Optimal patching locations and orientations for maximum energy harvesting efficiency of ultrathin flexible piezoelectric devices mounted on heart surface

Flexible piezoelectric energy harvesters(PEHs)have gained lots of attention in recent years,because of their potential biomechanical applications,such as powering implantable devices.Several in vivo animal experiments have demonstrated that the output power of a flexible PEH varies remarkably with patching orientations and locations,but the underlying mechanism remains unclear yet.Herein,an electromechanical model for a flexible PEH installed on a beating heart is proposed,and a concise relationship between the output power of the device and myocardium strain is established.The results demonstrate that the patching orientations have a significant impact on the output power of the PEH,and the optimal patching orientations for all patching locations are approximately 15–20 degree for PEHs mounted on the left ventricle.The simple theoretical method provided here would be universally effective for choosing the optimal patching locations and orientations of flexible PEHs installed on a nonhomogeneous deformed surface.

A feedback control method for phase signal demodulation in fber-optic hydrophones

In the realm of acoustic signal detection,the identification of weak signals,particularly in the presence of negative signal-to-noise ratios,poses a significant challenge.This challenge is further heightened when signals are acquired through fiber-optic hydrophones,as these signals often lack physical significance and resist clear systematic modeling.Conventional processing methods,e.g.,low-pass filter(LPF),require a thorough understanding of the effective signal bandwidth for noise reduction,and may introduce undesirable time lags.This paper introduces an innovative feedback control method with dual Kalman filters for the demodulation of phase signals with noises in fiber-optic hydrophones.A mathematical model of the closed-loop system is established to guide the design of the feedback control,aiming to achieve a balance with the input phase signal.The dual Kalman filters are instrumental in mitigating the effects of signal noise,observation noise,and control execution noise,thereby enabling precise estimation for the input phase signals.The effectiveness of this feedback control method is demonstrated through examples,showcasing the restoration of low-noise signals,negative signal-to-noise ratio signals,and multi-frequency signals.This research contributes to the technical advancement of high-performance devices,including fiber-optic hydrophones and phase-locked amplifiers.

Tuning mechanical behaviors of highly entangled hydrogels with the random distribution of mobile entanglements

Highly entangled hydrogels exhibit excellent mechanical properties,including high toughness,high stretchability,and low hysteresis.By considering the evolution of randomly distributed entanglements within the polymer network upon mechanical stretches,we develop a constitutive theory to describe the large stretch behaviors of these hydrogels.In the theory,we utilize a representative volume element(RVE)in the shape of a cube,within which there exists an averaged chain segment along each edge and a mobile entanglement at each corner.By employing an explicit method,we decouple the elasticity of the hydrogels from the sliding motion of their entanglements,and derive the stress-stretch relations for these hydrogels.The present theoretical analysis is in agreement with experiment,and highlights the significant influence of the entanglement distribution within the hydrogels on their elasticity.We also implement the present developed constitutive theory into a commercial finite element software,and the subsequent simulations demonstrate that the exact distribution of entanglements strongly affects the mechanical behaviors of the structures of these hydrogels.Overall,the present theory provides valuable insights into the deformation mechanism of highly entangled hydrogels,and can aid in the design of these hydrogels with enhanced performance.

Test for the deep:magnetic loading characterization of elastomers under extreme hydrostatic pressures

Soft robot incarnates its unique advantages in deep-sea exploration,but grapples with high hydrostatic pressure’s unpredictable impact on its mechanical performances.In our previous work,a self-powered soft robot showed excellent work performance in the Mariana Trench at a depth of 11000 m,yet experienced notable degradation in deforming capability.Here,we propose a magnetic loading method for characterizing elastomer’s mechanical properties under extremely high hydrostatic pressure of up to 120 MPa.This method facilitates remote loading and enables in-situ observation,so that the dimensions and deformation at high hydrostatic pressure are obtained and used for calculations.The results reveal that the Young’s modulus of Polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)monotonously increases with pressure.It is found that the relative increase in Young’s modulus is determined by its initial value,which is 8% for an initial Young’s modulus of 2200 kPa and 38% for 660 kPa.The relation between initial Young’s modulus and relevant increase can be fitted by an exponential function.The bulk modulus of PDMS is about 1.4 GPa at 20℃ and is barely affected by hydrostatic pressure.The method can quantify alterations in the mechanical properties of elastomers induced by hydrostatic pressure,and provide guidance for the design of soft robots which serve in extreme pressure environment.

Indentation behavior of a semi-infinite piezoelectric semiconductor under a rigid flat-ended cylindrical indenter

This paper theoretically studies the axisymmetric frictionless indentation of a transversely isotropic piezoelectric semiconductor(PSC)half-space subject to a rigid flatended cylindrical indenter.The contact area and other surface of the PSC half-space are assumed to be electrically insulating.By the Hankel integral transformation,the problem is reduced to the Fredholm integral equation of the second kind.This equation is solved numerically to obtain the indentation behaviors of the PSC half-space,mainly including the indentation force-depth relation and the electric potential-depth relation.The results show that the effect of the semiconductor property on the indentation responses is limited within a certain range of variation of the steady carrier concentration.The dependence of indentation behavior on material properties is also analyzed by two different kinds of PSCs.Finite element simulations are conducted to verify the results calculated by the integral equation technique,and good agreement is demonstrated.

Growing actin networks regulated by obstacle size and shape

Growing actin networks provide the driving force for the motility of cells and intracellular pathogens. Based on the molecular-level processes of actin polymerization, branching, capping, and depolymerization, we have developed a modeling framework to simulate the stochastic and cooperative behaviors of growing actin networks in propelling obstacles, with an emphasis on the size and shape effects on work capacity and filament orientation in the growing process. Our results show that the characteristic size of obstacles changes the protrusion power per unit length, without influencing the orientation distribution of actin filaments in growing networks. In contrast, the geometry of obstacles has a profound effect on filament patterning, which influences the orientation of filaments differently when the drag coefficient of environment is small, intermediate, or large. We also discuss the role of various parameters, such as the aspect ratio of obstacles, branching rate, and capping rate, in affecting the protrusion power of network growth.

Buckling of filamentous actin bundles in filopodial protrusion

The mechanical behaviors of filamentous actin (F-actin) bundles play an essential role in filopodial protrusions at the leading edge of crawling cells. These bundles consist of parallel actin filaments that are hexagonally packed and interconnected via cross-linking proteins including α-actinin, filamin, and fascin. As pushing against the plasma membrane and/or external barriers, the actin bundles in filopodial protrusion inevitably encounter a compressive load. The bending stiffness and buckling stability of actin bundles are therefore important in determining the filopodia architecture and subsequent cell morphology. In this work, we employ a coarse-grained molecular dynamics model to investigate the buckling behaviors of cross-linked actin bundles under compression, which explicitly accounts for the properties of constituent filaments and the mechanical descriptions of cross-linkers. The bending stiffness of actin bundles exhibits a generic size effect depending on the number of filaments in the bundles, explicitly depending on the degree of inter-filament coupling. The distinct buckling modes are analyzed for bundles with different coupling states and strengths of cross-linkers. This study could clarify the stability and buckling mechanisms of parallelly packed actin bundles and the structure-function relations of mechanical components in filopodial protrusion.

On the role of piezoelectricity in phonon properties and thermal conductivity of GaN nanofilms

The effect of piezoelectricity on phonon properties and thermal conductivity of gallium nitride （GaN） nanofilms is theoretically investigated. The elasticity model is utilized to derive the phonon properties in spatially confined GaN nanofilms. The piezoelectric constitutive relation in GaN nanofilms is taken into account in calculating the phonon dispersion relation. The modified phonon group velocity and phonon density of state as well as the phonon thermal conductivity are also obtained due to the contribution of piezoelectricity. Theoretical results show that the piezoelectricity in GaN nanofilms can change significantly the phonon properties such as the phonon group velocity and density of states, resulting in the variation of the phonon thermal conductivity of GaN nanofilms remarkably. Moreover, the piezoelectricity of GaN can modify the dependence of thermal conductivity on the geometrical size and temperature. These results can be useful in modeling the thermal performance in the active region of GaN-based electronic devices.

Controllable wave propagation in a weakly nonlinear monoatomic lattice chain with nonlocal interaction and active control

The one-dimensional monoatomic lattice chain connected by nonlinear springs is investigated, and the asymptotic solution is obtained through the Lindstedt-Poincar′e perturbation method. The dispersion relation is derived with the consideration of both the nonlocal and the active control effects. The numerical results show that the nonlocal effect can effectively enhance the frequency in the middle part of the dispersion curve.When the nonlocal effect is strong enough, zero and negative group velocities will be evoked at different points along the dispersion curve, which will provide different ways of transporting energy including the forward-propagation, localization, and backwardpropagation of wavepackets related to the phase velocity. Both the nonlinear effect and the active control can enhance the frequency, but neither of them is able to produce zero or negative group velocities. Specifically, the active control enhances the frequency of the dispersion curve including the point at which the reduced wave number equals zero, and therefore gives birth to a nonzero cutoff frequency and a band gap in the low frequency range. With a combinational adjustment of all these effects, the wave propagation behaviors can be comprehensively controlled, and energy transferring can be readily manipulated in various ways.

Harnessing structural instability for cell durotaxis

Cells were suggested to sense matrix rigidity by applying fluctuating forces, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here with a generic filament-crosslinker modeling system for stress fibers, we demonstrate that high mechanical forces can be induced by specific protein-protein interactions with biased kinetics. Strikingly, we further find that there exist two patterns of force generation, a stable pattern and a fluctuated pattern, in agreement with previous experimental observations. Our analysis indicates that the fluctuated force profile is essentially due to force-induced structural instability during structural assembly. We suggest that how cells utilize or circumvent such stable forces or fluctuated forces may be important in other biological processes as well, though whether such forces should be regarded as passive or active is still tentative.

Degradable Plastics Are Vulnerable to Cracks

A plastic may degrade in response to a trigger.The kinetics of degradation have long been characterized by the loss of weight and strength over time.These methods of gross characterization,however,are misleading when plastic degrades heterogeneously.Here,we study heterogeneous degradation in an extreme form:the growth of a crack under the combined action of chemistry and mechanics.An applied load opens the crack,exposes the crack front to chemical attack,and causes the crack to outrun gross degradation.We studied the crack growth in polylactic acid(PLA),a polyester in which ester bonds break by hydrolysis.We cut a crack in a PLA film using scissors,tore it using an apparatus,and recorded the crack growth using a camera through a microscope.In our testing range,the crack velocity was insensitive to load but was sensitive to humidity and pH.These findings will aid the development of degradable plastics for healthcare and sustainability.

Dynamics and response reshaping of nonlinear predator-prey system undergoing random abrupt disturbances

An actual ecological predator-prey system often undergoes random environmental mutations owing to the impact of natural disasters and man-made destruction, which may destroy the balance between the species. In this paper,the stochastic dynamics of the nonlinear predator-prey system considering random environmental mutations is investigated, and a feedback control strategy is proposed to reshape the response of the predator-prey system against random abrupt environmental mutations. A delayed Markov jump system(MJS) is established to model such a predator-prey system. A novel first integral is constructed which leads to better approximation solutions of the ecosystem. Then, by applying the stochastic averaging method based on this novel first integral, the stochastic response of the predator-prey system is investigated, and an analytical feedback control is designed to reshape the response of the ecosystem from the disturbed state back to the undisturbed one.Numerical simulations finally illustrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed procedure.

Effects of surface charges on phonon properties and thermal conductivity in GaN nanofilms

Surface charges can modify the elastic modulus of nanostructure,leading to the change of the phonon and thermal properties in semiconductor nanostructure.In this work,the influence of surface charges on the phonon properties and phonon thermal conductivity of GaN nanofilm are quantitatively investigated.In the framework of continuum mechanics,the modified elastic modulus can be derived for the nanofilm with surface charges.The elastic model is presented to analyze the phonon properties such as the phonon dispersion relation,phonon group velocity,density of states of phonons in nanofilm with the surface charges.The phonon thermal conductivity of nanofilm can be obtained by considering surface charges.The simulation results demonstrate that surface charges can significantly change the phonon properties and thermal conductivity in a GaN nanofilm.Positive surface charges reduce the phonon energy and phonon group velocity but increase the density of states of phonons.The surface charges can change the size and temperature dependence of phonon thermal conductivity of GaN nanofilm.Based on these theoretical results,one can adjust the phonon properties and temperature/size dependent thermal conductivity in GaN nanofilm by changing the surface charges.

Switchable dry adhesive based on shape memory polymer with hemispherical indenters for transfer printing

Transfer printing based on switchable adhesive is essential for developing unconventional systems,including flexible electronics,stretchable electronics,and micro light-emitting diode(LED)displays.Here we report a design of switchable dry adhesive based on shape memory polymer(SMP)with hemispherical indenters,which offers a continuously tunable and reversible adhesion through the combination of the preloading effect and the thermal actuation of SMP.Experimental and numerical studies reveal the fundamental aspects of design,fabrication,and operation of the switchable dry adhesive.Demonstrations of this adhesive concept in transfer printing of flat objects(e.g.,silicon wafers),three-dimensional(3D)objects(e.g.,stainless steel balls),and rough objects(e.g.,frosted glasses)in two-dimensional(2D)or 3D layouts illustrate its unusual manipulation capabilities in heterogeneous material integration applications.

An LSTM Based Forecasting for Major Stock Sectors Using COVID Sentiment

Stock market forecasting is an important research area,especially for better business decision making.Efficient stock predictions continue to be significant for business intelligence.Traditional short-term stock market forecasting is usually based on historical market data analysis such as stock prices,moving averages,or daily returns.However,major events’news also contains significant information regarding market drivers.An effective stock market forecasting system helps investors and analysts to use supportive information regarding the future direction of the stock market.This research proposes an efficient model for stock market prediction.The current proposed study explores the positive and negative effects of coronavirus events on major stock sectors like the airline,pharmaceutical,e-commerce,technology,and hospitality.We use the Twitter dataset for calculating the coronavirus sentiment with a Long Short-Term Memory(LSTM)model to improve stock prediction.The LSTM has the advantage of analyzing relationship between time-series data through memory functions.The performance of the system is evaluated by Mean Absolute Error(MAE),Mean Squared Error(MSE),and Root Mean Squared Error(RMSE).The results show that performance improves by using coronavirus event sentiments along with the LSTM prediction model.

Physical understanding of axonal growth patterns on grooved substrates:groove ridge crossing versus longitudinal alignment

Surface topographies such as micrometric edges and grooves have been widely used to improve neuron outgrowth.However,finding the mechanism of neuron–surface interactions on grooved substrates remains a challenge.In this work,PC12 cells and chick forebrain neurons(CFNs)were cultured on grooved and smooth polyacrylonitrile substrates.It was found that CFNs showed a tendency of growing across groove ridges;while PC12 cells were only observed to grow in the longitudinal direction of grooves.To further investigate these observations,a 3D physical model of axonal outgrowth was developed.In this model,axon shafts are simulated as elastic 3D beams,accounting for the axon outgrowth as well as the focal contacts between axons and substrates.Moreover,the bending direction of axon tips during groove ridge crossing is governed by the energy minimization principle.Our physical model predicts that axonal groove ridge crossing is contributed by the bending compliance of axons,caused by lower Young’s modulus and smaller diameters.This work will aid the understanding of the mechanisms involved in axonal alignment and elongation of neurons guided by grooved substrates,and the obtained insights can be used to enhance the design of instructive scaffolds for nerve tissue engineering and regeneration applications.

A thermal actuated switchable dry adhesive with high reversibility for transfer printing

Transfer printing based on switchable adhesive that heterogeneously integrates materials is essential to develop novel electronic systems,such as flexible electronics and micro LED displays.Here,we report a robust design of a thermal actuated switchable dry adhesive,which features a stiff sphere embedded in a thermally responsive shape memory polymer(SMP)substrate and encapsulated by an elastomeric membrane.This construct bypasses the unfavorable micro-and nano-fabrication processes and yields an adhesion switchability of over1000 by combining the peel-rate dependent effect of the elastomeric membrane and the thermal actuation of the sub-surface embedded stiff sphere.Experimental and numerical studies reveal the underlying thermal actuated mechanism and provide insights into the design and operation of the switchable adhesive.Demonstrations of this concept in stamps for transfer printing of fragile objects,such as silicon wafers,silicon chips,and inorganic micro-LED chips,onto challenging non-adhesive surfaces illustrate its potential in heterogeneous material integration applications,such as flexible electronics manufacturing and deterministic assembly.

Two-dimensional equations for thin-films of ionic conductors

A theoretical model is developed for predicting both conduction and diffusion in thin-film ionic conductors or cables. With the linearized Poisson-Nernst-Planck(PNP)theory, the two-dimensional(2D) equations for thin ionic conductor films are obtained from the three-dimensional(3D) equations by power series expansions in the film thickness coordinate, retaining the lower-order equations. The thin-film equations for ionic conductors are combined with similar equations for one thin dielectric film to derive the 2D equations of thin sandwich films composed of a dielectric layer and two ionic conductor layers. A sandwich film in the literature, as an ionic cable, is analyzed as an example of the equations obtained in this paper. The numerical results show the effect of diffusion in addition to the conduction treated in the literature. The obtained theoretical model including both conduction and diffusion phenomena can be used to investigate the performance of ionic-conductor devices with any frequency.

Effect of interfacial stiffness on the stretchability of metal/elastomer bilayers under in-plane biaxial tension

Flexible electronic devices are often subjected to large and repeated deformation,so that their functional components such as metal interconnects need to sustain strains up to tens of percent,which is far beyond the intrinsic deformability of metal materials(~1%).To meet the stringent requirements of flexible electronics,metal/elastomer bilayers,a stretchable structure that consists of a metal film adhered to a stretchable elastomer substrate,have been developed to improve the stretch capability of metal interconnects.Previous studies have predicted that the metal/elastomer bilayers are much more stretchable than freestanding metal films.However,these investigations usually assume perfect bonding between the metal and elastomer layers.In this work,the effect of the metal/elastomer interface with a finite interfacial stiffness on the stretchability of bilayer structures is analyzed.The results show that the assumption of perfect interface(with infinite interfacial stiffness)may lead to an overestimation of the stretchability of bilayer structures.It is also demonstrated that increased adhesion between the metal and elastomer layers can enhance the stretchability of the metal layer.

Effect of negative permeability on elastic wave propagation in magnetoelastic multilayered composites

With the advent of left-handed magnetic materials, it is desirable to develop high-performance wave devices based on their novel properties of wave propagation. This letter reports the special properties of elastic wave propagation in magnetoelastic multilayered composites with negative permeability as compared to those in counterpart structures with positive permeability. These novel properties of elastic waves are discerned from the diversified dispersion curves, which represent the propagation and attenuation characteristics of elastic waves. To compute these dispersion curves, the method of reverberation-ray matrix is extended for the analysis of elastic waves in magnetoelastic multilayered composites. Although only the results of a single piezomagnetic and a binary magnetoelastic layers with mechanically free and magnetically short surfaces as well as perfect interface are illustrated in the numerical examples, the analysis is applicable to magnetoelastic multilayered structures with other kinds of boundaries/interfaces.