1．Donghua University’s new intelligent fiber achieves human-computer interaction without the need for batteries.
In April, the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Donghua University developed a new type of intelligent fiber that integrates wireless energy harvesting, information sensing, and transmission functions. This smart Non-woven fiber can achieve interactive functions such as luminous display and touch control without the need for chips and batteries. The new fiber adopts a three-layer sheath-core structure, using common raw materials such as silver-plated nylon fiber as the antenna for inducing electromagnetic fields, BaTiO3 composite resin to enhance electromagnetic energy coupling, and ZnS composite resin to achieve electric field-sensitive luminescence. Due to its low cost, mature technology, and mass production capability.
2．Intelligent perception of materials: a breakthrough in hazard warning. On April 17th, Professor Yingying Zhang’s team from the Department of Chemistry at Tsinghua University published a paper titled “Intelligent Perceived Materials Based on Ionic Conductive and Strong Silk Fibers” in Nature Communications. The research team successfully prepared silk-based ionic hydrogel (SIH) fiber with excellent mechanical and electrical properties and designed an intelligent sensing textile based on it. This intelligent sensing textile can quickly respond to external hazards such as fire, water immersion, and sharp object scratches, effectively protecting humans or robots from injury. At the same time, the textile also has the function of specific recognition and accurate positioning of human finger touch, which can serve as a flexible wearable human-computer interaction interface to assist people in conveniently controlling remote terminals.
3. Innovation in “Living Bioelectronics”: Sensing and Healing the Skin On May 30th, Bozhi Tian, a chemistry professor at the University of Chicago, published an important study in the journal Science, in which they successfully created a prototype for the field of “live bioelectronics”. This prototype combines living cells, gel, and electronics to enable seamless integration with living tissue. This innovative patch consists of three parts: a sensor, bacterial cells, and a gel made from a mixture of starch and gelatin. After rigorous testing on mice, scientists have found that these devices can continuously monitor skin conditions and significantly improve symptoms similar to psoriasis without causing skin irritation. In addition to the treatment of psoriasis, scientists also foresee the potential application of this patch in wound healing of diabetes patients. They believe that this technology is expected to provide a new means to accelerate wound healing and help diabetes patients recover faster.