Over the past decade, the area of stretchable inorganic electronics has evolved very rapidly, in part because the results have opened up a series of unprecedented applications with broad interest and ...potential for impact, especially in bio‐integrated systems. Low modulus mechanics and the ability to accommodate extreme mechanical deformations, especially high levels of stretching, represent key defining characteristics. Most existing studies exploit structural material designs to achieve these properties, through the integration of hard inorganic electronic components configured into strategic 2D/3D geometries onto patterned soft substrates. The diverse structural geometries developed for stretchable inorganic electronics are summarized, covering the designs of functional devices and soft substrates, with a focus on fundamental principles, design approaches, and system demonstrations. Strategies that allow spatial integration of 3D stretchable device layouts are also highlighted. Finally, perspectives on the remaining challenges and open opportunities are provided.
Diverse material structures for stretchable inorganic electronics are summarized, covering both functional devices and soft substrates, with a focus on the fundamental principles, design approaches, and system demonstrations. Strategies that allow spatial integration of 3D stretchable device configurations are also highlighted. Finally, perspectives on remaining challenges and open opportunities are provided.
Many biological tissues offer J-shaped stress-strain responses, since their microstructures exhibit a three-dimensional (3D) network construction of curvy filamentary structures that lead to a ...bending-to-stretching transition of the deformation mode under an external tension. The development of artificial 3D soft materials and device systems that can reproduce the nonlinear, anisotropic mechanical properties of biological tissues remains challenging. Here we report a class of soft 3D network materials that can offer defect-insensitive, nonlinear mechanical responses closely matched with those of biological tissues. This material system exploits a lattice configuration with different 3D topologies, where 3D helical microstructures that connect the lattice nodes serve as building blocks of the network. By tailoring geometries of helical microstructures or lattice topologies, a wide range of desired anisotropic J-shaped stress-strain curves can be achieved. Demonstrative applications of the developed conducting 3D network materials with bio-mimetic mechanical properties suggest potential uses in flexible bio-integrated devices.
Over the past decade, there has been a significant surge in interest in flexible mechanical force sensing devices and systems. Tremendous efforts have been devoted to the development of flexible ...mechanical force sensors for daily healthcare and medical diagnosis, driven by the increasing demand for wearable/portable devices in long-term healthcare and precision medicine. In this review, we summarize recent advances in diverse categories of flexible mechanical force sensors, covering piezoresistive, capacitive, piezoelectric, triboelectric, magnetoelastic, and other force sensors. This review focuses on their working principles, design strategies and applications in healthcare and diagnosis, with an emphasis on the interplay among the sensor architecture, performance, and application scenario. Finally, we provide perspectives on the remaining challenges and opportunities in this field, with particular discussions on problem-driven force sensor designs, as well as developments of novel sensor architectures and intelligent mechanical force sensing systems.
•Key mechanics were reviewed for stretchable batteries and supercapacitors by structural designs.•Four representative strategies of structural designs were discussed.•Design concepts, mechanical ...behaviors, and analytical/computational models were reviewed.•Perspectives were provided on the remaining challenges and opportunities for future research.
The last decade has witnessed fast developments and substantial achievements that have been shaping the field of stretchable electronics. Due to a persistent need of equally stretchable power sources, especially for some emerging bio-integrated applications enabled by this unusual class of electronics, stretchable energy storage systems have been attracting increasing attentions in the past few years. This article reviews the mechanics of stretchable batteries and supercapacitors that are enabled by novel structural designs of hard and soft components, involving four representative strategies (i.e., wavy, wrinkled design, origami design, serpentine bridge-island design, and fractal inspired bridge-island design). The key mechanics of each strategy is summarized, with focuses on the design concepts, unique mechanical behaviors, and analytical/computational models that guide the design optimization. Finally, some perspectives are provided on the remaining challenges and opportunities for future research.
Multifunctional capability, flexible design, rugged lightweight construction and self-powered operation are desired attributes for electronics that directly interface with the human body or with ...advanced robotic systems. For these applications, piezoelectric materials, in forms that offer the ability to bend and stretch, are attractive for pressure/force sensors and mechanical energy harvesters. Here, we introduce a large area, flexible piezoelectric material that consists of sheets of electrospun fibres of the polymer poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-trifluoroethylene. The flow and mechanical conditions associated with the spinning process yield free-standing, three-dimensional architectures of aligned arrangements of such fibres, in which the polymer chains adopt strongly preferential orientations. The resulting material offers exceptional piezoelectric characteristics, to enable ultra-high sensitivity for measuring pressure, even at exceptionally small values (0.1 Pa). Quantitative analysis provides detailed insights into the pressure sensing mechanisms, and establishes engineering design rules. Potential applications range from self-powered micro-mechanical elements, to self-balancing robots and sensitive impact detectors.
•Strong hydrodynamic force promoted sediment deposition in the trap.•Lake currents and waves’ action time on the sediment capture was different.•The effect of hydrodynamics on sediment capture in the ...trap was quantified.
Hydrodynamics are the key factor influencing sediment resuspension, transport and nutrient release in large shallow lakes. However, the hydrodynamic responses of bottom traps during pollutant capture remain unclear. In this study, a large eutrophic shallow lake was selected to carry out a field test of deep traps at the lake bottom. Based on observations of the lake current around the trap, the sedimentation rate of the particles in the trap and the nutrient content of the captured sediments, combined with the numerical simulation of the waves outside the trap, the effects of lake currents and waves on the sediment deposition in the traps were studied, and the response of the nutrient content of the sediments captured in the deep traps to the changes in lake currents and waves was analyzed. The results showed that the strong hydrodynamic force significantly promoted sediment deposition in the trap and enhanced the ability of the trap to capture sediments with high nutrient contents. The influences of waves and lake currents on the bottom trap capture of polluted sediments varied among different periods. Waves played the leading role in winter and spring, accelerating sediment capture in the bottom traps near the southern shore of eastern Lake Chaohu during this period. In summer, the lake current was the main dynamic factor contributing to the rapid deposition of particulate matter and the capture of sediments with high nutrient contents in the bottom traps of western Lake Chaohu. The multiple stepwise linear regression model based on lake current and wave data explained 37.6 % of the sediment deposition in the trap, and the model built for a single bottom trap explained more than 80 % of the deposition. After correcting the sediment deposition thickness in the trap by considering the water content of the sediment, the quantitative relation yield better inversion results for the sediment deposition process, and different thicknesses in the bottom trap were linked to different sediment deposition periods. According to the hydrodynamic strength in 2020, the thickness of the highly contaminated sediments captured by traps CC1-CC5 was calculated to be 1.09–1.93 m, and the corresponding TN and TP were 26.66–68.53 kg and 6.84–19.89 kg, respectively. This study provides a scientific analysis and guidance for the evaluation of endogenous nutrients captured by lake bottom trap methods.
HTC (hydrothermal carbonization) is a technically-attractive thermal conversion process for biomass to produce solid carbonaceous products at mild conditions. EB (eucalyptus bark) was used as a ...feedstock for producing hydrochar by HTC. Effect of process conditions on the yield and physicochemical properties of hydrochar was examined by varying carbonization temperature over the range of 220–300 °C and varying residence time over the range of 2–10 h. With increase in temperature, the hydrochar yield decreased slightly from 46.4% at 220 °C to 40.0% at 300 °C. The O/C and H/C atomic ratios reduced from 1.69 and 0.80 to 0.83 and 0.23, respectively, which was mostly related to dehydration, decarboxylation and demethanation reactions. The oxygen containing functional groups decreased with increasing temperature. HHV (higher heating value) of hydrochar was in the range of 20.2–29.2 MJ/kg. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that hydrochar products obtained at temperature over 220 °C exhibited almost the same thermal behaviors. In comparison, the influence of residence time on the yield, physicochemical properties and thermal behavior of hydrochar was marginal.
•Hydrothermal carbonization was employed to convert eucalyptus bark into hydrochar.•Carbonization temperature had a significant effect on the formation of hydrochar.•Residence time had marginal influence on the hydrothermal reactions.•Energetic properties of hydrochar was improved by hydrothermal carbonization.•Primary mechanisms of hydrochar formation were proposed.
Development of advanced synthetic materials that can mimic the mechanical properties of non-mineralized soft biological materials has important implications in a wide range of technologies. ...Hierarchical lattice materials constructed with horseshoe microstructures belong to this class of bio-inspired synthetic materials, where the mechanical responses can be tailored to match the nonlinear J-shaped stress–strain curves of human skins. The underlying relations between the J-shaped stress–strain curves and their microstructure geometry are essential in designing such systems for targeted applications. Here, a theoretical model of this type of hierarchical lattice material is developed by combining a finite deformation constitutive relation of the building block (i.e., horseshoe microstructure), with the analyses of equilibrium and deformation compatibility in the periodical lattices. The nonlinear J-shaped stress–strain curves and Poisson ratios predicted by this model agree very well with results of finite element analyses (FEA) and experiment. Based on this model, analytic solutions were obtained for some key mechanical quantities, e.g., elastic modulus, Poisson ratio, peak modulus, and critical strain around which the tangent modulus increases rapidly. A negative Poisson effect is revealed in the hierarchical lattice with triangular topology, as opposed to a positive Poisson effect in hierarchical lattices with Kagome and honeycomb topologies. The lattice topology is also found to have a strong influence on the stress–strain curve. For the three isotropic lattice topologies (triangular, Kagome and honeycomb), the hierarchical triangular lattice material renders the sharpest transition in the stress–strain curve and relative high stretchability, given the same porosity and arc angle of horseshoe microstructure. Furthermore, a demonstrative example illustrates the utility of the developed model in the rapid optimization of hierarchical lattice materials for reproducing the desired stress–strain curves of human skins. This study provides theoretical guidelines for future designs of soft bio-mimetic materials with hierarchical lattice constructions.
Display omitted
•A nonlinear mechanics study was presented for a class of bioinspired hierarchical materials.•The developed model can predict precisely the nonlinear stress-strain curve and Poisson ratio.•Negative and positive Poisson ratios were found in the materials with different lattice topologies.•This study offers design guidelines for bioinspired materials in hierarchical lattice geometries.
Reliable and precise signal transmission is essential in circuits of the auditory brainstem to encode timing with submillisecond accuracy. Globular bushy cells reliably and faithfully transfer spike ...signals to the principal neurons of the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) through the giant glutamatergic synapse, the calyx of Held. Thus, the MNTB works as a relay nucleus that preserves the temporal pattern of firing at high frequency. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, we observed a K
conductance mediated by small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels in the MNTB neurons from rats of either sex. SK channels were activated by intracellular Ca
sparks and mediated spontaneous transient outward currents in developing MNTB neurons. SK channels were also activated by Ca
influx through voltage-gated Ca
channels and synaptically activated NMDA receptors. Blocking SK channels with apamin depolarized the resting membrane potential, reduced resting conductance, and affected the responsiveness of MNTB neurons to signal inputs. Moreover, SK channels were activated by action potentials and affected the spike afterhyperpolarization. Blocking SK channels disrupted the one-to-one signal transmission from presynaptic calyces to postsynaptic MNTB neurons and induced extra postsynaptic action potentials in response to presynaptic firing. These data reveal that SK channels play crucial roles in regulating the resting properties and maintaining reliable signal transmission of MNTB neurons.
Reliable and precise signal transmission is required in auditory brainstem circuits to localize the sound source. The calyx of Held synapse in the mammalian medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) plays an important role in sound localization. We investigated the potassium channels that shape the reliability of signal transfer across the calyceal synapse and observed a potassium conductance mediated by small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels in rat MNTB principal neurons. We found that SK channels are tonically activated and contribute to the resting membrane properties of MNTB neurons. Interestingly, SK channels are transiently activated by calcium sparks and calcium influx during action potentials and control the one-to-one signal transmission from presynaptic calyces to postsynaptic MNTB neurons.
PDF
