Wearable sensors are increasingly finding their way into applications of kinesthetic sensing, personal health monitoring, and smart prosthetics/robotics. A graphene-based composite fiber sensor with a "compression spring" structure is fabricated, featuring the ability of detecting multiple kinds of deformation. This fiber sensor is integrated into wearable sensors for monitoring human activities and intricate movements of robotics successfully.

Hydrogels are promising starting materials for biomimetic soft robots as they are intrinsically soft and hold properties analogous to nature’s organic parts. However, the restrictive mold-casting and post-assembly fabrication alongside mechanical fragility impedes the development of hydrogel-based soft robots. Herein, we harness biocompatible alginate as a rheological modifier to manufacture 3D freeform architectures of both chemically and physically cross-linked hydrogels using the direct-ink-write (DIW) printing. The intrinsically hydrophilic polymer network of alginate allows the preservation of the targeted functions of the host hydrogels, accompanied by enhanced mechanical toughness. The integration of free structures and available functionalities from diversified hydrogel family renders an enriched design platform for bioinspired fluidic and stimulus-activated robotic prototypes from an artificial mobile tentacle, a bioengineered robotic heart with beating–transporting functions, and an artificial tendril with phototropic motion. The design strategy expands the capabilities of hydrogels in realizing geometrical versatility, mechanical tunability, and actuation complexity for biocompatible soft robots.

Thermal interface materials (TIMs) are of ever-rising importance with the development of modern microelectronic devices. However, traditional TIMs exhibit low thermal conductivity even at high loading fractions. The use of high-aspect-ratio material is beneficial to achieve low percolation threshold for nanocomposites. In this work, single crystalline copper nanowires with large aspect ratio were used as filling materials for the first time. A thermal conductivity of 2.46 W/mK was obtained at an ultralow loading fraction, ∼0.9 vol %, which was enhanced by 1350% compared with plain matrix. Such an excellent performance makes copper nanowires attractive fillers for high-performance TIMs.

Textile electronics are poised to revolutionize future wearable applications due to their wearing comfort and programmable nature. Many promising thermoelectric wearables have been extensively investigated for green energy harvesting and pervasive sensors connectivity. However, the practical applications of the TE textile are still hindered by the current laborious p/n junctions assembly of limited scale and mechanical compliance. Here we develop a gelation extrusion strategy that demonstrates the viability of digitalized manufacturing of continuous p/n TE fibers at high scalability and process efficiency. With such alternating p/n-type TE fibers, multifunctional textiles are successfully woven to realize energy harvesting on curved surface, multi-pixel touch panel for writing and communication. Moreover, modularized TE garments are worn on a robotic arm to fulfill diverse active and localized tasks. Such scalable TE fiber fabrication not only brings new inspiration for flexible devices, but also sets the stage for a wide implementation of multifunctional textile-electronics.