development-bio-hybrid-mosquito-stinger-based-atomic-force-microscopy

Development of a Bio-Hybrid Mosquito Stinger-Based Atomic Force Microscopy Probe

Mosquitoes, notorious as the deadliest animals to humans due to their capacity to transmit diseases, pose a persistent challenge to public health. The ...

McGill University

Development of a refractory selective solar absorber (RSSA) is the key to unlock high-temperature solar thermal and thermochemical conversion. The fundamental challenge of RSSA is the lack of design and fabrication guidelines to simultaneously achieve omnidirectional, broadband solar absorption and sharp spectral selectivity at the desired cutoff wavelength. Here, we realize a ruthenium-carbon nanotube (Ru-CNT) nanocomposite RSSA with multiscale nanoparticle-on-nanocavity plasmonic modes. Ru conformally coated on the sidewalls of CNTs enables a spoof surface plasmon polariton mode for spectra selectivity; Ru nanoparticles formed at the tips of CNTs enable a localized surface plasmon resonance mode and plasmon hybridization for omnidirectional broadband solar absorption. The fabricated Ru-CNT RSSA has a total solar absorption (TSA) of 96.1% with sharp spectral cutoff at 2.21 μm. The TSA is maintained at over 90% for an incident angle of 56°. Our findings therefore guide full-spectrum optical and thermal control from visible to the far-infrared.

Multiscale Plasmonic Refractory Nanocomposites for High-Temperature Solar Photothermal Conversion.

Flexible mechanical sensors (, strain, pressure, and force) fabricated primarily by printing technologies have emerged and evolved promptly in the past several years. 2D and 3D printing approaches enabled rapid prototyping of various flexible mechanical sensors that have demonstrated their unique applications in fields including robotics, human-machine interfaces, and biomedicine. Research efforts have primarily been focused on experimenting with different materials, device configurations, and sensing mechanisms to achieve better sensing performance. While great progress has been made, this field is still in its infancy where most research is exploratory; and even the performance standards and long-term objective/vision of these sensors are not clear. In this review, the state-of-the-art of three types of printed flexible mechanical sensors will be discussed and analyzed in terms of their fabrication methods, types of sensing materials and mechanisms, and challenges for future development.

Printed flexible mechanical sensors.

Tactile sensors, or sensors that collect measurements through touch, have versatile applications in a wide range of fields including robotic gripping, intelligent manufacturing, and biomedical technology. Hoping to match the ability of human hands to sense physical changes in objects through touch, engineers have experimented with a variety of materials from soft polymers to hard ceramics, but so far, all have fallen short. A grand challenge for developers of "human-like" bionic tactile sensors is to be able to sense a wide range of strains while maintaining the low profile necessary for compact integration. Here, we developed a low-profile tactile sensor (∼300 μm in height) based on patterned, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (PVACNT) that can repetitively sense compressive strains of up to 75%. Upon compression, reversible changes occur in the points of contact between CNTs, producing measurable changes in electrical admittance. By patterning VACNT pillars with different aspect ratios and pitch sizes, we engineered the range and resolution of strain sensing, suggesting that CNT-based tactile sensors can be integrated according to device specifications.

Article	Year
Multiscale Plasmonic Refractory Nanocomposites for High-Temperature Solar Photothermal Conversion. Nano letters\| PubMed ID: 36302098	2022
Printed flexible mechanical sensors. Nanoscale\| PubMed ID: 36385388	2022
Low-Profile, Large-Range Compressive Strain Sensing Using Micromanufactured CNT Micropillar Arrays. ACS applied materials & interfaces\| PubMed ID: 37549356	2023

Changhong Cao

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