Review on the recent advances of gel polymer electrolytes in flexible energy storage devices and their additional functions.

Fitting the human body for different purposes such as flexible electronics and functional garments can be a challenging task. Pressure garments are used to treat hypertrophic scars (HSs)pr. However, they have often failed to provide consistent pressure during joint movement. To increase the therapy efficacy, the application is proposed of 3D printed thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) with an auxetic architecture insert for pressure therapy. Auxetic material can undergo an out‐of‐plane bending into a synclastic curvature, which can easily accommodate the contours of the human body. In this study, the synclastic effect of the auxetic structure under out‐of‐plane bending is illustrated through finite element analysis (FEA) first. Next, the formability, structural deformation, and auxetic response of re‐entrant (RE) and double‐arrowhead (DAH) auxetic structures when loading by a spherical surface in out‐of‐plane direction are unprecedentedly evaluated experimentally and numerically. It can be observed the internal angle of auxetic structure plays an important role regarding shape formability. Nevertheless, the result of wear trial reveals this design facilitates a stable level of pressure during the body motion which promotes the recovery of HS. It is believed the characterized result of auxetic architectures not only contribute to HS therapy, but also any type of biomedical devices.

Hypertrophic scars (HS) are considered to be the greatest unmet challenge in wound and burn rehabilitation. The most common treatment for HS is pressure therapy, but pressure garments may not be able to exert adequate pressure onto HS due to the complexity of the human body. However, the development of three-dimensional (3D) scanning and direct digital manufacturing technologies has facilitated the customized placement of additively manufactured silicone gel onto fabric as a component of the pressure therapy garment. This study provides an introduction on a novel and customized fabrication approach to treat HS and discusses the mechanical properties of 3D printed fabric reinforced with a silicone composite. For further demonstration of the suggested HS therapy with customized silicone insert, silicone inserts for the finger webs and HS were additively manufactured onto the fabric. Through the pressure evaluation by Pliance X system, it proved that silicone insert increases the pressure exerted to the HS. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the additively manufactured fabric silicone composites were characterized. The findings suggest that as compared with single viscosity print materials, the adhesive force of the additively manufactured silicone and fabric showed a remarkable improvement of 600% when print materials with different viscosities were applied onto elevated fabric

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