In recent years, flexible strain sensors based on metal cracks have garnered significant interest for their exceptional sensitivity. However, striking a balance between sensitivity and detection range remains a significant challenge, which often limits its wider application. Herein, we introduce an innovative laser transmission pyrolysis technology to fabricate high-performance flexible strain sensors based on (Au) metal cracks with a microchannel array on the PDMS surface. The fabricated flexible strain sensors exhibit high sensitivity, wide detection range, precise strain resolution, fast response and recovery times, and robust durability. Furthermore, this technology has potential applications in microfluidics, microelectromechanical systems, and optical sensing.@en

Short-wave ultraviolet (also called UVC) irradiation is a well-adopted method of viral inactivation due to its ability to damage genetic material. A fundamental problem with the UVC inactivation method is that its mechanism of action on viruses is still unknown at the molecular level. To address this problem, herein we investigate the response mechanism of genome materials to UVC light by means of quantum chemical calculations. The spectral properties of four nucleotides, namely, adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil, are mainly focused on. Meanwhile, the transition state and reaction rate constant of uracil molecules are also considered to demonstrate the difficulty level of adjacent nucleotide reaction without and with UVC irradiation. The results show that the peak wavelengths are 248.7 nm, 226.1 nm (252.7 nm), 248.3 nm, and 205.8 nm (249.2 nm) for adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil nucleotides, respectively. Besides, the reaction rate constants of uracil molecules are 6.419 × 10⁻⁴⁹ s⁻¹ M⁻¹ and 5.436 × 10¹¹ s⁻¹ M⁻¹ for the ground state and excited state, respectively. Their corresponding half-life values are 1.56 × 10⁴⁸ s and 1.84 × 10⁻¹² s. This directly suggests that the molecular reaction between nucleotides is a photochemical process and the reaction without UVC irradiation almost cannot occur.

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Flexible strain sensors based on nanomaterials have sparked a lot of interest in the field of wearable smart electronics. Laser induced graphene (LIG) based sensors in particular stand out due to their straightforward fabrication procedure, three-dimensional porous structures, and exceptional electromechanical capabilities. Recent studies have focused on LIG composites, however, it is still difficult to achieve great sensitivity and excellent linearity in a wide linear working range. Herein, a strain sensor with high sensitivity and good linearity is prepared in this work, which was realized by carbonizing the polyimide film coated with HfSe₂ to obtain three-dimensional porous graphene nanosheets decorated with HfSe₂ (HfSe₂/LIG). After being transferred to the flexible substrate of Ecoflex, it exhibits high stretchability, hydrophobicity and robustness, and obtains excellent electromechanical properties. The HfSe₂/LIG strain sensor demonstrated high sensitivity (gauge factor, GF ≈ 46), a low detection limit (0.02%), good linearity (R² = 0.99) in a large working range (up to 30%), and a quick response time (0.20 s). Additionally, it exhibits good stability and consistent behavior across a large number of strain/release test cycles (>3000 cycles). With these benefits, the sensor can be used to monitor various limb movements (including finger, wrist and neck movements) and minute artery activity, and can generate reliable signals. Therefore, the HfSe₂/LIG-based sensor has enormous potential for use in wearable intelligent electronics and movement monitoring.

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Recent reports focus on the hydrogenation engineering of monolayer boron phosphide and simultaneously explore its promising applications in nanoelectronics. Coupling density functional theory and finite element method, we investigate the bowtie triangle ring microstructure composed of boron phosphide with hydrogenation based on structural and performance analysis. We determine the carrier mobility of hydrogenated boron phosphide, reveal the effect of structural and material parameters on resonance frequencies, and discuss the variation of the electric field at the two tips. The results suggest that the mobilities of electrons for hydrogenated BP monolayer in the armchair and zigzag directions are 0.51 and 94.4 cm2·V−1·s−1, whereas for holes, the values are 136.8 and 175.15 cm2·V−1·s−1. Meanwhile, the transmission spectra of the bowtie triangle ring microstructure can be controlled by adjusting the length of the bowtie triangle ring microstructure and carrier density of hydrogenated BP. With the increasing length, the transmission spectrum has a red-shift and the electric field at the tips of equilateral triangle rings is significantly weakened. Furthermore, the theoretical sensitivity of the BTR structure reaches 100 GHz/RIU, which is sufficient to determine healthy and COVID-19-infected individuals. Our findings may open up new avenues for promising applications in the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19.@en