3D Fabrication of Fully Iron Magnetic Microrobots

Biocompatibility and high responsiveness to magnetic fields are fundamental requisites to translate magnetic small‐scale robots into clinical applications. The magnetic element iron exhibits the highest saturation magnetization and magnetic susceptibility while exhibiting excellent biocompatibility characteristics. Here, a process to reliably fabricate iron microrobots by means of template‐assisted electrodeposition in 3D‐printed micromolds is presented. The 3D molds are fabricated using a modified two‐photon absorption configuration, which overcomes previous limitations such as the use of transparent substrates, low writing speeds, and limited depth of field. By optimizing the geometrical parameters of the 3D molds, metallic structures with complex features can be fabricated. Fe microrollers and microswimmers are realized that demonstrate motion at ≈20 body lengths per second, perform 3D motion in viscous environments, and overcome higher flow velocities than those of “conventional 3D printed helical microswimmers.” The cytotoxicity of these microrobots is assessed by culturing them with human colorectal cancer (HCT116) cells for four days, demonstrating their good biocompatibility characteristics. Finally, preliminary results regarding the degradation of iron structures in simulated gastric acid liquid are provided.     

Harnessing Photochemical Shrinkage in Direct Laser Writing for Shape Morphing of Polymer Sheets

Structures that change their shape in response to external stimuli unfold possibilities for more efficient and versatile production of 3D objects. Direct laser writing (DLW) is a technique based on two‐photon polymerization that allows the fabrication of microstructures with complex 3D geometries. Here, it is shown that polymerization shrinkage in DLW can be utilized to create structures with locally controllable residual stresses that enable programmable, self‐bending behavior. To demonstrate this concept, planar and 3D‐structured sheets are preprogrammed to evolve into bio‐inspired shapes (lotus flowers and shark skins). The fundamental mechanisms that control the self‐bending behavior are identified and tested with microscale experiments. Based on the findings, an analytical model is introduced to quantitatively predict bending curvatures of the fabricated sheets. The proposed method enables simple fabrication of objects with complex geometries and precisely controllable shape morphing potential, while drastically reducing the required fabrication times for producing 3D, hierarchical microstructures over large areas in the order of square centimeters.     

Visually Imperceptible Liquid‐Metal Circuits for Transparent,Stretchable Electronics with Direct Laser Writing

A material architecture and laser‐based microfabrication technique is introduced to produce electrically conductive films (sheet resistance = 2.95 Ω sq^?1; resistivity = 1.77 × 10^?6 Ω m) that are soft, elastic (strain limit >100%), and optically transparent. The films are composed of a grid‐like array of visually imperceptible liquid‐metal (LM) lines on a clear elastomer. Unlike previous efforts in transparent LM circuitry, the current approach enables fully imperceptible electronics that have not only high optical transmittance (>85% at 550 nm) but are also invisible under typical lighting conditions and reading distances. This unique combination of properties is enabled with a laser writing technique that results in LM grid patterns with a line width and pitch as small as 4.5 and 100 µm, respectively—yielding grid‐like wiring that has adequate conductivity for digital functionality but is also well below the threshold for visual perception. The electrical, mechanical, electromechanical, and optomechanical properties of the films are characterized and it is found that high conductivity and transparency are preserved at tensile strains of ≈100%. To demonstrate their effectiveness for emerging applications in transparent displays and sensing electronics, the material architecture is incorporated into a couple of illustrative use cases related to chemical hazard warning.     

Additive Manufacturing of Nanostructures That Are Delicate,Complex, and Smaller than Ever

Additive manufacturing with two‐photon polymerization (TPP) has opened new opportunities for the rapid fabrication of 3D structures with sub‐micrometer resolution, but there are still many fabrication constraints associated with this technique. This study details a postprocessing method utilizing oxygen‐plasma etching to increase the capabilities of TPP. Underutilized precision in the typical fabrication process allows this subtractive technique to dramatically reduce the minimum achievable feature size. Moreover, since the postprocessing occurs in a dry environment, high aspect ratio features that cannot survive the typical fabrication route can also be achieved. Finally, it is shown that the technique also provides a pathway to realize structures that otherwise are too delicate to be fabricated with TPP, as it enables to introduce temporary support material that can be removed with the plasma. As such, the proposed approach grants access to a massively expanded design domain, providing new capabilities that are long sought in many fields, including optics, biology, robotics, and solid mechanics.     

Photoinduced Plasticity in Cross‐Linked Liquid Crystalline Networks

Photoactivated reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)‐based dynamic covalent chemistry is incorporated into liquid crystalline networks (LCNs) to facilitate spatiotemporal control of alignment, domain structure, and birefringence. The RAFT‐based bond exchange process, which leads to stress relaxation, is used in a variety of conditions, to enable the LCN to achieve a near‐equilibrium structure and orientation upon irradiation. Once formed, and in the absence of subsequent triggering of the RAFT process, the (dis)order in the LCN and its associated birefringence are evidenced at all temperatures. Using this approach, the birefringence, including the formation of spatially patterned birefringent elements and surface‐active topographical features, is selectively tuned by adjusting the light dose, temperature, and cross‐linking density.     

Direct Laser Writing of Graphene Made from Chemical Vapor Deposition for Flexible,Integratable Micro‐Supercapacitors with Ultrahigh Power Output

High‐performance yet flexible micro‐supercapacitors (MSCs) hold great promise as miniaturized power sources for increasing demand of integrated electronic devices. Herein, this study demonstrates a scalable fabrication of multilayered graphene‐based MSCs (MG‐MSCs), by direct laser writing (DLW) of stacked graphene films made from industry‐scale chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Combining the dry transfer of multilayered CVD graphene films, DLW allows a highly efficient fabrication of large‐areal MSCs with exceptional flexibility, diverse planar geometry, and capability of customer‐designed integration. The MG‐MSCs exhibit simultaneously ultrahigh energy density of 23 mWh cm^?3 and power density of 1860 W cm^?3 in an ionogel electrolyte. Notably, such MG‐MSCs demonstrate an outstanding flexible alternating current line‐filtering performance in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/H₂SO₄ hydrogel electrolyte, indicated by a phase angle of ?76.2° at 120 Hz and a resistance–capacitance constant of 0.54 ms, due to the efficient ion transport coupled with the excellent electric conductance of the planar MG microelectrodes. MG–polyaniline (MG‐PANI) hybrid MSCs fabricated by DLW of MG‐PANI hybrid films show an optimized capacitance of 3.8 mF cm^?2 in PVA/H₂SO₄ hydrogel electrolyte; an integrated device comprising MG‐MSCs line filtering, MG‐PANI MSCs, and pressure/gas sensors is demonstrated.