Search Results (305)

Surface engineering strongly influences the performance, reliability, and safety of medical and biomedical devices, yet failures often originate at interfaces rather than in bulk materials alone. This review addresses the fragmented evidence base linking coating selection, interphase design, qualification testing, advanced characterization, and data-driven durability analysis. The objective is to provide an integrative, failure-mode-based framework for implants, reusable instruments, inhalation systems, diagnostics, wearables, and implantable electronics. A narrative synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature in coatings, biomaterials, electrochemistry, reliability, standards, and materials informatics was conducted, with qualitative tables used only when protocols were too heterogeneous for numerical pooling. The review compares physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD/PECVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), sol–gel/organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) hybrids, plasma polymers, parylene, bioactive or antimicrobial surfaces, and electronic encapsulation strategies. The main finding is that no universally superior coating exists; reliable performance depends on matching architecture and characterization to the dominant failure pathway, substrate compliance, geometry, sterilization or physiologic exposure, and the standards-constrained endpoint. The review further shows how electrochemical diagnostics, interfacial mechanics, multiphysics models, survival/reliability statistics, and carefully governed AI workflows can be combined to support service-life prediction and decision-oriented qualification. Full article

Bionic sensors are emerging as powerful analytical platforms driving the development of next-generation detection technologies, particularly for small molecule sensing in complex environmental and biological systems. However, accurate and selective detection of small molecules remains fundamentally challenging due to their low molecular weight, limited structural specificity, and strong interference from complex matrices. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in bionic sensor technologies, focusing on how the integration of synthetic biology, nanomaterials, and artificial intelligence (AI) addresses these limitations. Key biorecognition elements, including enzymes, antibodies, aptamers, and molecularly imprinted polymers, are examined for their suitability in small molecule sensing applications. Advances in nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, and MXenes are discussed in relation to signal transduction enhancement, sensitivity improvement, and device miniaturization. In parallel, the roles of AI and machine learning in signal denoising, adaptive calibration, and molecular fingerprinting for complex datasets are highlighted. Applications in wearable and implantable biosensors, environmental monitoring, and food safety are analyzed, emphasizing real-time detection of metabolites, pollutants, and toxins. Key challenges associated with AI-driven systems, including scalability, cost, data reliability, and ethical concerns, are also discussed. Emerging trends such as hybrid sensing platforms, self-powered biosensors, and secure data integration frameworks are presented as future directions. This review aims to provide a problem-driven perspective on how next-generation bionic sensors can overcome current limitations and enable robust small molecule detection in real-world applications. Full article

The increasing global demand for high-performance, reliable, and sustainable energy storage systems has accelerated the development of supercapacitors as technologies capable of bridging the performance gap between conventional capacitors and batteries. Supercapacitors combine rapid charge–discharge capability, high power density, and exceptional cycle life through charge storage mechanisms based on ion adsorption and fast surface redox reactions at the electrode–electrolyte interface. This review examines the fundamental operating principles, charge storage mechanisms, electrode materials, mechanical and functional properties, fabrication methods, and engineering applications of modern supercapacitors. Carbon-based materials, metal oxides, conducting polymers, MXenes, sulfides, nitrides, borides, and emerging hybrid systems are critically compared in terms of capacitance, energy density, cycling stability, and mechanical robustness. Additionally, recent advances in scalable manufacturing approaches, including thin-film deposition and printing technologies, are discussed alongside key challenges such as limited energy density, interfacial instability, mechanical degradation, electrolyte compatibility, and large-scale processing. By consolidating recent developments across materials science, electrochemistry, and device engineering, this review provides insight into future directions for next-generation high-performance supercapacitor technologies. Full article

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has intensified the demand for hardware systems capable of emulating brain-like information processing with high accuracy, energy efficiency, and reliability. Neuromorphic computing based on memristive artificial synapses has emerged as a promising approach to overcome the limitations of conventional von Neumann architectures. Although inorganic and oxide-based synaptic memristors have been widely explored for neuromorphic systems, they often suffer from poor linearity, asymmetric potentiation/depression behavior, limited conductance states, and device variability, which restrict learning accuracy and scalability. In contrast, polymer-based memristors have gained significant attention owing to their intrinsic advantages, including mechanical flexibility, molecular tunability, controllable electronic/ionic transport, low-temperature processability, and compatibility with large-area fabrication. This review critically examines recent advances in polymer—based memristive materials and devices for achieving linear and symmetric artificial synaptic behavior. Polymer synapses are classified into pure polymer, polymer composite, and polymer-hybrid systems through a mechanism to function framework. Rather than providing a general compilation of organic memristor studies, this review analyzes how polymer chemistry, ion-migration control, trap state distribution, redox activity, electrode selection, active layer thickness, and interface engineering govern conductance update linearity, symmetry, and uniformity. Fundamental switching mechanisms, material classifications, device architectures, key synaptic characteristics, and system-level neuromorphic performance, including pattern-recognition applications, are critically discussed. By explicitly linking material and device design to conductance update fidelity, learning accuracy, training convergence, and pattern-recognition reliability, this review provides practical design guidelines and future perspectives for next-generation polymer-based neuromorphic hardware with improved linearity, symmetry, reliability, and scalability. Full article

Electrochemical sensors have emerged as promising tools for rapid pesticide screening in food and environmental samples because they combine simple instrumentation, fast response, portability, and compatibility with disposable electrodes. This review organizes recent progress through a cross-system framework linking pesticide class, interfacial electrochemical process, and material design. Carbon materials, metal–organic frameworks and their derivatives, metal nanoparticles, metal compounds, conducting polymers, MXene-based composites, and selected emerging materials are compared in terms of enrichment capability, charge-transfer regulation, catalytic amplification, recognition-layer integration, and suitability for real-sample analysis. Emphasis is placed on issues that are often under-discussed in performance-centered surveys, including matrix interference, electrode fouling, batch-to-batch reproducibility, storage stability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Representative examples show that the most useful advances arise not simply from lowering the limit of detection but from improving structure–function understanding and translating interfacial design into robust analytical performance. Future work should prioritize standardized fabrication and benchmarking protocols, in situ and operando identification of active sites and interface evolution, matrix-specific antifouling validation, multiresidue and metabolite analysis, and hybrid portable devices coupled with intelligent readout. Full article

Printable piezoelectric materials are emerging as a cornerstone of next-generation sensing, actuation, and energy harvesting technologies, driven by the need for lightweight, flexible, and digitally manufactured transducers. Conventional ceramic piezoelectrics offer exceptional electromechanical performance but require high-temperature sintering and exhibit intrinsic brittleness, limiting their integration with soft or unconventional substrates. Polymeric piezoelectrics, in contrast, provide mechanical compliance and low-temperature processability yet suffer from lower crystallinity, reduced piezoelectric coefficients, and limited thermal stability. These contrasting characteristics have catalyzed the development of functional piezoelectric inks—ceramic, polymeric, and hybrid formulations engineered for additive manufacturing techniques such as direct ink writing, stereolithography, screen printing, and inkjet printing. This review systematically examines the material compositions, dispersion chemistries, printing requirements, thermal treatment pathways, and poling strategies that govern the performance of printed piezoelectric transducers. By comparing ceramic-based, polymer-based, and hybrid systems, we reveal the fundamental trade-offs between printability, crystallinity, mechanical compliance, and electromechanical response, and map how these trade-offs shape device design across wearable electronics, soft robotics, and structural health monitoring. Finally, we highlight emerging approaches—including surface functionalization, low-temperature crystallization, liquid-phase sintering, and engineered ceramic–polymer interfaces—that offer promising routes to bridge the gap between printability and high piezoelectric performance. Full article

With the rising interest in hydrogen technologies as a pathway toward lower-carbon energy systems, there is a growing need for proton exchange membranes that can operate reliably in the 120–200 °C window. This second part of the review examines mixed phosphate–silicate networks, composites, and hybrid membranes designed to move beyond the limitations of the single-anion glasses discussed in Part I. Rather than listing compositions only, the present analysis is organized around a comparative framework that links network chemistry, hydration management, pore-space morphology, interfacial proton transport, and durability under thermal/humidity cycling. Mixed-anion lattices, sol–gel-derived porous glasses, polymer-assisted interpenetrating networks, ionic-liquid-modified systems, fully inorganic composites, and mechanochemically prepared hybrids are evaluated with respect to conductivity, humidity tolerance, structural stability, and device relevance. Particular attention is paid to strategies that attempt to decouple proton conductivity from simple water uptake by combining acidic-site engineering with mesostructural control. The literature shows that recent progress is real but uneven. Conductivity gains are often achieved through better retention of hydrated proton pathways or acid-rich interphases, yet these benefits remain constrained by pore collapse, acid migration, gas crossover, interfacial losses, or insufficient long-term validation in membrane–electrode assemblies. The review, therefore, closes with a cross-class benchmarking matrix and a synthesis-oriented guide intended to support more critical comparison of future intermediate-temperature membrane designs. Full article

Photodetectors have undergone widespread, gradual application. Correlation detectors with varying properties are used in diverse fields. This review systematically summarizes the principles, properties, and applications of various photoelectric detectors reported in the past five years, compares their similarities and differences, and further discusses their respective advantages and disadvantages, applicable scenarios, and development prospects. The review covers self-powered detectors, which are very convenient and widely used in consumer electronics and portable wearable devices, and discusses the structural design and photoelectric performance of devices based on P–N junctions, perovskites, silicon–polymer hybrid composites, graphene, hybrid graphene/PbS quantum dot systems, and other novel material architectures. Compound photoelectric detectors enable multifunctional integration and intellectualization. At the same time, their high sensitivity and broad-spectrum response can expand the detection wavelength range to cover the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared bands and enhance the detection of weak optical signals. Finally, this review summarizes current challenges, including cumbersome fabrication processes, susceptibility of detection stability to environmental interference, and limited functionality, and focuses on recent advances in various photodetectors, where breakthroughs are expected. Full article

Printed biosensors have attracted increasing attention as platforms for rapid, low-cost, and portable diagnostics because they can be fabricated on flexible or rigid substrates using scalable printing techniques. Their performance is strongly influenced by both the printing process and the materials employed, since factors such as ink rheology, particle dispersion, interfacial behavior, and post-processing conditions directly affect device architecture, sensing performance, and manufacturing reliability. This review summarizes recent advances in printed biosensors from the combined perspectives of printing technologies and functional materials. Commonly employed printing techniques, including inkjet, screen, aerosol jet, and roll-to-roll gravure printing, are discussed with emphasis on their processing characteristics and material requirements. The review also examines key material platforms used in printed biosensors, including carbon-based nanomaterials, metal oxides, metal nanoparticles, conductive polymers, dielectric materials, and hybrid composites, highlighting their roles in electrical conductivity, catalytic activity, biomolecule immobilization, mechanical flexibility, and overall analytical performance. Finally, current challenges and emerging research directions are outlined with respect to ink stability, post-processing strategies, sensor reliability, manufacturability, and practical translation. Overall, this review emphasizes that the development of high-performance printed biosensors depends on the synergistic integration of rational material design with optimized printing strategies. Full article

The demand for flexible and wearable electronics has intensified the need for conformable, high-performance, and self-sustaining power sources. Flexible supercapacitors (FSCs) and flexible batteries (e.g., lithium-ion and lithium–sulfur) are promising owing to their high-power density, long cycle life, and mechanical flexibility. A transformative solution lies in integrating these storage devices with mechanical energy harvesters, particularly triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), to create autonomous self-charging power systems (SCPSs). TENGs exhibit high output, versatile operational modes, material flexibility, and efficient energy harvesting from body movements. This review provides an overview of the recent advances in flexible energy storage technologies, encompassing carbon-based materials, MXenes, polymers, metal oxides, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), and their hybrid architectures. It discusses the synergistic integration of these storage devices with TENGs to realize multifunctional SCPSs. It also highlights the fundamental design principles of flexible devices, the critical interplay of materials and architecture, and the journey towards monolithic system integration. The review also underscores the importance of managing harvesters’ pulsed output for efficient storage. Finally, a critical analysis of the challenges, including the energy density–flexibility compromise, environmental stability, and safety, is presented, alongside a forward-looking perspective on commercialization pathways for these technologies to power the next generation of autonomous wearable and sustainable electronic systems. Full article

Thermochromic materials (TCMs) have attracted increasing attention as passive adaptive materials for solar regulation in buildings because they can reversibly change their optical properties in response to temperature without external energy input. Owing to this temperature-triggered optical modulation, they have been widely investigated for smart windows, temperature indicators, anti-counterfeiting labels, and flexible devices. In recent years, representative systems such as VO₂-based materials, polymers, hydrogels, and organic–inorganic hybrids have shown steady progress, especially in transition-temperature tuning, spectral selectivity, and cycling stability. This review summarizes the main classes of TCMs as well as their color-changing mechanisms, preparation methods, and performance-regulation strategies, with an emphasis on building energy efficiency and passive solar regulation. Typical applications and current bottlenecks are also discussed, including response speed, durability, environmental compatibility, and large-scale manufacturing. Finally, several practical directions for future work are highlighted, particularly low-cost synthesis, multifunctional integration, and application-oriented material design. Full article

Hybrid metal–polymer components are used in many industries, such as in aerospace, automotives, and electronics, due to the possibility of reducing the weight of the final part while maintaining mechanical properties comparable to components made entirely of metal. Conventional 3D printing processes do not enable the direct fabrication of hybrid structures consisting of solid metal and polymer parts due to the significant differences in the processing temperatures of both materials. A solution to this problem is the integration of two processes, electrodeposition and photopolymerization, which allow fabrication to be carried out at room temperature. This paper presents preparatory studies aimed at developing a new 3D printing technology that uses the simultaneous application of electrodeposition and photopolymerization to manufacture hybrid metal–polymer elements in a single, integrated 3D printing process. Here, a hybrid metal–polymer element is defined as a component composed of at least two bonded parts, including at least one metal part fabricated by electrodeposition and at least one polymer part produced by photopolymerization. Thus, it is not a polymer component merely coated with an electrodeposited metal layer, but a true hybrid structure consisting of functional metallic and polymeric parts. Such components can be manufactured using the world’s first hybrid 3D printer, which integrates electrodeposition and photopolymerization to produce metal–polymer hybrid parts within a single 3D printing process (the device has been submitted to the Polish Patent Office). However, its design and operating principle are beyond the scope of this paper. The presented research focuses on initial study of selected feedstock materials for this printer, namely photocurable resins and electroplating baths. Since the entire hybrid printing process occurs in an electroplating bath environment, studies of these materials for 3D printing under such conditions were essential. This work includes a screening study of photocurable formulations with respect to rheological properties, 3D printing tests in a model copper electroplating bath, and selection of a suitable bath brightener to maximize the quality (fine grain size, homogeneous grain distribution) of additively deposited copper layers. The study was conducted using copper electrodeposition and acrylate resin photopolymerization as model processes for evaluating the proposed hybrid metal–polymer 3D printing technology. Finally, the most suitable feedstock materials for producing metal–polymer hybrid parts via the proposed 3D printing method were selected. Full article

Bio-based, biodegradable, and renewable polymers offer a promising alternative to traditional synthetic polymers derived from petroleum or other non-renewable resources. However, their use is limited by suboptimal properties and high costs. Incorporating sustainable reinforcements into the polymer matrix significantly improves biopolymer performance while preserving key properties, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. Bio-based polymeric composites have emerged as a crucial category of biopolymers, playing a key role in advancing a sustainable, circular economy. This review provides an updated overview of bio-based polymer composites and nanocomposites, focusing on reinforcement strategies using natural nanofillers and engineered nanoparticles. We summarize key synthesis and processing methods, discuss structure–property relationships, and highlight recent advances in applications such as food packaging, biomedical devices, energy systems, environmental remediation, 3D printing, and supercapacitors. Polymer nanocomposites are versatile, with their performance depending on the type, size, and interactions between the fillers and the polymer matrix. Progress in metallic, ceramic, carbon-based, natural, and hybrid fillers has improved their properties. Using bio-based polymers and renewable fillers supports sustainability. Natural nanofillers derived from renewable sources and industrial byproducts offer a sustainable approach to developing high-performance, biodegradable nanocomposites. Smart nanocomposites can react to external stimuli by integrating specialized fillers that enhance their mechanical and mobility properties. Shape memory nanocomposites can be remotely activated—using heat, electricity, magnets, or light—enabling advanced applications. Finally, we address major challenges and outline future directions for scalable, circular-material solutions, drawing on perspectives from the circular economy and life cycle assessment (LCA). Full article

The management of complex acute and chronic wounds remains a formidable challenge in modern medicine, underscoring the urgent need for advanced therapeutic strategies that accelerate healing, prevent infection, and promote functional tissue regeneration. Electrospun nanofibers have attracted considerable attention in the biomedical field due to their extracellular matrix-like architecture, high surface area, interconnected porosity, and tunable physicochemical composition, which drive advances in wound regeneration, tissue engineering, and biopolymer-based therapeutics. In wound healing, nanofibrous dressings composed of natural polymers such as chitosan, gelatin, collagen, and cellulose promote cell attachment and proliferation, support angiogenesis, and enable infection control while delivering bioactive agents, thereby addressing significant challenges related to inflammation, biocompatibility, and antimicrobial resistance. In tissue engineering, aligned and hierarchically organized scaffolds fabricated from biopolymers such as collagen, gelatin, chitosan, and cellulose enhance the guided orientation of cells, differentiation, and functional regeneration of neural, musculoskeletal, vascular, and skin tissues. In addition to their conventional regenerative applications, recent studies have demonstrated that electrospun biopolymer nanofibers can be used in multifunctional biomedical platforms, including smart and stimuli-responsive systems for drug delivery, biosensing, regenerative interfaces, and wearable medical technologies. The integrated constructs that incorporate diagnostic or therapeutic functionalities, hybrid fabrication approaches that combine 3D printing with electrospinning, and intelligent biopolymer frameworks that enable telemedicine, real-time physiological monitoring, and personalized regenerative therapies offer new opportunities for developing improved biomedical systems. Overall, these advances position electrospun nanofiber systems as promising biomaterials for next-generation biomedical innovation. This review summarizes recent progress in tissue-engineered scaffolds, wound dressings, fabrication strategies for integrative therapeutics, and wearable devices with transformative potential for biomedical applications. Finally, the review addresses significant challenges related to scalability and clinical translation. It offers perspectives on future directions, including the integration of artificial intelligence and the regeneration of complex skin appendages, which will shape the next generation of nanofiber-based wound-healing therapies. Full article

Biomaterials are engineered to interact with biological systems for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes. Among them, natural biomaterials offer important advantages over many synthetic polymers, including intrinsic biocompatibility, non-toxicity and biodegradability. Silk fibroin, a fibrous protein derived mainly from Bombyx mori cocoons, has re-emerged as a particularly versatile platform because it combines favourable mechanical, thermal, electrical and optical properties with aqueous processing and tuneable degradation. In this review, we first summarise the key structural, physicochemical and functional properties of regenerated silk fibroin, including its mechanical behaviour, thermal stability, dielectric and piezoelectric response, optical transparency and low autofluorescence. We then describe how extraction and regeneration protocols are used to produce defined material formats—fibres and nanofibrous mats, porous 3D scaffolds and hydrogels, sub-micron particles, thin films and microstructured devices—and outline major functionalisation strategies, ranging from physical blending and encapsulation to covalent chemistry, genetic engineering of recombinant silk variants, and enzyme-mediated conjugation approaches. Building on this foundation, we critically examine biomedical applications of silk fibroin with a particular emphasis on (i) hybrid silk–fluorophore systems for bioimaging and biosensing (nanodiamonds, quantum dots and organic dyes), (ii) optical fibre, wearable and edible sensors for health and food monitoring, (iii) wound dressings and wound-sensing platforms, and (iv) tissue engineering scaffolds and drug-delivery depots. Finally, we discuss current limitations, including process variability, the trade-offs introduced by blending and cross-linking, and the challenges posed by non-degradable inorganic fillers and clinical translation. Together, these perspectives highlight silk fibroin’s potential and constraints as a multifunctional biomaterial for next-generation biomedical devices and theranostic systems. Full article