noiembrie 2017 – Pagina 7 – Baza de Date

Graphene permite încălțămintei cu proprietăți termice mai bune(Graphene enables footwear with better thermal properties)

Abilitatea grafenului de a adăuga funcționalitatea obiectelor obișnuite a fost exploatată într-un produs nou de pe piață: încălțăminte cu proprietăți termice mai bune oferă încălțămintei o mai bună termoreglare și prospețime..În acest pantof inovator, când se adaugă fulgi de mai multe straturi de grafen pe poliuretan (materialul din care sunt fabricate tălpile de încălțăminte FADEL), testele de laborator arată o dispersie de căldură mărită, o impermeabilitate sporită și proprietăți antibacteriene îmbunătățite

Posted: Nov 01, 2017
Graphene enables footwear with better thermal properties (Nanowerk News) The ability of graphene to add functionality to common objects has been exploited in a new product on the market: footwear with better thermal properties. Developed by Graphene Flagship partners Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy, in collaboration with FADEL, a leading Italian shoe company based in Tuscany, the new GET® technology, patented by FADEL, gives the footwear better thermoregulation and freshness.
In this innovative shoe, when flakes consisting of several graphene layers are added to polyurethane, (the material of which the soles of FADEL shoes are made), laboratory tests show an augmented heat dispersion, a greater waterproofness and enhanced antibacterial properties. Combining these effects with a ventilation system developed for this particular type of shoe saw a better user experience. This prototype shoe was presented at the International Footwear Exhibition in Milan.

This is the graphene shoe developed by Graphene Flagship partners IIT and FADEL. (Image: The Graphene Flagship)
‘One of the main properties of graphene is its ability to dissipate heat, so we began to think of combining graphene produced by liquid phase exfoliation, which produces large quantities of graphene at a low price, into polyurethane – the material used for the sole of the shoe. This created a composite with a heat dissipation 50% better than the pure polyurethane material.’ said Vittorio Pellegrini, Director of IIT Graphene Labs and Chair of the Executive Board of the Graphene Flagship. ‘We improved the thermal properties with a tiny amount of graphene (around 1%) which is significant in delivering a product whose cost is not significantly larger than before.’
Once the researchers at IIT Graphene Labs had optimised the way in which graphene was incorporated into the polystyrene the graphene production was realised by BeDimensional s.r.l., IIT’s start-up company and Graphene Flagship Associate Member, whose core activity is the development of new composites based on graphene and related materials to be applied in the manufacturing sector.
‘The Graphene Flagship is a strong accelerator of knowledge, knowhow and technology transfer.’ said Pellegrini ‘Without the Flagship this shoe would have taken many years to develop. We benefitted greatly from the ability to share our results and get ideas from other scientists through the Flagship’.
Dr Kari Hjelt, Head of Innovation for the Graphene Flagship said ‘We continue to witness the potential of graphene-based technologies to create market disruptions and transformational innovations. Graphene’s unique capability to enhance multiple product attributes concurrently can create a competitive edge for many products, as is nicely demonstrated in the present case.’
Professor Andrea C. Ferrari, Science and Technology Officer of the Graphene Flagship, and Chair of its Management Panel, added ‘This is yet another example of the steady journey of graphene and related materials from the lab to the factory floor. With an ever increasing number of companies working as partners or associate members of the Flagship, the Flagship is not only pushing the state of the art of graphene and related materials’ science and technology, but is also driving the innovation’.

Source: Graphene Flagship

Pielea electronică inspirată de meduze se aprinde atunci când este rănită(Jellyfish-inspired electronic skin glows when it gets hurt)

Tehnologiile electronice pentru piele pentru proteze și roboți pot detecta cea mai mică atingere sau briză. Dar ciudat, senzorii care fac acest lucru posibil nu răspund efectiv la o lovitură dăunătoare.
Acum cercetatorii raporteaza in materialele si interfetele aplicate ACS ( „piele electronica duala cu senzatie integrata tactila si avertizare vizuala a prejudiciului” ), dezvoltarea unei piele electronica inspirata de meduze care straluceste cand presiunea impotriva ei este suficient de mare pentru a provoca un prejudiciu .

Posted: Nov 01, 2017
Jellyfish-inspired electronic skin glows when it gets hurt (Nanowerk News) Electronic-skin technologies for prosthetics and robots can detect the slightest touch or breeze. But oddly, the sensors that make this possible do not respond effectively to a harmful blow.
Now researchers report in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces („Dual-Mode Electronic Skin with Integrated Tactile Sensing and Visualized Injury Warning”) the development of a jellyfish-inspired electronic skin that glows when the pressure against it is high enough to potentially cause an injury.

An electronic skin glows when a transparent ‘W’ is pressed onto it, and a voltage is applied (bottom). (© American Chemical Society)
An electronic skin that can mimic the full range of biological skin’s sensitivity has great potential to transform prosthetics and robotics. Current technologies are very sensitive, but only within a narrow range of weak pressures. Under high pressures that could cause damage, the electronic skins’ sensitivity fades.
To address this shortcoming, Bin Hu and colleagues at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology turned to the Atolla jellyfish for inspiration. This bioluminescent, deep-sea creature can feel changes in environmental pressure and flashes dramatically when it senses danger.
Building on the idea of a visual warning in response to a physical threat, the researchers combined electric and optical systems in a novel electronic skin to detect both slight and high-force pressures. They embedded two layers of stretchy, poly-dimethysiloxane, or PDMS, film with silver nanowires. These layers produce an electrical signal in response to slight pressures, such as those created by a breeze or contact with a leaf. Sandwiched in between the silver nanowire electrodes is a PDMS layer embedded with phosphors. This layer kicks in and glows with growing intensity as the physical force increases.
The researchers say this approach more closely copies the wide range of pressures the human skin can feel.

Source: American Chemical Society