Injectable and bioactive methylcellulose hydrogel carrying bone mesenchymal stem cells as a filler for critical-size defects with enhanced bone regeneration.

As a soluble cellulose derivative, methylcellulose (MC), can be used to construct thermosensitive hydrogels. However, a pure MC gel is generally considered an inert material that is inadequate for cell survival. We adopted an environmentally friendly method to fabricate a nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) hybrid MC hydrogel.

Long-circulating zein-polysulfobetaine conjugate-based nanocarriers for enhancing the stability and pharmacokinetics of curcumin.

Though curcumin has potential treatment value for most chronic diseases, it exerts little potency in the clinic because of its low aqueous solubility, high chemical instability and poor pharmacokinetics. To enhance its potency, we developed a zein-based micelle as a nanocarrier to encapsulate curcumin. Herein, superhydrophilic zwitterionic polymers, poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA), were conjugated to zein to obtain an amphiphilic zein-PSBMA conjugate.

Light-Enhanced Ion Migration in Two-Dimensional Perovskite Single Crystals Revealed in Carbon Nanotubes/Two-Dimensional Perovskite Heterostructure and Its Photomemory Application.

Two-dimensional (2D) hybrid perovskite sandwiched between two long-chain organic layers is an emerging class of low-cost semiconductor materials with unique optical properties and improved moisture stability. Unlike conventional semiconductors, ion migration in perovskite is a unique phenomenon possibly responsible for long carrier lifetime, current-voltage hysteresis, and low-frequency giant dielectric response. While there are many studies of ion migration in bulk hybrid perovskite, not much is known for its 2D counterparts, especially for ion migration induced by light excitation.

Flexible Two-Dimensional TiC MXene Films as Thermoacoustic Devices.

MXenes have attracted great attention for their potential applications in electrochemical and electronic devices due to their excellent characteristics. Traditional sound sources based on the thermoacoustic effect demonstrated that a conductor needs to have an extremely low heat capacity and high thermal conductivity. Hence, a thin MXene film with a low heat capacity per unit area (HCPUA) and special layered structure is emerging as a promising candidate to build loudspeakers.

Millimeter-Scale Nonlocal Photo-Sensing Based on Single-Crystal Perovskite Photodetector.

Organometal trihalide perovskites (OTPs) are promising optoelectronic materials for high-performance photodetectors. However, up to now, traditional polycrystal OTP-based photodetectors have demonstrated limited effective photo-sensing range. Recently, bulk perovskite single crystals have been seen to have the potential for position-sensitive photodetection.

An ultrasensitive strain sensor with a wide strain range based on graphene armour scales.

An ultrasensitive strain sensor with a wide strain range based on graphene armour scales is demonstrated in this paper. The sensor shows an ultra-high gauge factor (GF, up to 1054) and a wide strain range (ε = 26%), both of which present an advantage compared to most other flexible sensors. Moreover, the sensor is developed by a simple fabrication process.

Self-adapted and tunable graphene strain sensors for detecting both subtle and large human motions.

Conventional strain sensors rarely have both a high gauge factor and a large strain range simultaneously, so they can only be used in specific situations where only a high sensitivity or a large strain range is required. However, for detecting human motions that include both subtle and large motions, these strain sensors can't meet the diverse demands simultaneously. Here, we come up with laser patterned graphene strain sensors with self-adapted and tunable performance for the first time.

An intelligent artificial throat with sound-sensing ability based on laser induced graphene.

Traditional sound sources and sound detectors are usually independent and discrete in the human hearing range. To minimize the device size and integrate it with wearable electronics, there is an urgent requirement of realizing the functional integration of generating and detecting sound in a single device. Here we show an intelligent laser-induced graphene artificial throat, which can not only generate sound but also detect sound in a single device.

A point acoustic device based on aluminum nanowires.

A point Electrical Thermal Acoustic (ETA) device based on aluminum nanowire contacts is designed and fabricated. Interdigitated structural aluminum nanowires are released from the substrate by Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching (ICP-RIE). By releasing the interdigitated structure, the nanowires contact each other at approximately 1 mm above the wafer, forming a Point Contact Structure (PCS).

A Flexible 360-Degree Thermal Sound Source Based on Laser Induced Graphene.

A flexible sound source is essential in a whole flexible system. It's hard to integrate a conventional sound source based on a piezoelectric part into a whole flexible system. Moreover, the sound pressure from the back side of a sound source is usually weaker than that from the front side.

Synthesis and decoloring properties of sodium humate/poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels.

A series of novel sodium humate/poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (SH/PNIPA) hydrogels were synthesized by solution polymerization. The swelling and decoloring properties of SH/PNIPA hydrogels were also examined. Experiment results show that there exist hydrogen-bonding interactions between SH and PNIPA in the SH/PNIPA hydrogels network, which are not strong enough to disrupt the aggregation of dehydrated PNIPA chains at phase transition temperature, leading to the same volume phase transition temperature as pure PNIPA hydrogel.

Removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solution by adsorption onto sodium humate/polyacrylamide/clay hybrid hydrogels.

A type of novel hybrid hydrogels from sodium humate (SH), polyacrylamide (PAM), and hydrophilic laponite clay were prepared using potassium persulfate (KPS) as the initiator and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as the cross-linker. The morphology of the hydrogels was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The adsorption-desorption kinetics of methylene blue (MB) were also investigated.