A Perforated Plate-Based Cell Showering Device for Uniform Cell Distribution over Various Culture Substrates.

Cell distribution is one of the primary factors that can affect cell morphology and behaviors, as it determines cell-cell interactions. Despite the importance of cell distribution, the seeding process of in vitro cell culture still highly relies on the traditional method using manual pipetting. Because manual pipetting cannot ensure a uniform cell distribution and has the possibility of compromising experimental reproducibility, an accurate and systemic seeding method that enables uniform cell seeding over versatile culture substrates is required. Here, we developed a perforated plate-based cell seeding device called the CellShower, which enabled uniform cell seeding over a large area of cell culture substrates. The working principles of the CellShower are based on the laminar filling flow and capillary force in microfluidics, and the design of the CellShower was optimized with numerical simulations. The versatility of the CellShower in view of uniform cell seeding was demonstrated by applying it to various types of culture substrates from a conventional culture dish to culture substrates having nanotopography, porous structures, and 3D concave structures. The CellShower and its operating principles are expected to contribute to enhancing the accuracy and reproducibility of biological experiments.

Soft microfiber-based hollow microneedle array for stretchable microfluidic biosensing patch with negative pressure-driven sampling.

Wearable point-of-care testing devices are essential for personalized and decentralized healthcare. They can collect biofluid samples from the human body and use an analyzer to detect biomolecules. However, creating an integrated system is challenging due to the difficulty of achieving conformality to the human body, regulating the collection and transport of biofluids, developing a biosensor patch capable of precise biomolecule detection, and establishing a simple operation protocol that requires minimal wearer attention. In this study, we propose using a hollow microneedle (HMN) based on soft hollow microfibers and a microneedle-integrated microfluidic biosensor patch (MIMBP) capable of integrated blood sampling and electrochemical biosensing of biomolecules. The soft MIMBP includes a stretchable microfluidic device, a flexible electrochemical biosensor, and a HMN array made from flexible hollow microfibers. The HMNs are fabricated by electroplating flexible and mechanically durable hollow microfibers made from a nanocomposite matrix of polyimide, a poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) copolymer, and single-walled carbon nanotubes. The MIMBP uses the negative pressure generated by a single button push to collect blood and deliver it to a flexible electrochemical biosensor modified with a gold nanostructure and Pt nanoparticles. We have demonstrated that glucose can be accurately measured up to the molar range in whole human blood collected through the microneedle. The MIMBP platform with HMNs has great potential as a foundation for the future development of simple, wearable, self-testing systems for minimally invasive biomolecule detection. This platform capable of sequential blood collection and high sensitivity glucose detection, which are ideal for personalized and decentralized healthcare.

A Composite Microfiber for Biodegradable Stretchable Electronics.

Biodegradable stretchable electronics have demonstrated great potential for future applications in stretchable electronics and can be resorbed, dissolved, and disintegrated in the environment. Most biodegradable electronic devices have used flexible biodegradable materials, which have limited conformality in wearable and implantable devices. Here, we report a biodegradable, biocompatible, and stretchable composite microfiber of poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for transient stretchable device applications. Compositing high-strength PVA with stretchable and biodegradable PGS with poor processability, formability, and mechanical strength overcomes the limits of pure PGS. As an application, the stretchable microfiber-based strain sensor developed by the incorporation of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) into a composite microfiber showed stable current response under cyclic and dynamic stretching at 30% strain. The sensor also showed the ability to monitor the strain produced by tapping, bending, and stretching of the finger, knee, and esophagus. The biodegradable and stretchable composite materials of PGS with additive PVA have great potential for use in transient and environmentally friendly stretchable electronics with reduced environmental footprint.

Stretchable and transparent nanofiber-networked electrodes based on nanocomposites of polyurethane/reduced graphene oxide/silver nanoparticles with high dispersion and fused junctions.

Creating stretchable and transparent conductive electrodes for stretchable and transparent electronics is very challenging due to difficulties in obtaining adequate optical and mechanical properties simultaneously. Here, we designed a stretchable and transparent nanofiber-networked electrode (STNNE) based on a networked structure of electrospun stretchable nanofibers made from a mixture of polyurethane (PU)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The STNNE showed a sheet resistance as small as 210 Ω sq-1 at an optical transparency of ∼83%. In addition, the STNNE has up to 40% mechanical stretchability and relatively high electrical stability (i.e., a resistance change of 83% at 40% stretching). The good electrical conductance, mechanical stretchability, and electrical stability under static/dynamic stretching or after cyclic stretching are attributed to the high dispersion of AgNPs in the nanofibers, which creates more electrically conductive pathways and forms fused junctions at the intersections between nanofibers during electrospinning. As a demonstration, an STNNE with a simple selective-patterning process was employed to fabricate a stretchable capacitive touch sensor with a stretchable and transparent dielectric (PU) on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate. The signal output of the touch sensor upon touching under stretched conditions was nearly unchanged. This STNNE has great potential in stretchable and transparent electronics.

Fully Stretchable Capillary Microfluidics-Integrated Nanoporous Gold Electrochemical Sensor for Wearable Continuous Glucose Monitoring.

Biosensor systems for wearable continuous monitoring are desired to be developed into conformal patch platforms. However, developing such patches is very challenging owing to the difficulty of imparting materials and components with both high stretchability and high performance. Herein, we report a fully stretchable microfluidics-integrated glucose sensor patch comprised of an omnidirectionally stretchable nanoporous gold (NPG) electrochemical biosensor and a stretchable passive microfluidic device. A highly electrocatalytic NPG electrode was formed on a stress-absorbing 3D micropatterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate to confer mechanical stretchability, high sensitivity, and durability in non-enzymatic glucose detection. A thin, stretchable, and tough microfluidic device was made by embedding stretchable cotton fabric as a capillary into a thin polyurethane nanofiber-reinforced PDMS channel, enabling collection and passive, accurate delivery of sweat from skin to the electrode surface, with excellent replacement capability. The integrated glucose sensor patch demonstrated excellent ability to continuously and accurately monitor the sweat glucose level.

Stretchable, Transparent, Tough, Ultrathin, and Self-limiting Skin-like Substrate for Stretchable Electronics.

Human skin is highly stretchable at low strain but becomes self-limiting when deformed at large strain due to stiffening caused by alignment of a network of stiff collagen nanofibers inside the tissue beneath the epidermis. To imitate this mechanical behavior and the sensory function of human skin, we fabricated a skin-like substrate with highly stretchable, transparent, tough, ultrathin, mechanosensory, and self-limiting properties by incorporating piezoelectric crystalline poly((vinylidene fluoride)- co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) nanofibers with a high modulus into the low modulus matrix of elastomeric poly(dimethylsiloxane). Randomly distributed P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers in the elastomer matrix conferred a self-limiting property to the skin-like substrate so that it can easily stretch at low strain but swiftly counteract rupturing in response to stretching. The stretchability, toughness, and Young's modulus of the ultrathin (∼62 µm) skin-like substrate with high optical transparency could be tuned by controlling the loading of nanofibers. Moreover, the ultrathin skin-like substrate with a stretchable temperature sensor fabricated on it demonstrated the ability to accommodate bodily motion-induced strain in the sensor while maintaining its mechanosensory and thermosensory functionalities.

High-Performance Schottky Diode Gas Sensor Based on the Heterojunction of Three-Dimensional Nanohybrids of Reduced Graphene Oxide-Vertical ZnO Nanorods on an AlGaN/GaN Layer.

A Schottky diode based on a heterojunction of three-dimensional (3D) nanohybrid materials, formed by hybridizing reduced graphene oxide (RGO) with epitaxial vertical zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) and Al0.27GaN0.73(∼25 nm)/GaN is presented as a new class of high-performance chemical sensors. The RGO nanosheet layer coated on the ZnO NRs enables the formation of a direct Schottky contact with the AlGaN layer. The sensing results of the Schottky diode with respect to NO2, SO2, and HCHO gases exhibit high sensitivity (0.88-1.88 ppm-1), fast response (∼2 min), and good reproducibility down to 120 ppb concentration levels at room temperature. The sensing mechanism of the Schottky diode can be explained by the effective modulation of the reverse saturation current due to the change in thermionic emission carrier transport caused by ultrasensitive changes in the Schottky barrier of a van der Waals heterostructure between RGO and AlGaN layers upon interaction with gas molecules. Advances in the design of a Schottky diode gas sensor based on the heterojunction of high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas channel and highly responsive 3D-engineered sensing nanomaterials have potential not only for the enhancement of sensitivity and selectivity but also for improving operation capability at room temperature.