Search for: All records | NSF Public Access

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

Photosensitized Electrospun Nanofibrous Filters for Capturing and Killing Airborne Coronaviruses under Visible Light Irradiation

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00885

Shen, Hongchen ; Zhou, Zhe ; Wang, Haihuan ; Chen, Jiahao ; Zhang, Mengyang ; Han, Minghao ; Shen, Yun ; Shuai, Danmeng ( April 2022 , Environmental Science & Technology)

Full Text Available
Development of Electrospun Nanofibrous Filters for Controlling Coronavirus Aerosols

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00337

Shen, Hongchen ; Zhou, Zhe ; Wang, Haihuan ; Zhang, Mengyang ; Han, Minghao ; Durkin, David P. ; Shuai, Danmeng ; Shen, Yun ( July 2021 , Environmental Science & Technology Letters)

Full Text Available
Aerodynamics-assisted, efficient and scalable kirigami fog collectors

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25764-4

Li, Jing ; Ran, Ranjiangshang ; Wang, Haihuan ; Wang, Yuchen ; Chen, You ; Niu, Shichao ; Arratia, Paulo E. ; Yang, Shu ( September 2021 , Nature Communications)

Abstract
To address the global water shortage crisis, one of the promising solutions is to collect freshwater from the environmental resources such as fog. However, the efficiency of conventional fog collectors remains low due to the viscous drag of fog-laden wind deflected around the collecting surface. Here, we show that the three-dimensional and centimetrickirigamistructures can control the wind flow, forming quasi-stable counter-rotating vortices. The vortices regulate the trajectories of incoming fog clusters and eject extensive droplets to the substrate. As the characteristic structural length is increased to the size of vortices, we greatly reduce the dependence of fog collection on the structural delicacy. Together with gravity-directed gathering by the folds, thekirigamifog collector yields a collection efficiency of 16.1% at a low wind speed of 0.8 m/s and is robust against surface characteristics. The collection efficiency is maintained even on a 1 m²collector in an outdoor setting.

more » « less
Shaping and Locomotion of Soft Robots Using Filament Actuators Made from Liquid Crystal Elastomer–Carbon Nanotube Composites

https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.201900163

Liu, Jiaqi ; Gao, Yuchong ; Wang, Haihuan ; Poling-Skutvik, Ryan ; Osuji, Chinedum O. ; Yang, Shu ( February 2020 , Advanced Intelligent Systems)

Soft robots, with their agile locomotion and responsiveness to environment, have attracted great interest in recent years. Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), known for their reversible and anisotropic deformation, are promising candidates as embedded intelligent actuators in soft robots. So far, most studies on LCEs have focused on achieving complex deformation in thin films over centimeter‐scale areas with relatively small specific energy densities. Herein, using an extrusion process, meter‐long LCE composite filaments that are responsive to both infrared light and electrical fields are fabricated. In the composite filaments, a small quantity of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) is incorporated to facilitate the alignment of liquid crystal molecules along the long axis of the filament. Up to 2 wt% carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is introduced into a LCE matrix without aggregation, which in turn greatly improves the mechanical property of filaments and their actuation speed, where the Young's modulus along the long axis reaches 40 MPa, the electrothermal response time is within 10 s. The maximum work capacity is 38 J kg⁻¹with 2 wt% CNT loading. Finally, shape transformation and locomotion in several soft robotics systems achieved by the dual‐responsive LCE/CNT composite filament actuators are demonstrated.

more » « less