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AgNPs decorated MXene hybrid (MX/Ag) with excellent photothermal conversion performance was prepared by γ-ray induced reduction at room temperature.

Green wearable electronics are attracting increasing attention to eliminate harmful byproducts generated by traditional devices. Although various degradable materials have been explored for green wearable electronics, the development of degradable elastomers with integrated characteristics of low modulus, self-adhesion, high resilient, and low hysteresis remains challenging. In this work, a degradable elastomer poly(1,8-octanediol

Textile pressure sensors capable of withstanding high temperatures have attracted increasing interest due to their potential applications in harsh conditions. In this work, a textile pressure sensor with high-temperature resistance was realized based on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and quartz fabrics. The textile pressure sensors exhibited low fatigue over 20 000 cyclic loadings. Owing to the high-temperature resistance of MWCNTs and quartz fabrics, the textile sensor can work at temperatures up to 300 °C and can maintain good sensitivity after calcination at 900 °C in N

Microreactors are of great importance for chemical reaction screening, nanoparticle synthesis, protein crystallization, DNA detection, organic synthesis, etc. Here, we reported an effective, flexible, and low-cost method for fabricating microreactor arrays by inkjet printing technology. This strategy utilizes the controllable sliding behavior of the three-phase contact line to form hydrophilic-hydrophobic micropatterns for microreactors with sizes low to several hundreds of nanometers. Reactions in the order of 1 × 10-21 mol molecules can be realized in these microreactors, and crystallization processes can also be conducted to synthesize single crystals.

Biodegradable three-dimensional crimped fibers were prepared by the side-by-side composite spinning of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and low-melting point PLA (LM-PLA). The structural variation of the PLA/LM-PLA composite fibers during dry and wet heat treatment was explored systematically. It is shown that crystallization and disorientation were two key factors for the formation of the three-dimensional crimped structure of PLA/LM-PLA side-by-side composite fibers (SSCF). The wet heat-treated fiber has better crimp performance and fluffiness, and the crimp number, crimp ratio and crimp elasticity ratio of the treated PLA/LM-PLA SSCF with good comprehensive properties are 21 per 25 mm, 31.9% and 81.6%, which are similar to those of industrialized PET/PTT three-dimensional crimped fibers. The results of this study shed light on the development of novel three-dimensional crimped fibers with biodegradability.

A textile dyeing technique based on structural colors has attracted increasing attention due to the advantages of being fadeless, free of photobleaching, and less pollution. Here, we reported a general method of fabricating vivid iridescent structural colors and photonic crystal (PC) patterns on various textiles by spray coating poly(St-MMA-AA) colloids. With water-repelling and plasma treatments, versatile textiles can be dyed by photonic crystal colorants and exhibit brilliant iridescent structural colors. The results showed that the surface wettability, assembly temperature, particle concentration, spraying distance, and spraying time were important factors in fabricating high-quality PCs on textiles. Due to the soft shell of the colloids with abundant COOH groups, as-prepared structural-colored fabrics presented a flexible and tough character.

Photonic crystals (PCs) have attracted enormous research interest due to their unique light manipulation and potential applications in sensing, catalysts, detection, displays, solar cells and other fields. In particular, many novel applications of PCs are derived from their surface wettability. Generally, the wettability of PCs is determined by a combination of its surface geometrical structures and surface chemical compositions. This review focuses on the recent developments in the mechanism, fabrication and application of bio-inspired PCs with superwettability. It includes information on constructing superwetting PCs based on designing the topographical structure and regulating the surface chemical composition, and information on extending the practical applications of superwetting PCs in humidity/oil/solvent sensing, actuating, anti-fouling and liquid-impermeable surface, chemical detection, etc.

The preparation of fine 3D microstructures is an attractive issue; however, it is limited at large-area fabrication process and fineness morphology manipulation. Here, we propose a strategy to fabricate controllable 3D structures and morphologies from one single droplet via ink-jet printing. Based on the surface energy difference between the hydrophilic patterns and hydrophobic surface, the three phase contact line of a droplet contained nanoparticles is forced to pin on the patterned hydrophilic points and asymmetrically dewets on the hydrophobic surface, which leads to various morphologies. Through the regulation of pinning patterns and solution properties, the 3D morphology can be well manipulated. This strategy to control the 3D morphology of nanoparticle assembly based on hydrophilic patterns would be of great importance for fabricating controllable 3D structures.

Perovskite single-crystalline microplate arrays are directly achieved in large scale by inkjet printing, which present high performance lasing property with quality factors up to 863 and RGB (red-green-blue) emission. This facile, nonlithographic method makes its promising applications on multi-integrated coherent light sources and other high-performance integrated optoelectronic applications.

A novel and reversible single-material solvent-sensitive actuator was developed from poly(ionic liquid) inverse opals based on a gradient wetting/dewetting process combining the strong hydrogen bonding interaction between the solvent and polymer. This study will provide an important insight for the design and fabrication of novel-type solvent-actuator materials.

Controlling the behaviours of printed droplets is an essential requirement for inkjet printing of delicate three-dimensional (3D) structures or high-resolution patterns. In this work, molecular deposition and crystallization are regulated by manipulating the three-phase contact line (TCL) behaviour of the printed droplets. The results show that oriented single-crystal arrays are fabricated based on the continuously sliding TCL. Owing to the sliding of the TCL on the substrate, the outward capillary flow within the evaporating droplet is suppressed and the molecules are brought to the centre of the droplet, resulting in the formation of a single crystal. This work provides a facile strategy for controlling the structures of printed units by manipulating the TCL of printed droplets, which is significant for realizing high-resolution patterns and delicate 3D structures.

The one-step synthesis/assembly of a cake-shaped porphyrin colloidal microcrystal with tailored height–diameter was demonstrated based on interfacial assembly and the water-droplet template. The as-fabricated anisotropic colloidal crystals showed special optic properties and enhanced optic-limiting behavior.

Magnetosensing is a ubiquitous ability for many organism species in nature. 1D assembly, especially that arranged in single-particle-resolution regulation, is able to sense the direction of magnetic field depending on the enhanced dipolar interaction in the linear orientation. Inspired by the magnetosome structure in magnetotactic bacteria, a 1D assembly array of single particle resolution with controlled length and well-behaved configuration is prepared via inkjet printing method assisted with magnetic guiding. In the fabrication process, chains in a "tip-to-tip" regulation with the desired number of particles are prepared in a confined tiny inkjet-printed droplet. By adjusting the receding angle of the substrate, the assembled 1D morphology is kept/deteriorated depending on the pinning/depinning behavior during ink evaporation, which leads to the formation of well-behaved 1D assembly/aggregated dot assembly. Owing to the high-aspect-ratio characteristic of the assembled structure, the as-prepared 1D arrays can be used for magnetic field sensing with anisotropic magnetization M// /M⊥ up to 6.03.

A quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) was synthesized and characterized by 1H NMR. A low environmental sensitive antistatic plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PPVC) was prepared by blending with QAS and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The structure and properties of PPVC/QAS/PEO blend were studied by scanning electronic microscope (SEM), surface resistivity, and mechanical properties tests. The results show that the surface resistivity of PPVC/QAS/PEO (100/4.5/0) blend without PEO component can be reduced to less than 3.0 × 108 Ω at 65% environmental humidity, which satisfied the antistatic property requirement related to MT113-1995 of China. However, QAS, similar to other commercial antistatic agents, is much sensitive to environmental humidity. When a small amount of PEO is added, the surface resistivity of PPVC/QAS/PEO blend has a quite low sensitivity to environmental humidity and further reduces. An excellent antistatic property of PPVC/QAS/PEO blend under low humidity can be achieved. Its tensile strength and elongation at break are also improved with PEO addition. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

Inkjet printing has attracted wide attention due to the important applications in fabricating biological, optical, and electrical devices. During the inkjet printing process, the solutes prefer to deposit along the droplet periphery and form an inhomogeneous morphology, known as the coffee-ring effect. Besides, the feature size of printed dots or lines of conventional inkjet printing is usually limited to tens or even hundreds of micrometers. The above two issues greatly restrict the extensive application of printed patterns in high-performance devices. This paper reviews the recent advances in precisely controlling the printing droplets for high-resolution patterns and three-dimensional structures, with a focus on the development to suppress the coffee-ring effect and minimize the feature size of printed dots or lines. A perspective on the remaining challenges of the research is also proposed.

This paper presents rapid response colloidal photonic crystal (PC) microdots fabricated by inkjet printing, which demonstrate a fastest response of ca. 1.2 s to water vapor. This remarkable improvement of response rate could be attributed to the combined effects of the intrinsic small size of the inkjet microdots and the hydrophobic transition of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAm) above its lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The reversible phase transition of PNIPAm modifies the hydrophilic–hydrophobic balance of the polymer interface, which leads to the modulation of wetting states/adhesion properties of adsorbed water on the polymer segments, resulting in the remarkable improvement of response rate. Moreover, the optimal response performance (including signal strength and response sensitivity) of the printed PC microdot is achieved by the coordination of a well-ordered latex assembly and full infiltration of the responsive polymer in the latex interstices. This simple fabrication of functional colloidal PC microdots opens new avenues for the construction of advanced microanalysis and microsensing devices. In addition, improving the response rate by the phase transition of the polymer segments is promising for the creation of high-performance sensors.