A microfluidic paper-based analytical device for rapid quantification of particulate chromium

Occupational exposure to Cr is concerning because of its myriad of health effects. Assessing chromium exposure is also cost and resource intensive because the analysis typically uses sophisticated instrumental techniques like inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Here, we report a novel, simple, inexpensive microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPAD) for measuring total Cr in airborne particulate matter. In the μPAD, tetravalent cerium (Ce(IV)) was used in a pretreatment zone to oxidize all soluble Cr to Cr(VI). After elution to the detection zone, Cr(VI) reacts with 1,5-diphenylcarbazide (1,5-DPC) forming 1,5-diphenylcarbazone (DPCO) and Cr(III). The resulting Cr(III) forms a distinct purple colored complex with the DPCO. As proof-of-principle, particulate matter (PM) collected on a sample filter was analyzed with the μPAD to quantify the mass of total Cr. A log-linear working range (0.23–3.75 μg; r² = 0.998) between Cr and color intensity was obtained with a detection limit of 0.12 μg. For validation, a certified reference containing multiple competing metals was analyzed. Quantitative agreement was obtained between known Cr levels in the sample and the Cr measured using the μPAD.     

Inducing a high twisted conformation in the polyimide structure by bulky donor moieties for the development of non-volatile memory

Two polyimides, PI(DAT-6FDA) and PI(DAPT-6FDA), from N-(2,4-diaminophenyl)-N,N-diphenylamine (DAT) or N-(4-(2′,4′-diaminophenoxy)phenyl-N,N-diphenylamine (DAPT) and 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) were prepared to clarify the structural effect on the resulting memory properties. The memory device based on PI(DAT-6FDA) showed an unstable volatile behavior, while the device based on PI(DAPT-6FDA) with a more bulky donor (D) unit exhibited a stable non-volatile FLASH type memory characteristic with a long retention time over 10⁴ s. The theoretical simulation based on the density functional theory (DFT) suggested that the greater distinct charge separation between the ground and charge transfer (CT) states led to a highly stable memory behavior. Also, it was clarified that PI(DAPT-6FDA) had a highly twisted conformation compared to PI(DAT-6FDA) in the ground state, and a more twisted dihedral angle between the D and acceptor (A) units was induced in the CT state, which led to the non-volatile memory characteristic.     

FIPSDock: A new molecular docking technique driven by fully informed swarm optimization algorithm

The accurate prediction of protein–ligand binding is of great importance for rational drug design. We present herein a novel docking algorithm called as FIPSDock, which implements a variant of the Fully Informed Particle Swarm (FIPS) optimization method and adopts the newly developed energy function of AutoDock 4.20 suite for solving flexible protein–ligand docking problems. The search ability and docking accuracy of FIPSDock were first evaluated by multiple cognate docking experiments. In a benchmarking test for 77 protein/ligand complex structures derived from GOLD benchmark set, FIPSDock has obtained a successful predicting rate of 93.5% and outperformed a few docking programs including particle swarm optimization (PSO)@AutoDock, SODOCK, AutoDock, DOCK, Glide, GOLD, FlexX, Surflex, and MolDock. More importantly, FIPSDock was evaluated against PSO@AutoDock, SODOCK, and AutoDock 4.20 suite by cross‐docking experiments of 74 protein–ligand complexes among eight protein targets (CDK2, ESR1, F2, MAPK14, MMP8, MMP13, PDE4B, and PDE5A) derived from Sutherland‐crossdock‐set. Remarkably, FIPSDock is superior to PSO@AutoDock, SODOCK, and AutoDock in seven out of eight cross‐docking experiments. The results reveal that FIPS algorithm might be more suitable than the conventional genetic algorithm‐based algorithms in dealing with highly flexible docking problems. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effects of combining of different flexible spacers in liquid crystal trimers and tetramers on transition properties

Liquid crystal trimers and tetramers containing two kinds of flexible spacers, namely O(CH₂) _m O and COO(CH₂) _n O, were divided into four classes according to the odd/even nature of the number of atoms in the flexible spacers: specifically, even–even, odd–odd, even–odd, and odd–even trimers, and even–even–even, odd–odd–odd, odd–even–odd, and even–odd–even tetramers. The transition properties of the four types of trimers and of tetramers were compared. Although the nematic–isotropic transition temperature and the associated entropy changes were primarily related to the number of the even-membered flexible spacers in these molecules, the different combinations of the flexible spacers significantly affected their transition properties.     

基于嵌入式的工业控制人机界面系统研究

针对工业控制系统网络化和良好人机交互性的需求,构建和开发了基于ARM9微处理器的通用工业控制人机界面系统。硬件部分主要讨论了以S3C2440微处理器为核心的硬件电路设计,外围电路模块包括SDRAM及Flash存储器电路、以太网电路、RS-232/RS-422电路、触摸屏及LCD接口等电路,在分析了硬件系统信号完整性的前提下,完成了6层PCB的设计工作。软件部分主要研究了U-Boot移植和内核裁剪技术,编写了相关的硬件设备驱动程序,设计了基于QT/Embedded的人机界面和相关应用程序。论文研究最终实现了工业控制系统的人机交互和控制需求。     

基于MXenes的功能纤维的制备及其在智能可穿戴领域的应用

在电子信息和物联网技术的推动下,人类对可穿戴电子器件和智能织物的需求愈发突出,功能纤维作为智能可穿戴设备的重要载体,近年来获得快速发展。功能纤维的性能很大程度上取决于纤维的基础构筑单元。过渡金属碳/氮化物(MXenes)作为一种新兴的二维材料,凭借其高电导率、优异的可加工性能、可调节的表面特性以及出色的机械强度等优点,受到了极大的关注,也逐渐成为构筑功能纤维的重要单元。本文将主要综述MXenes的湿化学、熔融盐、无氟试剂刻蚀等方法和力学、电学、光学和化学稳定性等性能,阐述基于该材料制备的功能纤维在传感、储能以及其他智能领域的应用,最后讨论了基于MXenes材料的功能纤维的未来应用前景和技术挑战。     

Flexible strain sensor with ridge-like microstructures for wearable applications

The flexible stretchable sensors have great potential for implementation in various applications, such as intelligent soft robots, health monitoring, and motion detection. However, most of the flexible stretchable sensors with microstructures and high sensitivities are fabricated by expensive templates and complex processes. In consideration of large-scale fabrication, a low cost and efficient way is in great demand. Herein, electroless plating on Nafion films with decent swelling ratios are proposed to fabricate stretchable sensors with wrinkle-structured electrodes. By adding isopropanol (IPA) to the electroless plating process, the H₂O-IPA sensor with larger swelling ratio shows deeper surface wrinkles, higher surface roughness, and better sensitivity to strain. At the same time, the H₂O-IPA sensor exhibit good durability (500 cycles). By mounting the sensor on the joint of human finger, the motion of the finger bending and even the bending degree can be accurately detected, indicating the potential use in the field of wearable devices and soft electronic skins.     

Optimizing the Photovoltaic Performance of Organic Solar Cells for Indoor Light Harvesting

Organic solar cells (OSCs) harvesting indoor light are highly promising for emerging technologies, such as internet of things. Herein, the photovoltaic performance of PTB7-Th:PC₇₁BM solar cells constructed using “optimized (with 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO))” and “non-optimized (without DIO)” processing conditions are compared for indoor and outdoor applications. We find that in comparison to the “optimized” solar cell, the “non-optimized” solar cell is less efficient under simulated solar light illumination (100 mW cm⁻², spectral range 350–1100 nm), owing to significant bimolecular charge carrier recombination losses. However, under simulated indoor illumination (3.28 mW cm⁻², spectral range 400–700 nm), bimolecular recombination losses are effective suppressed, thus the power conversion efficiency of the solar cell without DIO was increased to 14.7 %, higher than that of the solar cell with DIO (14.2 %). These results suggest that the common strategy used to optimize the OSCs could be undesired for indoor OSCs. We demonstrate that the efforts for realizing the desired “morphology” of the active layer for the outdoor OSCs may be unnecessary for indoor OSCs, allowing us to realize high-efficiency indoor OSCs using a non-halogenated solvent.     

Graphene screen‐printed radio‐frequency identification devices on flexible substrates

Despite the great promise of printed flexible electronics from 2D crystals, and especially graphene, few scalable applications have been reported so far that can be termed roll‐to‐roll compatible. Here we combine screen printed graphene with photonic annealing to realize radio‐frequency identification devices with a reading range of up to 4 meters. Most notably our approach leads to fatigue resistant devices showing less than 1% deterioration of electrical properties after 1000 bending cycles. The bending fatigue resistance demonstrated on a variety of technologically relevant plastic and paper substrates renders the material highly suitable for various printable wearable devices, where repeatable dynamic bending stress is expected during usage. All applied printing and post‐processing methods are compatible with roll‐to‐roll manufacturing and temperature sensitive flexible substrates providing a platform for the scalable manufacturing of mechanically stable and environmentally friendly graphene printed electronics.