Weihong Zeng, Xinrui Ding, Yuan Jin, Bin Liu, Runhao Zeng, Feng Gong, Yan Lou, Lelun Jiang, Hui Li
{"title":"Magnetic soft millirobot with simultaneous locomotion and sensing capability","authors":"Weihong Zeng, Xinrui Ding, Yuan Jin, Bin Liu, Runhao Zeng, Feng Gong, Yan Lou, Lelun Jiang, Hui Li","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00437-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00437-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Soft millirobot has attracted significant attention and demonstrated tremendous potential in human-robot interactions and safety inspections. Locomotion and perception are two crucial features for achieving effective gait and practical applications of robots. Inspired by nature, this research reports a magnetic soft millirobot that integrates locomotion and sensing capacities simultaneously. Microconical matrix with rich and regular surface morphologies are constructed directly inside the millirobot as both multilegged and triboelectric-enhanced sensing structures via cooperation of jet printing and magnetization-induction method with high-speed and high-precision. The robot can both recognize its current body state across various application scenarios and identify terrains through a machine learning strategy. Our work presents a customizable approach for smart millirobots to perform tasks in nonmagnetic structured environments and provides embedded sensing capability for next-generation soft robots.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144290091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Binjie Chen, Zimin Feng, Fang-Zhou Yao, Mao-Hua Zhang, Ke Wang, Yan Wei, Wen Gong, Jürgen Rödel
{"title":"Flexible piezoelectrics: integration of sensing, actuating and energy harvesting","authors":"Binjie Chen, Zimin Feng, Fang-Zhou Yao, Mao-Hua Zhang, Ke Wang, Yan Wei, Wen Gong, Jürgen Rödel","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00432-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00432-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Piezoelectric materials are capable of converting between mechanical and electrical energy, and are suitable for sensing, actuating and energy harvesting. While most conventional piezoelectric materials are brittle solids, flexible piezoelectric materials (FPM) retain functionality even under bending and stretching conditions. This characteristic has garnered increasing attention in recent years, particularly for wearable devices, where the ability to adapt to dynamic human movements is essential. In addition, wearable devices also demand excellent conformability, durability, and adaptability to miniaturization. FPM emerge as a promising solution that meet all these requirements. This review thus aims to offer a comprehensive summary of recent advances in the field of FPM, including piezoelectric polymers, composites, and inorganic flexible films. We introduce and categorize the specific features of these materials and highlight their emerging applications in electronic devices, and comment on the prospect of FPM as well as their potential challenges.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144290092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xiaoqian Li, Lin Yi, Xuemei Yin, Jiafeng Cheng, Qian Xin, Aimin Song
{"title":"Fully screen-printed paper-based ZnO synaptic transistor arrays for visual perception and neuromorphic computing","authors":"Xiaoqian Li, Lin Yi, Xuemei Yin, Jiafeng Cheng, Qian Xin, Aimin Song","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00425-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00425-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Large-area, paper-based ZnO synaptic transistor arrays for visual perception and neuromorphic computing have been fabricated for the first time entirely by screen printing. The channel ink was formulated by dispersing ZnO nanoparticles with a small amount of hydroxyl-rich ethyl cellulose in terpineol, which converted into a semiconducting film at a low temperature of 90 °C. The paper-based transistor arrays exhibited desirable electrical properties, large-area uniformity, environmental stability and biodegradable, making them particularly promising as disposable devices. The printed ZnO synaptic transistors demonstrated exceptional photoelectric synaptic behaviors, including paired-pulse facilitation and depression, high-pass and low-pass filtering, learning, forgetting, relearning, Morse code recognition, and short-term/long-term plasticity, all at a low energy consumption of about 3.7 pJ per synaptic event. Artificial visual learning and information storage capabilities were achieved owing to the persistent photoconductance effect of the printed ZnO films, achieving an accuracy of 91.4% in neuromorphic computing through optoelectronic co-modulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144288502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katharina Matura, Christoph Putz, Sarka Hradilova, Katerina Polakova, Mihai Irimia-Vladu, Maiko Okajima, Tatsuo Kaneko, Martin Kaltenbrunner, Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci, Serpil Tekoglu
{"title":"Algal polysaccharide Sacran-based conductive nanocomposites for ultrathin flexible and biodegradable organic electrochemical transistors","authors":"Katharina Matura, Christoph Putz, Sarka Hradilova, Katerina Polakova, Mihai Irimia-Vladu, Maiko Okajima, Tatsuo Kaneko, Martin Kaltenbrunner, Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci, Serpil Tekoglu","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00436-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00436-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have emerged as essential components in various applications, including bioelectronics, neuromorphics, sensing, and flexible electronics. Recently, efforts have been directed toward developing flexible and sustainable OECTs to enhance their integration into wearable and implantable biomedical devices. In this work, we introduce a novel PEDOT:Sacran bio-nanocomposite as a channel material for flexible and biodegradable OECTs. Sacran, a high-molecular-weight polysaccharide derived from blue-green algae, possesses exceptional ionic conductivity, water retention, and biocompatibility, making it a promising candidate for bioelectronic applications. We successfully fabricated ultrathin and flexible OECTs on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) foils, achieving transconductance values up to 7.4 mS. The devices exhibited stable ion-to-electron transduction after mechanical deformation. The OECTs were further demonstrated on eco-friendly and biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) substrates, achieving a transconductance of 1.6 mS and undergoing enzymatic hydrolysis under controlled conditions. This study highlights the potential of Sacran-based conductive bio-nanocomposites in advancing sustainable bioelectronic devices.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144278575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jeong Hyun Kwon, Yongmin Jeon, Tae-Yun Lee, Young Hyun Son, Hyeongjun Lee, Dong-Hyun Baek, Sun-Woo Lee, Taek-Soo Kim
{"title":"Highly efficient, reliable, and ultraflexible bio-organic light-emitting diode patch","authors":"Jeong Hyun Kwon, Yongmin Jeon, Tae-Yun Lee, Young Hyun Son, Hyeongjun Lee, Dong-Hyun Baek, Sun-Woo Lee, Taek-Soo Kim","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00428-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00428-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Driven by innovations in the form factor of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, the application scope of OLED technology now encompasses the biomedical field, in addition to its existing application domains of mobile phones, televisions, and lighting. This paper introduces an ultrathin, ultraflexible, and high-power bio-OLED patch with perfect waterproofing and an elongation of 2.04% through material and structural design. Furthermore, the OLED patch with a parallel-stacked OLED delivers a high output of 100 mW/cm<sup>2</sup>, achieves a 40% power density improvement compared to glass-based OLEDs using optimized encapsulation, and is suitable for photodynamic therapy owing to its lifetime of 183 h at an intensity of 35 mW/cm<sup>2</sup>. Since OLED patches are required for long-term stable operation in various biomedical applications, we developed an OLED patch with an outcoupling structure using a simple method. The improved OLED patch achieved a 35% increase in light extraction compared to the original OLED patch.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
He Zhu, Cheng Wang, Yican Yang, Hongwei Ma, Xiaoli Fan, Yang Zhang, Ziyi Dai, Rong Cai, Kai Qian
{"title":"High-strength mechanically gradient hydrogels via physical crosslinking for tendon-mimetic tissue repair","authors":"He Zhu, Cheng Wang, Yican Yang, Hongwei Ma, Xiaoli Fan, Yang Zhang, Ziyi Dai, Rong Cai, Kai Qian","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00430-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00430-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The biomimetic materials that replicate the mechanical gradient transitions from muscle to tendon to bone remain a significant challenge in tissue engineering, particularly through simple and environmentally friendly approaches. This mechanical gradient is crucial for applications such as rotator cuff and Achilles tendon repair patches, which prevent stress shielding and ensure uniform stress distribution, addressing the stress concentration issues common in traditional repairs. Here, we present a strategy that achieves high strength even at high water content, enabling programmable modulus/structural gradients with broad applicability. Using rotator cuff tendon repair as a model system, we demonstrate successful in vivo tissue regeneration with integrated real-time sensing capabilities, providing quantitative data for rehabilitation protocols. The hydrogels exhibit precisely controlled regional mechanical properties and seamless interface transitions, mimicking the hierarchical structure of native tissue. This approach not only improves healing outcomes compared to conventional methods but also establishes a quantitative standard for rehabilitation training.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Minwoo Song, Hyoung-Ki Park, Minjin Kim, Gui Won Hwang, Jihun Son, Gyun Ro Kang, Jihyun Lee, Changhyun Pang
{"title":"Skin-adaptive nanofiber-based adhesive electronics with octopus-like 3D suction cups for enhanced transdermal delivery","authors":"Minwoo Song, Hyoung-Ki Park, Minjin Kim, Gui Won Hwang, Jihun Son, Gyun Ro Kang, Jihyun Lee, Changhyun Pang","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00433-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00433-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Transdermal drug delivery (TDD) systems have evolved, with skin electronics emerging as a technology capable of enabling efficient drug administration. However, conventional skin electronics often rely on rigid materials and expensive fabrication processes, limiting flexibility and skin-adhesion. In this study, we developed cellulose nanofiber (CNFs)-based adhesive electronics by integrating a three-dimensional octopus-inspired architecture (OIA) and a conductive layer. The OIA imprinted on CNFs enhanced adhesion by leveraging the synergistic effect of its adhesive structure and the ability to remain stable even after absorbing active ingredient solutions. Unlike conventional fiber-based TDD platforms, the optimized CNFs-OIA retains its architecture, enabling suction-based adhesion to improve skin attachment. To further enhance the TDD efficiency, we integrated a conductive layer into the CNFs-OIA. This conductive interface generates microcurrents that reduce the electrical resistance of the stratum corneum and facilitates the ionization of active ingredients, thereby improving skin penetration.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144237513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhenlong Huang, Tao Chen, Yan Jiang, Rui Zhou, Yizhuo Wang, Junjie Ji, Hongwei Xie, Taisong Pan, Dongpeng Fan, Linlong Liang, Longpeng Yang, Binbin Jiang, Peng Li, Min Gao, Jia Zhu, Guang Yao, Dongfeng Xue, Yuan Lin
{"title":"Microfluidic-enabled three-dimensional stretchable thermoelectrics","authors":"Zhenlong Huang, Tao Chen, Yan Jiang, Rui Zhou, Yizhuo Wang, Junjie Ji, Hongwei Xie, Taisong Pan, Dongpeng Fan, Linlong Liang, Longpeng Yang, Binbin Jiang, Peng Li, Min Gao, Jia Zhu, Guang Yao, Dongfeng Xue, Yuan Lin","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00429-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00429-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Stretchable electronics hold promise but remain limited to low‑power use due to poor heat dissipation. We present a three-dimensional (3D) integration strategy combining elastomeric material modification, 3D printing, and laser etching to fabricate stretchable thermoelectric devices (TEDs) with enhanced refrigeration capabilities. The device features a 3D architecture integrating embedded microfluidics with multilayer thermoelectric networks, providing improved heat exchange capacity suitable for high thermal design power (TDP) requirements. The device achieves ~10 °C environmental and 11 °C on-skin temperature reduction with precise control. Furthermore, by integrating a temperature sensor and control circuit with the 3D TED, a wearable closed-loop system is developed. Benefiting from the improved device performance and advanced control algorithms, this system enables accurate and rapid regulation of skin temperature, demonstrating potential applications in virtual temperature and pain sensation. The integration method proposed here may offer a generalizable approach for advancing high-power stretchable electronics, thereby broadening their range of applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144229089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stretch-based kirigami structure with folding lines for stretchable electronics","authors":"Nagi Nakamura, Eiji Iwase","doi":"10.1038/s41528-025-00409-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41528-025-00409-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We propose a stretch-based kirigami structure with folding lines (referred to as a “kiri-origami” structure) and folding methods of the kiri-origami structure for stretchable electronic devices. The kiri-origami structures have the advantages that rigid electronic elements such as surface mount devices (SMDs) can be mounted and large-number-of-unit structures can be folded up. We achieved the folding-up of the kiri-origami structure using buffer structures and biaxial extension to remove the cause of distortion and effectively utilized tensile force for folding. Undesirable deformations, such as panel warpage and hinge torsion, could not be ignored when using materials and configurations as stretchable electronic substrates and affected the foldability of the kirigami structure. However, our folding method could accurately fold the hinges in this situation. Finally, as a demonstration, we fabricated a kiri-origami LED matrix display with more than 500 hinges. The results indicate that kiri-origami structures are feasible for creating stretchable electronic devices with rigid electronic elements and large-area structures.</p>","PeriodicalId":48528,"journal":{"name":"npj Flexible Electronics","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144229118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}