Soft Robotic-Adapted Multimodal Sensors Derived from Entirely Intrinsic Self-Healing and Stretchable Cross-Linked Networks

Flexible sensing technologies that play a pivotal role in endowing robots with detection capabilities and monitoring their motions are impulsively desired for intelligent robotics systems. However, integrating and constructing reliable and sustainable flexible sensors with multifunctionality for robots remains an everlasting challenge. Herein, an entirely intrinsic self-healing, stretchable, and attachable multimodal sensor is developed that can be conformally integrated with soft robots to identify diverse signals. The dynamic bonds cross-linked networks including the insulating polymer and conductive hydrogel with good comprehensive performances are designed to fabricate the sensor with prolonged lifespan and improved reliability. Benefiting from the self-adhesiveness of the hydrogel, strong interfacial bonding can be formed on various surfaces, which promotes the conformable integration of the sensor with robots. Due to the ionic transportation mechanism, the sensor can detect strain and temperature based on piezoresistive and thermoresistive effect, respectively. Moreover, the sensor can work in triboelectric mode to achieve self-powered sensing. Various information can be identified from the electrical signals generated by the sensor, including hand gestures, soft robot crawling motions, a message of code, the temperature of objects, and the type of materials, holding great promise in the fields of environmental detection, wearable devices, human-machine interfacing, and robotics.     

Boosting the Durability of Triboelectric Nanogenerators: A Critical Review and Prospect

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted great interests in the development of sustainable energies and intelligent society. However, a big challenge for TENGs in practical applications is the unavoidable external mechanical abrasion and/or contaminant adsorption on the triboelectric materials, which leads to the significant decrease of the durability of TENGs and is urgently needed to be addressed. There are already a series of interesting progresses on the topic of the TENGs’ durability. In this study, reviewing the durability of TENGs via both the advanced materials/structure designing and the novel surface/interface engineering is focused upon, which includes choosing basic TENG materials, improving composites performance, optimizing structures, and designing triboelectric surfaces and interfaces. To get a better understanding of the durability of TENGs in published studies, the quantifiable levels of service life are also summarized including operation cycles, time, friction coefficient, and wear loss of triboelectric materials, where the boosting mechanisms are also discussed and summarized. Finally, the challenges as well as key strategies toward high durable TENGs are presented.     

Implications of accelerated self-healing as a key design knob for cross-layer resilience

In this paper we propose a cross-layer accelerated self-healing (CLASH) system which “repairs” its wearout issues in a physical sense through accelerated and active recovery, by which wearout can be reversed while actively applying several accelerated self-healing techniques, such as high temperature and negative voltages. Different from previous solutions of coping with wearout issues (e.g. BTI) by “tolerating”, “slowing down” or “compensating”, which still leave the irreversible (permanent) wearout component unchecked, the proposed solution is able to fully avoid the irreversible wearout through periodic rejuvenation, and this is inspired by the explored frequency dependent behaviors of wearout and (accelerated and active) recovery based on measurements on FPGAs. We demonstrate a case where the chip can always be brought back to the fresh status by employing a pattern of 31-h regular operation (under room temperature and nominal voltage) followed by a 1-h accelerated self-healing (under high temperature and negative voltage). The proposed system integrates the notions of accelerated self-healing across multiple layers of the system stack. At the circuit level, a negative voltage generator and heating elements are designed and implemented; at the architecture level, the core can be allocated in a way such that the dark silicon or redundant resources can be healed by active elements; at the system level, right balance of stress and accelerated/active recovery can be employed by the system scheduler to fully mitigate the wearout; various wearout sensors act as the media between different layers. Overall, these techniques work together to guarantee that the whole system performs for more of the time at higher levels of performance and power efficiency by fully taking advantage of the extra opportunities enabled by the accelerated self-healing.     

Thermally driven self-healing PEDOT conductive films relying on reversible and multiple Diels–Alder interaction

Thermally healing capability of cracks and defects is important and urgent for the safe operation and life extending of electric materials and devices. Here, by the combination of thermally driven reversible Diels–Alder (DA) interaction and in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT), a series of intrinsically conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)/DA composites possess intrinsically self-healing property under low-temperature (reverse DA reaction at 100°C; DA crosslinking at 60°C) stimulus were achieved. The crosslinking DA bonding reactions are multiple from the co-existence of pre-synthesized macromolecular polyurethane attached DA units (PU-DA) and 2,4-hexadiyne-1,6-diol (DADOL) in the films. PU-DA involved in the polymerization process of EDOT to endow PEDOT with outstanding solution-processability, uniform film making, and structural self-healing capability, while DADOL was added to enhance the cross bonding between polymer chains. This work will accelerate the research and application development of intrinsically self-healing conducting polymers for commercial capacitors, antistatic coatings, implantable, printable electronics, and so on.     

A Self-Healing Metal–Organic Hydrogel for an All-Solid Flexible Supercapacitor

A zinc containing metal–organic gel (Zn-MOG) with embedded free ions, which exhibits self-healing properties, has been synthesized for application in supercapacitors. The activated carbon-based flexible supercapacitor device with the MOG electrolyte has a broad potential window of 2.1 V, with high retention of specific capacitance compared to the traditional polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based gel. The Zn-MOG does not require an additional electrolyte. The sodium and sulphate ions embedded in the MOG are sufficient enough for the charge storage.     

Grubbs-inspired metathesis in the Moore group

Alkene metathesis has proven to be a powerful method for carbon carbon bond formation, particularly in the field of polymer and materials science. The availability of various tailor-made catalysts not only enables the synthesis of well-defined polymers but facilitates the development of functional, stimuli–responsive materials. This highlight, dedicated to Professor Robert Grubbs on his 75th birthday, focuses on the various research efforts in our group utilizing both alkene and alkyne metatheses and the interesting materials derived from them. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 2935–2948     

无线传感器网络中自修复密钥颁布机制中滑动窗口的动态性探讨

在很多自修复密钥颁布机制中,滑动窗口大小影响着密钥的修复性能和通信开销.本文利用概率知识,首次建立了滑动窗口和丢包率对节点密钥同步性能、组安全关联性能和安全服务性能的数学模型.设计了适应链路动态变化特性的滑动窗口选择机制,采用查找表方式优化了计算和存储开销.仿真验证了该机制具有动态适应性,可以高概率的保证网络的安全服务性能.与已有机制相比,所提机制显著降低了通信开销,具有可行性和高效性,进一步推动了自修复密钥颁布机制的实际应用.     

Deep-Eutectic-Solvent-Based Self-Healing Polymer Electrolyte for Safe and Long-Life Lithium-Metal Batteries

The deployment of high-energy-density lithium-metal batteries has been greatly impeded by Li dendrite growth and safety concerns originating from flammable liquid electrolytes. Herein, we report a stable quasi-solid-state Li metal battery with a deep eutectic solvent (DES)-based self-healing polymer (DSP) electrolyte. This electrolyte was fabricated in a facile manner by in situ copolymerization of 2-(3-(6-methyl-4-oxo-1,4-dihydropyrimidin-2-yl)ureido)ethyl methacrylate (UPyMA) and pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PETEA) monomers in a DES-based electrolyte containing fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) as an additive. The well-designed DSP electrolyte simultaneously possesses non-flammability, high ionic conductivity and electrochemical stability, and dendrite-free Li plating. When applied in Li metal batteries with a LiMn₂O₄ cathode, the DSP electrolyte effectively suppressed manganese dissolution from the cathode and enabled high-capacity and a long lifespan at room and elevated temperatures.     

Stretchable Perovskite Solar Cells with Recoverable Performance

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a promising photovoltaic technology for stretchable applications because of their flexible, light‐weight, and low‐cost characteristics. However, the fragility of crystals and poor crystallinity of perovskite on stretchable substrates results in performance loss. In fact, grain boundary defects are the “Achilles’ heel” of optoelectronic and mechanical stability. We incorporate a self‐healing polyurethane (s‐PU) with dynamic oxime–carbamate bonds as a scaffold into the perovskite films, which simultaneously enhances crystallinity and passivates the grain boundary of the perovskite films. The stretchable PSCs with s‐PU deliver a stabilized efficiency of 19.15 % with negligible hysteresis, which is comparable to the performance on rigid substrates. The PSCs can maintain over 90 % of their initial efficiency after 3000 hours in air because of their self‐encapsulating structure. Importantly, the self‐healing function of the s‐PU scaffold was verified in situ. The s‐PU can release mechanical stress and repair cracks at the grain boundary on multiple levels. The devices recover 88 % of their original efficiency after 1000 cycles at 20 % stretch. We believe that this ingenious growth strategy for crystalline semiconductors will facilitate development of flexible and stretchable electronics.     

镍钛记忆合金自补偿磨粒磨损性能研究

研究了高临界温度镍钛记忆合金一维自补偿磨粒磨损特性.结果表明,在一定温度下,镍钛记忆合金在摩擦过程中具有形状恢复能力,从而产生一维磨损自补偿作用.超弹状态镍钛记忆合金具有热弹性马氏体相变、高阻尼、应力感生马氏体、超弹性、高应变硬化指数和时效弥散析出强化等特性,这使得硬度较低的镍钛合金的耐磨性能远优于硬度较高的淬火45#钢.利用超弹状态镍钛记忆合金的磨损自补偿作用可望开发出新型抗磨形状记忆合金产品.