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In nature, structural and functional materials often form programmed three-dimensional (3D) assembly to perform daily functions, inspiring researchers to engineer multifunctional 3D structures. Despite much progress, a general method to fabricate and assemble a broad range of materials into functional 3D objects remains limited. Herein, to bridge the gap, we demonstrate a freeform multimaterial assembly process (FMAP) by integrating 3D printing (fused filament fabrication (FFF), direct ink writing (DIW)) with freeform laser induction (FLI). 3D printing performs the 3D structural material assembly, while FLI fabricates the functional materials in predesigned 3D space by synergistic, programmed control. This paper showcases the versatility of FMAP in spatially fabricating various types of functional materials (metals, semiconductors) within 3D structures for applications in crossbar circuits for LED display, a strain sensor for multifunctional springs and haptic manipulators, a UV sensor, a 3D electromagnet as a magnetic encoder, capacitive sensors for human machine interface, and an integrated microfluidic reactor with a built-in Joule heater for nanomaterial synthesis. This success underscores the potential of FMAP to redefine 3D printing and FLI for programmed multimaterial assembly. 

Frieze groups are discrete subgroups of the full group of isometries of a flat strip. We investigate here the dynamics of specific architected materials generated by acting with a frieze group on a collection of self-coupling seed resonators. We demonstrate that, under unrestricted reconfigurations of the internal structures of the seed resonators, the dynamical matrices of the materials generate the full self-adjoint sector of the stabilized group C*-algebra of the frieze group. As a consequence, in applications where the positions, orientations and internal structures of the seed resonators are adiabatically modified, the spectral bands of the dynamical matrices carry a complete set of topological invariants that are fully accounted by the K-theory of the mentioned algebra. By resolving the generators of the K-theory, we produce the model dynamical matrices that carry the elementary topological charges, which we implement with systems of plate resonators to showcase several applications in spectral engineering. The paper is written in an expository style. 

Elastic surface waves pumping is realized by a smart pillar-type metasurface. 

The skin exhibits nonlinear mechanics, which is initially soft and stiffens rapidly as being stretched to prevent large deformation‐induced injuries. Developing skin‐interfaced bioelectronics with skin‐inspired nonlinear mechanical behavior, together with multiple other desired features (breathable, antibacterial, and sticky), is desirable yet challenging. Herein, this study reports the design, fabrication, and biomedical application of porous mesh bioelectronics that can simultaneously achieve these features. On the one hand, porous serpentine meshes of polyimide (PI) are designed and fabricated under the guidance of theoretical simulations to provide skin‐like nonlinear mechanics and high breathability. On the other hand, ultrasoft, sticky, and antibacterial polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is developed through epsilon polylysine (ε‐PL) modifications, which are currently lacking in the field. Here,ε‐PL‐modified PDMS is spray‐coated on PI meshes to form the core–shell structures without blocking their pores to offer ultrasoft, sticky, and antibacterial skin interfaces. And rationally designed porous hybrid meshes can not only retain skin‐like nonlinear mechanical properties but also enable the integration of both soft and hard bioelectronic components for various healthcare applications. As the exemplar example, this study integrates soft silver nanowires (AgNWs) based electrophysiological sensors and rigid commercial accelerometers on multifunctional porous meshes for concurrently monitoring heart electrical and mechanical functions to provide comprehensive information on the evolving heart status. 

Achieving sound attenuation across a broad frequency range while maintaining adequate ventilation remains a significant challenge in acoustic engineering, as there exists a rigid trade-off between attenuation ability and ventilation. In this Letter, we propose a double-layered microperforated meta-shells to serve as broadband acoustic ventilation barrier. Multiple scattering theory is first employed to characterize sound attenuation performance of the proposed design in terms of both sound absorption and transmission loss, which is not reported before. Experimental result demonstrates a good enhancement of absorption due to the insertion of inner shell with a specific perforation rate of micro cores. The mechanism can be attributed to the inter-cell coupling, which is further utilized to devise a different configuration by wrapping the meta-shell with porous sponge. It is found that adding an extra layer of sponge can further improve the low-frequency attenuation performance. The proposed broadband sound barrier with effective ventilation can find potential applications in architectural acoustics and office noise insulation. 

This study aimed to explore lignin as a naturally occurring aromatic precursor for the synthesis of LIG and further fabrication of ultrasensitive strain sensors for the detection of small deformations. One-step direct laser writing (DLW) induced high quality porous graphene, so called laser induced graphene (LIG), from kraft lignin under the conditions optimized for laser power, focus distance, and lignin loading. An electrode based on the resulting LIG was facilely fabricated by transferring LIG onto an elastomeric substrate ( i.e. , Dragon Skin™). The novel LIG transfer was facilitated by spin coating followed by water lifting, leading to the full retention of porous graphene onto the elastomeric substrate. The strain sensor was shown to be highly sensitive to small human body motions and tiny deformations caused by vibrations. It had a working range of up to 14% strain with a gauge factor of 960 and showed high stability as evidenced by repetitive signals over 10 000 cycles at 4% strain. The sensor was also successfully demonstrated for detecting human speaking, breath, seismocardiography (SCG), and movement of pulse and eye. Overall, the lignin-derived LIG can serve as excellent piezoresistive materials for wearable, stretchable, and ultrasensitive strain sensors with applications in human body motion monitoring and sound-related applications.