Multifunctional flexible and stretchable polyurethane/carbon nanotube strain sensor for human breath monitoring

Flexible and stretchable polyurethane/carbon nanotube composite with strain detection ability was used for human breath monitoring. The composite material consisted of a network of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and thermoplastic high elastic polyurethane. It was found that elongation of the composite led to a macroscopic increase in electrical resistance, which can be used as a principle for applied strain detection. This detection was reversible, durable, and sensitive with gauge factor reaching very promising value, as, for example, ~46 at applied deformation of 8.7%. Further, the composite could be elongated to very large extend of deformation without discontinuity in measured resistance change reaching gauge factor ~ 450 at composite mechanical break at ~300% of strain. Sensor durability was also confirmed by sine wave deformation cycling when any decrease in the sensor properties for more than 10³ cycles was observed. Simultaneously, the prepared composite possessed other utility properties also and was considered as multifunctional when it was tested as an organic solvent vapor sensor, an element for Joule heating and finally as a microstrip antenna.     

A Transparent,Highly Stretchable,Autonomous Self‐Healing Poly(dimethyl siloxane) Elastomer

An innovative self‐healing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer, namely, PDMS‐TFB, is reported by incorporating the reversibly dynamic imine bond as the self‐healing points into the PDMS networks. The PDMS‐TFB elastomer features good optical transmittance (80%) in full visible light region, high stretchability (≈700%), and excellent autonomous self‐healing ability at room temperature. Surprisingly, the self‐healing behavior can take place in water and even at a temperature as low as −20 °C in air, showing a promising outlook for broader applications. As a proof‐of‐concept, this study demonstrates the use of the PDMS‐TFB elastomer for preparing anticorrosion coating and adhesive layer, and also the use of such an elastomer to be the platform for fabricating the flexible interconnector and chemical sensor. Remarkably, no significant difference is observed between the pristine and healed samples. Taking full advantage of these unique properties, it is anticipated that such a PDMS‐TFB elastomer shows wide applications in the fields of materials science, electronics, biology, optics, etc.

     

A Highly Stretchable and Autonomous Self‐Healing Polymer Based on Combination of Pt···Pt and π–π Interactions

A new self‐healing polymer has been obtained by incorporating a cyclometalated platinum(II) complex Pt(C^∧N^∧N)Cl (C^∧N^∧N = 6‐phenyl‐2,2′‐bipyridyl) into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) backbone. The molecular interactions (a combination of Pt···Pt and π–π interactions) between cyclometalated platinum(II) complexes are strong enough to crosslink the linear PDMS polymer chains into an elastic film. The as prepared polymer can be stretched to over 20 times of its original length. When damaged, the polymer can be healed at room temperature without any healants or external stimuli. Moreover, the self‐healing is insensitive to surface aging. This work represents the first example where the attractive metallophilic inter­actions are utilized to design self‐healing materials. Moreover, our results suggest that the stretchability and self‐healing properties can be obtained simultaneously without any conflict by optimizing the strength of crosslinking interactions.

     

柔性电子器件的应用、结构、力学及展望

新的结构布局在延展性要求极高的器件中具有很大的应用潜力, 而使用较成熟的刚性技术制成的器件很难达到延展性要求. 将柔性技术应用到刚性电路中产生具有相同性能且能拉伸、压缩和弯曲的柔性集成电路, 这在健康监测器和表皮电子系统等领域具有重要的应用. 优化柔性电路结构, 研究其力学性能能提高系统的延展性. 本文对这些系统的应用、柔性电路的结构布局、力学行为进行总结概述. 最后, 就柔性电子器件未来研究的方向提出几点观点.     

超弹性薄膜与可压缩基底双层结构表面失稳分析

当上层超弹性硬质薄膜和下层可膨胀基底构成的双层结构受压时,薄膜的自由表面可通过形成褶皱降低系统能量.研究表明,上下两层的模量比不同时,上层弹性硬质薄膜将表现出不同的表面失稳模式.本文提出了一种新颖的方法可有效抑制双层软材料的表面失稳,即改变基底材料的泊松比,这种方法同时适用于不具有应变硬化的软材料.首先基于Neo-Hookean模型发展了小变形条件下双层结构表面失稳的理论模型,通过半解析的方法得到了表面失稳的临界应变;然后通过有限元计算与模拟,进一步验证了负泊松比基底可延缓表面失稳.结果表明:(1)当双层结构基底泊松比为正且趋于0.5(不可压缩)时,双层结构在较小的压缩应变下出现表面失稳;(2)当基底的泊松比为负且趋于-1时,可被压缩至46%而不出现表面失稳,即可膨胀基底能有效抑制薄膜的表面失稳.本文发展的方法及主要结果可为延展性电子器件的设计提供指导.     

The Flow of Blood-Based Hybrid Nanofluids with Couple Stresses by the Convergent and Divergent Channel for the Applications of Drug Delivery

This research work aims to scrutinize the mathematical model for the hybrid nanofluid flow in a converging and diverging channel. Titanium dioxide and silver TiO2 and Ag are considered as solid nanoparticles while blood is considered a base solvent. The couple-stress fluid model is essentially use to describe the blood flow. Therefore, the couple-stress term was used in the recent study with the existence of a magnetic field and a Darcy–Forchheiner porous medium. The heat absorption/omission and radiation terms were also included in the energy equation for the sustainability of drug delivery. An endeavor was made to link the recent study with the applications of drug delivery. It has already been revealed by the available literature that the combination of TiO2 with any other metal can destroy cancer cells more effectively than TiO2 separately. Both the walls are stretchable/shrinkable, whereas flow is caused by a source or sink with α as a converging/diverging parameter. Governing equations were altered into the system of non-linear coupled equations by using the similarity variables. The homotopy analysis method (HAM) was applied to obtain the preferred solution. The influences of the modeled parameters have been calculated and displayed. The confrontation of wall shear stress and hybrid nanofluid flow increased as the couple stress parameter rose, which indicates an improvement in the stability of the base fluid (blood). The percentage (%) increase in the heat transfer rate with the variation of nanoparticle volume fraction was also calculated numerically and discussed theoretically.     

Robust Hydrogel Adhesive with Dual Hydrogen Bond Networks

Hydrogel adhesives are attractive for applications in intelligent soft materials and tissue engineering, but conventional hydrogels usually have poor adhesion. In this study, we designed a strategy to synthesize a novel adhesive with a thin hydrogel adhesive layer integrated on a tough substrate hydrogel. The adhesive layer with positive charges of ammonium groups on the polymer backbones strongly bonds to a wide range of nonporous materials’ surfaces. The substrate layer with a dual hydrogen bond system consists of (i) weak hydrogen bonds between N,N-dimethyl acrylamide (DMAA) and acrylic acid (AAc) units and (ii) strong multiple hydrogen bonds between 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone (UPy) units. The dual hydrogen-bond network endowed the hydrogel adhesives with unique mechanical properties, e.g., toughness, highly stretchability, and insensitivity to notches. The hydrogel adhesion to four types of materials like glass, 316L stainless steel, aluminum, Al₂O₃ ceramic, and two biological tissues including pig skin and pig kidney was investigated. The hydrogel bonds strongly to dry solid surfaces and wet tissue, which is promising for biomedical applications.     

Stretchable Electrochemical Sensor for Real‐Time Monitoring of Cells and Tissues

Stretchable electrochemical sensors are conceivably a powerful technique that provides important chemical information to unravel elastic and curvilinear living body. However, no breakthrough was made in stretchable electrochemical device for biological detection. Herein, we synthesized Au nanotubes (NTs) with large aspect ratio to construct an effective stretchable electrochemical sensor. Interlacing network of Au NTs endows the sensor with desirable stability against mechanical deformation, and Au nanostructure provides excellent electrochemical performance and biocompatibility. This allows for the first time, real‐time electrochemical monitoring of mechanically sensitive cells on the sensor both in their stretching‐free and stretching states as well as sensing of the inner lining of blood vessels. The results demonstrate the great potential of this sensor in electrochemical detection of living body, opening a new window for stretchable electrochemical sensor in biological exploration.     

Mussel-Inspired Adhesive,Antibacterial, and Stretchable Composite Hydrogel for Wound Dressing

Hydrogels have attracted extensive attention in the field of biomedicine because of their similar structure to extracellular matrix (ECM) and good biocompatibility. However, the adhesiveness, mechanical properties, and antibacterial properties of conventional hydrogels are not satisfactory. In this study, multifunctional chitosan/polydopamine/polyacrylamide (CS/PDA/PAM) hydrogels are prepared through a nature-inspired strategy. The catechol group of polydopamine (PDA) component endows CS/PDA/PAM hydrogels with tissue adhesion and self-healing properties. The introduction of chitosan (CS) not only greatly improves antibacterial ability, but also enhances the mechanical properties of CS/PDA/PAM hydrogels. Skin wound healing experiments show that CS/PDA/PAM hydrogels could accelerate skin tissue regeneration and promote wound healing. Therefore, CS/PDA/PAM hydrogels have great potential in the application of new wound dressings.     

Finite Difference Analysis of Time-Dependent Viscous Nanofluid Flow Between Parallel Plates

This article computes effect of uniform magnetic field on nanofluid flow filling porous medium inside parallel sheets. Darcy's law is used to characterize porous medium. Flow is caused by stretching of the lower sheet. The governing systems are computed using Finite difference technique. This scheme is used due to its more general and powerful nature to solve nonlinear problems. Results are obtained and discussed graphically. Nusselt number, skin friction, streamlines,velocity and temperature are emphasized.