ABSTRACT
Adjuvants are indispensable ingredients in vaccine formulations. Evaluating the in vivo transport processes of adjuvants, particularly for inhalation formulations, presents substantial challenges. In this study, a nanosized adjuvant aluminum hydroxide (AlOOH) was synthesized and labeled with indocyanine green (ICG) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to achieve strong optical absorption ability and high biocompatibility. The adjuvant nanomaterials (BSA@ICG@AlOOH, BIA) were delivered as an aerosol into the airways of mice, its distribution was monitored using photoacoustic imaging (PAI) in vivo. PAI results illustrated the gradual cross-layer transmission process of BIA in the tracheal layer, traversing approximately 250â µm from the inner layer of the trachea to the outer layer. The results were consistent with pathology. While the intensity of the BIA reduced by approximately 46.8% throughout the transport process. The ability of PAI for quantitatively characterized the dynamic transport process of adjuvant within the tracheal layer may be widely used in new vaccine development.
ABSTRACT
Flexible tactile sensors play an important role in the development of wearable electronics and human-machine interaction (HMI) systems. However, poor sensing abilities, an indispensable external energy supply, and limited material selection have significantly constrained their advancement. Herein, a self-powered flexible triboelectric sensor (TES) is proposed by integrating lotus-root-derived porous carbon (PC) into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Owing to the superior charge capturing capability of PC, the PDMS/PC (PPC)-based TES exhibits an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 22.8 V when it is periodically patted by skin at the pressure of 2 N and the frequency of 1 Hz, which is 5 times higher than that of a pristine PDMS-based TES. Furthermore, the as-prepared self-powered TES exhibits a high sensitivity of 3.24 V kPa-1 below 15 kPa for detecting human motion signals, such as finger clicks, joint bends, etc. Last but not the least, after the assembly of a PPC-based TES array and construction of an HMI system, the robotic snake can be controlled remotely by recognizing finger touching signals. This work shows broad potential applications for the self-powered TES in the fields of intelligent robotics, flexible electronics, disaster relief, and intelligence spying.
Subject(s)
Carbon , Touch , Humans , Porosity , Skin , MotionABSTRACT
Taking advantage of a hybrid generator to simultaneously collect polynary energy from a single energy source provides a feasible solution for the energy dilemma in the new era. Herein, we integrate a triboelectric nanogenerator and a thermoelectric generator for polynary energy harvesting and self-powered sensing of heatwaves in large-scale industrial factory buildings, which contains both thermal energy and wind energy. The new design of the fan-shaped rotation triboelectric nanogenerator (FR-TENG) makes it more compact and easily integrated. After structure modeling, the energy conversion efficiency of the FR-TENG can reach a maximum of 37.2%, which can successfully power a Bluetooth hygrothermograph transmitting environmental information wirelessly every 30 s at a wind speed of 4.67 m s-1. An all-inorganic flexible thermoelectric generator (iThEG) is developed based on copper and constantan with an output power density of 0.73 W m-3, and maintains its original mechanical properties after 10 000 bending tests. Moreover, a self-powered hot wind sensing system based on Labview is established which can display wind-speed and wind-temperature in real time. The working concept presented here is also applicable to other single energy sources containing multiple energy forms, such as falling raindrops and sunlight, which can lift energy utilization and conversion efficiency and alleviate the energy crisis.
ABSTRACT
A dual-band electrochromic supercapacitor device (DESCD) can be driven by an external power supply to modulate solar radiation, which is a promising energy-saving strategy and has broad application prospects in smart windows. However, traditional power supplies, such as batteries, supercapacitors, etc., usually face limited lifetimes and potential environmental issues. Hence, we propose a self-powered DESCD based on TiO2/WO3 dual-band electrochromic material and a ternary dielectric rotating triboelectric nanogenerator (TDR-TENG). The TDR-TENG can convert mechanical energy from the environment into electrical energy to obtain a high output of 840 V, 23.9 µA, and 327 nC. The as-prepared TDR-TENG can drive the TiO2/WO3 film to store energy with a high dual-band modulation amplitude of 41.6% in the visible (VIS) region and 84% in the near-infrared (NIR) region, decreasing the indoor-outdoor light-heat interaction and thereby reducing the building energy consumption. The self-powered DESCD demonstrated in this study has multiple functions of energy harvesting, energy storage, and energy saving, providing a promising strategy for the development of self-powered smart windows.
