Biomaterials capable of transmitting signals over longer distances than those in rigid electronics can open new opportunities for humanity by mimicking the way tissues propagate information. For seamless mirroring of the human body, they also have to display conformability to its curvilinear architecture, as well as, reproducing native‐like mechanical and electrical properties combined with the ability to self‐heal on demand like native organs and tissues. Along these lines, a multifunctional composite is developed by mixing silk fibroin and reduced graphene oxide. The material is coined “CareGum” and capitalizes on a phenolic glue to facilitate sacrificial and hierarchical hydrogen bonds. The hierarchal bonding scheme gives rise to high mechanical toughness, record‐breaking elongation capacity of ≈25 000%, excellent conformability to arbitrary and complex surfaces, 3D printability, a tenfold increase in electrical conductivity, and a fourfold increase in Young's modulus compared to its pristine counterpart. By taking advantage of these unique properties, a durable and self‐healing bionic glove is developed for hand gesture sensing and sign translation. Indeed, CareGum is a new advanced material with promising applications in fields like cyborganics, bionics, soft robotics, human–machine interfaces, 3D‐printed electronics, and flexible bioelectronics.

Abstract-This paper presents the design, modelling and control of a three-port (TPC) isolated dc-dc converter based on interleaved-boost-full-bridge with pulse-width-modulation and phase-shift control for hybrid renewable energy systems. In the proposed topology, the switches are driven by phase-shifted PWM signals, where both phase angle and duty cycle are controlled variables. The power flow between the two inputs is controlled through the duty cycle, whereas the output voltage can be regulated effectively through the phase-shift. The primary side MOSFETs can achieve zero-voltage switching (ZVS) operation without additional circuitry. Additionally, due to the ac output inductor, the secondary side diodes can operate under zerocurrent switching (ZCS) conditions. In this work, the operation principles of the converter are analyzed and the critical design considerations are discussed. The dynamic behavior of the proposed ac inductor based TPC is investigated by performing state-space modelling. Moreover, the derived mathematical models are validated by simulation and measurements. In order to verify the validity of the theoretical analysis, design and power decoupling control scheme, a prototype is constructed and tested under the various modes, depending on the availability of the renewable energy source and the load consumption. The experimental results show that the two decoupled control variables achieve effective regulation of the power flow among the three ports.Index Terms-Three-port converter, state-space modelling, renewable energy, energy storage, phase-shift and duty cycle control.

Abstract-The ongoing demand for smaller and lighter power supplies is driving the motivation to increase the switching frequencies of power converters. Drastic increases however come along with new challenges, namely the increase of switching losses in all components. The application of power circuits used in radio frequency transmission equipment helps to overcome those. However those circuits were not designed to meet the same requirements as power converters. This paper summarizes the contributions in recent years in application of very high frequency (VHF) technologies in power electronics, shows results of the recent advances and describes the remaining challenges. The presented results include a self-oscillating gate-drive, air core inductor optimizations, an offline LED driver with a power density of 8.9 W/cm 3 and a 120 MHz, 9 W DC powered LED driver with 89 % efficiency as well as a bidirectional VHF converter. The challenges to be solved before VHF converters can be used effectively in industrial products are within those three categories: components, circuit architectures and reliability testing.

Proteins present an ecofriendly alternative to many of the synthetic components currently used in electronics. They can therefore in combination with flexibility and electroactivity uncover a range of new opportunities in the field of flexible and green electronics. In this study, silk‐based ionic conductors are turned into stable thin films by embedding them with 2D nanoclay platelets. More specifically, this material is utilized to develop a flexible and ecofriendly motion‐sensitive touchscreen device. The display‐like sensor can readily transmit light, is easy to recycle and can monitor the motion of almost any part of the human body. It also displays a significantly lower sheet resistance during bending and stretching regimes than the values typically reported for conventional metallic‐based conductors, and remains fully operational after mechanical endurance testing. Moreover, it can operate at high frequencies in the kilohertz (kHz) range under both normal and bending modes. Notably, our new technology is available through a simple one‐step manufacturing technique and can therefore easily be extended to large‐scale fabrication of electronic devices.

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Today's consumer electronics are made from nonrenewable and toxic components. They are also rigid, bulky, and manufactured in an energy-inefficient manner via CO 2 -generating routes. Though petroleum-based polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalate can address the rigidity issue, they have a large carbon footprint and generate harmful waste. Scalable routes for manufacturing electronics that are both flexible and ecofriendly (Fleco) could address the challenges in the field. Ideally, such substrates must incorporate into electronics without compromising device performance. In this work, we demonstrate that a new type of wood-based [nanocellulose (NC)] material made via nanosilicate (NS) reinforcement can yield flexible electronics that can bend and roll without loss of electrical function. Specifically, the NSs interact electrostatically with NC to reinforce thermal and mechanical properties. For instance, films containing 34 wt % of NS displayed an increased young's modulus (1.5 times), thermal stability (290 → 310 °C), and a low coefficient of thermal expansion (40 ppm/K). These films can also easily be separated and renewed into new devices through simple and low-energy processes. Moreover, we used very cheap and environmentally friendly NC from American Value Added Pulping (AVAP) technology, American Process, and therefore, the manufacturing cost of our NS-reinforced NC paper is much cheaper ($0.016 per dm −2 ) than that of conventional NC-based substrates. Looking forward, the methodology highlighted herein is highly attractive as it can unlock the secrets of Fleco electronics and transform otherwise bulky, rigid, and "difficult-to-process" rigid circuits into more aesthetic and flexible ones while simultaneously bringing relief to an already-overburdened ecosystem.

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Abstract-This paper presents an efficiency optimization approach for a high voltage bidirectional flyback dc-dc converter. The main goal is to optimize the converter for driving a capacitive actuator, which must be charged and discharged from 0 V to 2.5 kV dc and vice versa, supplied from a 24 V dc supply. The energy efficiency is optimized using a proposed new automatic winding layout ( Magnitude of negative flux density at the beginning of a switching cycle during charge process (T) ΔB Peak-to-peak flux density of the current excitation (T) Manusctipt