Oscillate Boiling from Electrical Microheaters

Oscillate boiling offers excellent heat transfer at temperatures above the Leidenfrost temperature. Here we realize an electrical microheater with an integrated thermal probe and resolve the thermal cycle during the high-frequency bubble oscillations. Thermal rates of $10^8\,$K/s were found indicating its applicability for compact and rapid heat transfer from micro electrical devices

Nanoparticles-Modified Chemical Sensor Fabricated on a Flexible Polymer Substrate for Cadmium(II) Detection

This paper presents the development of a chemical sensor which was microfabricated on top of liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate. As a result of the unique material properties of LCP, the sensor showed favorable flexibility as well as operational reliability. These features demonstrate potential for integration of the sensor into automated sensing vehicles to achieve real-time detection. The sensor consists of a gold working electrode, a silver/silver chloride reference electrode, and a gold counter electrode. The working electrode of the sensor was further modified with bismuth nanoparticles and Nafion. The modified sensor exhibited a significantly enhanced sensing capability toward cadmium metal ion (Cd(II)) in comparison to the unmodified one. The effects of deposition potential and deposition time on the sensing performance of the sensor were extensively investigated through electrochemical experiments. With optimized parameters, the sensor was capable of quantifying Cd(II) in the concentration range of 0.3 to 25 µg/L. The minimum Cd(II) concentration detected by the sensor was 0.06 µg/L under quiescent deposition. The obtained results suggest that the proposed sensor has a great potential to be deployed for in-situ Cd(II) determination. Keywords: flexible chemical sensor; liquid crystal polymer; bismuth nanoparticles; anodic stripping voltammetry; cadmium detectio

Biomimetic hydrogel-CNT network induced enhancement of fluid-structure interactions for ultrasensitive nanosensors

Flexible, self-powered, miniaturized, ultrasensitive flow sensors are in high demand for human motion detection, myoelectric prosthesis, biomedical robots, and health-monitoring devices. This paper reports a biomimetic nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) flow sensor featuring a PVDF nanofiber sensing membrane with a hydrogel infused, vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) bundle that mechanically interacts with the flow. The hydrogel-VACNT structure mimics the cupula structure in biological flow sensors and gives the NEMS flow sensor ultrahigh sensitivity via a material-induced drag force enhancement mechanism. Through hydrodynamic experimental flow characterization, this work investigates the contributions of the mechanical and structural properties of the hydrogel in offering a sensing performance superior to that of conventional sensors. The ultrahigh sensitivity of the developed sensor enabled the detection of minute flows generated during human motion and micro-droplet propagation. The novel fabrication strategies and combination of materials used in the biomimetic NEMS sensor fabrication may guide the development of several wearable, flexible, and self-powered nanosensors in the future.Singapore. Prime Minister’s Offic

Cupula-Inspired Hyaluronic Acid-Based Hydrogel Encapsulation to Form Biomimetic MEMS Flow Sensors

Blind cavefishes are known to detect objects through hydrodynamic vision enabled by arrays of biological flow sensors called neuromasts. This work demonstrates the development of a MEMS artificial neuromast sensor that features a 3D polymer hair cell that extends into the ambient flow. The hair cell is monolithically fabricated at the center of a 2 µm thick silicon membrane that is photo-patterned with a full-bridge bias circuit. Ambient flow variations exert a drag force on the hair cell, which causes a displacement of the sensing membrane. This in turn leads to the resistance imbalance in the bridge circuit generating a voltage output. Inspired by the biological neuromast, a biomimetic synthetic hydrogel cupula is incorporated on the hair cell. The morphology, swelling behavior, porosity and mechanical properties of the hyaluronic acid hydrogel are characterized through rheology and nanoindentation techniques. The sensitivity enhancement in the sensor output due to the material and mechanical contributions of the micro-porous hydrogel cupula is investigated through experiments.Singapore. National Research Foundation (Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise programme

Optimized Polyvinylidene Fluoride Nanofiber Webs for Flexible Energy Harvesters

This work reports the process optimization of various electrospinning parameters to fabricate polyvinylidene fluoride based piezoelectric flexible nanofiber webs for passive sensing and energy harvesting applications. Process parameters like electrospinning voltage and drum speed have been taken into consideration while optimizing the electrospun nanofiber webs for maximizing their piezoelectric property. Finally, the optimized recipe is used to fabricate a flexible PVDF nanofiber energy harvester to demonstrate the energy harvesting capability of such nanofiber webs

Scanning tunneling microscopy study of the possible topological surface states in BiTeCl

Recently, the non-centrosymmetric bismuth tellurohalides such as BiTeCl are being studied as possible candidates of topological insulators. While some photoemission studies showed that BiTeCl is an inversion asymmetric topological insulator, others showed that it is a normal semiconductor with Rashba splitting. Meanwhile, first-principle calculationsfailed to confirm the existence of topological surface states in BiTeCl so far. Therefore, the topological nature of BiTeCl requires further investigation. Here we report low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy study on the surface states of BiTeCl single crystals. On the tellurium-terminated surfaces with low defect density, strong evidences for topological surface states are found in the quasi-particle interference patterns generated by the scattering of these states, both in the anisotropy of the scattering vectors and the fast decay of the interference near step edges. Meanwhile, on samples with much higher defect densities, we observed surface states that behave differently. Our results help to resolve the current controversy on the topological nature of BiTeCl.Comment: 13pages,4figure

A New Self-Powered Sensor Using the Radial Field Piezoelectric Diaphragm in d ₃₃ Mode for Detecting Underwater Disturbances

This paper presents a new sensor based on a radial field bulk piezoelectric diaphragm to provide energy-efficient and high-performance situational sensing for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This sensor is self-powered, does not need an external power supply, and works efficiently in d33 mode by using inter-circulating electrodes to release the radial in-plane poling. Finite element analysis was conducted to estimate the sensor behavior. Sensor prototypes were fabricated by microfabrication technology. The dynamic behaviors of the piezoelectric diaphragm were examined by the impedance spectrum. By imitating the underwater disturbance and generating the oscillatory flow velocities with a vibrating sphere, the performance of the sensor in detecting the oscillatory flow was tested. Experimental results show that the sensitivity of the sensor is up to 1.16 mV/(mm/s), and the detectable oscillatory flow velocity is as low as 4 mm/s. Further, this sensor can work well under a disturbance with low frequency. The present work provides a good application prospect for the underwater sensing of AUVs

From Biological Cilia to Artificial Flow Sensors: Biomimetic Soft Polymer Nanosensors with High Sensing Performance

We report the development of a new class of miniature all-polymer flow sensors that closely mimic the intricate morphology of the mechanosensory ciliary bundles in biological hair cells. An artificial ciliary bundle is achieved by fabricating bundled polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micro-pillars with graded heights and electrospinning polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric nanofiber tip links. The piezoelectric nature of a single nanofiber tip link is confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Rheology and nanoindentation experiments are used to ensure that the viscous properties of the hyaluronic acid (HA)-based hydrogel are close to the biological cupula. A dome-shaped HA hydrogel cupula that encapsulates the artificial hair cell bundle is formed through precision drop-casting and swelling processes. Fluid drag force actuates the hydrogel cupula and deflects the micro-pillar bundle, stretching the nanofibers and generating electric charges. Functioning with principles analogous to the hair bundles, the sensors achieve a sensitivity and threshold detection limit of 300 mV/(m/s) and 8 μm/s, respectively. These self-powered, sensitive, flexible, biocompatibale and miniaturized sensors can find extensive applications in navigation and maneuvering of underwater robots, artificial hearing systems, biomedical and microfluidic devices.Singapore. National Research Foundation (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology)Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) (Innovation Grants ING148079- ENG

Facile molten salt synthesis of zirconia whiskers

ZrO2 whiskers have been synthesized by a facile molten salt method using ZrOCl2 · 8 H2O and Na3PO4 · 12 H2O as the zirconium source and molten salt, respectively. Differential thermal and thermogravimetric analyses, X-ray diffraction analysis, field emission scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope were employed to characterize the heating process of the precursor mixture, phase composition of the as-synthesized ZrO2 whiskers and the effect of reaction temperature on the synthesis of ZrO2 whiskers. The results show that the ZrO2 whiskers synthesized at 900 °C have an average aspect ratio of 30 and preferentially grow along [010] direction. The formation of sodium zirconium phosphate [Na9-4xZrx(PO4)3] (x = 1, 2) and the reaction temperature play an important role in the growth of ZrO2 whiskers. This work also suggests an effective route for mass production of high quality ZrO2 whiskers