Innovation by Collaboration between Startups and SMEs in Switzerland

Open innovation is key to the success of many companies. It is based on the intelligent use of all possible resources, including collaborations with parties outside the firm. Although it is well known that large companies foster and use startups as experiments in their innovation process, little is known about similar activities with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim of this article is to report the results of research done in Switzerland on startups and SMEs. It reveals that most startups know that they must co-operate with other companies from the very beginning of their existence, and that both sides have difficulties in performing a systematic search for possible partners. Hence, to encourage the collaborative development of innovative solutions, we propose building bridges between startups and SMEs, making the identification of possible users of new technologies (SMEs) more accessible to startups, as well as making startups more identifiable by SMEs

High-Content Optical Codes for Protecting Rapid Diagnostic Tests from Counterfeiting

Warnings and reports on counterfeit diagnostic devices are released several times a year by regulators and public health agencies. Unfortunately, mishandling, altering, and counterfeiting point-of-care diagnostics (POCDs) and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) is lucrative, relatively simple and can lead to devastating consequences. Here, we demonstrate how to implement optical security codes in silicon- and nitrocellulose-based flow paths for device authentication using a smartphone. The codes are created by inkjet spotting inks directly on nitrocellulose or on micropillars. Codes containing up to 32 elements per mm² and 8 colors can encode as many as 10⁴⁵ combinations. Codes on silicon micropillars can be erased by setting a continuous flow path across the entire array of code elements or for nitrocellulose by simply wicking a liquid across the code. Static or labile code elements can further be formed on nitrocellulose to create a hidden code using poly­(ethylene glycol) (PEG) or glycerol additives to the inks. More advanced codes having a specific deletion sequence can also be created in silicon microfluidic devices using an array of passive routing nodes, which activate in a particular, programmable sequence. Such codes are simple to fabricate, easy to view, and efficient in coding information; they can be ideally used in combination with information on a package to protect diagnostic devices from counterfeiting

High-Content Optical Codes for Protecting Rapid Diagnostic Tests from Counterfeiting

Warnings and reports on counterfeit diagnostic devices are released several times a year by regulators and public health agencies. Unfortunately, mishandling, altering, and counterfeiting point-of-care diagnostics (POCDs) and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) is lucrative, relatively simple and can lead to devastating consequences. Here, we demonstrate how to implement optical security codes in silicon- and nitrocellulose-based flow paths for device authentication using a smartphone. The codes are created by inkjet spotting inks directly on nitrocellulose or on micropillars. Codes containing up to 32 elements per mm² and 8 colors can encode as many as 10⁴⁵ combinations. Codes on silicon micropillars can be erased by setting a continuous flow path across the entire array of code elements or for nitrocellulose by simply wicking a liquid across the code. Static or labile code elements can further be formed on nitrocellulose to create a hidden code using poly­(ethylene glycol) (PEG) or glycerol additives to the inks. More advanced codes having a specific deletion sequence can also be created in silicon microfluidic devices using an array of passive routing nodes, which activate in a particular, programmable sequence. Such codes are simple to fabricate, easy to view, and efficient in coding information; they can be ideally used in combination with information on a package to protect diagnostic devices from counterfeiting

High-Content Optical Codes for Protecting Rapid Diagnostic Tests from Counterfeiting

Warnings and reports on counterfeit diagnostic devices are released several times a year by regulators and public health agencies. Unfortunately, mishandling, altering, and counterfeiting point-of-care diagnostics (POCDs) and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) is lucrative, relatively simple and can lead to devastating consequences. Here, we demonstrate how to implement optical security codes in silicon- and nitrocellulose-based flow paths for device authentication using a smartphone. The codes are created by inkjet spotting inks directly on nitrocellulose or on micropillars. Codes containing up to 32 elements per mm² and 8 colors can encode as many as 10⁴⁵ combinations. Codes on silicon micropillars can be erased by setting a continuous flow path across the entire array of code elements or for nitrocellulose by simply wicking a liquid across the code. Static or labile code elements can further be formed on nitrocellulose to create a hidden code using poly­(ethylene glycol) (PEG) or glycerol additives to the inks. More advanced codes having a specific deletion sequence can also be created in silicon microfluidic devices using an array of passive routing nodes, which activate in a particular, programmable sequence. Such codes are simple to fabricate, easy to view, and efficient in coding information; they can be ideally used in combination with information on a package to protect diagnostic devices from counterfeiting

Colloidal Nanocrystal-Based BaTiO₃ Xerogels as Green Bodies: Effect of Drying and Sintering at Low Temperatures on Pore Structure and Microstructures

Although aerogels prepared by the colloidal assembly of nanoparticles are a rapidly emerging class of highly porous and low-density materials, their ambient dried counterparts, namely xerogels, have hardly been explored. Here we report the use of nanoparticle-based BaTiO₃ xerogels as green bodies, which provide a versatile route to ceramic materials under the minimization of organic additives with a significant reduction of the calcination temperature compared to that of conventional powder sintering. The structural changes of the xerogels are investigated during ambient drying by carefully analyzing the microstructure at different drying stages. For this purpose, the shrinkage was arrested by a supercritical drying step under full preservation of the intermediate microstructure, giving unprecedented insight into the structural changes during ambient drying of a nanoparticle-based gel. In a first step, the large macropores shrink because of capillary forces, followed by the collapse of residual mesopores until a dense xerogel is obtained. The whole process is accompanied by a volume shrinkage of 97% and a drop in surface area from 300 to 220 m² g^–1. Finally, the xerogels are sintered, causing another shrinkage of up to 8% with a slight increase in the average pore and crystal sizes. At temperatures higher than 700 °C, an unexpected phase transition to BaTi₂O₅ is observed