Cobalt MOF-Based Porous Carbonaceous Spheres for Multimodal Soft Actuator Exhibiting Intricate Biomimetic Motions.

The advancement of active electrode materials is essential to meet the demand for multifaceted soft robotic interactions. In this study, a new type of porous carbonaceous sphere (PCS) for a multimodal soft actuator capable of both magnetoactive and electro-ionic responses is reported. The PCS, derived from the simultaneous oxidative and reductive breakdown of specially designed cobalt-based metal-organic frameworks (Co-MOFs) with varying metal-to-ligand ratios, exhibits a high specific surface area of 529 m2 g-1 and a saturated magnetization of 142.7 Am2 kg-1. The size of the PCS can be controlled through the Ostwald ripening mechanism, while the porous structure can be regulated by adjusting the metal-to-ligand mol ratio. Its exceptional compatibility with poly(3,4-ethylene-dioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) enables the creation of uniform electrode, crucial for producing soft actuators that work in both magnetic and electrical fields. Operated at an ultralow voltage of 1 V, the PCS-based actuator generates a blocking force of 47.5 mN and exhibits significant bending deflection even at an oscillation frequency of 10 Hz. Employing this simultaneous multimodal actuation ensures the dynamic and complex motions of a balancing bird robot and a dynamic eagle robot. This advancement marks a significant step toward the realization of more dynamic and versatile soft robotic systems.

Janus CoMOF-SEBS Membrane for Bifunctional Dielectric Layer in Triboelectric Nanogenerators.

Considerable research has been conducted on the application of functional nano-fillers to enhance the power generation capabilities of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). However, these additives often exhibit a decrease in output power at higher concentration. Here, a Janus cobalt metal-organic framework-SEBS (JCMS) membrane is reported as a dual-purpose dielectric layer capable of efficiently capturing and blocking charges for high-performance TENGs. The JCMS is produced asymmetrically through gravitational sedimentation, employing spherical CoMOFs within a diluted SEBS solution. Beyond its dual dielectric characteristics, the JCMS showcases exceptional mechanical durability, displaying notable stretchability of up to 475% and remarkable resilience when subjected to diverse mechanical pressures. Consequently, the JCMS-TENG produces a maximum peak-to-peak voltage of 936 V, a current of 42.8 µA, and a power density of 10.89 W m- 2 when exposed to an external force of 10 N at a 5 Hz frequency. This investigation highlights the potential of JCMS-TENGs with unique structures, known for their exceptional energy harvesting capabilities, mechanical strength, and flexibility. Additionally, the promising prospects of easily produced asymmetric structures is emphasized with bifunctionalities for developing efficient and flexible MOFs-based TENGs. These advancements are well-suited for self-powered wearables, rehabilitation devices, and energy harvesters.

Functionally antagonistic polyelectrolyte for electro-ionic soft actuator.

Electro-active ionic soft actuators have been intensively investigated as an artificial muscle for soft robotics due to their large bending deformations at low voltages, small electric power consumption, superior energy density, high safety and biomimetic self-sensing actuation. However, their slow responses, poor durability and low bandwidth, mainly resulting from improper distribution of ionic conducting phase in polyelectrolyte membranes, hinder practical applications to real fields. We report a procedure to synthesize efficient polyelectrolyte membranes that have continuous conducting network suitable for electro-ionic artificial muscles. This functionally antagonistic solvent procedure makes amphiphilic Nafion molecules to assemble into micelles with ionic surfaces enclosing non-conducting cores. Especially, the ionic surfaces of these micelles combine together during casting process and form a continuous ionic conducting phase needed for high ionic conductivity, which boosts the performance of electro-ionic soft actuators by 10-time faster response and 36-time higher bending displacement. Furthermore, the developed muscle shows exceptional durability over 40 days under continuous actuation and broad bandwidth below 10 Hz, and is successfully applied to demonstrate an inchworm-mimetic soft robot and a kinetic tensegrity system.

Polysulfonated covalent organic framework as active electrode host for mobile cation guests in electrochemical soft actuator.

Tailoring transfer dynamics of mobile cations across solid-state electrolyte-electrode interfaces is crucial for high-performance electrochemical soft actuators. In general, actuation performance is directly proportional to the affinity of cations and anions in the electrolyte for the opposite electrode surfaces under an applied field. Herein, to maximize electrochemical actuation, we report an electronically conjugated polysulfonated covalent organic framework (pS-COF) used as a common electrolyte-electrode host for 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation embedded into a Nafion membrane. The pS-COF-based electrochemical actuator exhibits remarkable bending deflection at near-zero voltage (~0.01 V) and previously unattainable blocking force, which is 34 times higher than its own weight. The ultrafast step response shows a very short rising time of 1.59 seconds without back-relaxation, and substantial ultralow-voltage actuation at higher frequencies up to 5.0 hertz demonstrates good application prospects of common electrolyte-electrode hosts. A soft fluidic switch is constructed using the proposed soft actuator as a potential engineering application.

Easy-To-Wear Auxetic SMA Knot-Architecture for Spatiotemporal and Multimodal Haptic Feedbacks.

Wearable haptic interfaces prioritize user comfort, but also value the ability to provide diverse feedback patterns for immersive interactions with the virtual or augmented reality. Here, to provide both comfort and diverse tactile feedback, an easy-to-wear and multimodal wearable haptic auxetic fabric (WHAF) is prepared by knotting shape-memory alloy wires into an auxetic-structured fabric. This unique meta-design allows the WHAF to completely expand and contract in 3D, providing superior size-fitting and shape-fitting capabilities. Additionally, a microscale thin layer of Parylene is coated on the surface to create electrically separated zones within the WHAF, featuring zone-specified actuation for conveying diverse spatiotemporal information to users with using the WHAF alone. Depending on the body part it is worn on, the WHAF conveys either cutaneous or kinesthetic feedback, thus, working as a multimodal wearable haptic interface. As a result, when worn on the forearm, the WHAF intuitively provides spatiotemporal information to users during hands-free navigation and teleoperation in virtual reality, and when worn on the elbow, the WHAF guides users to reach the desired elbow flexion, like a personal exercise advisor.

A Dual-Responsive Magnetoactive and Electro-Ionic Soft Actuator Derived from a Nickel-Based Metal-Organic Framework.

There is growing demand for multiresponsive soft actuators for the realization of natural, safe, and complex motions in robotic interactions. In particular, soft actuators simultaneously stimulated by electrical and magnetic fields are always under development owing to their simple controllability and reliability during operation. Herein, magnetically and electrically driven dual-responsive soft actuators (MESAs) derived from novel nickel-based metal-organic frameworks (Ni-MOFs-700C), are reported. Nanoscale Ni-MOFs-700C has excellent electrochemical and magnetic properties that allow it to be used as a multifunctional material under both magnetoactive and electro-ionic actuations. The dual-responsive MESA exhibits a bending displacement of 30 mm and an ultrafast rising time of 1.5 s under a very low input voltage of 1 V and also exerts a bending deflection of 12.5 mm at 50 mT under a high excitation frequency of 5 Hz. By utilizing a dual-responsive MESA, the hovering motion of a hummingbird robot is demonstrated under magnetic and electrical stimuli.

The Role of Adiponectin in the Skin.

Adiponectin (Ad), a 30 kDa molecule, is an anti-diabetic adipokine; although derived from adipose tissue, it performs numerous activities in various other tissues. It binds to its own receptors, namely adiponectin receptor 1(AdipoR1), adiponectin receptor 2 (AdipoR2), and T-cadherin (CDH13). Ad plays several roles, especially as a regulator. It modulates lipid and glucose metabolism and promotes insulin sensitivity. This demonstrates that Ad has a robust correlation with fat metabolism. Furthermore, although Ad is not in direct contact with other tissues, including the skin, it can be delivered to them by diffusion or secretion via the endocrine system. Recently it has been reported that Ad can impact skin cell biology, underscoring its potential as a therapeutic biomarker of skin diseases. In the present review, we have discussed the association between skin cell biology and Ad. To elaborate further, we described the involvement of Ad in the biology of various types of cells in the skin, such as keratinocytes, fibroblasts, melanocytes, and immune cells. Additionally, we postulated that Ad could be employed as a therapeutic target to maintain skin homeostasis.

Boosting Oxygen Evolution Reaction on Metallocene-based Transition Metal Sulfides Integrated with N-doped Carbon Nanostructures.

In this study, utilizing metallocene and organosulfur chelating agent, an innovative synthetic route was developed towards electrochemically activated transition metal sulfides entrapped in pyridinic nitrogen-incorporated carbon nanostructures for superior oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Most importantly, the preferential electrochemical activation process, which consisted of both anodic and cathodic pre-treatment steps, strikingly enhanced OER and long-lasting cyclic stability. The substantial increase in OER electrocatalytic activity of Ni9 S8 /Ni3 S2 -NC and Co9 S8 -NC during the activation process was mainly attributed to the increase of faradaic active site density on the catalytic layer resulting from the reconstruction of catalytic interfaces. It was also found that Fe-based metallocene [ferrocene (Fc)]-incorporation in the Co9 S8 -NC and Ni9 S8 /Ni3 S2 -NC nanostructures significantly boosted the OER activity. Thus, the combined effects of Fc-incorporation and the electrochemical activation process reduced the overpotential to about 115 and 95 mV on the Ni9 S8 /Ni3 S2 -NC and Co9 S8 -NC nanostructures to derive a current density of 10 mA cm-2 , respectively. Notably, Fc-Ni9 S8 /Ni3 S2 -NC electrocatalysts required very small overpotentials of around 222, 244, and 280 mV to acquire the current densities of 10, 20, and 50 mA cm-2 , respectively. This work opens up a new avenue for superior OER electrocatalysts by the utilization of metallocene and the preferential electrochemical activation process.

Gene therapy using Aß variants for amyloid reduction.

Numerous aggregation inhibitors have been developed with the goal of blocking or reversing toxic amyloid formation in vivo. Previous studies have used short peptide inhibitors targeting different amyloid ß (Aß) amyloidogenic regions to prevent aggregation. Despite the specificity that can be achieved by peptide inhibitors, translation of these strategies has been thwarted by two key obstacles: rapid proteolytic degradation in the bloodstream and poor transfer across the blood-brain barrier. To circumvent these problems, we have created a minigene to express full-length Aß variants in the mouse brain. We identify two variants, F20P and F19D/L34P, that display four key properties required for therapeutic use: neither peptide aggregates on its own, both inhibit aggregation of wild-type Aß in vitro, promote disassembly of pre-formed fibrils, and diminish toxicity of Aß oligomers. We used intraventricular injection of adeno-associated virus (AAV) to express each variant in APP/PS1 transgenic mice. Lifelong expression of F20P, but not F19D/L34P, diminished Aß levels, plaque burden, and plaque-associated neuroinflammation. Our findings suggest that AAV delivery of Aß variants may offer a novel therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease. More broadly our work offers a framework for identifying and delivering peptide inhibitors tailored to other protein-misfolding diseases.

CTF-based soft touch actuator for playing electronic piano.

In the field of bioinspired soft robotics, to accomplish sophisticated tasks in human fingers, electroactive artificial muscles are under development. However, most existing actuators show a lack of high bending displacement and irregular response characteristics under low input voltages. Here, based on metal free covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs), we report an electro-ionic soft actuator that shows high bending deformation under ultralow input voltages that can be implemented as a soft robotic touch finger on fragile displays. The as-synthesized CTFs, derived from a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1), were combined with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT-PSS) to make a flexible electrode for a high-performance electro-ionic soft actuator. The proposed soft touch finger showed high peak-to-peak displacement of 17.0 mm under ultralow square voltage of ±0.5 V, with 0.1 Hz frequency and 4 times reduced phase delay in harmonic response compared with that of a pure PEDOT-PSS-based actuator. The significant actuation performance is mainly due to the unique physical and chemical configurations of CTFs electrode with highly porous and electrically conjugated networks. On a fragile display, the developed soft robotic touch finger array was successfully used to perform soft touching, similar to that of a real human finger; device was used to accomplish a precise task, playing electronic piano.

A dual-ion accepting vanadium carbide nanowire cathode integrated with carbon cloths for high cycling stability.

Herein, we report vanadium carbide (V8C7) nanowires (NWs) axially grown on carbon cloths (CCs) as a dual-ion accepting cathode for both lithium (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Using a facile hydrothermal method, we grew V2O3 NWs on CCs and subsequently reduced them to V8C7 by annealing with carbon sources under a H2/Ar atmosphere. In striking contrast to V2O5 NW cathodes obtained by annealing under air, the V8C7 NWs exhibit outstanding cycling stability during 500 cycles, and good rate capability for both LIBs and SIBs. V8C7 NWs as cathode active materials for LIBs exhibited 203.9 mA h g-1 specific capacity at 0.1 C after 500 cycles, 91.12% cycling retention and a coulombic efficiency of 99.84%. As cathodes in SIBs, the V8C7 NWs delivered 176.34 mA h g-1 specific capacity at 0.1 C during 300 cycles. Their defect sites by removal of the oxygen framework in V2O3 NWs have a high surface area (183.27 m2 g-1) and the unique 1D NW structure highly mitigates the volume changes during charge and discharge showing a superior electrochemical performance. Compared to commercially available cathodes, V8C7 nanowires have very good cycling stability and enhanced electrical conductivity. Moreover, the synergistic effect with 3D CCs utilized here as a current collector provides a large number of cation-accessible active sites in conjunction with high electrical conductivity and chemical stability.

Ferrocene-Incorporated Cobalt Sulfide Nanoarchitecture for Superior Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Here, ferrocene(Fc)-incorporated cobalt sulfide (Cox Sy ) nanostructures directly grown on carbon nanotube (CNT) or carbon fiber (CF) networks for electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) using a facile one-step solvothermal method are reported. The strong synergistic interaction between Fc-Cox Sy nanostructures and electrically conductive CNTs results in the superior electrocatalytic activity with a very small overpotential of ≈304 mV at 10 mA cm-2 and a low Tafel slope of 54.2 mV dec-1 in 1 m KOH electrolyte. Furthermore, the Fc-incorporated Cox Sy (FCoS) nanostructures are directly grown on the acid pretreated carbon fiber (ACF), and the resulting fabricated electrode delivers excellent OER performance with a low overpotential of ≈315 mV at 10 mA cm-2 . Such superior OER catalytic activity can be attributed to 3D Fc-Cox Sy nanoarchitectures that consist of a high concentration of vertical nanosheets with uniform distribution of nanoparticles that afford a large number of active surface areas and edge sites. Besides, the tight contact interface between ACF substrate and Fc-Cox Sy nanostructures could effectively facilitate the electron transfer rate in the OER. This study provides valuable insights for the rational design of energy storage and conversion materials by the incorporation of other transition metal into metal sulfide/oxide nanostructures utilizing metallocene.

Intertwined Nanosponge Solid-State Polymer Electrolyte for Rollable and Foldable Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Herein, we report a straigthforward procedure to prepare an excellent intertwined nanosponge solid-state polymer electrolyte (INSPE) for highly bendable, rollable, and foldable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The mechanically reliable and electrochemically superior INSPE is conjugated with intertwined nanosponge (IN) poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-co-HFP) and ion-conducting polymer electrolyte (PE) containing poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), succinonitrile (SCN) plasticizer, and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesilfonyl)imide (LiTFSI). The conjugated INSPE has both high strength with great flexibility (tensile strength of 2.1 MPa, elongation of 36.7%), and excellent ionic conductivity (1.04 × 10-3 S·cm-1, similar to the values of liquid electrolytes). As a result of such special combination, the as-prepared INSPE retains almost 100% of its ionic conductivity when subjected to many types of severe mechanical deformations. Therefore, the INSPE is successfully applied to bendable, rollable, and foldable LIBs that show excellent energy storage performance despite the intense mechanical deformations.