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Fused deposition modeling 3D printing provides a cost-effective and streamlined method for producing electrochemical sensors, overcoming the challenges associated with material selection, complex fabrication processes, and reproducibility issues. This study introduces an innovative approach utilizing a dual-printer setup to simplify the manufacturing of sensor electrodes. A critical enhancement in this process is the surface modification with reduced graphene oxide (rGO), which not only improves the electrochemical characteristics but also induces a wrinkled structure on the 3D printed surface. These wrinkles significantly increase the surface area, directly boosting the electrode’s electrochemical performance. Comprehensive characterization of the electrode surfaces, both before and after rGO modification, demonstrates a substantial increase in sensitivity, with a fortyfold improvement observed in hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) amperometric measurements. This breakthrough paves the way for advanced applications in 3D printed electrochemical sensors.

 

Polycrystalline yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) ceramic doped with neodymium (Nd), referred to as Nd:YAG, is widely used in solid‐state lasers. However, conventional powder metallurgy methods suffer from expenses, time consumption, and limitations in customizing structures. This study introduces a novel approach for creating Nd:YAG ceramics with 3D free‐form structures from micron (∼70 µm) to centimeter scales. Firstly, sol‐gel synthesis is employed to form photocurable colloidal solutions. Subsequently, by utilizing a home‐built micro‐continuous liquid interface printing process, precursors are printed into 3D poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels containing yttrium, aluminum, and neodymium hydroxides, with a resolution of 5.8 µmpixel⁻¹at a speed of 10 µm s⁻¹. After the hydrogels undergo thermal dehydration, debinding, and sintering, polycrystalline Nd:YAG ceramics featuring distinguishable grains are successfully produced. By optimizing the concentrations of the sintering aids (tetraethyl orthosilicate) and neodymium trichloride (NdCl₃), the resultant samples exhibit satisfactory photoluminescence, emitting light concentrated at 1064 nm when stimulated by a 532 nm laser. Additionally, Nd:YAG ceramics with various 3D geometries (e.g., cone, spiral, and angled pillar) are printed and characterized, which demonstrates the potential for applications, such as laser and amplifier fibers, couplers, and splitters in optical circuits, as well as gain metamaterials or metasurfaces.

 

Graphene-based electrodes have been extensively investigated for supercapacitor applications. However, their ion diffusion efficiency is often hindered by the graphene restacking phenomenon. Even though holey graphene is fabricated to address this issue by providing ion transport channels, those channels could still be blocked by densely stacked graphene nanosheets. To tackle this challenge, this research aims at improving the ion diffusion efficiency of microwave-synthesized holey graphene films by tuning the water interlayer spacer towards the improved supercapacitor performance. By controlling the vacuum filtration during graphene-based electrode fabrication, we obtain dry films with dense packing and wet films with sparse packing. The SEM images reveal that 20 times larger interlayer distance is constructed in the wet film compared to that in the dry counterpart. The holey graphene wet film delivers a specific capacitance of 239 F/g, ~82% enhancement over the dry film (131 F/g). By an integrated experimental and computational study, we quantitatively show that the interlayer spacing in combination with the nanoholes in the basal plane dominates the ion diffusion rate in holey graphene-based electrodes. Our study concludes that novel hierarchical structures should be further considered even in holey graphene thin films to fully exploit the superior advantages of graphene-based supercapacitors.

 

Gyroid structure, a nature inspired cellular architecture, is under extensive exploration recently due to its structure continuity, uniform stress distribution under compression, and stable collapse mechanism during deformation. However, when combining with a functional gradient, the Gyroid structure can perform much different mechanical behavior from its homogeneous counterpart. Herein, bottom-up computational modeling is performed to investigate the mechanics of functional gradient nano-gyroid structure made of copper (Cu). Our work reveals that its mechanical properties degrade with a density that is much slower than those of homogeneous gyroid structure. The scaling of yield strength [Formula: see text] to the relative density [Formula: see text] for the functional gradient gyroid structure is in the factor of 1.5. Moreover, the layer-by-layer collapsing mechanism yields significantly better mechanical energy absorption ability. This study not only leads to insightful understanding of the deformation mechanisms in nonuniform gyroid structures but also promotes the development of the functional gradient cellular materials. 

The capability of stiffness manipulation for materials and structures is essential for tuning motion, saving energy, and delivering high power. However, high-efficiency in situ stiffness manipulation has not yet been successfully achieved despite many studies from different perspectives. Here, curved origami patterns were designed to accomplish in situ stiffness manipulation covering positive, zero, and negative stiffness by activating predefined creases on one curved origami pattern. This elegant design enables in situ stiffness switching in lightweight and space-saving applications, as demonstrated through three robotic-related components. Under a uniform load, the curved origami can provide universal gripping, controlled force transmissibility, and multistage stiffness response. This work illustrates an unexplored and unprecedented capability of curved origami, which opens new applications in robotics for this particular family of origami patterns.