The future of mankind holds great promise for things like the Internet of Things, personal health monitoring systems, and smart cities. To achieve this ambitious goal, it is imperative for ...electronics to be wearable, environmentally sustainable, and safe. However, large‐scale manufacture of self‐sufficient electronic systems by exploiting multifunctional materials still faces significant hurdles. Herein, multitasking aqueous printable MXene inks are reported as an additive‐free high‐capacitance electrode, sensitive pressure‐sensing material, highly conducting current collector, metal‐free interconnector, and conductive binder. By directly screen printing MXene inks, MXene‐based micro‐supercapacitors (MSCs) and lithium‐ion microbatteries (LIMBs) are delicately fabricated on various substrates. The as‐prepared MSCs exhibit ultrahigh areal capacitance of 1.1 F cm−2 and the serially connected MSCs offer a record voltage of 60 V. The quasi‐solid‐state LIMBs deliver a robust areal energy density of 154 μWh cm−2. Furthermore, an all‐flexible self‐powered integrated system on a single substrate based on the multitasking MXene inks is demonstrated through seamless integration of a tandem solar cell, the LIMB, and an MXene hydrogel pressure sensor. Notably, this integrated system is exceptionally sensitive to body movements with a fast response time of 35 ms. Therefore, this multipurpose MXene ink opens a new avenue for powering future smart appliances.
An all‐flexible MXene‐based self‐powered electronic system is demonstrated on a single substrate through seamless integration of a tandem solar cell, MXene‐based lithium‐ion microbatteries or micro‐supercapacitors, and an MXene hydrogel pressure sensor, where the multitasking MXene is fully exploited as a high‐capacitance electrode, a sensitive pressure‐sensing material, a highly conducting current collector, a metal‐free interconnector, and a conductive binder.
Collaborative robots (cobots) are robots that are designed to collaborate with humans in an open workspace. In contrast to industrial robots in an enclosed environment, cobots need additional ...mechanisms to assure humans’ safety in collaborations. It is especially true when a cobot is used in manufacturing environment; since the workload or moving mass is usually large enough to hurt human when a contact occurs. In this article, we are interested in understanding the existing studies on cobots, and especially, the safety requirements, and the methods and challenges of safety assurance. The state of the art of safety assurance of cobots is discussed at the aspects of key functional requirements (FRs), collaboration variants, standardizations, and safety mechanisms. The identified technological bottlenecks are (1) acquiring, processing, and fusing diversified data for risk classification, (2) effectively updating the control to avoid any interference in a real-time mode, (3) developing new technologies for the improvement of HMI performances, especially, workloads and speeds, and (4) reducing the overall cost of safety assurance features. To promote cobots in manufacturing applications, the future researches are expected for (1) the systematic theory and methods to design and build cobots with the integration of ergonomic structures, sensing, real-time controls, and human-robot interfaces, (2) intuitive programming, task-driven programming, and skill-based programming which incorporate the risk management and the evaluations of biomechanical load and stopping distance, and (3) advanced instrumentations and algorithms for effective sensing, processing, and fusing of diversified data, and machine learning for high-level complexity and uncertainty. The needs of the safety assurance of integrated robotic systems are specially discussed with two development examples.
Despite intense development of inkjet printing for scalable and customizable fabrication of power sources, one major shortcoming is the lack of eco‐friendly aqueous inks free of additives (e.g., ...toxic solvents, surfactants). Here, an aqueous printable MXene/poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (MP) hybrid ink is demonstrated that has an adjustable viscosity to directly inkjet‐print micro‐supercapacitors (MP‐MSCs) with excellent performance, seamless integration, and desirable customization, which is crucial for scalable industrialization of self‐powered integrated systems. The MP‐MSCs deliver an unprecedented volumetric capacitance of 754 F cm−3 and a remarkable energy density of 9.4 mWh cm−3, superior to previously reported inkjet‐printed MSCs. Such outstanding performance is partly attributed to highly conductive PH1000 that prevents restacking of MXene nanosheets, enabling fast electron and ion diffusion throughout the microelectrodes. Moreover, MP‐MSCs present exceptional miniaturization and superior modularization featuring high voltage output up to 36 V from 60 serially connected cells and impressive areal voltage of 5.4 V cm−2 connected in tandem. Further, a printable temperature sensor integrated with the MP‐MSC and a flexible solar cell exhibits an exceptional response of 2% and mechanical flexibility without any bias voltage input. Therefore, the MXene inks are expected to create various opportunities for miniaturization and innovative construction of flexible, self‐sustaining, energy harvesting–storing–consuming microsystems for printable electronics.
A flexible and durable self‐powered integrated system composed of a silicon film solar cell, inkjet‐printed micro‐supercapacitor and a temperature sensor, is demonstrated, where aqueous MXene/MXene/poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid) hybrid inks serve as microelectrodes for micro‐supercapacitors, current collector for temperature sensor, and metal‐free interconnection.
Along with a brief overview of literature data on energy storage technologies utilising hydrogen and metal hydrides, this article presents results of the related R&D activities carried out by the ...authors. The focus is put on proper selection of metal hydride materials on the basis of AB5- and AB2-type intermetallic compounds for hydrogen storage and compression applications, based on the analysis of PCT properties of the materials in systems with H2 gas. The article also presents features of integrated energy storage systems utilising metal hydride hydrogen storage and compression, as well as their metal hydride based components developed at IPCP and HySA Systems.
•Use of metal hydride storage and compression in hydrogen energy storage systems.•AB5- and AB2-type hydrides for hydrogen storage and compression applications.•Development of the energy storage systems and their metal hydride based components.
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•Brief summary of the existing knowledge regarding ECs.•Application and operational perspectives of classical and advanced treatment technologies.•The appropriateness of advanced ...integrated technologies for ECs removal.•Mechanisms involved in ECs removal processes.•Identification of the gap areas for future research and developments.
The presence and persistence of emerging contaminants(ECs) such as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), personal care products (PCPs), pharmaceuticals and their transformed products are the matter of serious environmental and health concerns. This review details the sources, classification, fate and transport of ECs, and the classical, advanced, and integrated treatment technologies for their removal. Up to 100% of β-blockers, pharmaceuticals, EDCs, and pesticides can be removed via advanced oxidation process. The microalgae/fungal strains and the anaerobic membrane bioreactors are also promising processes for PPCPs and EDCs removal. RO and NF membranes exhibited excellent removal efficiencies for range of ECs, however, these processes are conditioned with fouling issues. The combination of membrane separation and electrochemical oxidation is appeared efficacious to lessen the major confines of both technologies such as fouling in membrane process and the mass transfer constraint in the electrochemical oxidation process. The effect of operational parameters on the process efficiency, and the mechanisms involved in different processes were discussed. This review will help in selecting the best available technology (BAT) for specific contaminant under particular conditions.
Capsule.
This review details the sources, classification, fate and transport of emerging contaminants and the recent researches and advancements for their treatment/elimination.
Clean fuels are the critical requirement for industrialized world to combat emission of greenhouse gas. Hydrogen is one of the cleanest fuels that generates water as a result of combustion. ...Production of hydrogen from renewable and nonpolluting resources is an imperative task for sustainable clean fuel production. Biological processes provide an opportunity to produce hydrogen from renewable and economical bio-resources like biomass and solar energy through various processes such as direct/indirect photolysis, photo-fermentation, dark-fermentation, and CO gas-fermentation. This paper provides a comprehensive review on biological hydrogen production including organisms, type of substrates and their concentrations, role of chemical addition, operation conditions such as temperature, pH, and agitation, as well as illumination systems in case of light dependent processes. Further discussions in this work comprise various configuration of integrated biological processes of photolysis, dark, and photo-fermentation such as two component and three-component systems.
•Presentation of recent progresses on biological hydrogen production processes.•Discussion of challenges on applications of biological hydrogen routes.•Comparisons of various configurations of integrated biohydrogen generation systems.
Smart Bandages: The Future of Wound Care Derakhshandeh, Hossein; Kashaf, Sara Saheb; Aghabaglou, Fariba ...
Trends in biotechnology (Regular ed.),
12/2018, Letnik:
36, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Chronic non-healing wounds are major healthcare challenges that affect a noticeable number of people; they exert a severe financial burden and are the leading cause of limb amputation. Although ...chronic wounds are locked in a persisting inflamed state, they are dynamic and proper therapy requires identifying abnormalities, administering proper drugs and growth factors, and modulating the conditions of the environment. In this review article, we discuss technologies that have been developed to actively monitor the wound environment. We also highlight drug delivery tools that have been integrated with bandages to facilitate precise temporal and spatial control over drug release and review automated or semi-automated systems that can respond to the wound environment.
Wound healing technologies constitute a major commercial enterprise, with the market for products involved in wound closure exceeding US$15 billion and the market for skin scar prevention accounting for another $12 billion, but there are major differences among the wound care products used in clinical practice.
Smart systems, devices with sensing, responding, or reporting functions, or a combination of these, can address many of the challenges associated with wound healing, particularly for chronic wounds.
Smart systems may also promote better wound management, improving clinical outcomes by means such as detecting infections in a timely manner or providing alerts for patients.
Supercapacitors can harvest electrical energy from intermittent sources and transfer it quickly, but their specific energy must be raised if they are applied to efficiently power wearable and ...flexible electronics, as well as larger equipment. However, the remaining big gap between the lab research and practical applications seriously hinders the further progress of advanced supercapacitors, especially for electrode materials. Consequently, from a commercial/usable perspective, a clear guideline from lab research to commercialization is highly desired for bringing advanced supercapacitors from basic research into reality. This review focuses on the key factors of advanced supercapacitors from lab research to commercialization and summarizes recent progress in the field of supercapacitors as well as outlines key perspectives for future research. First, the several energy storage mechanisms are illustrated for building better supercapacitors. Then, the up‐to‐date key achievements and progresses of smart methods toward high‐energy supercapacitors and effective strategies for commercial‐level mass‐loading as well as high packing density electrodes are summarized and commented upon. Also, integrated systems of supercapacitors and application fields of commercial supercapacitors are also highlighted. Subsequently, future research directions are presented here to guide research toward the commercialization of advanced supercapacitors.
The remaining big gap between the lab research and practical applications seriously hinders the further progress of advanced supercapacitors, especially for electrode materials. This review focuses on providing readers a clear guideline and comprehensive insights for bringing advanced supercapacitors from basic research into reality. Moreover, several key scientific challenges and the perspectives about the commercialization of advanced supercapacitors are also discussed.
Electronic skin (e‐skin) is driving significant advances in flexible electronics as it holds great promise in health monitoring, human–machine interfaces, soft robotics, and so on. Flexible sensors ...that can detect various stimuli or have multiple properties play an indispensable role in e‐skin. Despite tremendous research efforts devoted to flexible sensors with excellent performance regarding a certain sensing mode or property, emerging e‐skin demands multifunctional flexible sensors to be endowed with the skin‐like capability and beyond. Considering outstanding superiorities of electrical conductivity, chemical stability, and ease of functionalization, carbon materials are adopted to implement multifunctional flexible sensors. In this review, the latest advances of carbon‐based multifunctional flexible sensors with regard to the types of detection modes and abundant properties are introduced. The corresponding preparation process, device structure, sensing mechanism, obtained performance, and intriguing applications are highlighted. Furthermore, diverse e‐skin systems by integrating current cutting‐edge technologies (e.g., data acquisition and transmission, neuromorphic technology, and artificial intelligence) with carbon‐based multifunctional flexible sensors are systematically investigated in detail. Finally, the existing problems and future developing directions are also proposed.
With the coming of the intelligent age, there is an urgent requirement for flexible devices that can achieve omnidirectional imitation of skin functions. This review emphatically summarizes the latest progress of multifunctional flexible sensors and electronic skin systems made of carbon‐based materials as well as their intriguing applications, hoping to promote the development of multifunctional flexible electronics.
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