Combining droplets of liquid metal (LM) with nanomaterials often introduces synergistic thermal or electrical properties that are not found in the constituent materials alone. However, in these existing systems, LM droplets maintain a statistically uniform dispersion and are not capable of self-assembly or aggregation. These composites are limited by their need for high volume fractions of LM (>60 vol %) to achieve high thermal properties, introducing LM leaking as a drawback for thermal management and wearable electronic applications. In this work, we show that coating nanoscale droplets of eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) LM with small volume fractions of Ti3C2Tx MXenes (0.25 vol %) results in a unique LM morphology in which droplets self-assemble to form semisolid aggregates. This is accomplished by wrapping MXene sheets around individual LM droplets to create "sticky" particles that form self-assembled aggregates when mixed with a silicone oil. By introducing aggregation as a design parameter in soft LM composites, the thermal and electric resistance of the composite is shown to change dramatically. In contrast to silicone-based composites containing LM droplets or MXene nanosheets alone, these MXene-LM-silicone-based composites exhibit an exponential increase in thermal and electrical conductivity with decreasing interfacial thickness with significantly lower LM volume fractions (25 vol %) while avoiding LM rupture and bleed-out. This could enable more effective composites, reducing the amount of filler material required for thermal interface materials (TIM) and printed electronics.

Compliant mechanisms with reconfigurable degrees of freedom are gaining attention in the development of kinesthetic haptic devices, robotic systems, and mechanical metamaterials. However, available devices exhibit limited programmability and form-customizability, restricting their versatility. To address this gap, we propose a metastructure concept featuring reconfigurable motional freedom and tunable stiffness, adaptable to various form factors and applications. These devices incorporate passive flexures and actively stiffness-changing rods to modify kinematic freedom. A rational design pipeline informs the flexures' topological arrangements, geometric parameters, and control signals based on targeted mobilities, enabling the creation of unitary joints with up to six degrees of freedom. Our demonstrative application examples include a wrist device that has an effective stiffness of 0.370 Nm/deg (unlocked state, 5% displacement) to 2.278 Nm/deg (locked state, 1% displacement) to enable dynamic joint mobility control, a haptic thimble device (2.27-52.815 Nmm-1 at 1% displacement) that mimics the sensation of touching physical materials ranging from soft gel to metal surfaces, and a wearable device composed of multiple joints tailored for the arm and hand to augment haptic experiences or facilitate muscle training. We believe the presented method can help democratize compliant metastructures development and expand their versatility for broader contexts.

Conjugated polymers (CPs) have opened new avenues for green technologies. It is widely used as an alternative candidate for most active materials of E-textiles, offering promising ways in industrial sheet fabrication, which has been employed simply because of its outstanding environmental stability and low cost. Moreover, like others, molecular doping and depositing it in conjunction with an inorganic semiconductor to form a heterojunction will enable much better physical and chemical properties. Together, the tuneable electrochemistry of PANI-based systems (absorbing pH-dependence) and their visible-light photo response, and high perceptibility of coaster bead structures make them ideal for wastewater remediation applications as well as solar energy conversion.In recent years, the global industrial chain and human life have continuously been threatened by organic pollutants (OPs) from various industrial and municipal effluents due to their extreme ecotoxicity and long-term health risks. The ability of photocatalysis to act as a green solution and an economically appropriate treatment for the mineralization of these pollutants is becoming increasingly important. Inorganic Semiconductor Photocatalysts: Over the past few decades, intensive studies have been conducted on inorganic semiconductor photocatalysts. However, PANI-based nanocomposites have exhibited improved charge transportation, wide-spectrum photocatalytic response, and enhanced environmental compatibility. For instance, PANI/graphene oxide (GO) and PANI/MIL-88A(Fe) systems have achieved >90 % degradation of organic pollutants under visible light, while maintaining reusability over multiple cycles. In contrast to other reported photocatalysts, which have narrow absorption windows, photo corrosion, and challenges in post-catalyst recovery, these often hinder large-scale usage.This review critically examines the recent advances in PANI-based heterostructures with 2-D materials, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), surface-mounted MOFs (SURMOFs), and other advanced heterojunctions for photocatalytic water treatment. Emphasis is placed on synthetic strategies, interfacial charge transfer mechanisms, performance metrics, and degradation kinetics. Highlight existing research gaps and outline potential directions for the design of next-generation PANI-based photocatalysts. Despite these advances, challenges remain in translating laboratory-scale performance to real-world applications, including catalyst stability under variable water chemistries, fouling and deactivation in complex effluents, limited recyclability, and scalability barriers. Potential solutions include protective coating, surface engineering with corrosion-resistant materials, and integration of continuous-flow photocatalytic reactors. Future research should focus on optimizing hierarchical structures for simultaneous pollutant degradation and disinfection, exploiting solar-driven hybrid systems, and employing machine-learning-assisted materials discovery to accelerate the design of robust, high-performance PANI-based photocatalysts for sustainable water purification.

A method for creating superhydrophobic surfaces is presented by aerosolizing polymer solutions into micrometer-sized droplets and converting them into microgel particles during spatially controlled deposition using an aerosol jet printer. The polymer solutions are composed of marginally hydrophobic disulfide-polydimethylsiloxane (DS-PDMS) in three solvents with varying vapor pressures. The experiments, combined with an analytical model, demonstrate that solvents with high vapor pressures evaporate from the droplets during flight from the printer nozzle to the substrate. This evaporation increases the DS-PDMS volume fraction in the droplets above the polymer gelation threshold. As a result, the droplets transform into microgel particles. This transformation leads to the formation of rough, superhydrophobic surfaces. Conversely, solvents with lower vapor pressures do not evaporate sufficiently, preventing DS-PDMS volume fraction from reaching the gelation threshold. These droplets coalesce upon deposition, producing smooth surfaces with hydrophobicity similar to intrinsic DS-PDMS. Heating the surfaces to 90 degrees C or above eliminates superhydrophobicity by de-gelling the DS-PDMS, allowing droplet coalescence. Potential applications of this method include droplet manipulation, microreactors for reactant mixing, water-oil separation, and retardation of droplet evaporation.

Vaccinating children is an essential component of public health programs because it helps bring down rates of child mortality and boosts herd immunity. Children have been successfully protected from vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, measles, and tuberculosis through vaccination campaigns, which has resulted in fewer deaths overall. Vaccines against measles averted the deaths of 23 million people between the years 2000 and 2018. However, there are still obstacles to overcome in order to achieve universal vaccination coverage, particularly in nations with low incomes like Bangladesh. Since the country gained its independence, the infrastructure for healthcare has been developed, but it may be lacking in certain regions. Efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure and increase vaccination coverage are critical to preventing the resurgence of preventable diseases. It is essential that concerns such as vaccine hesitancy and misinformation be addressed in order to guarantee that communities are aware of the benefits of vaccination and are prepared to participate in immunization programs. In Bangladesh, socioeconomic factors like low levels of education and poverty can have an adverse effect on the accessibility of childhood vaccinations and their rate of uptake. Other factors like area of residence, community awareness, gender of child also demonstrate significant impact on vaccination.

Flooding in many coastal regions is exacerbated due to complex interactions of multiple flood drivers such as rainfall-runoff and coastal surge which can occur simultaneously or sequentially during storm events, leading to compound flooding hazards. The Texas Gulf Coasts (USA) are especially vulnerable from compound flooding due to frequent occurrence of tropical storms which bring strong winds to drive storm surge and heavy rainfall to generate inland flooding. Large scale studies {Coastal Texas Restoration and Protection Study (CTX, 2021), Texas General Land Office’s Texas River Basin Study, Base Level Engineering Study} are being conducted by state and federal agencies for flood hazard assessment and for development of mitigation and abatement strategies for reducing this risk and increasing community resilience. Traditionally, large scale storm surge models do not account for runoff contributions to water levels in the interior of their domain. Riverine models for their part use either normal depth or mean high water levels to assign downstream boundary conditions within tidally influenced area, thus ignoring effects of storm surge. In this Planning Assistance to States (PAS) study, located in the Lower Clear Creek and Dickinson Bayou watersheds (Texas, USA), we have evaluated rainfall-runoff and storm surge interactions to determine suitable locations to use as model boundary conditions for exchanging data between rainfall-runoff and surge models under compound flooding conditions.

Smart shape-changing materials can be adapted to different usages, which have been leveraged for dynamic affordances and on-demand haptic feedback in HCI. However, the applicability of these materials is often bottlenecked by their complex fabrication and the challenge of programming localized and individually addressable responses. In this work, we propose a toolkit for designing and fabricating programmable morphing objects using off-the-shelf epoxies. Our method involves varying the crosslinker to epoxy resin ratio to control morphing temperatures from 40 ℃ to 90 ℃, either across different regions of a shape memory device or across devices. Functional components (e.g., conductive fabric, magnetic particles) are also incorporated with the epoxy for sensing and active reconfiguration. A toolbox of fabrication methods and a primitive design library are introduced to support design ideation and programmable morphing. Finally, we demonstrate application examples, including morphing toys, a shape-changing input device, and an active window shutter.

Self-healing hydrogels use spontaneous intermolecular forces to recover from physical damage caused by extreme strain, pressure or tearing. Such materials are of potential use in soft robotics and tissue engineering, but they have relatively low electrical conductivity, which limits their application in stretchable and mechanically robust circuits. Here we report an organogel composite that is based on poly(vinyl alcohol)–sodium borate and has high electrical conductivity (7 × 10 4 S m −1 ), low stiffness (Young’s modulus of ~20 kPa), high stretchability (strain limit of >400%) and spontaneous mechanical and electrical self-healing. The organogel matrix is embedded with silver microflakes and gallium-based liquid metal microdroplets, which form a percolating network, leading to high electrical conductivity in the material. We also overcome the rapid drying problem of the hydrogel material system by replacing water with an organic solvent (ethylene glycol), which avoids dehydration and property changes for over 24 h in an ambient environment. We illustrate the capabilities of the self-healing organogel composite by using it in a soft robot, a soft circuit and a reconfigurable bioelectrode.

Morphing matter that change shapes and properties in response to external stimuli have gained significant interests in material science, robotics, biomedical engineering, wearables, architecture, and design. Along with functional advances, there is growing pressure and interest in considering the environmental impact of morphing matter during its life cycle. The unique manufacturing and usage of morphing matter means that existing sustainable design frameworks and principles for general physical products may not apply directly. For example, manufacturing morphing matter often requires designing and predicting materials' behaviors over time, and using devices fabricated with morphing matter often involves harnessing renewable energy and self‐reconfiguration, which pose unique sustainability opportunities and challenges. This study reflects and summarizes the field's practice in sustainable manufacturing, transport, use, and end‐of‐life handling of morphing matter. The term “sustainable morphing matter” (SMM) is coined, suggesting that sustainability‐conscious factors can become an integral component of morphing matter. In addition, ways to apply sustainability‐conscious factors to augment the existing design pipeline of morphing matter are presented, and more quantitative and algorithmic‐level developments are needed to apply these factors rigorously to the design process.

Polystyrene (PS)/Gold (Au) is used for a wide range of applications, including composite nanofibers, catalysis, organic memory devices, and biosensing. In this work, PS films were deposited on silicon substrates via a spin coating technique followed by treatment with argon (Ar) plasma admixed with ammonia (NH3), oxygen (O2), or tetrafluoroethane (C2H2F4). X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed modified surface chemistry for Ar/O2, Ar/NH3, or Ar/C2H2F4 plasma treatment through the incorporation of oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine groups, respectively. Size-controlled magnetron sputter deposition of Au nanoparticles (NP) onto these plasma-treated PS films was investigated via XPS and AFM techniques. The interaction of the Au NPs, as probed from the XPS and AFM measurements, is discussed by referring to changes in surface chemistry and morphology of the PS after plasma treatment. The results demonstrate the effect of surface chemistry on the interaction of Au NPs with polymer support having different surface functionalities. The XPS results show that significant oxygen surface incorporation resulted from oxygen-containing species in the plasma itself. The surface concentration of O increased from 0.4% for the pristine PS to 4.5 at%, 35.4 at%, and 45.6 at% for the Ar/C2H4F4, Ar/NH3, and Ar/O2, respectively. The water contact angle (WCA) values were noticed to decrease from 98° for the untreated PS to 95°, 37°, and 15° for Ar/C2H2F4, Ar/NH3, and Ar/O2 plasma-modified PS samples, respectively. AFM results demonstrate that surface treatment was also accompanied by surface morphology change. Small Au islands are well dispersed and cover the surface, thus forming a homogeneous, isotropic structure. The reported results are important for exploiting Au NPs use in catalysis and sensing applications.

Journal Article Influence of 0.5wt%Graphene Addition on Mechanical Performance of Alumina-Graphene Nanocomposite Get access Solomon Hanson Duntu, Solomon Hanson Duntu Department of Mechanical Engineering, York University, Toronto, Canada Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Iftikhar Ahmad, Iftikhar Ahmad Center of Excellence for Research in Engineering Materials, Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Mohammad Islam, Mohammad Islam New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Socorro, NM, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Solomon Boakye-Yiadom Solomon Boakye-Yiadom Department of Mechanical Engineering, York University, Toronto, Canada Corresponding author: sboakyey@yorku.ca Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Microscopy and Microanalysis, Volume 29, Issue Supplement_1, 1 August 2023, Pages 753–755, https://doi.org/10.1093/micmic/ozad067.372 Published: 22 July 2023

An effort to improve the low fracture toughness of monolithic alumina (Al2O3) ceramic demands microstructural manipulation with nanostructured materials such as zirconia (ZrO2), Graphene (GN) and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs). Despite these attempts, the fundamental understanding of the mechanical properties and deformation behaviour of multiple combinations of these second-phase additives within the advanced Al2O3 structure are still being explored. In this respect, Al2O3-based nanocomposites reinforced with optimum amounts of ZrO2(10 wt%), GN(0.5 wt%) and CNTs(2 wt%) were evaluated via hot-pressing at 1600 degrees C, preceding colloidal mixing of the Al2O3 matrix and nanostructured additives. Mechanical properties such as fracture toughness (K-IC) and bending strength (sigma(f)) measured using three-point bending techniques including single edge notched beam (SENB) test, and direct crack measurement (DCM) methods were calculated from the near-dense fabricated multi-material nanocomposites and benchmarked against the monolithic Al2O3 material under similar experimental conditions. From the conventional SENB test, the fracture toughness values increased by up to 60% on the addition of only 10 wt%ZrO2 to the monolithic Al2O3, whilst a drastic increase by up to 159% was achieved with the incorporation of both GN and CNTs within the Al2O3-ZrO2 structure, as compared to the monolithic Al2O3. The KIC values obtained from SENB tests were typically lower than the DCM method, but similar trend in the toughness behaviour were realized regardless. Bending strength of the prepared monolithic Al2O3 was also increased by up to 46% with the combined additions of ZrO2, GN and CNTs. Toughening and strengthening mechanisms including pull-outs by GN and CNTs, crack arrest and cack bridging were identified as the main source of enhancement in the mechanical properties of the multi-material nanocomposites. The addition of carbon additives also influenced monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO2 phase transformations, which also contributed to the overall mechanical behaviour of the Al2O3-10 wt%ZrO2 nanocomposites.

Rapid improvement in efficiency and stabilities of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is an indication of its prime role for future energy demands. Various research has been carried out to improve efficiency including reducing the exciton recombination and enhancement of electron mobilities within cells by using electron transport material (ETM). In the present research, electrical, optical, and depletion width reduction properties of low temperature processed ZnO electron transport layer-based perovskite solar cells are studied. The ZnO thin films vary with the concentration of Al doping, and improvement of optical transmission percentage up to 80% for doped samples is confirmed by optical analysis. Reduction in electrical resistance for 1% Al concentration and maximum conductivity 11,697.41 (1/Ω-cm) among the prepared samples and carrier concentration 1.06×1022 cm−3 were corroborated by Hall effect measurements. Systematic impedance spectroscopy of perovskite devices with synthesized ETM is presented in the study, while the depletion width reduction is observed by Mott Schottky curves. IV measurements of the device and the interfacial charge transfer between the absorber layer of methylammonium lead iodide and ETM have also been elaborated on interface electronic characteristics.

Employee productivity is the engine to achieve a firm's goals. Compromising with productivity components generates both short- and long-term challenges. Most of the previous studies investigated employee productivity in a different setting like the private sector, firm’s performance but the present study attempted on public sector firms. A non-probabilistic judgmental purposive sampling technique was applied to select respondent from public sector organizations such as manufacturing, services and others. There were a total of 350 respondents sample and a self-administered pretested questionnaire was employed to collect primary data. The instrument adapted from research and internal consistency was measured by Cronbach's Alpha (total=.82) and data were analyzed through factor analysis. One of the impressive outcomes of the study is that seven factors namely technology facility, managerial cooperation, autonomy, job satisfaction, team collaboration, training, and performance management process significantly affect employee productivity and organizational communication, and top management support are revealed to be insignificant. The result of the study will be a worthy reference for professional leaders, researchers, policymakers and practitioners. Finally, future directions and implications are discussed.

Polycarbonate (PC) is susceptible to environmental stress cracking (ESC) when the conditions of pre-strain and presence of fluid with a compatible solubility index are both prevalent. One approach to counter this involves using nanoscale fillers to bridge the propagating microcracks, thus, effectively inhibiting impending failure. In this work, we report incorporation of titania (TiO2) with different nanoscale morphologies into polycarbonate matrix to assess its effect on ESC resistance against dioctyl phthalate (DOP). Using a hydrothermal process with a NaOH/Ti molar ratio of 72, TiO2 nanostructures were produced containing nanosheets with large surface area and nanotubes having typical diameter and length values of 15–20 nm and a few hundred nanometers, respectively. PC/TiO2 composites were fabricated with up to 0.5 weight percent of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs), nanowires (NWs), or hybrid nanostructures (HNs). ESC tests were conducted by exposing test coupons to DOP oil at different temperatures and pre-strain conditions. The results showed that, under identical test conditions, while as-received PC grade exhibited complete fracture in ~3.1 h, PC/TiO2-0.05HN composite took ~70 h to fail via surface cracking. SEM examination of the fracture surface revealed that homogeneous dispersion and efficient load-bearing capability of TiO2 nanotubes and nanosheets impeded localized crack propagation by bridging the gap between the PC matrix segments. Liquid nitrogen fracture of the PC/TiO2 composite further confirmed the critical role of TiO2 hybrid nanostructures towards improvement in ESC resistance of PC matrix composites.

Background: Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Breast cancer, the most common cancer found in women, affects 2.1 million women annually and has the highest number of cancer related deaths. The objective of the current meta-analysis is to evaluate the effects of post-diagnosis exercises on depression, physical functioning, and mortality in breast cancer survivors. Methods: The search for eligible articles was conducted through CINAHL, Medline/PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Emerald Insight and Web of Science, Embase database, MEDLINE In-Process, Elsevier, Google Scholar, PsycInfo, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), Biosis Previews, SPORTDiscus, PEDro scientific databases from 1974 to 2020. Following the exclusion procedure, 26 articles yielded for final analysis. The combined statistics for depression, physical functioning, and mortality in breast cancer survivors were calculated using standardized mean differences (SMD). Standard errors and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were converted to standard deviations as required. For mortality, combined statistics were calculated using hazard ratios (HR). The 95% CIs were converted to standard errors as required. The forest plots display point estimates and 95% CIs. Results: Statistically significant improvements on levels of depression were identified following the exercise intervention, suggesting that post-diagnosis physical activity leads to a decrease in depression scores. Overall, post-diagnosis exercise led to a 37% reduction in the rate of breast cancer-specific mortality. The all-cause mortality rate was decreased by 39% with the inclusion of moderate physical activity as the part of daily routine. Conclusions: Future studies should look at how to improve the quality of life while incorporating physical activity as a daily routine after breast-cancer treatment.

Al2O3/ZrO2 systems with higher ZrO2 amounts ( [[EQUATION]] 20wt%) are known to offer improved properties such as fracture toughness, but are restricted in their hardness, wear and strength performances. The incorporation of a third phase carbon nanostructure (such as CNTs and GN) to Al2O3/ZrO2 reinforced with low content ZrO2 ( [[EQUATION]] 5wt%) has emerged as a novel process to overcome this property trade-off by exploring the remarkable mechanical properties of these hybrid nanocomposite systems. Therefore, in the current work, colloidal mixing followed by hot pressing process (@ 1600 oC) were used to consolidate monolith Al2O3, Al2O3/ZrO2, Al2O3/ZrO2/CNTs and Al2O3/ZrO2/GN nanocomposite structures using low ZrO2 content (4wt%) and optimum amounts of CNTs (2wt%) and GN (0.5wt%) as the hybrid reinforcement phases. Microhardness, fracture toughness and flexural strength properties were improved from 19GPa, ~3MPa.m1/2 and 260MPa up to 24GPa, ~7MPa.m1/2 and 374MPa respectively with hybrid additions of ZrO2/CNTs and ZrO2/GN to the monolith Al2O3. The primary source of the property enhancement in the hybrid nanocomposites was due to reduction in the matrix and ZrO2 grain sizes (decreased up to ~78%), good interaction between reinforcement phases and combined mechanisms such as crack bridging and deflection, matrix grain wrapping and grain gluing by CNTs and GN. The wear rate of the parent Al2O3 was also improved from 9.71 [[EQUATION]] 10-5 mm3/N.m up to 0.81 [[EQUATION]] 10-5 mm3/N.m (showing ~92% decrease) with ZrO2/CNTs and ZrO2/GN hybrid inclusions, which was attributed to the overall enhanced mechanical properties and wear resistant mechanisms during the dry sliding.

The impact of a titania (TiO2) support film surface on the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles (Au NP) was investigated. Using the reactive dc-magnetron sputtering technique, TiO2 films with an amorphous, anatase, and nitrogen-doped anatase crystal structure were produced for a subsequent role as a support material for Au NP. Raman spectra of these TiO2 films revealed that both vacuum and NH3 annealing treatments promoted amorphous to anatase phase transformation through the presence of a peak in the 513–519 cm−1 spectral regime. Furthermore, annealing under NH3 flux had an associated blue shift and broadening of the Raman active mode at 1430 cm−1, characteristic of an increase in the oxygen vacancies (VO). For a 3 to 15 s sputter deposition time, the Au NP over TiO2 support films were in the 6.7–17.1 nm size range. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) analysis, the absence of any shift in the Au 4f core level peak implied that there was no change in the electronic properties of Au NP. On the other hand, spontaneous hydroxyl (–OH) group adsorption to anatase TiO2 support was instantly detected, the magnitude of which was found to be enhanced upon increasing the Au NP loading. Nitrogen-doped anatase TiO2 supporting Au NP with ~21.8 nm exhibited a greater extent of molecular oxygen adsorption. The adsorption of both –OH and O2 species is believed to take place at the perimeter sites of the Au NP interfacing with the TiO2 film. XPS analyses and discussions about the tentative roles of O2 and –OH adsorbent species toward Au/TiO2 systems corroborate very well with interpretations of density functional theory simulations.

From creating input devices to rendering tangible information, the field of HCI is interested in using kinematic mechanisms to create human-computer interfaces. Yet, due to fabrication and design challenges, it is often difficult to create kinematic devices that are compact and have multiple reconfigurable motional degrees of freedom (DOFs) depending on the interaction scenarios. In this work, we combine compliant mechanisms (CMs) with tensioning cables to create dynamically reconfigurable kinematic mechanisms. The devices’ kinematics (DOFs) is enabled and determined by the layout of bendable rods. The additional cables function as on-demand motion constraints that can dynamically lock or unlock the mechanism's DOFs as they are tightened or loosened. We provide algorithms and a design tool prototype to help users design such kinematic devices. We also demonstrate various HCI use cases including a kinematic haptic display, a haptic proxy, and a multimodal input device.