Xiaobing Cai

Ultrathin low-frequency sound absorbing panels based on coplanar spiral tubes or coplanar Helmholtz resonators

Performance of classic sound absorbing materials strictly depends on their thickness, with a minimum of one-quarter wavelength to reach full sound absorption. In this paper, we report ultrathin sound absorbing panels that completely absorb sound energy with a thickness around one percent of wavelength. The strategy is to bend and coil up quarter-wavelength sound damping tubes into 2D coplanar ones, and embed them into a matrix to form sound absorbing panel. Samples have been designed and fabricated by 3D printing. Efficacies of sound absorption by these panels were validated through good agreement between theoretical analysis and experimental measurements.

Initiator-Integrated 3D Printing Enables the Formation of Complex Metallic Architectures

Three-dimensional printing was used to fabricate various metallic structures by directly integrating a Br-containing vinyl-terminated initiator into the 3D resin followed by surface-initiated atomic-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and subsequent electroless plating. Cu- and Ni-coated complex structures, such as microlattices, hollow balls, and even Eiffel towers, were prepared. Moreover, the method is also capable of fabricating ultralight cellular metals with desired structures by simply etching the polymer template away. By combining the merits of 3D printing in structure design with those of ATRP in surface modification and polymer-assisted ELP of metals, this universal, robust, and cost-effective approach has largely extended the capability of 3D printing and will make 3D printing technology more practical in areas of electronics, acoustic absorption, thermal insulation, catalyst supports, and others.

i3DP, a robust 3D printing approach enabling genetic post-printing surface modification

Initiator integrated 3D printing, namely i3DP, was developed by incorporating a vinyl-terminated initiator into UV curable resin to make functional structural materials that enable genetic post-printing surface-initiated modification. Taking advantage of 3D printing and surface-initiated ATRP, the feasible i3DP makes 3D printed complex architectures possible for nearly any desired surface modification for various applications, for example, even pouring water into a sieve was readily achieved.

Direct Pen Writing of Adhesive Particle-Free Ultrahigh Silver Salt-Loaded Composite Ink for Stretchable Circuits

In this article, we describe a writable particle-free ink for fast fabrication of highly conductive stretchable circuits. The composite ink mainly consists of soluble silver salt and adhesive rubber. Low toxic ketone was employed as the main solvent. Attributed to ultrahigh solubility of silver salt in short-chain ketone and salt-assisted dissolution of rubber, the ink can be prepared into particle-free transparent solution. As-prepared ink has a good chemical stability and can be directly filled into ballpoint pens and use to write on different substrates to form well adhesive silver salt-based composite written traces as needed. As a result of high silver salt loading, the trace can be converted into highly conductive silver nanoparticle-based composites after in situ reduction. Because of the introduction of adhesive elastomeric rubber, the as-formed conductive composite written trace can not only maintain good adhesion to various substrates but also show good conductivity under various deformations. The conductivity of written traces can be enhanced by repeated writing-reduction cycles. Different patterns can be fabricated by either direct handwriting or hand-copying. As proof-of-concept demonstrations, a typical handwriting heart-like circuit was fabricated to show its capability to work under different deformations, and a pressure-sensitive switch was also manufactured to present pressure-dependent change of resistance.

Solvent-transfer assisted photolithography of high-density and high-aspect-ratio superhydrophobic micropillar arrays

An effective and facile route of solvent-transfer assisted photolithography (STAP) was explored to successfully fabricate uprightly standing high-density (HD) and high-aspect-ratio (HAR) micropillar arrays with excellent superhydrophobicity. The collapse problem that frequently occurs with the HAR micro or nano-structures was simply resolved by the combined optimization of an SU-8 UV photolithographic process that aimed to maximize the stiffness of HAR pillars and minimize the capillary effect by fully optimizing UV exposure, resist baking and the final step of rinse and drying. The SU-8 micropillar array with high density close to 29% and varied aspect ratio up to 13:1 can be fabricated in an equivalently effective but less time-consuming and simpler way compared to conventional techniques of supercritical point drying and freeze drying. As a result, the SU-8 surfaces structured with the upright standing HD and HAR micropillars created by the combined optimization of the STAP process were demonstrated to be of superhydrophobicity with a contact angle up to 162° and those pillars array with varied AR above 5:1 assumed a slightly varied level of superhydrophobicity.

Macroporous Double-Network Hydrogel for High-Efficiency Solar Steam Generation Under 1 sun Illumination

Solar steam generation is one of the most promising solar-energy-harvesting technologies to address the issue of water shortage. Despite intensive efforts to develop high-efficiency solar steam generation devices, challenges remain in terms of the relatively low solar thermal efficiency, complicated fabrications, high cost, and difficulty in scaling up. Herein, a double-network hydrogel with a porous structure (p-PEGDA-PANi) is demonstrated for the first time as a flexible, recyclable, and efficient photothermal platform for low-cost and scalable solar steam generation. As a novel photothermal platform, the p-PEGDA-PANi involves all necessary properties of efficient broadband solar absorption, exceptional hydrophilicity, low heat conductivity, and porous structure for high-efficiency solar steam generation. As a result, the hydrogel-based solar steam generator exhibits a maximum solar thermal efficiency of 91.5% with an evaporation rate of 1.40 kg m-2 h-1 under 1 sun illumination, which is comparable to state-of-the-art solar steam generation devices. Furthermore, the good durability and environmental stability of the p-PEGDA-PANi hydrogel enables a convenient recycling and reusing process toward real-life applications. The present research not only provides a novel photothermal platform for solar energy harvest but also opens a new avenue for the application of the hydrogel materials in solar steam generation.

Optimization on microlattice materials for sound absorption by an integrated transfer matrix method

Materials with well-defined microlattice structures are superlight, stable, and thus bear great potential in sound absorption. An integrated transfer matrix method (TMM) is proposed to evaluate the sound absorbing efficiency of these lattice materials, in which a massive number of micropores are densely placed. A comparison between integrated TMM and conventional TMM reveals that the proposed approach offers better predictions on sound absorption of microlattice. This approach is then employed to optimize the microlattice material to determine the best pore and porosity that lead to maximum absorbing efficiency capability and minimum required thickness to attain a target sound absorption.

Application of 3D Printed Porous Copper Anode in Microbial Fuel Cells

In this study, 3D printing technique was utilized to fabricate three-dimensional porous electrodes for microbial fuel cells with UV curable resin, followed by copper electroless plating. A maximum voltage of 62.9 ± 2.5 mV and a power density of 6.45 ± 0.5 mWm-2 were achieved for MFCs with 3D printed porous copper (3D-PPC) anode, which were 8.3 and 12.3-fold higher than copper mesh electrode, respectively. This illustrated the great advantage of 3D porous anodes in MFCs compared to flat anode structures. Besides, the biocompatibility of the copper anode with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 was examined by comparing with carbon cloth, which produced a 3-fold larger maximum voltage and a ~10-fold higher power density vs. 3D-PPC anode and thus indicated the possible copper corrosion during MFC operation. ICP-MS analysis of MFC solution revealed the high concentration of 732µg/L copper ions detected in the MFC effluent. This result, coupled with EDX showing the lower copper content on the 3D-PPC anode surface after >15 days of MFC operation, confirmed the copper dissolving behavior in MFC. MR-1 biofilm formation under copper suppression was finally characterized by SEM and less biofilm was observed on copper anodes, illustrating their poor biocompatibility, even though 3D printing technology and porous structures were quite promising for future scale-up.

Water based fluidic radio frequency metamaterials

Electromagnetic metamaterials offer great flexibility for wave manipulation and enable exceptional functionality design, ranging from negative refraction, anomalous reflection, super-resolution imaging, transformation optics to cloaking, etc. However, demonstration of metamaterials with unprecedented functionalities is still challenging and costly due to the structural complexity or special material properties. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the versatile fluidic radio frequency metamaterials with negative refraction using a water-embedded and metal-coated 3D architecture. Effective medium analysis confirms that metallic frames create an evanescent environment while simultaneously water cylinders produce negative permeability under Mie resonance. The water-metal coupled 3D architectures and the accessory devices for measurement are fabricated by 3D printing with post electroless deposition. Our study also reveals the great potential of fluidic metamaterials and versatility of the 3D printing proc...

Particle focusing in a microchannel with acoustic metafluid

This work proposed a method of particle focusing by acoustic waves in a microfluidic channel with meta-structures. The channel was first filled by homogeneous metafluid possessing negative bulk modulus or density, mechanism and efficacy of particle focusing in such channel have been studied. Then as a realization, a structural microchannel composed of acoustic resonant elements has been proposed, which generated similar acoustic field gradient as that in homogeneous metafluid. Accordingly, particle movements in the structural microchannel were investigated and particle focusing was also achieved. The proposed particle focusing method is independent on the type of incident wave and microchannels size.