doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41740-6.
Growing recyclable and healable piezoelectric composites in 3D printed bioinspired structure for protective wearable sensor
Affiliations
- PMID: 37838708
- PMCID: PMC10576793
- DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41740-6
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Growing recyclable and healable piezoelectric composites in 3D printed bioinspired structure for protective wearable sensor
Nat Commun.
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Abstract
Bionic multifunctional structural materials that are lightweight, strong, and perceptible have shown great promise in sports, medicine, and aerospace applications. However, smart monitoring devices with integrated mechanical protection and piezoelectric induction are limited. Herein, we report a strategy to grow the recyclable and healable piezoelectric Rochelle salt crystals in 3D-printed cuttlebone-inspired structures to form a new composite for reinforcement smart monitoring devices. In addition to its remarkable mechanical and piezoelectric performance, the growth mechanisms, the recyclability, the sensitivity, and repairability of the 3D-printed Rochelle salt cuttlebone composite were studied. Furthermore, the versatility of composite has been explored and applied as smart sensor armor for football players and fall alarm knee pads, focusing on incorporated mechanical reinforcement and electrical self-sensing capabilities with data collection of the magnitude and distribution of impact forces, which offers new ideas for the design of next-generation smart monitoring electronics in sports, military, aerospace, and biomedical engineering.
© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no competing interests.
Figures
a Schematic diagram of bio-inspired 3D-printed cuttlefish bone structure and RS crystal growth process (cuttlebone photo scale bar, 40 mm; cuttlebone structure scale bar, 100 µm); b The picture of crystal growth in 3D-printed structure at different times (scale bar: 5 mm); CT scan picture of the sample (scale bar: 5 mm), and EDX elemental analysis of sample (scale bar: 500 µm); c Photos of multiple 3D-printed artificial cuttlebone complex structures, demonstrating the design flexibility of this 3D printing method (scale bar: 5 mm).
a Illustration of the tested 3D-printed-RSC sample electrodes and photos of vertical free fall piezoelectric performance test process using weights (scale bar from left to right, 5 mm, 5 mm, 25 mm); b Piezoelectric FEM simulation of the 3D-printed-RSC sample, simulations were conducted in four different directions of piezoelectric individual RS crystals; c Piezoelectric output at different frequencies corresponding to different force magnitudes; d The output voltage over 8000 cycles cyclic impact test under 2 Hz frequency; e Voltage output and piezoelectric coefficient comparison line for the identical test conditions corresponding to the polymer ratio of different 3D-printed-RSC. Error bars represent standard deviation(n = 10); f Comparison of output voltage and force of 3D-printed-RSC with other structures–.
a FEM simulation of the compressive load of four different structures; b Comparison of compressibility of RS crystal growth in various structures for 24 h; c Comparison of compression properties of different RS crystal growth time inside the 3D-printed cuttlebone structure; d Compression force versus resistance change for various RS crystal growth time inside the 3D-printed cuttlebone structures; e Comparison of stress versus strain of the 3D-printed cuttlebone structures with different RS crystal growth time; f Comparison of fracture strength (KF) and fracture toughness for crack initiation (KIC) of the 3D-printed cuttlebone with different RS crystal growth time. Error bars represent standard deviation (n = 10); Simulations of stress distribution by COMSOL Multiphysics for the 3D-printed-RSC (g) (inset shows SEM images of the related fracture surfaces, scale bar from left to right, 400 µm, 400 µm, 150 µm) and 3D-printed cuttlebone (h) (inset shows microscope photo of the related fracture surface, scale bar 500 µm); i R-curves of the 3D-printed-RSC for different growth time; j Comparison of specific toughness and density of the 3D-printed-RSC with other works (inset shows the comparison of specific strength and specific toughness of the 3D printed-RSC with other works),,,,–.
a Schematic diagram and photos of the process of repairing the broken 3D-printed-RSC sample by dropping the RS solution through a syringe (photos scale bar, 5 mm; microscope photos scale bar, 0.2 mm); b The photos of the process for 3D-printed-RSC recycling (scale bar, 7 mm); c Comparison of the piezoelectric response of the original 3D-printed-RSC samples with samples after recycling and healing; d Compression of force versus resistance change for original, healed, recycled samples, respectively; e Comparison of fracture toughness (KIC) and flexural strength (KF) among original, healed, recycled 3D-printed-RSC samples. Error bars represent standard deviation (n = 10).
a Illustration of testing 3D-printed-RSC smart monitoring armor element electrodes; b Data collection using 5 g and 10 g weights to impact the 3D-printed-RSC smart monitoring armor (scale bar, 10 mm); c Voltage output waveform of the 16 elements corresponding to the impact and (d) the force distribution derived from the voltage analysis by MATLAB; e “SDSU” patterns can be derived from pressure detection distribution using MATLAB (scale bar, 10 mm); f Comparison of damaged smart monitoring armor before and after healing (scale bar, 10 mm). The enlarged images (h) and (i) compare the damaged and healing parts (scale bar, 0.2 mm); g, j Corresponding MATLAB stress element blocks; k Schematic diagram of smart armor recycling (scale bar, 20 mm); l Force distribution MATLAB element blocks shows letter “L” corresponding to piezoelectricity tested by new 3 × 3 smart monitoring armor growing with recycled RS crystal solutions.
a Schematic diagrams and images of knee pad (scale bar, 10 mm), as well as an alarm detection test for knee pad (scale bar, 30 mm); b MATLAB element block distribution and the voltage waveforms of output voltage obtained from smart knee protector fall test; c Smart knee pad induction the data collection of voltage output waveform and MATLAB element block distribution of piezoelectricity for different levels of falls, including mild fall, moderate fall, and severe fall.
