Search Results (34)

Batteries are a cornerstone of modern technology that supports a wide range of applications including portable electronics, electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage for renewable power systems. Despite their widespread use, commercial Li-ion batteries are limited by the mineral resources of Li. The rapidly growing battery market demands alternative battery systems, such as non-alkali metal-ion batteries, that are capable of delivering comparative energy densities. In the meantime, improving the performance of the batteries via generating sustainable strategies has been broadly studied. Proteins, as re naturally evolved macromolecules that possess diverse structures and functional groups, have been demonstrated to be able to transport various metallic ions inside bio-organisms. Therefore, active studies have been carried out on the use of natural proteins (e.g., zein, soy, fibroin, bovine serum albumin, etc.) to enhance the electrochemical performance of non-alkali metal-ion batteries. This review provides a comprehensive summary of recent advances on the studies of protein-based strategies for non-alkali metal-ion batteries and outlines perspectives for future sustainable electrochemical energy storage systems. Full article

The urgent demand for sustainable energy solutions in the face of climate change and resource depletion has catalyzed a global shift toward cleaner energy production and more efficient storage technologies. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), as the cornerstone of modern portable electronics, electric vehicles, and grid-scale storage systems, are continually evolving to meet the growing performance requirements. In this dynamic context, two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as highly promising candidates for use in electrodes due to their layered structure, tunable electronic properties, and high theoretical capacity. Among 2D materials, molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has gained increasing attention as a promising low-dimensional candidate for LIB anode applications. This review provides a comprehensive yet concise overview of recent advances in the application of MoS₂ in LIB electrodes, with particular attention to its unique electrochemical behavior at the nanoscale. We critically examine the interplay between structural features, charge-storage mechanisms, and performance metrics—chiefly the specific capacity, rate capability, and cycling stability. Furthermore, we discuss current challenges, primarily poor intrinsic conductivity and volume fluctuations, and highlight innovative strategies aimed at overcoming these limitations, such as through nanostructuring, composite formation, and surface engineering. By shedding light on the opportunities and hurdles in this rapidly progressing field, this work offers a forward-looking perspective on the role of MoS₂ in the next generation of high-performance LIBs. Full article

Due to accelerated urbanization, modern urban residents are facing increasing life pressures. Many citizens are experiencing situational aversion in daily commuting, and the deterioration in the traffic environment has led to psychological distress of varying degrees among urban dwellers. Cyclists, who account for about 7% of urban commuters, lack a sense of belonging in the urban space and experience significant deficiencies in the corresponding urban infrastructure, which causes more people to face significant barriers to choosing cycling as a mode of transportation. To address the aforementioned issues, this study proposes a bionic intelligent interaction helmet (BIIH) designed and validated based on the principles of bionics, which has undergone morphological design and structural validation. Constructed around the STM32-embedded development board, the BIIH is an integrated smart cycling helmet engineered to perceive environmental conditions and enable both human–machine interactions and environment–machine interactions. The system incorporates an array of sophisticated electronic components, including temperature and humidity sensors; ultrasonic sensors; ambient light sensors; voice recognition modules; cooling fans; LED indicators; and OLED displays. Additionally, the device is equipped with a mobile power supply, enhancing its portability and ensuring operational efficacy under dynamic conditions. Compared with conventional helmets designed for analogous purposes, the BIIH offers four distinct advantages. Firstly, it enhances the wearer’s environmental perception, thereby improving safety during operation. Secondly, it incorporates a real-time interaction function that optimizes the cycling experience while mitigating psychological stress. Thirdly, validated through bionic design principles, the BIIH exhibits increased specific stiffness, enhancing its structural integrity. Finally, the device’s integrated power and storage capabilities render it portable, autonomous, and adaptable, facilitating iterative improvements and fostering self-sustained development. Collectively, these features establish the BIIH as a methodological and technical foundation for exploring novel research scenarios and prospective applications. Full article

Current lifestyles bring about an increasing prevalence of unhealthy habits that can negatively affect male fertility. Cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, stress, inadequate physical activity, an unequilibrated diet leading to obesity, and use of mobile telephones and portable electronic devices can affect the male reproductive system through multiple mechanisms. Moreover, the modern man is often exposed to environmental factors independent of his will, such as air pollution, exposure to heat or toxicants in his workplace, or the presence of harmful chemicals in food, beverages, agricultural and industrial products, etc. The susceptibility to these factors depends on genetic and epigenetic predisposition, potentially present systemic disease and medication, and local affections of the genitourinary system. The multifaceted nature of both the causative factors and the susceptibility background makes the resulting fertility disturbance highly individual and variable among different men exposed to the same conditions. This paper critically reviews the current knowledge of different causative and susceptibility factors with a special attention to the molecular mechanisms of their action. Finally, strategies for the prevention of abnormalities due to lifestyle and environmental factors and available treatment modalities for already-present abnormalities are exposed. Full article

The quest for efficient and reliable electrochemical energy storage (EES) systems is at the forefront of modern energy research, as these systems play a pivotal role in addressing the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources and the growing demands of portable electronics and electric vehicles [...] Full article

Metal-ion capacitors (MICs) have emerged as advanced hybrid energy storage devices that combine the high energy density of batteries with the superior power density and long cycle life of supercapacitors. By leveraging a unique configuration of faradaic and non-faradaic energy storage mechanisms, MICs offer a balanced performance that meets the diverse requirements of modern applications, including renewable energy systems, electric vehicles, and portable electronics. MICs employ diverse ions such as lithium, sodium, and potassium, which provide flexibility in material selection, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. For instance, lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) excel in compact and high-performance applications, while sodium-ion (NICs) and potassium-ion capacitors (KICs) provide sustainable and affordable solutions for large-scale energy storage. This review highlights the advancements in electrode materials, including carbon-based materials, transition metal oxides, and emerging candidates like MXenes and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), which enhance MIC performance. The role of electrolytes, ranging from organic and aqueous to hybrid and solid-state systems, is also examined, emphasizing their influence on energy density, safety, and operating voltage. Additionally, the article discusses the environmental and economic benefits of MICs, including the use of earth-abundant materials and bio-derived carbons, which align with global sustainability goals. The review concludes with an analysis of practical applications, commercialization challenges, and future research directions, including AI-driven material discovery and integration into decentralized energy systems. As versatile and transformative energy storage devices, MICs are poised to play a critical role in advancing sustainable and efficient energy solutions for the future. Full article

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have become integral to modern technology, powering portable electronics, electric vehicles, and renewable energy storage systems. This document explores the complexities and advancements in LIB technology, highlighting the fundamental components such as anodes, cathodes, electrolytes, and separators. It delves into the critical interplay of these components in determining battery performance, including energy density, cycling stability, and safety. Moreover, the document addresses the significant sustainability challenges posed by the widespread adoption of LIBs, focusing on resource depletion and environmental impact. Various recycling practices, including hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, and direct recycling, are evaluated for their efficiency in metal recovery and ecological footprint. The advancements in recycling technologies aim to mitigate the adverse effects of LIB waste, emphasizing the need for sustainable and scalable solutions. The research underscores the importance of ongoing innovation in electrode materials and recycling methodologies, reminding us of our responsibility and commitment to finding and implementing these solutions, as this continuous improvement is crucial to enhance the performance, safety, and sustainability of LIBs, ensuring their continued relevance in the evolving energy storage landscape. Full article

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are fundamental to modern technology, powering everything from portable electronics to electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage systems. As their use expands across various industries, ensuring the reliability and safety of these batteries becomes paramount. This review explores the multifaceted aspects of LIB reliability, highlighting recent advancements and ongoing challenges. The importance of safety has been underscored by numerous incidents, such as the well-known smartphone battery explosions and more than 10,000 fires a year at facilities throughout Australia, both linked to LIB failures. These events emphasize the need for robust reliability and safety measures to ensure consistent performance and longevity. Factors like battery chemistry, design, manufacturing, and operating conditions can all influence the reliability of LIBs. Despite their widespread use, the mechanisms of failure, failure rates, and consequences of LIB failures are still not well understood, raising significant safety concerns. Current reliability assessment techniques include experimental methods, computational models, and data-driven approaches. Emerging trends, such as advanced characterization techniques and standardized testing protocols, advocate for improved practices to enhance the reliability and safety of LIBs across all applications. Full article

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are essential in modern electronics, particularly in portable devices and electric vehicles. However, the limited design flexibility of current battery shapes constrains the development of custom-sized power sources for advanced applications like wearable electronics and medical devices. Additive manufacturing (AM), specifically Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), presents a promising solution by enabling the creation of batteries with customized shapes. This study explores the use of novel poly(acrylonitrile-co-polyethylene glycol methyl ether acrylate) (poly(AN-co-PEGMEA)) copolymers as solid polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries, optimized for 3D printing using FFF. The copolymers were synthesized with varying AN:PEGMEA ratios, and their physical, thermal, and electrochemical properties were systematically characterized. The study found that a poly(AN-co-PEGMEA) 6:1 copolymer ratio offers an optimal balance between printability and ionic conductivity. The successful extrusion of filaments and subsequent 3D printing of complex shapes demonstrate the potential of these materials for next-generation battery designs. The addition of succinonitrile (SCN) as a plasticizer significantly improved ionic conductivity and lithium cation transference numbers, making these copolymers viable for practical applications. This work highlights the potential of combining polymer chemistry with additive manufacturing to provide new opportunities in lithium-ion battery design and function. Full article

(1) Background: Ocular emergencies account for 1.5–3% of emergency department (ED) visits and require urgent diagnosis to prevent serious complications. Ultrasonography is a crucial, non-invasive diagnostic tool for these conditions but traditionally lacks portability and integration with modern electronic smart devices. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy and performance of a new handheld ultrasound device in comparison to a conventional cart-based sonographic machine in patients attending to the ED for vitreo-retinal diseases. (2) Methods: three specialists in ophthalmology, with at least 4-year experience in vitreo-retinal diseases and eye ultrasound, evaluated images of 50 eyes with both portable and traditional ultrasound probes. Each specialist made the diagnosis based on the images captured with both probes and then rated their overall image quality and confidence of diagnosis with a five-point Likert scale. The concordance of diagnosis between the two probes was evaluated. (3) Results: The sample comprised 42 patients. Twenty (40%) healthy eyes and thirty eyes with the following vitreo-retinal interface conditions were examined: 12 retinal detachment (24%), 8 vitreous hemorrhage (16%), and 10 posterior vitreous detachment (20%). The overall accuracy of the two devices appeared to be comparable (70.7% vs. 69.3%). The Butterfly iQ+ probe showed similar sensitivity in retinal detachment diagnosis (91.7% vs. 94.4% of the Accutome B-scan Pro), while it showed poor performance in diagnosing posterior vitreous detachment (sensitivity = 27.2%); (4) Conclusions: The Butterfly iQ+ device demonstrated high sensitivity in the diagnosis of retinal detachment. Significant adjustments are still needed to improve the resolution of the vitreous body. Full article

The steady progress in consumer electronics, together with improvement in microflow techniques, nanotechnology, and data processing, has led to implementation of cost-effective, user-friendly portable devices, which play the role of not only gadgets but also diagnostic tools. Moreover, numerous smart devices monitor patients’ health, and some of them are applied in point-of-care (PoC) tests as a reliable source of evaluation of a patient’s condition. Current diagnostic practices are still based on laboratory tests, preceded by the collection of biological samples, which are then tested in clinical conditions by trained personnel with specialistic equipment. In practice, collecting passive/active physiological and behavioral data from patients in real time and feeding them to artificial intelligence (AI) models can significantly improve the decision process regarding diagnosis and treatment procedures via the omission of conventional sampling and diagnostic procedures while also excluding the role of pathologists. A combination of conventional and novel methods of digital and traditional biomarker detection with portable, autonomous, and miniaturized devices can revolutionize medical diagnostics in the coming years. This article focuses on a comparison of traditional clinical practices with modern diagnostic techniques based on AI and machine learning (ML). The presented technologies will bypass laboratories and start being commercialized, which should lead to improvement or substitution of current diagnostic tools. Their application in PoC settings or as a consumer technology accessible to every patient appears to be a real possibility. Research in this field is expected to intensify in the coming years. Technological advancements in sensors and biosensors are anticipated to enable the continuous real-time analysis of various omics fields, fostering early disease detection and intervention strategies. The integration of AI with digital health platforms would enable predictive analysis and personalized healthcare, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in related scientific fields. Full article

Soft robotics are attractive to researchers and developers due to their potential for biomimicry applications across a myriad of fields, including biomedicine (e.g., surgery), the film industry (e.g., animatronics), ecology (e.g., physical ‘animats’), human–robot interactions (e.g., social robots), and others. In contrast to their rigid counterparts, soft robotics offer obvious actuation benefits, including their many degrees of freedom in motion and their potential to mimic living organisms. Many material systems have been proposed and used for soft robotic applications, involving soft actuators, sensors, and generators. This review focuses on dielectric elastomer (DE)-based actuators, which are more general electro-active polymer (EAP) smart materials. EAP-based soft robots are very attractive for various reasons: (a) energy can be efficiently (and readily) stored in electrical form; (b) both power and information can be transferred rapidly via electrical phenomena; (c) computations using electronic means are readily available. Due to their potential and benefits, DE-based actuators are attractive to researchers and developers from multiple fields. This review aims to (1) provide non-experts with an “easy-to-follow” survey of the most important aspects and challenges to consider when implementing DE-based soft actuators, and (2) emphasize current solutions and challenges related to the materials, controls, and portability of DE-based soft-actuator systems. First, we start with some fundamental functions, applications, and configurations; then, we review the material models and their selection. After, we outline material limitations and challenges along with some thermo-mechano-chemical treatments to overcome some of those limitations. Finally, we outline some of the control schemes, including modern techniques, and suggest using rewritable hardware for faster and more adaptive controls. Full article

Ancient Ardaxšīr Khwarrah, today known as Shahr-e Gur, situated near the modern town of Firuzabad in Fars, Iran, holds historical significance as the inaugural capital city of the Sasanian Empire. During archaeological excavations conducted in 2005 by an Iranian–German team directed by Mas‘oud Azarnoush and Dietrich Huff, a mud-brick complex was uncovered, revealing a remarkably well-preserved stretch of wall painting and a polychrome painted floor. The discovery prompted the hypothesis of a potential funerary context dating back to the Sasanian period. Both the wall painting and painted floor have suffered extensive deterioration attributed to the environmental conditions of the archaeological site, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2020. To address the urgent need for preservation and further understanding of the site’s artistic and structural elements, an emergency diagnostic project was initiated. Non-invasive investigations were carried out on the wall and floor by optical digital microscopy and portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence. Additionally, representative minute samples underwent analysis through various techniques, including micro-X-ray fluorescence, polarised light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The palette of the floor and mural paintings were identified to contain red and yellow ochres, lead-based pigments, carbon black and bone white. The unexpected presence of Egyptian blue mixed with green earth was recognised in the green hues of the wall painting. The detection of protein material in both the wall painting and polychrome floor indicates the use of “a secco” technique, thereby shedding light on the artistic practices employed in Ardaxšīr Khwarrah. Full article

Currently, the miniaturization of portable and autonomous devices is challenging for modern electronics. Graphene-based materials have recently emerged as one of the ideal candidates for supercapacitor electrodes, while Si is a common platform for direct component-on-chip integration. We have proposed the direct liquid-based CVD of N-doped graphene-like films (N-GLFs) on Si as a promising way to achieve solid-state on-chip micro-capacitor performance. Synthesis temperatures in the range from 800 °C to 1000 °C are investigated. Capacitances and electrochemical stability of the films are evaluated using cyclic voltammetry, as well as galvanostatic measurements and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 0.5 M Na₂SO₄. We have shown that N-doping is an efficient way to improve the N-GLF capacitance. 900 °C is the optimal temperature for the N-GLF synthesis with the best electrochemical properties. The capacitance rises with increasing film thickness which also has an optimum (about 50 nm). The transfer-free acetonitrile-based CVD on Si yields a perfect material for microcapacitor electrodes. Our best value of the area-normalized capacitance (960 mF/cm²) exceeds the world’s achievements among thin graphene-based films. The main advantages of the proposed approach are the direct on-chip performance of the energy storage component and high cyclic stability. Full article

Today we see an increasing demand for new fluorescent materials exhibiting various sensory abilities due to their broad applicability ranging from the construction of flexible devices to bioimaging. In this paper, we report on the new fluorescent pigments AntTCNE, PyrTCNE, and PerTCNE which consist of 3–5 fused aromatic rings substituted with tricyanoethylene fragments forming D-π-A diad. Our studies reveal that all three compounds exhibit pronounced rigidochromic properties, i.e., strong sensitivity of their fluorescence to the viscosity of the local environment. We also demonstrate that our new pigments belong to a very rare type of organic fluorophores which do not obey the well-known empirical Kasha’rule stating that photoluminescence transition always occurs from the lowest excited state of an emitting molecule. This rare spectral feature of our pigments is accompanied by an even rarer capability of spectrally and temporally well-resolved anti-Kasha dual emission (DE) from both higher and lowest electronic states in non-polar solvents. We show that among three new pigments, PerTCNE has significant potential as the medium-bandgap non-fullerene electron acceptor. Such materials are now highly demanded for indoor low-power electronics and portable devices for the Internet-of-Things. Additionally, we demonstrate that PyrTCNE has been successfully used as a structural unit in template assembling of the new cyanoarylporphyrazine framework with 4 D-π-A dyads framing this macrocycle (Pyr₄CN₄Pz). Similarly to its structural unit, Pyr₄CN₄Pz is also the anti-Kasha fluorophore, exhibiting intensive DE in viscous non-polar medium and polymer films, which strongly depends on the polarity of the local environment. Moreover, our studies showed high photodynamic activity of this new tetrapyrrole macrocycle which is combined with its unique sensory capacities (strong sensitivity of its fluorescent properties to the local environmental stimuli such as viscosity and polarity. Thus, Pyr₄CN₄Pz can be considered the first unique photosensitizer that potentially enables the real-time combination of photodynamic therapy and double-sensory approaches which is very important for modern biomedicine. Full article