Magnetoelectric Effect: Principles and Applications in Biology and Medicine– a Review

Magnetoelectric (ME) effect experimentally discovered about 60 years ago remains one of the promising research fields with the main applications in microelectronics and sensors. However, its applications to biology and medicine are still in their infancy. For the diagnosis and treatment of diseases at the intracellular level, it is necessary to develop a maximally non-invasive way of local stimulation of individual neurons, navigation, and distribution of biomolecules in damaged cells with relatively high efficiency and adequate spatial and temporal resolution. Recently developed ME materials (composites), which combine elastically coupled piezoelectric (PE) and magnetostrictive (MS) phases, have been shown to yield very strong ME effects even at room temperature. This makes them a promising toolbox for solving many problems of modern medicine. The main ME materials, processing technologies, as well as most prospective biomedical applications will be overviewed, and modern trends in using ME materials for future therapies, wireless power transfer, and optogenetics will be considered. © 2021 The Author(s).This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, refs. UIDB/50011/2020 and UIDP/50011/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES. Part of this work was funded by national funds (OE), through FCT – Fundaç~ao para a Ci^encia e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5, and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19. The financial support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation is acknowledged (grant agreements №075-15-2021-588 from 1.06.2021)

Tailoring bombyx mori silk as multifuctional material for advanced applications.

288 p.Materials support human development. Among the available materials, polymers are nowadays essential and practically omnipresent because of their unrivalled properties. Unfortunately, polymers are synthesized from oil, and they tend to accumulate in nature, which represents a serious environmental impact.To minimize these damages, materials science suggests replacing synthetic polymers with bio-based materials. To promote the use of these more sustainable materials, the objective of the work has been to demonstrate the real applicability of bio-based materials, and more specifically Silk Fibroin (SF), a protein obtained from Bombyx mori (silkworm) cocoons. This protein displays unique physical-chemical properties that make it an interesting substrate for the development of new materials with advanced properties.Two main fields of application have been selected in this work for SF: i) electronics (active composites for sensors and actuators) and ii) porous structures for biomedicine, energy, and environment.For electronics, SF has been combined with i) carbon nanotubes (CNT) to obtain force sensors with piezoresistive responses (PR) of ~ 4 MPa-1 at pressures of 0.11 MPa; ii) with silver nanowires (SNW) to obtain PR of 26 GPa-1 when the pressure is between 0.2 and 0.4 MPa. Also, SF/SNW nanocomposites show optical transparency at SNW loads above 3%; iii) with cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CFO) to obtain magnetic actuators with a magnetization value of ~ 10 emu·g¿1 and coercivity of almost 4 kOe, (20 wt. % CFO); and iv) with ionic liquids (IL) to obtain bending actuators with bending responses of ~ 0.5 by applying low voltages (3-5 V).SF has been processed also for the development of porous structures by i) electrospinning, to obtain scaffolds that when are combined with CFO particles, stimulate the bone cells development; ii) by salt leaching; to obtain Li-ion battery separators that lead to battery performance of 89,3 y 131,3 mAh·g¿1, for 2C and C/8 cycles respectively and iii) by gas foaming, gelation and freeze-drying, to obtain samples with porosity values above 94% and aqueous Cr adsorption capacities up to 3 mg/g.Bc Materials: Basque Center for materials applications & nanostructure

Tailoring bombyx mori silk as multifuctional material for advanced applications.

288 p.Materials support human development. Among the available materials, polymers are nowadays essential and practically omnipresent because of their unrivalled properties. Unfortunately, polymers are synthesized from oil, and they tend to accumulate in nature, which represents a serious environmental impact.To minimize these damages, materials science suggests replacing synthetic polymers with bio-based materials. To promote the use of these more sustainable materials, the objective of the work has been to demonstrate the real applicability of bio-based materials, and more specifically Silk Fibroin (SF), a protein obtained from Bombyx mori (silkworm) cocoons. This protein displays unique physical-chemical properties that make it an interesting substrate for the development of new materials with advanced properties.Two main fields of application have been selected in this work for SF: i) electronics (active composites for sensors and actuators) and ii) porous structures for biomedicine, energy, and environment.For electronics, SF has been combined with i) carbon nanotubes (CNT) to obtain force sensors with piezoresistive responses (PR) of ~ 4 MPa-1 at pressures of 0.11 MPa; ii) with silver nanowires (SNW) to obtain PR of 26 GPa-1 when the pressure is between 0.2 and 0.4 MPa. Also, SF/SNW nanocomposites show optical transparency at SNW loads above 3%; iii) with cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CFO) to obtain magnetic actuators with a magnetization value of ~ 10 emu·g¿1 and coercivity of almost 4 kOe, (20 wt. % CFO); and iv) with ionic liquids (IL) to obtain bending actuators with bending responses of ~ 0.5 by applying low voltages (3-5 V).SF has been processed also for the development of porous structures by i) electrospinning, to obtain scaffolds that when are combined with CFO particles, stimulate the bone cells development; ii) by salt leaching; to obtain Li-ion battery separators that lead to battery performance of 89,3 y 131,3 mAh·g¿1, for 2C and C/8 cycles respectively and iii) by gas foaming, gelation and freeze-drying, to obtain samples with porosity values above 94% and aqueous Cr adsorption capacities up to 3 mg/g.Bc Materials: Basque Center for materials applications & nanostructure

Magnetic Hybrid-Materials

Externally tunable properties allow for new applications of suspensions of micro- and nanoparticles in sensors and actuators in technical and medical applications. By means of easy to generate and control magnetic fields, fluids inside of matrices are studied. This monnograph delivers the latest insigths into multi-scale modelling, manufacturing and application of those magnetic hybrid materials

Magnetic Hybrid-Materials

Externally tunable properties allow for new applications of suspensions of micro- and nanoparticles in sensors and actuators in technical and medical applications. By means of easy to generate and control magnetic fields, fluids inside of matrices are studied. This monnograph delivers the latest insigths into multi-scale modelling, manufacturing and application of those magnetic hybrid materials