A Deep-Learned Monolithic Nanoparticle Asymmetric Thermal Flow Sensor for Flow Vector Estimation.

Flow sensing is essential in various fields, including industrial, environmental, and biomedical applications, where accurate measurement of fluid dynamics is crucial. Traditional flow sensors are often bulky and complex, which can distort the flow and complicate installation when placed directly in the flow path. To address these issues, we developed a deep-learned monolithic asymmetric thermal flow sensor.

Topographical Patterning of Cell-Repellent Interfaces for Immune-Stealth Implantable Electronics via Multiphoton Ablation Lithography.

Stable and reliable operation of implantable electronics must ensure both high-quality electrical performance and chronic biocompatibility. Here, immune-stealth implantable electronics fabricated by multiphoton ablation lithography are introduced. The cell-repellent interface, consisting of micro-grooves and nano-islands, can be created by laser-assisted topography patterning on a thin film substrate.

Advances in nanomaterial thin-film temperature sensors: materials and applications.

With the advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable electronics, the demand for flexible and highly sensitive thin-film temperature sensors has been increasing. Conventional rigid sensors face limitations in environments requiring conformability and stretchability, leading to active research on thin-film temperature sensors using various materials and fabrication techniques. Metals, metal oxides, polymers, carbon-based materials, and 2D materials have been explored as key candidates for enhancing thermal sensitivity, mechanical flexibility, and long-term stability.

Intelligent soft wearable bioelectronics for neurological disorders.

Using soft wearable electronics has emerged as an innovative neurological disorder monitoring and rehabilitation approach. Traditional diagnostic and treatment systems are hospital-centered, bulky, and unsuitable for long-term use, limiting their applicability in real-world settings. Recent advancements in materials, device design, and fabrication processes have enabled the development of stretchable, skin-conformal sensors, improving wearability, signal quality, and usability.

Tattoo electrodes in bioelectronics: a pathway to next-generation wearable systems.

Tattoo-based electronics have emerged as a transformative platform for next-generation wearable bioelectronics. Unlike conventional wearable devices, which rely on substrates, tattoo electrodes are directly formed or transferred onto the skin or internal organs, ensuring superior comfort, breathability, and long-term usability. This intimate interface minimizes motion-induced artifacts and enables reliable biosignal acquisition across diverse physiological and anatomical regions.

Laser-Induced Nanowire Percolation Interlocking for Ultrarobust Soft Electronics.

Metallic nanowires have served as novel materials for soft electronics due to their outstanding mechanical compliance and electrical properties. However, weak adhesion and low mechanical robustness of nanowire networks to substrates significantly undermine their reliability, necessitating the use of an insulating protective layer, which greatly limits their utility. Herein, we present a versatile and generalized laser-based process that simultaneously achieves strong adhesion and mechanical robustness of nanowire networks on diverse substrates without the need for a protective layer.

Deployable electronics with enhanced fatigue resistance for crumpling and tension.

Highly packable and deployable electronics offer a variety of advantages in electronics and robotics by facilitating spatial efficiency. These electronics must endure extreme folding during packaging and tension to maintain a rigid structure in the deployment state. Here, we present foldable and robustly deployable electronics inspired by Plantago, characterized by their tolerance to folding and tension due to integration of tough veins within thin leaf.

Next-generation air filtration nanotechnology for improved indoor air quality.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) significantly affects human health, with pollutants such as organic, inorganic substances, and biological contaminants contributing to various respiratory, neurological, and immunological diseases. In this review, we highlighted the need for advanced air filtration technologies to mitigate these pollutants, which are emitted from household products, building materials, combustion processes, and bioaerosols. While traditional HVAC systems and mechanical filtration methods have been effective, they are often energy-intensive and limited in their ability to capture specific pollutants.

Switchable radiative cooling and solar heating for sustainable thermal management.

Radiative thermal management technologies that utilize thermal radiation from nano/microstructure for cooling and heating have gained significant attention in sustainable energy research. Passive radiative cooling and solar heating operate continuously, which may lead to additional heating or cooling energy consumption due to undesired cooling or heating during cold nighttime/winters or hot daytime/summers. To overcome the limitation, recent studies have focused on developing radiative thermal management technologies that can toggle radiative cooling on and off or possess switchable dual cooling and heating modes to realize sustainable and efficient thermal management.

Radiative cooling technology with artificial intelligence.

As sustainable thermal management becomes a global priority, the development of radiative cooling (RC) technology has recently emerged as a promising solution. Simultaneously, recent advent of artificial intelligence (AI) offers the potential to revolutionize current research in sustainable cooling strategies. This article discusses the advancement of radiative cooling technology through the integration of AI, tackling the challenging issues arising from the conventional approach and offering strategic solutions to address global issues.

Smart filtering facepiece respirator with self-adaptive fit and wireless humidity monitoring.

The widespread emergence of airborne diseases has transformed our lifestyle, and respirators have become an essential part of daily life. Nevertheless, finding respirators that fit well can be challenging due to the variety of human facial sizes and shapes, potentially compromising protection. In addition, the current respirators do not inform the user of the air quality in case of continuous long-term use.

MXene-Enhanced Ionovoltaic Effect by Evaporation and Water Infiltration in Semiconductor Nanochannels.

In recent years, substantial attention has been directed toward energy-harvesting systems that exploit sunlight energy and water resources. Intensive research efforts are underway to develop energy generation methodologies through interactions with water using various materials. In the present investigation, we synthesized sodium vanadium oxide (SVO) nanorods with n-type semiconductor characteristics.

Rapid prototyping and facile customization of conductive hydrogel bioelectronics based on all laser process.

Proper customization in size and shape is essential in implantable bioelectronics for stable bio-signal recording. Over the past decades, many researchers have heavily relied on conventional photolithography processes to fabricate implantable bioelectronics. Therefore, they could not avoid the critical limitation of high cost and complex processing steps to optimize bioelectronic devices for target organs with various sizes and shapes.

Untethered soft actuators for soft standalone robotics.

Soft actuators produce the mechanical force needed for the functional movements of soft robots, but they suffer from critical drawbacks since previously reported soft actuators often rely on electrical wires or pneumatic tubes for the power supply, which would limit the potential usage of soft robots in various practical applications. In this article, we review the new types of untethered soft actuators that represent breakthroughs and discuss the future perspective of soft actuators. We discuss the functional materials and innovative strategies that gave rise to untethered soft actuators and deliver our perspective on challenges and opportunities for future-generation soft actuators.

ASCL1-mediated direct reprogramming: converting ventral midbrain astrocytes into dopaminergic neurons for Parkinson's disease therapy.

Parkinson's disease (PD), characterized by dopaminergic neuron degeneration in the substantia nigra, is caused by various genetic and environmental factors. Current treatment methods are medication and surgery; however, a primary therapy has not yet been proposed. In this study, we aimed to develop a new treatment for PD that induces direct reprogramming of dopaminergic neurons (iDAN).

Phase patterning of liquid crystal elastomers by laser-induced dynamic crosslinking.

Liquid crystal elastomers hold promise in various fields due to their reversible transition of mechanical and optical properties across distinct phases. However, the lack of local phase patterning techniques and irreversible phase programming has hindered their broad implementation. Here we introduce laser-induced dynamic crosslinking, which leverages the precision and control offered by laser technology to achieve high-resolution multilevel patterning and transmittance modulation.

A Gradient Stiffness-Programmed Circuit Board by Spatially Controlled Phase-Transition of Supercooled Hydrogel for Stretchable Electronics Integration.

Due to emerging demands in soft electronics, there is an increasing need for material architectures that support robust interfacing between soft substrates, stretchable electrical interconnects, and embedded rigid microelectronics chips. Though researchers have adopted rigid-island structures to solve the issue, this approach merely shifts stress concentrations from chip-conductor interfaces to rigid-island-soft region interfaces in the substrate. Here, a gradient stiffness-programmed circuit board (GS-PCB) that possesses high stretchability and stability with surface mounted chips is introduced.

Machine-learned wearable sensors for real-time hand-motion recognition: toward practical applications.

Soft electromechanical sensors have led to a new paradigm of electronic devices for novel motion-based wearable applications in our daily lives. However, the vast amount of random and unidentified signals generated by complex body motions has hindered the precise recognition and practical application of this technology. Recent advancements in artificial-intelligence technology have enabled significant strides in extracting features from massive and intricate data sets, thereby presenting a breakthrough in utilizing wearable sensors for practical applications.

Strain-Insensitive Outdoor Wearable Electronics by Thermally Robust Nanofibrous Radiative Cooler.

Stable outdoor wearable electronics are gaining attention due to challenges in sustaining consistent device performance outdoors, where sunlight exposure and user movement can disrupt operations. Currently, researchers have focused on integrating radiative coolers into wearable devices for outdoor thermal management. However, these approaches often rely on heat-vulnerable thermoplastic polymers for radiative coolers and strain-susceptible conductors that are unsuitable for wearable electronics.

Role of UPF1-LIN28A interaction during early differentiation of pluripotent stem cells.

UPF1 and LIN28A are RNA-binding proteins involved in post-transcriptional regulation and stem cell differentiation. Most studies on UPF1 and LIN28A have focused on the molecular mechanisms of differentiated cells and stem cell differentiation, respectively. We reveal that LIN28A directly interacts with UPF1 before UPF1-UPF2 complexing, thereby reducing UPF1 phosphorylation and inhibiting nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD).

Photothermal Lithography for Realizing a Stretchable Multilayer Electronic Circuit Using a Laser.

Photolithography is a well-established fabrication method for realizing multilayer electronic circuits. However, it is challenging to adopt photolithography to fabricate intrinsically stretchable multilayer electronic circuits fully composed of an elastomeric matrix, due to the opacity of thick stretchable nanocomposite conductors. Here, we present photothermal lithography that can pattern elastomeric conductors and via holes using pulsed lasers.