Active Quantum Biomaterials-Enhanced Microrobots for Food Safety.

Timely disruptive tools for the detection of pathogens in foods are needed to face global health and economic challenges. Herein, the utilization of quantum biomaterials-enhanced microrobots (QBEMRs) as autonomous mobile sensors designed for the precise detection of endotoxins originating from Salmonella enterica (S. enterica) as an indicator species for food-borne contamination globally is presented.

Quantum Material-Based Self-Propelled Microrobots for the Optical "On-the-Fly" Monitoring of DNA.

Quantum dot-based materials have been found to be excellent platforms for biosensing and bioimaging applications. Herein, self-propelled microrobots made of graphene quantum dots (GQD-MRs) have been synthesized and explored as unconventional dynamic biocarriers toward the optical "on-the-fly" monitoring of DNA. As a first demonstration of applicability, GQD-MRs have been first biofunctionalized with a DNA biomarker (i.

Magnetic Shape-Memory Heuslers Turn to Bio: Cytocompatibility of Ni-Mn-Ga Films and Biomedical Perspective.

Magnetic shape-memory (MSM) Heuslers have attracted great attention in recent years for both caloric and magnetomechanical applications. Thanks to their multifunctional properties, they are also promising for a vast variety of biomedical applications. However, this topic has been rarely investigated so far.

Nanostructured Hybrid BioBots for Beer Brewing.

The brewing industry will amass a revenue above 500 billion euros in 2022, and the market is expected to grow annually. This industrial process is based on a slow sugar fermentation by yeast (commonly ). Herein, we encapsulate yeast cells into a biocompatible alginate (ALG) polymer along FeO nanoparticles to produce magneto/catalytic nanostructured ALG@yeast-FeO BioBots.

Biocompatible micromotors for biosensing.

Micro/nanomotors are nanoscale devices that have been explored in various fields, such as drug delivery, environmental remediation, or biosensing and diagnosis. The use of micro/nanomotors has grown considerably over the past few years, partially because of the advantages that they offer in the development of new conceptual avenues in biosensing. This is due to their propulsion and intermixing in solution compared with their respective static forms, which enables motion-based detection methods and/or decreases bioassay time.

Hierarchical Atomic Layer Deposited V O on 3D Printed Nanocarbon Electrodes for High-Performance Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Aqueous rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ARZIBs) are promising energy storage systems owing to their ecofriendliness, safety, and cost-efficiency. However, the sluggish Zn diffusion kinetics originated from its inherent large atomic mass and high polarization remains an ongoing challenge. To this end, electrodes with 3D architectures and high porosity are highly desired.

Covalently modified enzymatic 3D-printed bioelectrode.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has showed great potential for the construction of electrochemical sensor devices. However, reported 3D-printed biosensors are usually constructed by physical adsorption and needed immobilizing reagents on the surface of functional materials. To construct the 3D-printed biosensors, the simple modification of the 3D-printed device by non-expert is mandatory to take advantage of the remote, distributed 3D printing manufacturing.

Versatile Design of Functional Organic-Inorganic 3D-Printed (Opto)Electronic Interfaces with Custom Catalytic Activity.

The ability to combine organic and inorganic components in a single material represents a great step toward the development of advanced (opto)electronic systems. Nowadays, 3D-printing technology has generated a revolution in the rapid prototyping and low-cost fabrication of 3D-printed electronic devices. However, a main drawback when using 3D-printed transducers is the lack of robust functionalization methods for tuning their capabilities.

3D-Printed COVID-19 immunosensors with electronic readout.

3D printing technology has brought light in the fight against the COVID-19 global pandemic event through the decentralized and on-demand manufacture of different personal protective equipment and medical devices. Nonetheless, since this technology is still in an early stage, the use of 3D-printed electronic devices for antigen test developments is almost an unexplored field. Herein, a robust and general bottom-up biofunctionalization approach surface engineering is reported aiming at providing the bases for the fabrication of the first 3D-printed COVID-19 immunosensor prototype with electronic readout.

Multiresponsive 2D TiCT MXene Implanting Molecular Properties.

The design and fabrication of active nanomaterials exhibiting multifunctional properties is a must in the so-called global "Fourth Industrial Revolution". In this sense, molecular engineering is a powerful tool to implant original capabilities on a macroscopic scale. Herein, different bioinspired 2D-MXenes have been developed a versatile and straightforward synthetic approach.

Chiral Protein-Covalent Organic Framework 3D-Printed Structures as Chiral Biosensors.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has attracted great attention for prototyping different electrochemical sensor devices. However, chiral recognition remains a crucial challenge for electrochemical sensors with similar physicochemical properties such as enantiomers. In this work, a magnetic covalent organic framework (COF) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) (as the chiral surface) functionalized 3D-printed electrochemical chiral sensor is reported for the first time.

Bistable (Supra)molecular Switches on 3D-Printed Responsive Interfaces with Electrical Readout.

Molecular switching memories have gained great importance in recent years because of the current sharp increase in the production of consumer electronics. Herein, 3D-printed nanocomposite carbon electrodes (3D-nCEs) have been explored as unconventional responsive interfaces to electrically readout bistable molecular switches via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as the output system. As a proof-of-concept, two different 3D-printed responsive interfaces have been devised using surface engineering for covalently anchoring (supra)molecular components that well-define two electrical states (on/off) driven by either electrical or optical stimuli.

Mechanism and Suppression of Physisorbed-Water-Caused Hysteresis in Graphene FET Sensors.

Hysteresis is a problem in field-effect transistors (FETs) often caused by defects and charge traps inside a gate isolating (e.g., SiO) layer.

Non-destructive lock-picking of a historical treasure chest by means of X-ray computed tomography.

An innovative approach to a non-destructive lock mechanism examination by means of X-ray computed tomography (CT) was involved in a careful opening of a locked 19th century chest missing the key, as an interdisciplinary cooperation with the restorers. In regard of the exploration and conservation of such locked objects, their opening is important to the restorers. However, the opening may be complicated, if not impossible, without damaging the object when the key is missing.

Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy and Calculation of Charge Transport in a Graphene/Silicon Dioxide System at Different Relative Humidity.

The article shows how the dynamic mapping of surface potential (SP) measured by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) in combination with calculation by a diffusion-like equation and the theory based on the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) model of water condensation and electron hopping can provide the information concerning the resistivity of low conductive surfaces and their water coverage. This is enabled by a study of charge transport between isolated and grounded graphene sheets on a silicon dioxide surface at different relative humidity (RH) with regard to the use of graphene in ambient electronic circuits and especially in sensors. In the experimental part, the chemical vapor-deposited graphene is precisely patterned by the mechanical atomic force microscopy (AFM) lithography and the charge transport is studied through a surface potential evolution measured by KPFM.

Electronic transport properties of graphene doped by gallium.

In this work we present the effect of low dose gallium (Ga) deposition (<4 ML) performed in UHV (10 Pa) on the electronic doping and charge carrier scattering in graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition. In situ graphene transport measurements performed with a graphene field-effect transistor structure show that at low Ga coverages a graphene layer tends to be strongly n-doped with an efficiency of 0.64 electrons per one Ga atom, while the further deposition and Ga cluster formation results in removing electrons from graphene (less n-doping).

Nanometer-Sized Water Bridge and Pull-Off Force in AFM at Different Relative Humidities: Reproducibility Measurement and Model Based on Surface Tension Change.

This article deals with the analysis of the relationship between the pull-off force measured by atomic force microscopy and the dimensions of water bridge condensed between a hydrophilic silicon oxide tip and a silicon oxide surface under ambient conditions. Our experiments have shown that the pull-off force increases linearly with the radius of the tip and nonmonotonically with the relative humidity (RH). The latter dependence generally consists of an initial constant part changing to a convex-concave-like increase of the pull-off force and finally followed by a concave-like decrease of this force.