The highly reactive nature of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the basis for widespread use in environmental and health-related fields. Conventionally, there are only two kinds of catalysts used for ROS generation: photocatalysts and piezocatalysts. However, their usage has been limited due to various environmental and physical factors. To address this problem, herein, we report thermoelectric materials, such as Bi2Te3, Sb2Te3, and PbTe, as thermocatalysts which can produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) under a small surrounding temperature difference. Being the most prevalent environmental factors in daily life, temperature and related thermal effects have tremendous potential for practical applications. To increase the practicality in everyday life, bismuth telluride nanoplates (Bi2Te3 NPs), serving as an efficient thermocatalyst, are coated on a carbon fiber fabric (Bi2Te3@CFF) to develop a thermocatalytic filter with antibacterial function. Temperature difference induced H2O2 generation by thermocatalysts results in the oxidative damage of bacteria, which makes thermocatalysts highly promising for disinfection applications. Antibacterial activity as high as 95% is achieved only by the treatment of low-temperature difference cycles. The current work highlights the horizon-shifting impacts of thermoelectric materials for real-time purification and antibacterial applications.

The abundance of water on Earth provides a large window to utilize the mechanical energy within river currents and ocean waves. In this regard, hydropower harvesting through solid-liquid contact electrification...

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An overview of enhancement strategies for highly sensitive ECL-based sensing of bioanalytes enabling early detection of cancer.

Interruption of the wound healing process due to pathogenic infection remains a major health care challenge. The existing methods for wound management require power sources that hinder their utilization outside of clinical settings. Here, a next generation of wearable self-powered wound dressing is developed, which can be activated by diverse stimuli from the patient’s body and provide on-demand treatment for both normal and infected wounds. The highly tunable dressing is composed of thermocatalytic bismuth telluride nanoplates (Bi 2 Te 3 NPs) functionalized onto carbon fiber fabric electrodes and triggered by the surrounding temperature difference to controllably generate hydrogen peroxide to effectively inhibit bacterial growth at the wound site. The integrated electrodes are connected to a wearable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to provide electrical stimulation for accelerated wound closure by enhancing cellular proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. The reported self-powered dressing holds great potential in facilitating personalized and user-friendly wound care with improved healing outcomes.

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Inadequate energy for the growing population has been a major concern in the recent years. Though efforts are being made to alleviate this problem, the crisis still exists. For this reason, the focus of the scientific community is directed towards self-powered technology. As technology is getting smart, smart sensors are also gaining attention. Human beings are getting more and more concerned about their health and opt for the best personalized health care devices. Body temperature is a vital sign which reflects the health condition and thermoregulation in human beings. For continuous monitoring of body temperature, devices which are compact, lightweight and self-powered is therefore desirable. So, we design a highly flexible, ultra-thin and conformable temperature sensor which just uses heat from the body as a power source and senses the body temperature precisely. The sensor works on thermoelectric effect and can detect any surface temperature from room temperature to 100 ˚C and also room temperature to 0 ˚C. For a temperature gradient of 75 ˚C the sensor gives and output voltage of 0.4 mV and can even detect a human finger touch with an accurate body temperature. Such flexible and thin device can be used in day to day monitoring of human beings enabling it to be used as a wearable temperature sensor, hot or cold surface temperature measurement which may create injury if touched or as a biomedical device for the measurement of hyperthermia or even monitoring the health of pets.