Soft Actuator with Biomass Porous Electrode: A Strategy for Lowering Voltage and Enhancing Durability.

Electroactive artificial muscles with deformability have attracted widespread interest in the field of soft robotics. However, the design of artificial muscles with low-driven voltage and operational durability remains challenging. Herein, novel biomass porous carbon (BPC) electrodes are proposed. The nanoporous BPC enables the electrode to provide exposed active surfaces for charge transfer and unimpeded channels for ion migration, thus decreasing the driving voltage, enhancing time durability, and maintaining the actuation performances simultaneously. The proposed actuator exhibits a high displacement of 13.6 mm (bending strain of 0.54%) under 0.5 V and long-term durability of 99.3% retention after 550,000 cycles (∼13 days) without breaks. Further, the actuators are integrated to perform soft touch on a smartphone and demonstrated as bioinspired robots, including a bionic butterfly and a crawling robot (moving speed = 0.08 BL s-1). This strategy provides new insight into the design and fabrication of high-performance electroactive soft actuators with great application potential.

Multi-Level Structural Enhancement Mechanism of the Excellent Mechanical Properties of Dung Beetle Leg Joint.

The multi-level structure is a strategy to enhance the mechanical properties of dung beetle leg joints. Under external loads, the microstructure facilitates energy dissipation and prevents crack extension. The macrostructure aids in transferring the load to more reliable parts. The connection established by the two hemispheres is present in the dung beetle leg joint. The micron-layered and nanoscale crystal structures further constitute the leg joint with excellent mechanical properties. The maximum compression fracture force is ≈101000 times the weight of the leg. Here, the structural design within the dung beetle leg joints and reveal the resulting mechanical response and enhancement mechanisms is determined. A series of beetle leg joints where the macrostructure and microstructure of the dung beetle leg provide mechanical strength at critical strains while avoiding catastrophic failure by transferring the load from the joint to the exoskeleton of the femur is highlighted. Nanocrystalline structures and fiber layers contribute to crack propagation of the exoskeleton. Based on this, the bionic joint with multi-level structures using resin and conducted a series of tests to verify their effectiveness is prepared. This study provides a new idea for designing and optimizing high-load joints in engineering.

Composite Flexible Sensor Based on Bionic Microstructure to Simultaneously Monitor Pressure and Strain.

To achieve the human sense of touch, a strain sensor needs to be coupled with a pressure sensor to identify the compliance of the contacted material. However, monitoring the pressure-strain signals simultaneously and ensuring no coupling effect between the two signals is the technical bottleneck for the flexible tactile sensor to. Herein, a composite flexible sensor based on microstructures of lotus leaf is designed and manufactured, which integrates the capacitive pressure sensor and the resistance strain sensor into one pixel to realize the simultaneous detection of pressure and strain. The electrode layer of the capacitance sensor also plays the role of the resistance strain sensor, which greatly simplifies the structure of the composite flexible sensor and obtains the compact size to integrate more easily. The device can simultaneously detect pressure and deformation, and more importantly, there is no coupling effect between the two kinds of signals. Here, the sensor has high pressure sensitivity (0.784 kPa-1 when pressure less than 100 kPa), high strain sensitivity (gauge factor = 4.03 for strain 0-40%), and can identify materials with different compliance, which indicates the tactile ability as the human skin performs.

Low-Voltage Driven Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite Actuators: Structures, Materials, and Applications.

With the characteristics of low driving voltage, light weight, and flexibility, ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) have attracted much attention as excellent candidates for artificial muscle materials in the fields of biomedical devices, flexible robots, and microelectromechanical systems. Under small voltage excitation, ions inside the IPMC proton exchange membrane migrate directionally, leading to differences in the expansion rate of the cathode and the anode, which in turn deform. This behavior is caused by the synergistic action of a three-layer structure consisting of an external electrode layer and an internal proton exchange membrane, but the electrode layer is more dominant in this process due to the migration and storage of ions. The exploration of modifications and alternatives for proton exchange membranes and recent advances in the fabrication and characterization of conductive materials, especially carbon-based materials and conductive polymers, have contributed significantly to the development of IPMCs. This paper reviews the progress in the application of proton exchange membranes and electrode materials for IPMCs, discusses various processes currently applied to IPMCs preparation, and introduces various promising applications of cutting-edge IPMCs with high performance to provide new ideas and approaches for the research of  new generation of low-voltage ionic soft actuators.

Optical Waveguide and Photoluminescent Polarization in Organic Cocrystal Polymorphs.

Organic cocrystals whose unique polymorphic feature can provide a feasible way to investigate and understand the relationship between luminescence properties and aggregate structures have attracted increasing attention in the area of organic optoelectronics. Herein, we prepare polymorphic cocrystals (C1, C2) by using 9,10-bis((E)-2-(pyridin-3-yl)vinyl)anthracene (BP3VA) as chromophore and 1,3,5-trifluoro-2,4,6-triiodobenzene (FIB) as conformer. Both C1 and C2 stack with segregated stacking form, but different intermolecular interactions promote the formation of sheet cocrystals C1 and needle cocrystals C2. C1 exhibits anisotropic optical waveguide property and photoluminescent polarization, while C2 only exhibits the quasi-one-dimensional optical waveguide property. The different optical properties originate from the varieties of molecular packing modes and directions of the optical transition dipole in the two polymorphic cocrystals, which can be clarified through the structure analysis and theoretical calculation. The study can provide a deep understanding of the structure-property relationship of cocrystals and benefit the rational design of novel functional materials.

Polymorphism-Dependent Enhanced Emission in Molecular Aggregates: J-Aggregate versus X-Aggregate.

The photoluminescence properties of organic fluorescent materials in the solid state are closely related to their aggregation structures. Herein, we present an organic fluorescent molecule 9,10-bis(2,2-di(4-fluorophenyl)vinyl)anthracene (BDFVA) with two crystal polymorphisms to provide an ideal molecular model for understanding the nature of luminescence from the J- and X-aggregates. Detailed structural and photophysical studies reveal that both J- and X-aggregate crystals exhibit enhanced emission in comparison with the corresponding dilute solution because of crystallization-induced emission enhancement (CIEE). Additionally, the X-aggregate (B-phase) crystal with crossed molecular packing exhibits a higher fluorescence efficiency (ΦF = 0.60), giving a 1.4-fold promotion of ΦF compared to the J-aggregate crystal (G-phase) with staggered molecular packing because the split excited states are all optically allowed in the X-aggregate. Optical waveguide experiments show that the two crystals exhibit excellent amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), demonstrating a promising potential application in organic solid-state lasers.

Organic Laser Molecule with High Mobility, High Photoluminescence Quantum Yield, and Deep-Blue Lasing Characteristics.

Here, we design and synthesize an organic laser molecule, 2,7-diphenyl-9H-fluorene (LD-1), which has state-of-the-art integrated optoelectronic properties with a high mobility of 0.25 cm2 V-1 s-1, a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 60.3%, and superior deep-blue laser characteristics (low threshold of Pth = 71 µJ cm-2 and Pth = 53 µJ cm-2 and high quality factor (Q) of ∼3100 and ∼2700 at emission peaks of 390 and 410 nm, respectively). Organic light-emitting transistors based on LD-1 are for the first time demonstrated with obvious electroluminescent emission and gate tunable features. This work opens the door for a new class of organic semiconductor laser molecules and is critical for deep-blue optical and laser applications.

Simultaneous Increase in Brightness and Singlet Oxygen Generation of an Organic Photosensitizer by Nanocrystallization.

Efficient organic photosensitizers are attractive for cancer cell ablation in photodynamic therapy. Bright fluorescent photosensitizers are highly desirable for simultaneous imaging and therapy. However, due to fundamental competition between emission and singlet oxygen generation, design attempts to increase singlet oxygen generation almost always leads to the loss of fluorescence. Herein, it is shown for the first time that nanocrystallization enables a simultaneous and significant increase in the brightness and singlet oxygen generation of an organic photosensitizer. Spectroscopic studies show simultaneous enhancement in the visible light absorption and fluorescence after nanocrystallization. The enhanced absorption of visible light in nanocrystals is found to translate directly to the enhanced singlet oxygen production, which shows a higher ability to kill HeLa cells as compared to their amorphous counterpart.

Direct Observation of the Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Protonation States in Molecular Crystals.

The symmetrical and asymmetrical protonation states are realized via the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds inside 9,10-bis((E)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)vinyl)anthracene (BP4VA) molecular crystals. With the protonation of H2SO4, BP4VA molecules are protonated symmetrically, while the molecules are asymmetrically protonated by introducing HCl. The different protonation states of BP4VA crystals result in various supramolecular interactions, aggregation states, and even tunable optical properties. It provides a fundamental principle to understand the effect of protonation in organic conjugated molecules and an approach to expanding the scope of organic functional materials.

Construction and function of a highly efficient supramolecular luminescent system.

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) provides a new way of achieving highly efficient luminescent materials. In this contribution, the self-assembly behavior, molecular stacking structure and photophysical properties of two polymorphs of a supramolecular co-crystal (C1 and C2) are investigated. The block-like crystal C1, packed in segregated stacking with strong π-π interactions between the H and G molecules, shows weak green emission with a low efficiency (ΦF) of 2%. In comparison, the needle-like crystal C2, packed in segregated stacking with no obviously strong intermolecular interactions, shows bright yellow emission. More importantly, C1 exhibits mechanochromic behavior.

Highly Efficient Far Red/Near-Infrared Solid Fluorophores: Aggregation-Induced Emission, Intramolecular Charge Transfer, Twisted Molecular Conformation, and Bioimaging Applications.

The development of organic fluorophores with efficient solid-state emissions or aggregated-state emissions in the red to near-infrared region is still challenging. Reported herein are fluorophores having aggregation-induced emission ranging from the orange to far red/near-infrared (FR/NIR) region. The bioimaging performance of the designed fluorophore is shown to have potential as FR/NIR fluorescent probes for biological applications.

Reversible multistimuli-response fluorescent switch based on tetraphenylethene-spiropyran molecules.

Two tetraphenylethene (TPE)-functionalized spiropyran (SP) molecules with very similar structure were designed and synthesized. The two molecules exhibit aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties, as well as multistimuli-responsive color-changing properties, such as photochromism and acidchromism. The investigation of their different photochromic and acidchromic characteristics and dual-response fluorescent switch during isomerization indicated that the different link position between TPE and SP will significantly affect the extended π-conjugated system, resulting in completely different photochromic and acidchromic properties.

Proton-Triggered Hypsochromic Luminescence in 1,1'-(2,5-Distyryl-1,4-phenylene) Dipiperidine.

A proton-triggered hypsochromic luminescent chromophore 1,1'-(2,5-distyryl-1,4-phenylene) dipiperidine (DPD) was designed and synthesized. Upon treatment by hydrochloric acid (HCl), the emission of DPD showed a large hypsochromic shift in both THF solution and microcrystals. Theoretical calculations and powder X-ray diffraction experiments reveal that the switchable emission of DPD originated from the change of the distribution and the spatial arrangement of the frontier molecular orbitals, and the different stacking modes of DPD in microcrystals also contribute to the switchable emission of DPD in aggregates.

An organic luminescent molecule: what will happen when the "butterflies" come together?

Cross dipole stacking based on a novel fluorescent molecule, 9,10-bis (2,2-diphenylvinyl) anthracene (BDPVA), is presented. The butterfly-like structure of BDPVA is the key feature to form the unique aggregation structure and such a stacking mode is highly beneficial for fluorescence emission, resulting in high-performance amplified spontaneous emission and electroluminescence of BDPVA.

Remarkable fluorescence change based on the protonation-deprotonation control in organic crystals.

Insights into the origin of the fluorescence responsive to protonation-deprotonation stimuli were provided through the study on the crystals of a new stimuli-responsive molecule BP3VA. And the transformation between microcrystals demonstrated the varying emissions of the BP3VA powder.