Next‐generation applications, such as flexible electronic devices, sensors, actuators, and soft robotics, require anisotropic functional soft materials with controlled, directional electrical and heat conductivities, mechanical properties, and responsiveness, as well as shape‐morphing capability, complex designability, and wide operational temperature ranges. However, a combination of these functions in any single class of materials has been very rarely seen to date. In this study, a novel class of multi‐anisotropic gels is developed to realize all these functions through a new fabrication route. The gels are synthesized by integrating cellulose with poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) in tripropylene glycol. The prepared gels exhibit high electrical and thermal conductivities of ≈200 S m−1 and ≈1.49 W m−1 K−1, respectively, with exceptional Young's modulus (≈500 MPa) and tensile strength (≈55 MPa), which are much better than the previously reported mechanical properties of PEDOT‐based gels (modulus/strength ≤ 10 MPa). Moreover, the gels exhibit self‐welding ability and maintain their properties for 14 d over a wide temperature range (from −50 to 35 °C), covering almost the entire atmospheric temperature range on Earth surface. It is believed that the developed gels are promising candidates for application in many next‐generation flexible devices, some of which are experimentally demonstrated in this study.
Inspired by the “tun formation” of tardigrades, the hardest species on the planet, a new class of extremotolerant glycerogels with well-modulated polymer structure, functions, and properties was developed. Glycerogels comprising extremoprotected intra- and inter-molecular networks were fabricated by smooth replacement of water in predesigned hydrogels with glycerol, followed by thermal annealing. Four different glycerogels were fabricated as proofs-of-concept using different crosslinkers and polymers; they exhibited a wide range of stiffness, strength, stretchability, and toughness, as well as elasticity, plasticity, hysteresis, self-recoverability, thermal-shock-absorption capability (150°C), and prolonged stability over an extremely wide temperature range (-50–80°C). The self-weldability of glycerogels, stretchable electrical patterns on glycerogels, and glycerogel-based electrolytes and supercapacitors demonstrate the complex 3D designability and facile functionalization capability of glycerogels. The variety of functional glycerogels developed herein offers opportunities to design diverse extremotolerant, flexible, and stretchable devices for bio, electrical/electronic, and soft robotic applications.
Several major transplantation centers have used composite multimodality evaluation for the preoperative evaluation of potential living liver donors. This approach can be time-consuming and, although rare, can cause complications. We aimed to demonstrate the clinical feasibility of our comprehensive preoperative MR protocol for the preoperative assessment of living liver donor candidates instead of composite multimodality evaluation. Thirty-five consecutive living liver donor candidates underwent multiphasic liver CT and comprehensive donor protocol MR examinations for preoperative evaluation in a single large-volume liver transplantation (LT) center. Three blinded abdominal radiologists reviewed the CT and MR images for vascular and biliary variations. The strength of agreement between CT and MR angiography was assessed using the kappa index. The detection rate of biliary anatomical variations was calculated. The sensitivity and specificity for detecting significant steatosis ( > 5%) were calculated. The estimated total volume and right lobe volumes measured by MR volumetry were compared with the corresponding CT volumetry measurements using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Among the 35 patients, 26 underwent LT. The measurement of agreement showed a moderate to substantial agreement between CT and MR angiography interpretations (kappa values, 0.47-0.79; p < 0.001). Combining T2-weighted and T1-weighted MR cholangiography techniques detected all biliary anatomical variations in 9 of the 26 patients. MR-proton density fat fraction showed a sensitivity of 100% (3/3) and a specificity of 91.3% (21/23
We developed extremotolerant glycerogels (GGs) with well-modulated polymer structures, functions, and properties, inspired by the tun formation of tardigrades. GGs comprising extreme protected intra- and intermolecular networks are obtained through a very slow structure building process, which includes the smooth replacement of water in predesigned hydrogels with glycerol and thermal annealing while retaining the structures and functions of the original hydrogels. Four different GGs are fabricated as proofs-of-concept using different crosslinkers and polymers. Although various polyol-based wide-temperature-tolerant gels fabricated by conventional methods fail to demonstrate stabilities at low and high temperature extremes simultaneously, the GGs fabricated by our bioinspired method exhibit long-term stability (approaching one month) over an extremely wide temperature range (−50–80 °C) and thermal-shock-absorption capabilities at 150 °C. Furthermore, our versatile method enables us to program GGs with wide ranges of stiffness, strength, stretchability, and toughness values and elasticity, plasticity, hysteresis, and self-recoverability capabilities. The self-weldability, electrical patternability, and applicability characteristics of the GGs as electrolytes and supercapacitors demonstrate their complex 3D designability and facile functionalization capability aspects. The various functional GGs developed through the proposed method are applicable for the design of diverse extremotolerant, flexible, and stretchable devices for biological, electrical/electronic, and soft robotics applications.
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