One-step fabrication of a freeform substrate and microlens array by fast tool servo turning

The rapid progress of nanotechnology has created new avenues for the development of innovation in medical and biological devices. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) nanostructures such as tungsten disulfide nanodiscs (WS 2 -NDs) decorated with metallic nanoparticles, provide promising novel materials for surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). This work focuses on the design and fabrication of a new SERS substrate based on AuNPs/WS 2 -NDs hybrid system, which exhibits a strong localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) and achieves up to an order of magnitude enhancement in Raman spectra intensity compared to WS 2 -NDs only. This superior performance is attributed to the improved electromagnetic mechanism (EM) on the metallic gold nanoparticles and on the nonmetallic TMDs nanostructures. The chemical mechanism (CM), which facilitates charge transfer between analyte molecules and WS 2 -NDs, allows for further improvement of Raman spectra on SERS on tungsten disulfide nanodiscs.

ABSTRACT The study investigates the lightfastness of traditional Korean textiles dyed with six natural dyes: sappanwood, Sophora japonica, rhubarb, myrobalan, gallnut, and persimmon. The research aimed to determine how variations in temperature and relative humidity (RH) affect color fading, specifically under ultraviolet (UV) and non-UV lighting conditions. Silk, ramie, hemp, and cotton fabrics were tested in a series of controlled light aging experiments in a Xenotest. Colorimetric analysis revealed that fabrics dyed with sappanwood and S. japonica exhibited significant color loss, while those dyed with myrobalan and gallnut demonstrated high lightfastness. Temperature and RH separately barely had any effect on the rate of color fading. In addition, high temperatures combined with high RH accelerated fading. Under UV exposure, rhubarb and persimmon dye showed unique darkening behavior, likely due to tannin-based oxidation. HPLC analysis showed that chebulic acid was present in myrobalan and could serve as a marker to distinguish between myrobalan and gallnut, which are both tannin-based natural dyes widely used in Asia. This study provides valuable insights for the preservation of naturally dyed textiles in museum collections, suggesting possible strategies for more sustainable management of dyed textiles. The findings also contribute to the broader understanding of how environmental factors affect the durability of natural dyes on various textile substrates.

The anti-twist performance of flexible electronic devices prepared on fabrics is often limited by the degree of bonding between the electronic material and the fabric. This work addresses the issue of limited bonding strength between traditional semiconductor oxide nanomaterials and fabric substrates, by enhancing the bonding ability between ZnO nanoparticles and fabric fibers through Prussian blue pretreatment. The test results show that after appropriate Prussian blue treatment, the anti-twist performance of the ZnO nanoparticle UV detectors prepared on fabric substrates has significantly improved. The on/off ratios of the obtained ZnO/PB device after twisting 100, 200, 300, 600, and 900 times are 37.8, 26.7, 28.5, 7.5, and 30.9, respectively, while the ZnO/PVDF device loses its detection ability after twisting 600 times. Even after twisting to 540°, the ZnO/PB device can still exhibit obvious UV response characteristics, with a photocurrent of about 0.09 nA. Compared with those of untreated devices and devices bonded with PVDF, the anti-twist performance of the ZnO/PB device has been significantly enhanced. These results provide a data foundation and research ideas for the development of wearable optoelectronic devices based on traditional semiconductor oxide materials in the future.

Multifunctional polymer colloidal microspheres for stimuli-responsive structural color coatings with intrinsic antibacterial activity.

Although nonenzymatic glucose sensors based on nickel (Ni) nanostructures offer high performance and stability for wearable electronic platforms, a comprehensive understanding linking specific electrochemical synthesis parameters to the resulting nanostructure morphology and final electronic performance remains elusive. The objective of this work is to address this critical gap by performing a precision-guided statistical investigation that quantitatively correlates the synthesis conditions with sensor function. Three different electrochemical deposition methods (cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic, and potentiostatic) were applied to deposit Ni nanostructures onto three different carbon substrates (glassy carbon, CNTs, and rGO). The analytical performance of 27 unique sensor configurations was rigorously evaluated using a weighted normalized Composite Performance Index (CPI), enabling a data-driven ranking and identification of the optimal electrode design. This statistical ranking converged directly with the FESEM morphological analysis, confirming that the nucleation-growth balance is the key determinant of superior electrocatalytic activity. The top-ranked electrode configuration was then successfully integrated onto a flexible textile substrate, demonstrating a stable performance suitable for practical wearable applications. This methodology establishes a transferable, rational fabrication framework for electroactive electronic materials, minimizing empirical trial-and-error and accelerating the development of next-generation sensing devices.

Fiber memristors represent a transformative platform for next-generation wearable electronics, enabling the seamless integration of non-volatile memory and neuromorphic computing directly onto or within textile fibers. This intrinsic functionalization at the fiber level effectively overcomes the “sense-transmit-process” separation inherent in conventional wearable systems, paving the way for truly intelligent, energy-efficient, and autonomous textiles. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the development and state-of-the-art research in this emerging field. We first elucidate the fundamental device architectures and underlying resistive-switching mechanisms. Subsequently, we systematically summarize the material systems and advanced fabrication strategies employed to construct robust and weavable memristive fibers, followed by a critical analysis of their electrical, mechanical, and functional performance metrics. A dedicated section highlights the cutting-edge applications of fiber memristors, particularly in integrated sensing-memory-computing systems, neuromorphic signal processing, and adaptive human-machine interfaces. Key challenges are thoroughly discussed, along with promising future research directions. By offering a holistic perspective spanning materials, devices, and integrated systems, this review aims to provide comprehensive theoretical insights and technical guidance for the development of next-generation intelligent textiles, thereby accelerating the deep fusion of electronic functionality and textile substrates.

Conductive metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are of considerable importance because of their potential applications in various electronics. And integrating conductive MOFs with flexible substrates represents a promising strategy for preparing different flexible electronic devices. This study first developed a flexible and highly conductive TCNQ@Cu-BDC film on a polyester fabric substrate. Here, a copper layer was first deposited on the substrate via magnetron sputtering, converted into Cu(OH)2 nanowire templates through alkaline solution treatment, and subsequently transformed into a Cu-BDC MOF film via hydrothermal synthesis. Then the redox-active, conjugated 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) guest molecules were introduced into the pores of activated Cu-BDC MOF through liquid-phase doping, and the electrical conductivity of TCNQ@Cu-BDC film is remarkably enhanced by ∼2 orders of magnitude (approximately 180-fold increase) compared with the pristine MOF. Characterization demonstrates that when the TCNQ molecules are incorporated into the pores of Cu-BDC, they can occupy the open copper sites and can simultaneously undergo redox reactions with the organic ligands. During this process, the organic ligands are oxidized, and some Cu2+ ions are reduced as TCNQ2- ions are generated, which promotes the transfer of electric charges among the MOF framework and significantly improves the electric conductivity of the host-guest system.

Rapid and accurate identification of pathogenic bacteria is essential for safeguarding public health. However, existing approaches, including conventional culture methods, microscopic examination, modern molecular biology techniques, and sophisticated instrumental analyses, still suffer from lengthy processing times, operational complexity, high costs, and susceptibility to interference. Such limitations impede meeting the increasing demand for rapid, sensitive, cost-effective, and user-friendly pathogenic bacterial identification across diverse application scenarios. Consequently, the development of more advanced identification methodologies remains a critical research objective. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), owing to its high sensitivity, rapid measurement capability, optical probing characteristics, and molecular fingerprint information, has become a focal point in pathogenic bacterial identification research and has been applied in clinical diagnostics, food safety, environmental monitoring, and agriculture. This review systematically highlights the latest advances in the field of SERS-based pathogenic bacterial identification, drawing on 126 articles published by the American Chemical Society, Elsevier, Wiley, and other leading publishers. It details key breakthroughs in substrate fabrication, sample enrichment strategies, and precise strain discrimination. It further highlights the development and application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in SERS over the past two years, emphasizing their potentially transformative impacts on the field. In addition, recent studies on SERS-based detection of pathogenic bacteria in complex clinical specimens, including blood, urine, and sputum, are examined, with particular attention to improvements in diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and the feasibility of standardization. Overall, the unique advantages of SERS as a next-generation rapid and portable diagnostic platform are discussed.

ABSTRACT The growing demand for integrated temperature‐pressure sensing in human‐machine interaction and health monitoring makes smart textiles an ideal medium due to their comfort, breathability, and flexibility. However, a key challenge is finding a reliable method to integrate high‐performance dual‐mode sensors into textile substrates while ensuring effective signal decoupling. Herein, a flexible, ultrathin, and signal‐decoupled temperature‐pressure dual‐mode sensing electronic textile is proposed. The resistive temperature sensing unit utilizes a multi‐stage phase transition mechanism to achieve an ultrahigh temperature coefficient of resistance (up to 125.9%/°C) and a broad temperature sensing range (0°C–50°C). The capacitive pressure sensing unit exhibits high sensitivity (up to 62.3 kPa −1 ) and rapid pressure response and recovery times (30 ms/60 ms). By integrating machine learning algorithms, precise recognition of different objects being grasped is achieved. Furthermore, through the fabrication of a sensor array, spatial mapping of pressure and temperature distributions on a simulated body surface is successfully realized, offering a promising route toward developing versatile health‐monitoring platforms.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), composed of metal nodes coordinated with organic ligands, have emerged as a versatile class of functional materials for next‐generation smart textile systems. Their high surface area, tunable pore chemistry, and modular structural diversity enable multifunctional textile platforms. When integrated into textile substrates, MOFs can retain the properties, breathability, and comfort of fabrics while imparting advanced functionalities significant for sensing, environmental protection, biomedical interfaces, and energy‐related applications. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in MOF‐integrated smart textiles, focusing on material design principles, integration strategies, and application‐driven performance. Key fabrication approaches including surface coating, in situ growth, post‐synthetic modification, hydrothermal assembly, and emerging printing techniques such as inkjet and electrohydrodynamic jet are critically examined with respect to scalability, durability, and textile compatibility. Representative applications spanning gas and chemical sensing, detoxification, antimicrobial and biomedical functions, energy harvesting, and flexible energy storage are systematically discussed. Finally, current challenges and future opportunities are outlined, highlighting pathways toward scalable, durable, and application‐oriented MOF‐based smart textiles for real‐world applications.

Facile fabrication of reproducible Ni Ag SERS substrates via ultrasonic-assisted spin-coating

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is gaining attention, with ongoing efforts focused on refining substrate fabrication techniques to develop smart SERS substrates for real-world applications. This work presents a chemically and thermally stable polymer nanocomposite in which waste sulfur, functionalized with vinylic monomer (1,3-diisopropenylbenzene (1,3-DIB)) via inverse vulcanization, is integrated with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). The sulfur-enriched polymer (SEP) effectively stabilizes Ag NPs, providing a relatively uniform surface that enhances the efficiency of the SERS substrate (Ag@SEP). The fabricated Ag@SEP nanohybrid was analyzed using an array of spectroscopic methods such as scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The average particle size of distributed Ag NPs on the SEP surface was found to be 22.16 nm. The developed Ag@SEP SERS substrate achieved remarkable signal enhancement, detecting methyl red (0.06 μM), methylene blue (2.14 μM), and ciprofloxacin (0.79 μM) with ultralow detection limits, demonstrating high sensitivity. Experimental findings revealed that the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the Ag@SEP substrate was 4.55%, showing its excellent spot-to-spot uniformity. To understand the SERS mechanism, DFT calculations were also performed, which confirms that SERS detection is driven by a charge transfer mechanism. The proposed Ag@SEP SERS sensor featured an easy, low-cost fabrication process and demonstrated high stability, reproducibility, and detection efficiency, making it suitable for diverse analytical applications.

Novel low-cost periodic and flexible SERS substrate fabrication via soft lithography and glancing angle deposition technique.

Microorganisms represent an emerging and sustainable reservoir of naturally derived colorants with immense biotechnological and industrial significance. Owing to their superior biodegradability, environmental benignity, and renewable nature, microbial pigments offer a compelling alternative to conventional synthetic dyes, which are often associated with ecological toxicity and health hazards. The present investigation was undertaken to isolate, characterize, and evaluate a blue-green pigment synthesized by a bacterial strain recovered from black grape samples. The pigment-producing isolate was taxonomically characterized as Pseudomonas aeruginosa based on comprehensive biochemical profiling and confirmed through 16 S rRNA gene sequencing. The pigment, designated as SK4, was efficiently extracted using chloroform as the solvent system. The antimicrobial efficacy of the purified pigment was assessed against four clinically relevant human pathogens—Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae—exhibiting inhibition zones of 12.06 mm, 13.03 mm, 10.00 mm, and 11.03 mm, respectively, thereby demonstrating notable broad-spectrum activity. Furthermore, the potential application of this microbial pigment as a biocolourant was evaluated by dyeing diverse textile substrates, including silk, cotton, crepe, and satin. The dyed fabrics were subsequently examined for colour fastness parameters encompassing washing, rubbing, light, and thermal stability, alongside cytotoxicity assessments to ensure biosafety. Among the tested fabrics, crepe demonstrated superior fastness properties with wash and rubbing ratings of 5 and 4, respectively. Satin exhibited moderate to good fastness (wash 4, rub 3), whereas silk and cotton showed comparatively lower performance. Light fastness was the limiting factor, with ratings ranging from 1 to 2 for all substrates. Collectively, the study underscores the technological promise of P. aeruginosa-derived pigment as an eco-compatible and economically viable biodye, capable of supplanting hazardous synthetic colorants in the textile industry due to its non-toxic nature, robust dyeing performance, and environmental sustainability.

Essential oils (EOs) are well-known in traditional medicine, pharmacy, the food industry, and cosmetics because they are readily available and have proven efficacy across a wide range of applications. They are natural, bio-based, and biodegradable, and when applied accurately, they exhibit effective action against microorganisms, viruses, and fungi. However, most organic EOs are volatile and have hydrophobic surface chemistry, making them unsuitable for direct bio-applications in textiles. Textiles offer a useful platform for applying essential oils to impart functions such as antimicrobial or deodorizing effects. While traditional textiles focused mainly on comfort and protection, the rise of functional textiles has created new opportunities to integrate natural compounds such as essential oils. Recently, a growing body of research has focused on integrating essential oils into textile materials, driven by the increasing demand for sustainable fabrics with added biofunctionality. This review highlights the latest advances in applying essential oils to textile substrates and examines the techniques used and the improvements achieved, including washing cycles, antibacterial efficiency ranges, and durability. We survey recent literature, including research papers, articles, and books, to identify the most common methods and clarify their underlying mechanisms.

Electrochemical biosensors integrated into wearable devices have revolutionized the technology in terms of health monitoring and diagnostic systems. However, when it comes to moving the devices from the laboratory to real-world environments, a critical problem emerges with the interface. The problem, in essence, is that biorecognition elements tend to lose their activity, delaminate, and drift when exposed to various environmental stresses. The traditional methods for the immobilization of the biorecognition elements result in receptors with random orientations, hydrolytically unstable bonds, and batch-to-batch variability, regardless of the method, including physisorption or non-selective covalent attachment, like using EDC/NHS. This review is organized around a comparative question: which limitations of classical immobilization strategies (physisorption, self-assembled monolayers used as passive anchoring platforms, and EDC/NHS coupling) can be resolved by click chemistry, which can be resolved by mechanistic features? Accordingly, CuAAC, SPAAC, IEDDA, and thiol-ene/yne photoclick reactions are discussed, not as an isolated catalog of ligations, but as complementary solutions to specific interfacial failure modes, including random bioreceptor orientation, hydrolytically vulnerable attachment, poor batch reproducibility, catalyst sensitivity, and the difficulty of functionalizing soft polymeric or textile substrates. In this framework, click chemistry is treated as a deterministic interface-engineering strategy that enables defined covalent fixation, programmable probe density, and improved mechanical and electrochemical robustness under wearable operating conditions.

The growing demand for distributed energy systems and wearable electronics has spurred strong interest in hydrovoltaic technologies. However, the vast majority of metal oxide-based hydrovoltaic devices, with Al2O3 being a prime example, are typically limited by low current output due to inefficient internal charge extraction and transport. In this work, we report a high-performance hydrovoltaic generator (HEG) fabricated by sequentially depositing zero-dimensional Al2O3 nanoparticles and two-dimensional MXene nanosheets onto a porous cotton fabric (CF) substrate. This hybrid architecture harnesses the electrokinetic charge generation of Al2O3 while utilizing the metallic conductivity of MXene as an efficient charge-collection and transport network, thereby significantly reducing internal resistance. The resulting MXene/Al2O3@CF hydrovoltaic generator (MAHEG) exhibits a three-order-of-magnitude enhancement in short-circuit current compared with a pure Al2O3 device. Under ambient conditions, the MAHEG delivers a maximum power density output of 47.72 μW cm−2 (∼0.39 V, ∼611.8 μA) and maintains excellent stability over repeated wet–dry cycles. Moreover, multiple units can be integrated with nearly linear scalability in voltage and current through series and parallel configurations, enabling direct powering of low-power electronic devices.

Abstract The key characteristics of wearable antennas include ultra-wideband (UWB) capabilities, miniaturization, and flexibility. In this paper, a novel wideband wearable antenna sensor has proposed for biomedical sensing applications, which utilizes stepped slots loaded with a coplanar waveguide feed. This antenna features a rectangular patch with stepped slot-type curves located along the left, right, and top edges of a standard microstrip patch, along with a symmetrical coplanar ground that incorporates reversed L-type arms. The radiator of the proposed antenna, along with the coplanar waveguide (CPW) ground plane, is constructed on a flexible denim fabric substrate (dielectric constant of 1.6 and a loss tangent of 0.08). It has a compact size of 40 × 40 × 2.035 mm 3 , corresponding to an electrical dimension of 0.33 λ c × 0.33 λ c × 0.017 λ c, where λ c characterizes the wavelength of electromagnetic waves in free space at a frequency of 2.45 GHz. The main merit of this prototype antenna is that it has lightweight, compact, and sufficiently flexible for integration into the human body. The proposed antenna shows a wideband characteristic that spans from 2.13 GHz to 8.3 GHz, resulting in a total bandwidth of 5.85 GHz. It achieves the highest gains of 7.5 dBi and 8.9 dBi, respectively, under off-body and on-body conditions. Furthermore, it has been evaluated for its effects on specific absorption rates (SAR) resulting from human-body interaction. The results indicate SAR values of 0.417 W kg −1 and 0.222 W kg −1 for 1 g of human tissue, and 0.652 W kg −1 and 0.155 W kg −1 for 10 g of human tissue in the chest area, at frequencies of 5.8 GHz and 7.3 GHz, respectively. Finally, the performance of the antenna sensor has been validated for practical applications in real-world scenarios by successfully detecting vital signs, including the human heartbeat and breathing rate.

Janus membranes (JMs) promise advanced liquid separations, but fabrication speed, substrate universality, and precise configurational control remain challenging. Here, we report an ultrafast and universal interfacial engineering strategy to construct JMs with desirable micro-nano structures. Founded on a rapidly formed tannic acid/polyethyleneimine (TA/PEI) platform, the approach utilizes highly reactive stearoyl chloride (SC) for minute-scale hydrophobic modification. Crucially, a novel physicochemical control principle is revealed. Specifically, interfacial wettability and tension are modulated at the molecular level by phytic acid (PA). Through this modulation, the membrane's physical immersion depth is governed to provide unprecedented, quantifiable control over hydrophilic layer thickness during liquid-liquid interface modification. This enables tailored JMs exhibiting pronounced asymmetric super-wettability (water contact angle (WCA) difference >157°) and tunable unidirectional liquid transport. Demonstrated across diverse metallic and polymeric substrates, the resulting JMs show remarkable separation performance for challenging mixtures, alongside exceptional stability. This facile and controllable strategy overcomes previous limitations in speed, universality, and regulation of asymmetric configurations, offering a versatile platform for designing nano-engineered functional materials for sophisticated liquid separation applications.