2019, Tondera, Christoph, Akbar, Teuku Fawzul, Thomas, Alvin Kuriakose, Lin, Weilin, Werner, Carsten, Busskamp, Volker, Zhang, Yixin, Minev, Ivan R.

Electrically conductive materials that mimic physical and biological properties of tissues are urgently required for seamless brain-machine interfaces. Here, a multinetwork hydrogel combining electrical conductivity of 26 S m-1 , stretchability of 800%, and tissue-like elastic modulus of 15 kPa with mimicry of the extracellular matrix is reported. Engineering this unique set of properties is enabled by a novel in-scaffold polymerization approach. Colloidal hydrogels of the nanoclay Laponite are employed as supports for the assembly of secondary polymer networks. Laponite dramatically increases the conductivity of in-scaffold polymerized poly(ethylene-3,4-diethoxy thiophene) in the absence of other dopants, while preserving excellent stretchability. The scaffold is coated with a layer containing adhesive peptide and polysaccharide dextran sulfate supporting the attachment, proliferation, and neuronal differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells directly on the surface of conductive hydrogels. Due to its compatibility with simple extrusion printing, this material promises to enable tissue-mimetic neurostimulating electrodes.

2021, Haehnle, Bastian, Schuster, Philipp A., Chen, Lisa, Kuehne, Alexander J. C.

Future applications of conjugated polymer particles (CPP) in medicine, organic photonics, and optoelectronics greatly depend on high performance and precisely adjustable optical properties of the particles. To meet these criteria, current particle systems often combine conjugated polymers with inorganic particles in core-shell geometries, extending the possible optical characteristics of CPP. However, current conjugated polymer particles are restricted to a single polymer phase composed of a distinct polymer or a polymer blend. Here, a synthetic toolbox is presented that enables the synthesis of monodisperse core-shell and core-shell-shell particles, which consist entirely of conjugated polymers but of different types in the core and the shells. Seeded and fed-batch dispersion polymerizations based on Suzuki-Miyaura-type cross-coupling are investigated. The different approaches allow accurate control over the created interface between the conjugated polymer phases and thus also over the energy transfer phenomena between them. This approach opens up completely new synthetic freedom for fine tuning of the optical properties of CPP, enabling, for example, the synthesis of individual white light-emitting particles.

2022, Pyttlik, Andrea, Kuttich, Björn, Kraus, Tobias

Gravity can affect the agglomeration of nanoparticles by changing convection and sedimentation. The temperature-induced agglomeration of hexadecanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles in microgravity (µ g) is studied at the ZARM (Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity) drop tower and compared to their agglomeration on the ground (1 g). Nonpolar nanoparticles with a hydrodynamic diameter of 13 nm are dispersed in tetradecane, rapidly cooled from 70 to 10 °C to induce agglomeration, and observed by dynamic light scattering at a time resolution of 1 s. The mean hydrodynamic diameters of the agglomerates formed after 8 s in microgravity are 3 times (for low initial concentrations) to 5 times (at high initial concentrations) larger than on the ground. The observations are consistent with an agglomeration process that is closer to the reaction limit on thground and closer to the diffusion limit in microgravity.

2023, Berg, Gabriele, Schweitzer, Matthias, Abdelfattah, Ahmed, Cernava, Tomislav, Wassermann, Birgit

Plant diversification and co-evolution shaped the plant microbiome and vice versa. This resulted in a specific composition of the plant microbiome and a strong connection with the host in terms of functional interplay. Symbionts are part of the microbiota, and important for the plant’s germination and growth, nutrition, as well as stress protection. However, human activities in the Anthropocene are linked to a significant shift of diversity, evenness and specificity of the plant microbiota. In addition, and very importantly, many plant symbionts are missing or no longer functional. It will require targeted microbiome management to support and reintroduce them. In future agriculture, we should aim at replacing harmful chemicals in the field, as well as post-harvest, by using precision microbiome engineering. This is because the plant microbiome is connected across systems and crucial for human and planetary health. This commentary aims to inspire holistic studies for the development of solutions for sustainable agriculture in framework of the One Health and the Planetary Health concepts.

2019, Lenz, Kilian, Narkowicz, Ryszard, Wagner, Kai, Reiche, Christopher F., Körner, Julia, Schneider, Tobias, Kákay, Attila, Schultheiss, Helmut, Weissker, Uhland, Wolf, Daniel, Suter, Dieter, Büchner, Bernd, Fassbender, Jürgen, Mühl, Thomas, Lindner, Jürgen

The magnetization dynamics of individual Fe-filled multiwall carbon-nanotubes (FeCNT), grown by chemical vapor deposition, are investigated by microresonator ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and Brillouin light scattering (BLS) microscopy and corroborated by micromagnetic simulations. Currently, only static magnetometry measurements are available. They suggest that the FeCNTs consist of a single-crystalline Fe nanowire throughout the length. The number and structure of the FMR lines and the abrupt decay of the spin-wave transport seen in BLS indicate, however, that the Fe filling is not a single straight piece along the length. Therefore, a stepwise cutting procedure is applied in order to investigate the evolution of the ferromagnetic resonance lines as a function of the nanowire length. The results show that the FeCNT is indeed not homogeneous along the full length but is built from 300 to 400 nm long single-crystalline segments. These segments consist of magnetically high quality Fe nanowires with almost the bulk values of Fe and with a similar small damping in relation to thin films, promoting FeCNTs as appealing candidates for spin-wave transport in magnonic applications. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

2023, Liu, Poting, Schleusener, Alexander, Zieger, Gabriel, Bochmann, Arne, van Spronsen, Matthijs A., Sivakov, Vladimir

Tin-containing layers with different degrees of oxidation are uniformly distributed along the length of silicon nanowires formed by a top-down method by applying metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The electronic and atomic structure of the obtained layers is investigated by applying nondestructive surface-sensitive X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. The results demonstrated, for the first time, a distribution effect of the tin-containing phases in the nanostructured silicon matrix compared to the results obtained for planar structures at the same deposition temperatures. The amount and distribution of tin-containing phases can be effectively varied and controlled by adjusting the geometric parameters (pore diameter and length) of the initial matrix of nanostructured silicon. Due to the occurrence of intense interactions between precursor molecules and decomposition by-products in the nanocapillary, as a consequence of random thermal motion of molecules in the nanocapillary, which leads to additional kinetic energy and formation of reducing agents, resulting in effective reduction of tin-based compounds to a metallic tin state for molecules with the highest penetration depth in the nanostructured silicon matrix. This effect will enable clear control of the phase distributions of functional materials in 3D matrices for a wide range of applications.

2021, Ge, Jin, Zhu, Minshen, Eisner, Eric, Yin, Yin, Dong, Haiyun, Karnaushenko, Dmitriy D., Karnaushenko, Daniil, Zhu, Feng, Ma, Libo, Schmidt, Oliver G.

Imperceptible electronics will make next-generation healthcare and biomedical systems thinner, lighter, and more flexible. While other components are thoroughly investigated, imperceptible energy storage devices lag behind because the decrease of thickness impairs the area-specific energy density. Imperceptible supercapacitors with high area-specific capacitance based on reduced graphene oxide/polyaniline (RGO/PANI) composite electrodes and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/H2SO4 gel electrolyte are reported. Two strategies to realize a supercapacitor with a total device thickness of 5 µm—including substrate, electrode, and electrolyte—and an area-specific capacitance of 36 mF cm−2 simultaneously are implemented. First, the void volume of the RGO/PANI electrodes through mechanical compression is reduced, which decreases the thickness by 83% while retaining 89% of the capacitance. Second, the PVA-to-H2SO4 mass ratio is decreased to 1:4.5, which improves the ion conductivity by 5000% compared to the commonly used PVA/H2SO4 gel. Both advantages enable a 2 µm-thick gel electrolyte for planar interdigital supercapacitors. The impressive electromechanical stability of the imperceptible supercapacitors by wrinkling the substrate to produce folds with radii of 6 µm or less is demonstrated. The supercapacitors will be meaningful energy storage modules for future self-powered imperceptible electronics.

2020, Moreno, Silvia, Sharan, Priyanka, Engelke, Johanna, Gumz, Hannes, Boye, Susanne, Oertel, Ulrich, Wang, Peng, Banerjee, Susanta, Klajn, Rafal, Voit, Brigitte, Lederer, Albena, Appelhans, Dietmar

Temporal activation of biological processes by visible light and subsequent return to an inactive state in the absence of light is an essential characteristic of photoreceptor cells. Inspired by these phenomena, light-responsive materials are very attractive due to the high spatiotemporal control of light irradiation, with light being able to precisely orchestrate processes repeatedly over many cycles. Herein, it is reported that light-driven proton transfer triggered by a merocyanine-based photoacid can be used to modulate the permeability of pH-responsive polymersomes through cyclic, temporally controlled protonation and deprotonation of the polymersome membrane. The membranes can undergo repeated light-driven swelling-contraction cycles without losing functional effectiveness. When applied to enzyme loaded-nanoreactors, this membrane responsiveness is used for the reversible control of enzymatic reactions. This combination of the merocyanine-based photoacid and pH-switchable nanoreactors results in rapidly responding and versatile supramolecular systems successfully used to switch enzymatic reactions ON and OFF on demand.

2022-05-31, Hornfeck, Rüdiger, Löffler, Robin

Im Rahmen des Projekts „Ein Eulenhalsgelenk für effizientere Maschinen“ wurden biologische Erkenntnisse der extremen Bewegungsfähigkeit der Eulenhalswirbelsäule gesammelt und analysiert, eine energieeffiziente und ressourcenschonende Aktorik ausgewählt, ein Steuerungskonzept auf Basis einer Bewegungssimulation entwickelt und ein Funktionsmuster in Form eines Gelenkroboterarms aufgebaut sowie evaluiert. Die biologische Datensammlung erfolgte in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Lehrstuhl und Institut für Biologie II der RWTH Aachen und dem Tiergarten Nürnberg. Mit Hilfe der umfassenden biologischen Erkenntnisse entstand eine Abstraktion des biologischen Vorbilds hin zu einem technischen Prototyp. Als Antriebstechnik kommen Drahtaktoren aus Formgedächtnislegierungen (FGL) zum Einsatz, welche sich durch eine extreme Energiedichte [1] auszeichnen. Durch diese enorme Energiedichte kann mit geringem Materialeinsatz eine große Arbeit verrichtet werden. Das Steuerungskonzept des Prototyps basiert auf einer Bewegungssimulation, welche durch den Einsatz einer inversen Kinematik realisiert wird. Damit ist es möglich, alle erreichbaren Positionen des Greifers zu erfassen, anhand verschiedener Erreichbarkeitskarten darzustellen und mögliche Vereinfachungen der Einzelwinkel zwischen den Wirbeln zu ermitteln. Der aufgebaute Prototyp wurde hinsichtlich seiner Funktionsfähigkeit, maximalen Belastbarkeit und Dynamik evaluiert.

2020, Lyu, Jingchun, Özgün, Novaf, Kondziela, David J., Bennewitz, Roland

Friction of textiles on the human forearm is an important factor in comfort sensations of garments. We built an experiment to measure friction for textiles sliding on the forearm under loading conditions which are characteristic for wearing shirts or jackets. The hair coverage of the participants’ forearm was quantified by image analysis of photographs of the arm in the region of contact. Friction results for five standard textiles suggest to treat hair coverage in two classes. Sweating after physical activity leads to an increase of friction by factors of 2 to 5 for participants with less hairy forearms, while an increase by a factor of 1 to 1.7 only was found for participants with more hairy forearms. We introduce a method of wetting the forearm of study participants in a controlled way with water, which results in similar friction as for the sweating forearm after physical activity. The method allows for efficient studies of the role of skin moisture for friction including varying hair coverage of the skin.