Bioengineered organs have been seen as a promising strategy to address the shortage of transplantable organs. However, it is still difficult to achieve heterogeneous structures and complex functions similar to natural organs using current bioengineering techniques. This work introduces the methods and dilemmas in organ engineering and existing challenges. Furthermore, a new roadmap for organ engineering, which uses a modular strategy with autologous bioreactors to create organ-level bioengineered constructions, is summarized based on the latest research advances. In brief, different functional modules of natural organs are constructed in vitro, and autologous bioreactors in vivo are utilized to facilitate inter-module assembly to form a complete bioengineered organ capable of replacing natural organ functions. There are bioengineered organs, such as biomimetic tracheas, which have been successfully fabricated following this roadmap. This new roadmap for organ engineering shows prospects in addressing the shortage of transplantable organs and has broad prospects for clinical applications.

Additive manufacturing has emerged as a transformative technology for producing biomedical metals and implants, offering the potential to revolutionize patient care and treatment outcomes. This article reviews the recent advances in additive manufacturing (AM) of biomedical metal implants, especially load-bearing biomedical alloys, biodegradable alloys, novel metals, and 4D printing, whose properties are systematically assessed to facilitate material selection for specific medical applications. The applications of the most cutting-edge artificial intelligence in AM and surface functional modification are also presented. This article also explores the application of AM in various medical specialties, such as orthopedics, dentistry, cardiology, and neurosurgery, demonstrating its potential to solve complex clinical challenges and advance patient-centered healthcare solutions. Furthermore, it highlights the critical roles of AM in shaping the future of medical implant manufacturing. The optimistic outlook on the bright future of AM in medical metals delivers personalized, high-performance medical implants that improve patient treatment outcomes and well-being.

Precision actuation is a foundational technology in high-end equipment domains, where stroke, velocity, and accuracy are critical for processing and/or detection quality, precision in spacecraft flight trajectories, and accuracy in weapon system strikes. Piezoelectric actuators (PEAs), known for their nanometer-level precision, flexible stroke, resistance to electromagnetic interference, and scalable structure, have been widely adopted across various fields. Therefore, this study focuses on extreme scenarios involving ultra-high precision (micrometer and beyond), minuscule scales, and highly complex operational conditions. It provides a comprehensive overview of the types, working principles, advantages, and disadvantages of PEAs, along with their potential applications in piezo-actuated smart mechatronic systems (PSMSs). To address the demands of extreme scenarios in high-end equipment fields, we have identified five representative application areas: positioning and alignment, biomedical device configuration, advanced manufacturing and processing, vibration mitigation, micro robot system. Each area is further divided into specific subcategories, where we explore the underlying relationships, mechanisms, representative schemes, and characteristics. Finally, we discuss the challenges and future development trends related to PEAs and PSMSs. This work aims to showcase the latest advancements in the application of PEAs and provide valuable guidance for researchers in this field.

The inherent complexities of excitable cardiac, nervous, and skeletal muscle tissues pose great challenges in constructing artificial counterparts that closely resemble their natural bioelectrical, structural, and mechanical properties. Recent advances have increasingly revealed the beneficial impact of bioelectrical microenvironments on cellular behaviors, tissue regeneration, and therapeutic efficacy for excitable tissues. This review aims to unveil the mechanisms by which electrical microenvironments enhance the regeneration and functionality of excitable cells and tissues, considering both endogenous electrical cues from electroactive biomaterials and exogenous electrical stimuli from external electronic systems. We explore the synergistic effects of these electrical microenvironments, combined with structural and mechanical guidance, on the regeneration of excitable tissues using tissue engineering scaffolds. Additionally, the emergence of micro/nanoscale bioelectronics has significantly broadened this field, facilitating intimate interactions between implantable bioelectronics and excitable tissues across cellular, tissue, and organ levels. These interactions enable precise data acquisition and localized modulation of cell and tissue functionalities through intricately designed electronic components according to physiological needs. The integration of tissue engineering and bioelectronics promises optimal outcomes, highlighting a growing trend in developing living tissue construct-bioelectronic hybrids for restoring and monitoring damaged excitable tissues. Furthermore, we envision critical challenges in engineering the next-generation hybrids, focusing on integrated fabrication strategies, the development of ionic conductive biomaterials, and their convergence with biosensors.

The global healthcare landscape is increasingly challenged by the rising prevalence of chronic diseases and the demographic shift towards an aging population, necessitating the development of innovative and sustainable healthcare solutions. In this context, the emergence of triboelectric energy harvesters as a key technological breakthrough offers a viable pathway towards self-powered, efficient, and sustainable personal health management. This review critically examines the transformative potential of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) in addressing the pressing challenges of modern healthcare, underscoring their unique benefits such as being battery-free, easy to fabricate, and cost-efficient. We begin by reviewing the fundamental mechanisms of triboelectrification at the atomic scale and presenting the contact electrification among various materials, such as metals, polymers, and semiconductors. The discussion subsequently extends to the commonly used materials for TENGs and explores advancements in their design and functionality, with an emphasis on structural and chemical innovations. Furthermore, the application spectrum of TENGs in personal health management is extensively reviewed, covering aspects including health monitoring, therapeutic intervention, health protection, and device powering, while highlighting their capacity for self-sustainability. The review concludes by addressing existing challenges while mapping out the latest significant contributions and prospective directions in TENG-based healthcare innovations. By facilitating a paradigm shift towards a more autonomous, cost-effective, and personalized healthcare model, independent of external power sources, TENGs are poised to markedly enhance the quality of care and overall well-being, marking the dawn of a new era in integrated personal health management.

Neurovascularization serves as the prerequisite and assurance for fostering neurogenesis after peripheral nerve injury (PNI), not only contributing to the reconstruction of the regenerative neurovascular niche but also providing a surface and directionality for Schwann cell (SC) cords migration and axons elongation. Despite the development of nerve tissue engineering techniques has drawn increasing attention to the intervention approach for repairing nerve defects, systematic generalization summary of the efficient intervention to expedite nerve angiogenesis is still scarce. This review delves into the mechanisms by which macrophages within the nerve defect trigger angiogenesis after PNI and elucidates how the newborn vessels support nerve regeneration, and then extracts three major categories of strategies for producing vascularized nerves in vitro and in vivo from them, encompassing (1) in vitro prevascularization, (2) in vivo prevascularization, and (3) stimulation of neurovascularization in situ. Furthermore, we emphasize that the lack of accuracy for structure and spatiotemporal regulation, as well as the operational inconvenience and delayed connection to the host's nerve stumps, have stuck the existing neurovascularization technology in the preclinical stage. The successful design of a future prospective clinical vascularized nerve scaffold should be guided by a comprehensive consideration of these aspects.

Magnesium (Mg) alloys have gained recognition as revolutionary biomaterials, owing to their inherent degradability, favorable biocompatibility and mechanical properties. Additive manufacturing (AM) provides high design flexibility and enables the creation of implants with personalized complex shapes and internal porous structures tailored to individual anatomical and functional needs. Particularly, laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), one prevalent AM technique, utilizes a fine laser beam as heat source and results in tiny molten pool with extremely fast cooling rate, which effectively restricts grain growth, inter-metallic precipitation and macroscopic segregation, thus facilitating the fabrication of high-performance metal parts. This review critically assesses the significance of biodegradable Mg alloys and investigates the feasibility of utilizing LPBF for Mg alloys applications in biomedical field. Detailed discussions on LPBF-processed biomedical Mg alloys parts cover process parameters, microstructure, metallurgical defects, and properties like mechanical performance, corrosion behavior, and biological response in both as-built and post-processed states. Additionally, suggestions for advancing knowledge in LPBF of biodegradable Mg alloys for biomedical applications are highlighted to propel further research and development in this field.

The flexible physical sensors have the advantage of pliability and extensibility and can be easily twisted or curved. The development of flexibility from rigidity has significantly increased the application situations for sensors, especially in intelligent robots, tactile platforms, wearable medical sensors, bionic devices, and other fields. The research of membrane-based flexible physical sensors relies on the development of advanced materials and technologies, which have been derived from a wide range of applications. Various technical methods and principles have gradually matured according to the different applications and materials used. The first section of this review discusses membrane substrates and functional materials, summarizing the development of flexible physical sensors. According to the technical sensing principles, the review is concerned with the state of research on physical sensing platforms. Lastly, the difficulties and chances for the design of emerging membrane-based flexible physical sensors in the coming years are presented.

The operation of deep-sea underwater vehicles relies entirely on onboard batteries. However, the extreme deep-sea conditions, characterized by ultrahigh hydraulic pressure, low temperature, and seawater conductivity, pose significant challenges for battery development. These conditions drive the need for specialized designs in deep-sea batteries, incorporating critical aspects of power generation, protection, distribution, and management. Over time, deep-sea battery technology has evolved through multiple generations, with lithium (Li) batteries emerging in recent decades as the preferred power source due to their high energy and reduced operational risks. Although the rapid progress of Li batteries has notably advanced the capabilities of underwater vehicles, critical technical issues remain unresolved. This review first systematically presents the whole picture of deep-sea battery manufacturing, focusing on Li batteries as the current mainstream solution for underwater power. It examines the key aspects of deep-sea Li battery development, including materials selection informed by electro-chemo-mechanics models, component modification and testing, and battery management systems specialized in software and hardware. Finally, it discusses the main challenges limiting the utilization of deep-sea batteries and outlines promising directions for future development. Based on the systematic reflection on deep-sea batteries and discussion on deep-sea Li batteries, this review aims to provide a research foundation for developing underwater power tailored for extreme environmental exploration.

Able to precisely control and manipulate materials' states at micro/nano-scale level, femtosecond (fs) laser micro/nano processing technology has undergone tremendous development over the past three decades. Free-forming three-dimensional (3D) microscale functional devices and inducing fascinating and unique physical or chemical phenomena have granted this technology powerful versatility that no other technology can match. As this technology advances rapidly in various fields of application, some key challenges have emerged and remain to be urgently addressed. This review firstly introduces the fundamental principles for understanding how fs laser pulses interact with materials and the associated unique phenomena in section 2. Then micro/nano-fabrication in transparent materials by fs laser processing is presented in section 3. Thereafter, several high efficiency/throughput fabrication methods as well as pulse-shaping techniques are listed in sections 4 and 5 reviews four-dimensional (4D) and nanoscale printing realized by fs laser processing technology. Special attention is paid to the heterogeneous integration (HI) of functional materials enabled by fs laser processing in section 6. Several intriguing examples of 3D functional micro-devices created by fs laser-based manufacturing methods such as microfluidics, lab-on-chip, micro-optics, micro-mechanics, micro-electronics, micro-bots and micro-biodevices are reviewed in section 7. Finally, a summary of the review and a perspective are proposed to explore the challenges and future opportunities for further betterment of fs laser micro/nano processing technology.

In tissue engineering (TE), tissue-inducing scaffolds are a promising solution for organ and tissue repair owing to their ability to attract stem cells in vivo, thereby inducing endogenous tissue regeneration through topological cues. An ideal TE scaffold should possess biomimetic cross-scale structures, similar to that of natural extracellular matrices, at the nano-to macro-scale level. Although freeform fabrication of TE scaffolds can be achieved through 3D printing, this method is limited in simultaneously building multiscale structures. To address this challenge, low-temperature fields were adopted in the traditional fabrication processes, such as casting and 3D printing. Ice crystals grow during scaffold fabrication and act as a template to control the nano-and micro-structures. These microstructures can be optimized by adjusting various parameters, such as the direction and magnitude of the low-temperature field. By preserving the macro-features fabricated using traditional methods, additional micro-structures with smaller scales can be incorporated simultaneously, realizing cross-scale structures that provide a better mimic of natural organs and tissues. In this paper, we present a state-of-the-art review of three low-temperature-field-assisted fabrication methods—freeze casting, cryogenic 3D printing, and freeze spinning. Fundamental working principles, fabrication setups, processes, and examples of biomedical applications are introduced. The challenges and outlook for low-temperature-assisted fabrication are also discussed.

The embodied artificial intelligence (EAI) is driving a significant transformation in robotics, enhancing their autonomy, efficiency and evolution ability. In this rapidly evolving technological landscape, robots need numerous sensors to realize high levels of perception, precision, safety, adaptability, and intelligence. Triboelectric and piezoelectric sensors address these needs by providing high sensitivity, flexibility, and the capability of self-powered sensing, leveraging the revolutionary nature of nanogenerators to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy on basis of Maxwell's displacement current. These sensors surpass externally powered passive sensors by offering continuous operation, reduced maintenance, and the capability to function in remote or harsh environments. The integration of EAI with advanced nanogenerators sensors could position robotics to perform autonomously, efficiently, and safely, paving the way for innovative applications in various domains such as industrial automation, environmental monitoring, healthcare, and smart homes. In this paper, the fundamental theories, design, manufacturing, and applications of nanogenerators are comprehensively reviewed as a foundation of the advanced sensors for intelligent robotics in the new era, with three major application fields: sensing (including human–robot interaction, exteroceptive sensing and proprioceptive sensing), computing and actuating. Perspectives are addressed for nanogenerators systems in future development.

Flexible underwater vehicles with high maneuverability, high efficiency, high speed, and low disturbance have shown great application potential and research significance in underwater engineering, ocean exploration, scientific investigation and other fields. The research and development of flexible stimulus-responsive actuators is key to the development of high-performance underwater vehicles. At present, the main drive methods for underwater devices include electric drive, magnetic drive, light drive, thermal drive, and chemical drive. In this work, the research progress of stimuli-responsive actuators in water environment is reviewed from the stimuli-responsive patterns, functional design, fabrication methods, and applications in water environment. Firstly, the actuation principles and characteristics of electro-responsive, magnetic-responsive, photo-responsive, thermo-responsive actuators, and chemically responsive actuators are reviewed. Subsequently, several design requirements for the desired flexible actuators are introduced. After that, the common fabrication methods are summarized. The typical application of the stimuli-responsive actuator in the water environment is further discussed in combination with the multi-stimuli-responsive characteristics. Finally, the challenges faced by the application of stimuli-responsive actuators in the water environment are analyzed, and the corresponding viewpoints are presented. This review offers guidance for designing and preparing stimulus-responsive actuators and outlines directions for further development in fields such as ocean energy exploration and surface reconnaissance.

Leveraging surface texturing to realize significant friction reduction at contact interfaces has emerged as a preferred technique among tribology experts, boosting tribological energy efficiency and sustainability. This review systematically demonstrates optimization strategies, advanced manufacturing methods, typical applications, and outlooks of technical challenges toward surface texturing for friction reduction. Firstly, the lubricated contact models of microtextures are introduced. Then, we provide a framework of state-of-the-art research on synergistic friction optimization strategies of microtexture structures, surface treatments, liquid lubricants, and external energy fields. A comparative analysis evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of manufacturing techniques commonly employed for microtextured surfaces. The latest research advancements in microtextures in different application scenarios are highlighted. Finally, the challenges and directions of future research on surface texturing technology are briefly addressed. This review aims to elaborate on the worldwide progress in the optimization, manufacturing, and application of microtexture-enabled friction reduction technologies to promote their practical utilizations.

Silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics are extensively utilized in aerospace, national defense, and petrochemical industries due to their superior physical and chemical properties. The processing of bulk SiC ceramics necessitates precise and efficient grinding techniques to produce components with satisfactory functionality. However, the inherent high hardness and brittleness of SiC ceramics present significant challenges during grinding, leading to severe brittle fracture and tool wear that compromise both surface integrity and production efficiency. Although ductile-regime grinding of SiC ceramics can be achieved by enhancing machine tool accuracy and stiffness while optimizing wheel performance alongside appropriate selection of process parameters, a comprehensive summary of the mechanisms underlying damage evolution during grinding is lacking, and a mature grinding process for SiC ceramics has yet to be developed. To bridge this gap, the sintering technologies, mechanical properties, and microstructures of SiC ceramics were briefly covered. The grinding-induced damage mechanism and low-damage grinding technologies of SiC ceramics were summarized. The fundamental science underlying the ductile deformation and removal mechanisms of brittle solids was emphasized. Additionally, attention was directed towards the critical role of hybrid energy field grinding in minimizing brittle damages and promoting removal efficiency. This review not only elucidates the intrinsic interactions between the work material and abrasives, but also offers valuable insights for optimizing the grinding processes of brittle solids.

Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) has emerged as a promising technique for producing large-scale metal components, favoured by high deposition rates, flexibility and low cost. Despite its potential, the complexity of WAAM processes, which involves intricate thermal dynamics, phase transitions, and metallurgical, mechanical, and chemical interactions, presents considerable challenges in final product qualities. Simulation technologies in WAAM have proven invaluable, providing accurate predictions in key areas such as material properties, defect identification, deposit morphology, and residual stress. These predictions play a critical role in optimising manufacturing strategies for the final product. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the simulation techniques applied in WAAM, tracing developments from 2013 to 2023. Initially, it analyses the current challenges faced by simulation methods in three main areas. Subsequently, the review explores the current modelling approaches and the applications of these simulations. Following this, the paper discusses the present state of WAAM simulation, identifying specific issues inherent to WAAM simulation itself. Finally, through a thorough review of existing literature and related analysis, the paper offers future perspectives on potential advancements in WAAM simulation strategies.

Silicone rubber (SR) is a versatile material widely used across various advanced functional applications, such as soft actuators and robots, flexible electronics, and medical devices. However, most SR molding methods rely on traditional thermal processing or direct ink writing three-dimensional (3D) printing. These methods are not conducive to manufacturing complex structures and present challenges such as time inefficiency, poor accuracy, and the necessity of multiple steps, significantly limiting SR applications. In this study, we developed an SR-based ink suitable for vat photopolymerization 3D printing using a multi-thiol monomer. This ink enables the one-step fabrication of complex architectures with high printing resolution at the micrometer scale, providing excellent mechanical strength and superior chemical stability. Specifically, the optimized 3D printing SR-20 exhibits a tensile stress of 1.96 MPa, an elongation at break of 487.9%, and an elastic modulus of 225.4 kPa. Additionally, the 3D-printed SR samples can withstand various solvents (acetone, toluene, and tetrahydrofuran) and endure temperatures ranging from −50 ℃ to 180 ℃, demonstrating superior stability. As a demonstration of the application, we successfully fabricated a series of SR-based soft pneumatic actuators and grippers in a single step with this technology, allowing for free assembly for the first time. This ultraviolet-curable SR, with high printing resolution and exceptional stability performance, has significant potential to enhance the capabilities of 3D printing for applications in soft actuators, robotics, flexible electronics, and medical devices.

Nanocrystalline (NC) metals and alloys are prone to mechanical and thermal instability under force and thermal fields due to their high Gibbs free energy, which limits their industrial applications. In this work, by employing rotary swaging (RS), bulk NC Cu–15 at.% Al alloys with both high strength and high thermal stability were prepared. Quasi-static tensile test results show that the yield strength is 1016 MPa. Moreover, the grain growth temperature was retarded up to 0.4 Tm, higher than the literature values. Microstructural characterizations revealed that after RS deformation, coarse-grained Cu–Al was refined into fibrous NC grains with a diameter of 45 nm and a length of 190 nm, and the contents of high-angle grain boundaries (GBs), low-angle GBs, and twin boundaries are 17%, 45%, and 38%, respectively. Moreover, there is a significant multiscale chemical fluctuation within the grains, at the GBs, and between the grains through extreme defect accumulation. The atomistic simulation suggests that the segregation behavior of Al solute is essentially driven by the atomic size and local stress state. Besides, Al segregation greatly reduces the grain boundary energy, which further improves the thermal stability of the material. The main strengthening mechanism is Hall–Petch strengthening and the strengthening brought by the chemical fluctuations. Our work provides ideas for designing strong and thermally stable bulk NC alloys.

Atomic surfaces are strictly required by high-performance devices of diamond. Nevertheless, diamond is the hardest material in nature, leading to the low material removal rate (MRR) and high surface roughness during machining. Noxious slurries are widely used in conventional chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), resulting in the possible pollution to the environment. Moreover, the traditional slurries normally contain more than four ingredients, causing difficulties to control the process and quality of CMP. To solve these challenges, a novel green CMP for single crystal diamond was developed, consisting of only hydrogen peroxide, diamond abrasive and Prussian blue (PB)/titania catalyst. After CMP, atomic surface is achieved with surface roughness Sa of 0.079 nm, and the MRR is 1168 nm·h−1. Thickness of damaged layer is merely 0.66 nm confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance and TEM reveal that •OH radicals form under ultraviolet irradiation on PB/titania catalyst. The •OH radicals oxidize diamond, transforming it from monocrystalline to amorphous atomic structure, generating a soft amorphous layer. This contributes the high MRR and formation of atomic surface on diamond. The developed novel green CMP offers new insights to achieve atomic surface of diamond for potential use in their high-performance devices.

Biomedical scaffold fabrication has seen advancements in mimicking the native extracellular matrix through intricate three-dimensional (3D) structures conducive to tissue regeneration. Coiled fibrous scaffolds have emerged as promising substrates owing to their ability to provide unique topographical cues. In this study, coiled poly (-caprolactone) (PCL) fibrous bundles were fabricated using an alginate-based composite system, and processed with 3D printing. The unique structure was obtained through the die-swell phenomenon related to the release of residual stresses from the printed strut, thereby transforming aligned PCL fibers into coiled structures. The effects of printing parameters, such as pneumatic pressure and nozzle moving speed, on fiber morphology were investigated to ensure a consistent formation of coiled PCL fibers. The resulting coiled PCL fibrous scaffold demonstrated higher activation of mechanotransduction signaling as well as upregulation of osteogenic-related genes in human adipose stem cells (hASCs), supporting its potential in bone tissue engineering.

Flexible top-emission organic light-emitting diodes (f-TEOLEDs) with a high aperture ratio can be used in next-generation wearable electronic applications. However, the advancement of f-TEOLEDs is being hindered by their low light extraction and poor mechanical stability. In this study, we introduce an omnidirectional reflector (ODR) consisting of an Ag/SiO2/Ta2O5 cylinder-embedded indium zinc oxide (IZO) mesh (c-mesh) structure that improves both the light extraction and mechanical flexibility of TEOLEDs using blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters. The proposed ODR achieved a remarkable reflectance of over 96%, particularly in the transverse-electric mode. Furthermore, the Ta2O5 cylinders effectively compensated for the diverse void-induced depths in the IZO mesh, significantly reducing the leakage current between the electrode and the organic layers. In addition, the ODR electrodes exhibited outstanding mechanical stability. Moreover, even after being subjected to 2000 bending cycles over a 5 mm radius, the device luminance changed by less than 20%. Notably, the proposed f-TEOLEDs with Ag/SiO2/c-mesh electrodes demonstrated superior performance, achieving a low turn-on voltage (2.6 V), high current efficiency (33 cd·A−1), and power efficiency of 29.6 lm·W−1. Finally, the devices featured a narrow full width at half maximum of 27 nm under first-order microcavity effects.

In clinical practice, the irregular shapes of traumas pose a significant challenge in rapidly manufacturing personalized scaffolds. To address these challenges, inspired by LEGO® bricks, this study proposed a novel concept of modular scaffolds and developed an innovative system based on machine vision for their rapid and intelligent assembly tailored to defect shapes. Trapezoidal interfaces effectively connect standardized bone units based on magnesium-doped silicate calcium, ensuring high stability of the modular scaffolds, with compressive strength up to 135 MPa and bending strength up to 17 MPa. Through self-developed defect recognition and reconstruction algorithms, defect recognition and personalized assembly schemes for bone scaffolds can be achieved autonomously. Modular scaffolds seamlessly integrate with surrounding bone tissue, promoting new bone growth, with no apparent differences compared to fully 3D printed integral scaffolds in the skull and femur repair experiments. In summary, the adoption of modular scaffolds not only integrates personalization and standardization but also satisfies the optimal treatment window.

Filler-reinforced polymer composites demonstrate pervasive applications due to their strengthened performances, multi-degree tunability, and ease of manufacturing. In thermal management field, polymer composites reinforced with thermally conductive fillers are widely adopted as thermal interface materials (TIMs). However, the three dimensional (3D)-stacked heterogenous integration of electronic devices has posed the problem that high-density heat sources are spatially distributed in the package. This situation puts forward new requirements for TIMs, where efficient heat dissipation channels must be established according to the specific distribution of discrete heat sources. To address this challenge, a 3D printing-assisted streamline orientation (3D-PSO) method was proposed to fabricate composite thermal materials with 3D programmable microstructures and orientations of fillers, which combines the shape-design capability of 3D printing and oriented control ability of fluid. The mechanism of fluid-based filler orientation control along streamlines was revealed by mechanical analysis of fillers in matrix. Thanks to the designed heat dissipation channels, composites showed better thermal and mechanical properties in comparison to random composites. Specifically, the thermal conductivity of 3D mesh-shape polydimethylsiloxane/liquid metal (PDMS/LM) composite was 5.8 times that of random PDMS/LM composite under filler loading of 34.8 vol%. The thermal conductivity enhancement efficiency of 3D mesh-shape PDMS/carbon fibers composite reached 101.05% under filler loading of 5.2 vol%. In the heat dissipation application of 3D-stacked chips, the highest chip temperature with 3D-PSO composite was 42.14 ℃ lower than that with random composites. This is mainly attributed to the locally aggregated and oriented fillers' microstructure in fluid channels, which contributes to thermal percolation phenomena. The 3D-PSO method exhibits excellent programmable design capabilities to adopt versatile distributions of heat sources, paving a new way to solve the complicated heat dissipation issue in 3D-stacked chips integration application.

Bionic microfluidics is garnering increasing attention due to the superior fluidic performance enabled by biomimetic microstructures. Inspired by the unique structures of young pumpkin stems, we fabricate helicoidally patterned microchannels with precisely controlled morphologies using the projection micro-stereolithography (PμSL)-based 3D printing technique. Our helicoidally patterned microchannels achieve approximately twice the liquid lifting height compared to similarly sized smooth microchannels. This improvement is attributed to the enhanced capillary force. The additional meniscus formed between the helicoidally patterned microstructures significantly contributes to the increased capillary effects. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms of fluidic performance in helicoidally patterned microchannels are theorized using a newly developed equation, which is also employed to optimize the geometric parameters and fluidic performance of the biomimetic helicoidal microchannels. Additionally, our biomimetic helicoidally patterned microchannels facilitate a significant step-lifting phenomenon, mimicking tall trees'transpiration. The fluidic performance of our biomimetic helicoidally patterned microchannels show promise for applications in enhanced liquid lifting, step-lifting, clean-water production, and others.

Neuromorphic devices, inspired by the intricate architecture of the human brain, have garnered recognition for their prodigious computational speed and sophisticated parallel computing capabilities. Vision, the primary mode of external information acquisition in living organisms, has garnered substantial scholarly interest. Notwithstanding numerous studies simulating the retina through optical synapses, their applications remain circumscribed to single-mode perception. Moreover, the pivotal role of temperature, a fundamental regulator of biological activities, has regrettably been relegated to the periphery. To address these limitations, we proffer a neuromorphic device endowed with multimodal perception, grounded in the principles of light-modulated semiconductors. This device seamlessly accomplishes dynamic hybrid visual and thermal multimodal perception, featuring temperature-dependent paired pulse facilitation properties and adaptive storage. Crucially, our meticulous examination of transfer curves, capacitance–voltage (C–V) tests, and noise measurements provides insights into interface and bulk defects, elucidating the physical mechanisms underlying adaptive storage and other functionalities. Additionally, the device demonstrates a variety of synaptic functionalities, including filtering properties, Ebbinghaus curves, and memory applications in image recognition. Surprisingly, the digital recognition rate achieves a remarkable value of 98.8%. These discernments furnish crucial insights for the prospective evolution of intricate neuromorphic systems.

Two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanomaterials have shown great promise for electronic devices, attributed to their metal-resembling conductivity and abundant surface functional groups. However, the utilization of intrinsic property of MXene in memristors remains challenging due to its free electron conducting behavior rather than semiconducting property. Here, a N-fused perylenediimide organic semiconductor (CBIN) with conjugated skeleton and heteroatoms (O, S, N) is designed to successfully actuate the surface modification of MXene. The organic CBIN-decorated MXene demonstrates remarkable bipolar memristive properties, such as low threshold voltages of approximate ±1.4 V, exalted retention time exceeding 104 s, and outstanding environmental stability even after exposure to ultraviolet and x-ray irradiations. Furthermore, the CBIN-MXene hybrid memristive device can mimic synaptic plasticity and holds potential for information encoding as quick response codes and image recognition processing. This study provides efficient guidelines for implementing MXene-based memristors by organic semiconductor modulation and opens up possibilities of extending their functionalities into information encryption and neuromorphic computing applications.