Stress-eliminated liquid-phase fabrication of colloidal films above the critical crack thickness.

The thickness of film materials is a critical factor influencing properties such as energy density, optical performance, and mechanical strength. However, the long-standing challenge of the intrinsic thermodynamic limit on maximum thickness often leads to detrimental cracking, compromising these desirable properties. In this study, we present an approach called the stress-eliminated liquid-phase fabrication (SELF) method.

One-step high-speed thermal-electric aerosol printing of piezoelectric bio-organic films for wirelessly powering bioelectronics.

Piezoelectric biomaterials hold a pivotal role in the progression of bioelectronics and biomedicine, owing to their remarkable electromechanical properties, biocompatibility, and bioresorbability. However, their technological potential is restrained by certain challenges, including precise manipulation of nanobiomolecules, controlling their growth across nano-to-macro hierarchy, and tuning desirable mechanical properties. We report a high-speed thermal-electric driven aerosol (TEA) printing method capable of fabricating piezoelectric biofilms in a singular step.

Enhancing Ultrasound Power Transfer: Efficiency, Acoustics, and Future Directions.

Implantable medical devices (IMDs), like pacemakers regulating heart rhythm or deep brain stimulators treating neurological disorders, revolutionize healthcare. However, limited battery life necessitates frequent surgeries for replacements. Ultrasound power transfer (UPT) emerges as a promising solution for sustainable IMD operation.

A bioinspired surface tension-driven route toward programmed cellular ceramics.

The intriguing biomineralization process in nature endows the mineralized biological materials with intricate microarchitected structures in a facile and orderly way, which provides an inspiration for processing ceramics. Here, we propose a simple and efficient manufacturing process to fabricate cellular ceramics in programmed cell-based 3D configurations, inspired by the biomineralization process of the diatom frustule. Our approach separates the ingredient synthesis from architecture building, enabling the programmable manufacturing of cellular ceramics with various cell sizes, geometries, densities, metastructures, and constituent elements.

Fast and versatile electrostatic disc microprinting for piezoelectric elements.

Nanoparticles, films, and patterns are three critical piezoelectric elements with widespread applications in sensing, actuations, catalysis and energy harvesting. High productivity and large-area fabrication of these functional elements is still a significant challenge, let alone the control of their structures and feature sizes on various substrates. Here, we report a fast and versatile electrostatic disc microprinting, enabled by triggering the instability of liquid-air interface of inks.

Active self-assembly of piezoelectric biomolecular films via synergistic nanoconfinement and in-situ poling.

Piezoelectric biomaterials have attracted great attention owing to the recent recognition of the impact of piezoelectricity on biological systems and their potential applications in implantable sensors, actuators, and energy harvesters. However, their practical use is hindered by the weak piezoelectric effect caused by the random polarization of biomaterials and the challenges of large-scale alignment of domains. Here, we present an active self-assembly strategy to tailor piezoelectric biomaterial thin films.

Green Fabrication of Freestanding Piezoceramic Films for Energy Harvesting and Virus Detection.

Most electronics such as sensors, actuators and energy harvesters need piezoceramic films to interconvert mechanical and electrical energy. Transferring the ceramic films from their growth substrates for assembling electronic devices commonly requires chemical or physical etching, which comes at the sacrifice of the substrate materials, film cracks, and environmental contamination. Here, we introduce a van der Waals stripping method to fabricate large-area and freestanding piezoceramic thin films in a simple, green, and cost-effective manner.

Self-charging electrostatic face masks leveraging triboelectrification for prolonged air filtration.

Electrostatic adsorption is an important complement to the mechanical filtration for high-efficiency air filtering. However, the electrostatic charge decays with time, especially in humid conditions. In this work, a self-charging air filter is presented to capture airborne particles in an efficient and long-lasting manner without the need of external power sources.