3D/4D printed versatile fibre‐based wearables for embroidery, AIE‐chemosensing, and unidirectional draining

Abstract

Fibre‐based wearables for embroidery, chemosensing, and biofluid's unidirectional draining with good flexibility, tunability, and designability drive technological advance. However, synthetic polymer fibres are non‐degradable, threatening the environment and human health. Herein, we have developed versatile microfibre‐based wearables by combining many advantages in one platform of biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) and melt electrowriting strategy. Diverse potential applications of PLA wearables are achieved by flexibly designing their printing files, components and structures. Three‐dimensional printing files are generated from two‐dimensional images to fabricate ‘embroidery‐like’ patterns. PLA/aggregation‐induced emission fluorogens (AIE) chemosensors exhibit colorimetric and fluorescent colour changes upon exposure to amine vapours. Janus PLA‐cotton textiles with a hydrophobic/hydrophilic structure could facilitate unidirectional draining of sweats which is favourable for the management of temperature and humidity on the surface of skin. The proposed platform can not only broaden the design possibilities in 3D/4D printing but also offer wide potential applications for functional wearables.

Hybrid Water-Harvesting Channels Delivering Wide-Range and Supersensitive Passive Fluorescence Humidity Sensors

“…Thereinto, a hydrophilic polymer network is capable of modulating the intramolecular motion of luminophore molecules due to the swellable property stimulated by water vapors, in which remarkable luminophore molecular conformational changes can be realized to induce various fluorescence behaviors . Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules, featured by a highly twisted molecular conformation, have been proven to be promising luminophores for the construction of optical sensors due to their superb sensitivity to the external environment. − In particular, AIE molecules with a donor (D)–acceptor (A) structure demonstrate visually distinguishable fluorescence color response on the environmental polarity (e.g., humidity variations) due to the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) effect, whereas the thresholds of humidity detection are severely limited due to the low capacity of capturing water and slow adsorption kinetics of polymer matrices, leading to failure at ultralow humidity. − Hydrophilic porous materials with large specific surface areas exhibit exceptional capability in capturing moisture. − Notably, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been successfully employed for atmospheric water harvesting and even in desert conditions, benefiting from abundant binding sites for water molecules and plenty of storage space. − Inspired by this, we envision that introducing hydrophilic MOFs into fluorescence humidity sensors might provide a feasible approach to lower the limit of detection further. Nevertheless, mitigating the adverse effect of the rigid skeleton of MOFs on the luminescence capacity of AIE molecules remains challenging in exploiting the next generation of passive fluorescence humidity sensors.…”

Unique Fluorescence of Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens on Solid Surfaces Modified by Silicone Nanofilaments

“…Unlike conventional organic luminophores that suffer from aggregation-caused quenching, 1 AIEgens exhibit strong fluorescence in the aggregated state and weak emission in dilute solutions. 2 This remarkable characteristic has opened up new possibilities for applications in various fields, including chemo-sensing, 3,4 bioimaging, 5,6 optoelectronics, 7,8 and stimuli-responsive systems. 9,10 Research on AIE has led to a deeper understanding 11 of the underlying mechanisms controlling these phenomena, facilitating the rational design of novel AIEgens.…”

“…Unlike conventional organic luminophores that suffer from aggregation-caused quenching, AIEgens exhibit strong fluorescence in the aggregated state and weak emission in dilute solutions . This remarkable characteristic has opened up new possibilities for applications in various fields, including chemo-sensing, , bioimaging, , optoelectronics, , and stimuli-responsive systems. , Research on AIE has led to a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms controlling these phenomena, facilitating the rational design of novel AIEgens. − While covalent modifications and noncovalent self-assembly have been widely employed to construct AIE-active species, the majority of these approaches involve complex synthetic procedures, and studies on their photophysical properties are mainly conducted in solution …”