Publications

Abstract Recent advances in flexible wearable devices have boosted the remarkable development of devices for human–machine interfaces, which are of great value to emerging cybernetics, robotics, and Metaverse systems. However, the effectiveness of existing approaches is limited by the quality of sensor data and classification models with high computational costs. Here, a novel gesture recognition system with triboelectric smart wristbands and an adaptive accelerated learning (AAL) model is proposed. The sensor array is well deployed according to the wrist anatomy and retrieves hand motions from a distance, exhibiting highly sensitive and high‐quality sensing capabilities beyond existing methods. Importantly, the anatomical design leads to the close correspondence between the actions of dominant muscle/tendon groups and gestures, and the resulting distinctive features in sensor signals are very valuable for differentiating gestures with data from 7 sensors. The AAL model realizes a 97.56% identification accuracy in training 21 classes with only one‐third operands of the original neural network. The applications of the system are further exploited in real‐time somatosensory teleoperations with a low latency of <1 s, revealing a new possibility for endowing cyber‐human interactions with disruptive innovation and immersive experience.

This paper presents for the first time that poly( l ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibers can show the piezoelectricity along the fiber direction (d 33 ) by using an electrospinning method. First, the electrospun fiber bundles are characterized by scanning electron microscope, X‐ray, and piezoelectric coefficient measurements. The data show that the supercritical CO 2 treatment can greatly enhance the piezoelectricity of electrospun PLLA fibers, which can be resulting from the increased crystallinity of the fibers. Later, it is found that the electrospun PLLA fiber can generate a current of 8 pA and a voltage of 20 mV by a simple push–release process. Further, a single PLLA fiber‐based blood pulse sensor is also fabricated and tested and shows around a 2 pA output for blood pulse. Due to easy fabrication and relatively simple structure, this device enables a broad range of promising future applications in the medical sensor area. image

A multi-field coupling structure is designed and investigated, which combines GaN-based optoelectronic devices and Terfenol-D. The abundant coupling effects and multifunctionalities among magnetics, mechanics, electrics, and optics are investigated by a combination of non-magnetic GaN-based piezoelectronic optoelectronic characteristics and the giant magnetomechanical properties of Terfenol-D. A few potential new areas of studies are proposed.

An AC magnetic field, which is a carrier of information, is distributed everywhere and is continuous. How to use and detect this field has been an ongoing topic over the past few decades. Conventional magnetic sensors are usually based on the Hall Effect, the fluxgate, a superconductor quantum interface or magnetoelectric or magnetoresistive sensing. Here, a flexible, simple, low-cost and self-powered active piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) is successfully demonstrated as an AC magnetic field sensor at room temperature. The amplitude and frequency of a magnetic field can both be accurately sensed by the NG. The output voltage of the NG has a good linearity with a measured magnetic field. The detected minute magnetic field is as low as 1.2 × 10−7 tesla, which is 400 times greater than a commercial magnetic sensor that uses the Hall Effect. In comparison to the existing technologies, an NG is a room-temperature self-powered active sensor that is very simple and very cheap for practical applications.

Highlights The operating mechanism of piezotronic neuromorphic devices and related manufacturing techniques are presented. Recent research advances in piezotronic neuromorphic devices including multifunctional applications are summarized. Challenges and prospects for modulating novel neuromorphic devices with piezotronic effects are discussed.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) causes significant morbidity in liver transplantation among other medical conditions. IRI following liver transplantation contributes to poor outcomes and early graft loss. Histone/protein deacetylases (HDACs) regulate diverse cellular processes, play a role in mediating tissue responses to IRI, and may represent a novel therapeutic target in preventing IRI in liver transplantation.

Construction of self-illuminating semiconducting nanocrystals, also called quantum dots (QDs), has attracted much attention recently due to their potential as highly sensitive optical probes for biological imaging applications. Here we prepared a self-illuminating QD system by doping positron-emitting radionuclide (64)Cu into CdSe/ZnS core/shell QDs via a cation-exchange reaction. The (64)Cu-doped CdSe/ZnS QDs exhibit efficient Cerenkov resonance energy transfer (CRET). The signal of (64)Cu can accurately reflect the biodistribution of the QDs during circulation with no dissociation of (64)Cu from the nanoparticles. We also explored this system for in vivo tumor imaging. This nanoprobe showed high tumor-targeting ability in a U87MG glioblastoma xenograft model (12.7% ID/g at 17 h time point) and feasibility for in vivo luminescence imaging of tumor in the absence of excitation light. The availability of these self-illuminating integrated QDs provides an accurate and convenient tool for in vivo tumor imaging and detection.

We demonstrate a cylindrical rotating triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on sliding electrification for harvesting mechanical energy from rotational motion. The rotating TENG is based on a core–shell structure that is made of distinctly different triboelectric materials with alternative strip structures on the surface. The charge transfer is strengthened with the formation of polymer nanoparticles on surfaces. During coaxial rotation, a contact-induced electrification and the relative sliding between the contact surfaces of the core and the shell result in an "in-plane" lateral polarization, which drives the flow of electrons in the external load. A power density of 36.9 W/m2 (short-circuit current of 90 μA and open-circuit voltage of 410 V) has been achieved by a rotating TENG with 8 strip units at a linear rotational velocity of 1.33 m/s (a rotation rate of 1000 r/min). The output can be further enhanced by integrating more strip units and/or applying larger linear rotational velocity. This rotating TENG can be used as a direct power source to drive small electronics, such as LED bulbs. This study proves the possibility to harvest mechanical energy by TENGs from rotational motion, demonstrating its potential for harvesting the flow energy of air or water for applications such as self-powered environmental sensors and wildlife tracking devices.

A method is presented for quantifying oxygen diffusion behavior in a nanodevice fabricated using individual ZnO nanowire/nanobelt. A nanodevice was built using a single nanobelt. Defects are introduced into nanobelt during specific nanofabrication procedure. Then, after the device being exposed to atmosphere for several days, oxygen in air diffused into the nanobelt and significantly changed the conductivity of the device. By comprising the experimentally measured conductivity and that of simulated result, the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in ZnO nanowires/nanobelts has been derived.