic structural construction from silk fibroin materials to fiber devices. The significance of meso‐functionalization of the mesoscopic hieratical structure of silk fibers in fiber electronics/photonics are highlighted. Applications, prospects, and challenges of functional silk fibers in textile devices for wearable personalized healthcare, self‐propelled exoskeletons, optical and luminous fibers, and sustainable energy harvesters are discussed.
Turning insulating silk fibroin materials into conductive ones turns out to be the essential step toward achieving active silk flexible electronics. This work aims to acquire electrically conductive ...biocompatible fibers of regenerated Bombyx mori silk fibroin (SF) materials based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) templated nucleation reconstruction of silk fibroin networks. The electronical conductivity of the reconstructed mesoscopic functional fibers can be tuned by the density of the incorporated CNTs. It follows that the hybrid fibers experience an abrupt increase in conductivity when exceeding the percolation threshold of CNTs >35 wt%, which leads to the highest conductivity of 638.9 S m−1 among organic‐carbon‐based hybrid fibers, and 8 times higher than the best available materials of the similar types. In addition, the silk‐CNT mesoscopic hybrid materials achieve some new functionalities, i.e., humidity‐responsive conductivity, which is attributed to the coupling of the humidity inducing cyclic contraction of SFs and the conductivity of CNTs. The silk‐CNT materials, as a type of biocompatible electronic functional fibrous material for pressure and electric response humidity sensing, are further fabricated into a smart facial mask to implement respiration condition monitoring for remote diagnosis and medication.
A new conceptual silk meso‐fibrous material for biocompatible electronic applications is developed by carbon nanotubes meso reconstruction. It can be adopted to fabricate various fibrous sensors, i.e., electronic humidity sensors. In combination with internet of things (IoTs) and artificial intelligence technologies, a remote respiratory condition monitoring and diagnosis can be achieved.
Highlights
Full-fiber auxetic-interlaced yarn sensor was fabricated by a continuous and mass-producible computerized wrapping spinning technology.
Auxetic-interlaced yarn sensor shows a Poisson’s ...ratio of − 1.5, a robust mechanical property (0.6 cN/dtex), and a fast train-resistance responsiveness (0.025 s).
A novel sign-language translation glove was developed to recognize the full English alphabet and translate the wearer’s sign language to text.
Yarn sensors have shown promising application prospects in wearable electronics owing to their shape adaptability, good flexibility, and weavability. However, it is still a critical challenge to develop simultaneously structure stable, fast response, body conformal, mechanical robust yarn sensor using full microfibers in an industrial-scalable manner. Herein, a full-fiber auxetic-interlaced yarn sensor (AIYS) with negative Poisson’s ratio is designed and fabricated using a continuous, mass-producible, structure-programmable, and low-cost spinning technology. Based on the unique microfiber interlaced architecture, AIYS simultaneously achieves a Poisson’s ratio of−1.5, a robust mechanical property (0.6 cN/dtex), and a fast train-resistance responsiveness (0.025 s), which enhances conformality with the human body and quickly transduce human joint bending and/or stretching into electrical signals. Moreover, AIYS shows good flexibility, washability, weavability, and high repeatability. Furtherly, with the AIYS array, an ultrafast full-letter sign-language translation glove is developed using artificial neural network. The sign-language translation glove achieves an accuracy of 99.8% for all letters of the English alphabet within a short time of 0.25 s. Furthermore, owing to excellent full letter-recognition ability, real-time translation of daily dialogues and complex sentences is also demonstrated. The smart glove exhibits a remarkable potential in eliminating the communication barriers between signers and non-signers.
In this study, a two-dimensional transition metal carbon/nitride (MXenes) method was used to enhance the electrocatalytic oxidation behavior of PbO2 electrode. A novel composite electrode was ...prepared by doping the modified MXenes into PbO2 material. The electrochemical performance was tested by electrochemical workstation. The typical cationic red X-GRL was treated by electrochemical oxidation, and the electrochemical oxidation performance of the material electrode was investigated. The results demostrated that the dyes were removed by the oxygen evolution reaction at the electrodes doped with modified MXenes by passing current. The charge transfer resistance is 12.56. The electrodes have remained stable after 20 cycles of charging and discharging. And the removal rate of cationic red X-GRL was as high as 95.19% in 120 min. A high-efficiency composite electrode was developed in this study, which increased the electrodeand#39;s performance as well as wastewater degradation efficiency, and lay the groundwork for future research into doping MXenes to improve the performance of other materials. Hence, electrode materials doped with two-dimensional structured MXenes were candidates for the removal of contaminants, especially in the field of electrochemical catalysis
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•A simple and green method through steam is developed to form sulfur nanoparticles.•The nano S/G based Li-S battery shows enhanced charge transfer kinetics.•The nano S/G based Li-S ...battery exhibits outstanding rate performance.
Although tremendous progress has been made in preparing sulfur nanoparticles to achieve high-rate lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries, the synthetic methods involved are usually toxic, complicated and costly. To solve the above problem, a simple and green method through high pressure steam is developed to prepare sulfur nanoparticles (<10 nm) on graphene (nano S/G) as high-performance cathode of Li-S batteries. Owing to the nano-size effect, the nano S/G based Li-S battery exhibits enhanced charge transfer kinetics, achieving a high reversible capacity of 639 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at the high rate of 5 C. More impressively, at an ultra-high rate of 10 C, the nano S/G based Li-S battery can still deliver a stable capacity of 527 mAh g−1. It’s believed that this facile and environmental-friendly cathode preparation method for high-rate performance will boost the commercialization of Li-S batteries.
Abstract One-dimensional (1D) olivine iron phosphate (FePO 4 ) is widely proposed for electrochemical lithium (Li) extraction from dilute water sources, however, significant variations in Li ...selectivity were observed for particles with different physical attributes. Understanding how particle features influence Li and sodium (Na) co-intercalation is crucial for system design and enhancing Li selectivity. Here, we investigate a series of FePO 4 particles with various features and revealed the importance of harnessing kinetic and chemo-mechanical barrier difference between lithiation and sodiation to promote selectivity. The thermodynamic preference of FePO 4 provides baseline of selectivity while the particle features are critical to induce different kinetic pathways and barriers, resulting in different Li to Na selectivity from 6.2 × 10 2 to 2.3 × 10 4 . Importantly, we categorize the FePO 4 particles into two groups based on their distinctly paired phase evolutions upon lithiation and sodiation, and generate quantitative correlation maps among Li preference, morphological features, and electrochemical properties. By selecting FePO 4 particles with specific features, we demonstrate fast (636 mA/g) Li extraction from a high Li source (1: 100 Li to Na) with (96.6 ± 0.2)% purity, and high selectivity (2.3 × 10 4 ) from a low Li source (1: 1000 Li to Na) with (95.8 ± 0.3)% purity in a single step.
Abstract
Background
In the present study, we aimed to develop a novel isotretinoin delivery model for treating skin diseases, revealing its potential advantages in drug delivery and targeted therapy.
...Using a self-assembly strategy, we grafted a dendrimer, based on a well-defined branched structure for nanomedical devices, with a well-defined nanoarchitecture, yielding spherical, highly homogeneous molecules with multiple surface functionalities. Accordingly, a self-assembled dendrimer-conjugated system was developed to achieve the transdermal delivery of isotretinoin (13cRA-D).
Results
Herein, 13cRA-D showed remarkable controlled release, characterized by slow release in normal tissues but accelerated release in tissues with low pH, such as sites of inflammation. These release characteristics could abrogate the nonteratogenic side effects of isotretinoin and allow efficient skin permeation. Moreover, 13cRA-D exhibited high therapeutic efficacy in acne models. Based on in vitro and in vivo experimental results, 13cRA-D afforded better skin penetration than isotretinoin and allowed lesion targeting. Additionally, 13cRA-D induced minimal skin irritation.
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that 13cRA-D is a safe and effective isotretinoin formulation for treating patients with skin disorders.
Graphical Abstract
Shape characteristics, which include the physical dimensions (scale), apparent morphology, surface features, and structure, are essential factors of fibrous materials and determine many of their ...properties. Microfluidic technologies have recently been proposed as an approach for producing one-dimensional (1D) fibers with controllable shape characteristics and particle alignment, which impart specific functionality to the fiber. Moreover, superfine 1D fibers with a high surface area and ordered structure have many potential applications as they can be directly braided or woven into textiles, clothes, and tissues with two- or three-dimensional (2D or 3D) structures. Previous reviews of microfluidic spinning have not focus on the importance of the shape characteristic on fiber performance and their use in intelligent fiber design. Here, the latest achievements in microfluidic approaches for fiber-device fabrication are reviewed considering the underlying preparation principles, shape characteristics, and functionalization of the fibers. Additionally, intelligent fiber devices with shapes tailored by microfluidic approaches are discussed, including 1D sensors and actuators, luminous fibers, and devices for encoding, energy harvesting, water collection, and tissue engineering applications. Finally, recent progress, challenges, and future perspectives of the microfluidic approaches for fiber device fabrication are discussed.
Intelligent fiber devices with shape characteristics tailored by microfluidic approaches are reviewed, including sensors and actuators, luminous fibers, and devices for water collection, energy harvesting, and tissue engineering applications.
Osteosarcoma (OS), as a typical kind of bone tumors, has a high incidence among adolescents. Traditional tumor eradication avenues for OS such as chemotherapy, surgical therapy and radiation therapy ...usually have their own drawbacks including recurrence and metastasis. In addition, another serious issue in the treatment of OS is bone repair because the bone after tumor invasion usually has difficulty in repairing itself. Hydrogels, as a synthetic or natural platform with a porous three-dimensional structure, can be applied as desirable platforms for OS treatment. They can not only be used as carriers for tumor therapeutic drugs but mimic the extracellular matrix for the growth and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), thus providing tumor treatment and enhancing bone regeneration at the same time. This review focuses the application of hydrogels in OS suppression and bone regeneration, and give some suggests on future development.