Frontier of digitalization in Biomass-to-X supply chain:opportunity or threats?

The escalating climate crisis necessitates an urgent shift towards a sustainable business model.Un-der the context of bioeconomy,it has offered a promising alternative through its“Biomass-to-X”strategy for converting biological resources into value-added products or chemicals.However,the adoption of this approach remains scarce,which highlights the need to leverage digital technolo-gies to enhance its feasibility.Thus,this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the potential role of digital technologies in the Biomass-to-X supply chain,encompassing the entire value chain from upstream to downstream activities,specifically in the areas of 1)lab-to-fabrication transla-tion,2)biomanufacturing stage,and lastly,3)supply chain management stage.Furthermore,this study identifies and discusses research gaps in each niche area,along with potential future re-search prospects to facilitate the transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy,making it a crucial reference for stakeholders involved in decision-making processes.

Chemical-sensitive graphene modulator with a memory effect for internet-of-things applications

Modern internet of things(IoTs)and ubiquitous sensor networks could potentially take advantage of chemically sensitive nanomaterials and nanostructures.However,their heterogeneous integration with other electronic modules on a networked sensor node,such as silicon-based modulators and memories,is inherently challenging because of compatibility and integration issues.Here we report a novel paradigm for sensing modulators:a graphene field-effect transistor device that directly modulates a radio frequency(RF)electrical carrier signal when exposed to chemical agents,with a memory effect in its electrochemical history.We demonstrated the concept and implementation of this graphene-based sensing modulator through a frequency-modulation(FM)experiment conducted in a modulation cycle consisting of alternating phases of air exposure and ethanol or water treatment.In addition,we observed an analog memory effect in terms of the charge neutrality point of the graphene,Vcnp,which strongly influences the FM results,and developed a calibration method using electrochemical gate-voltage pulse sequences.This graphenebased multifunctional device shows great potential for use in a simple,low-cost,and ultracompact nanomaterial-based nodal architecture to enable continuous,real-time event-based monitoring in pervasive healthcare IoTs,ubiquitous security systems,and other chemical/molecular/gas monitoring applications.