Resistive Sensors for Smart Objects: Analysis on Printing Techniques

This review highlights recent advances of MXenes and their composites in the environment-related applications including catalysis, water purification and sensors. In recent years, a new large family of two dimensional transition metal carbides, carbonitrides, and nitrides, so-called MXenes, have grabbed considerable attention, owing to their many fascinating physical and chemical properties that are closely related to the rich diversity of their elemental compositions and surface terminations. In particular, it is easy for MXenes to form composites with other materials such as polymers, oxides, and carbon nanotubes, which further provides an effective way to tune the properties of MXenes for various applications. Not only have MXenes and MXene-based composites come into prominence as electrode materials in the energy storage field as is widely known, but they have also shown great potential in environment-related applications including electro/photocatalytic water splitting, photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide, water purification and sensors, thanks to their high conductivity, reducibility and biocompatibility. In this review, we summarize the synthesis and properties of MXenes and MXene-based composites and highlight their recent advances in environment-related applications. Challenges and perspectives for future research are also outlined.

Droplet-based bioprinting (DBB) offers greater advantages due to its simplicity and agility with precise control on deposition of biologics including cells, growth factors, genes, drugs and biomaterials, and has been a prominent technology in the bioprinting community. Due to its immense versatility, DBB technology has been adopted by various application areas, including but not limited to, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, transplantation and clinics, pharmaceutics and high-throughput screening, and cancer research. Despite the great benefits, the technology currently faces several challenges such as a narrow range of available bioink materials, bioprinting-induced cell damage at substantial levels, limited mechanical and structural integrity of bioprinted constructs, and restrictions on the size of constructs due to lack of vascularization and porosity. This paper presents a first-time review of DBB and comprehensively covers the existing DBB modalities including inkjet, electrohydrodynamic, acoustic, and micro-valve bioprinting. The recent notable studies are highlighted, the relevant bioink biomaterials and bioprinters are expounded, the application areas are presented, and the future prospects are provided to the reader.