Mid Sweden University

Diabetic foot ulcers are chronic wounds that affect millions and increase the risk of amputation and mortality, highlighting the critical need for their early detection. Recent demonstrations of wearable sensors enable real-time wound assessment, but they rely on bulky electronics, making them difficult to interface with wounds. Herein, a miniaturized, wireless, battery-free wound monitor that measures lactate in real-time and seamlessly integrates with bandages for conformal attachment to the wound bed is introduced. Lactate is selected due to its multifaceted role in initiating healing. Studies in healthy and diabetic mice reveal distinct lactate profiles for normal and impaired healing wounds. A mathematical model based on the sensor data predicts wound closure rate within the first 3 days post-injury with ≈76% accuracy, which increases to ≈83% when pH is included. These studies underscore the significance of monitoring biomarkers during the inflammation phase, which can offer several benefits, including short-term use of wound monitors and their easy removal, resulting in lower risks of injury and infection at the wound site. Improvements in prediction accuracy can be achieved by designing mathematical models that build on multiple wound parameters such as pro-inflammatory and metabolic markers. Achieving this goal will require designing multi-analyte wound monitors. 

Batteries represent the dominant means for storing electrical energy, but many battery chemistries create waste streams that are difficult to manage, and most possess toxic components that limit their use in biomedical applications. Batteries constructed from materials capable of complete, harmless resorption into the environment or into living organisms after a desired period of operation bypass these disadvantages. However, previously reported eco/bioresorbable batteries offer low operating voltages and modest energy densities. Here, we introduce a magnesium-iodine chemistry and dual (ionic liquid/aqueous) electrolyte to overcome these limitations, enabling significant improvements in voltage, areal capacity, areal energy, areal power, volumetric energy, and volumetric power densities over any alternative. Systematic studies reveal key materials and design considerations. Demonstrations of this technology include power supplies for cardiac pacemakers, wireless environmental monitors, and thermal sensors/actuators. These results suggest strong potential for applications where commercial battery alternatives pose risks to the environment or the human body.

The concentration of fibers and fillers in the pulp suspension is an important parameter in the monitoring process. This paper proposes a versatile optical measurement system to estimate the concentration of a solids mixture in water. The geometry used in a multi-spectrophotometer (MSM) enables the controlled observation of transmission, and forward scattering light from the suspension in the UV-visible spectral range. We have developed the new fibers mixing system which gives a homogenous distribution of the fines and fillers making it possible to increase the reproducibility and accuracy of the measurement. The data analysis is based on the Beer-Lambert law and CIELAB color space equations. The results show that the proposed method is accurate for measuring the fines and filler concentrations in multicomponent suspensions. 

Accurate determination of the size of nanoparticles has an important role in many different scientific and industrial purposes, such as in material, medical and environment sciences, colloidal chemistry and astrophysics. We describe an effective optical method to determine the size of nanoparticles by analysis of transmission and scattering of visible spectral range data from a designed UV-Vis multi-spectrophotometer. The size of the nanoparticles was calculated from the extinction cross section of the particles using Rayleigh approximation and Mie theory. We validated the method using polystyrene nanospheres, cellulose nanofibrils, and cellulose nanocrystals. A good agreement was achieved through graphical analysis between measured extinction cross section values and theoretical Rayleigh approximation and Mie theory predictions for the sizes of polystyrene nanospheres at wavelength range 450 - 750 nm. Provided that Rayleigh approximation's forward scattering (FS)/back scattering (BS) ratio was smaller than 1.3 and Mie theory's FS/BS ratio was smaller than 1.8. A good fit for the hydrodynamic diameter of nanocellulose was achieved using the Mie theory and Rayleigh approximation. However, due to the high aspect ratio of nanocellulose, the obtained results do not directly reflect the actual cross-sectional diameters of the nanocellulose. Overall, the method is a fast, relatively easy, and simple technique to determine the size of a particle by a spectrophotometer. Consequently, the method can be utilized for example in production and quality control purposes as well as for research and development applications.

PEDOT:PSS organic printed electronics chemical interactions with the ink-receiving layer (IRL) of monopolar inkjet paper substrates and coating color composition were evaluated through Raman spectroscopy mapping in Z (depth) and (XY) direction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Other evaluated properties of the IRLs were pore size distribution (PSD), surface roughness, ink de-wetting, surface energy and the impact of such characteristics on the electronics performance of the printed layers. Resin-coated inkjet papers were compared to a multilayer coated paper substrate that also contained an IRL but did not contain the plastic polyethylene (PE) resin layer. This substrate showed better electronic performance (i.e., lower sheet resistance), which we attributed to the inert coating composition, higher surface roughness and higher polarity of the surface which influenced the de-wetting of the ink. The novelty is that this substrate was rougher and with somewhat lower printing quality but with better electronic performance and the advantage of not having PE in their composite structure, which favors recycling. © 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

After the unprecedented success of graphene research, other materials that can also be exfoliated into thin layers, like Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), have also become the subjects of extensive studies. As one of the most promising methods for large scale production of such materials, liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) has also been the subject of extensive research and is maturing as a field to the point that devices using additive manufacturing and printed nanosheets are often reported. The stability of the nanosheets in environmentally friendly solvents, particularly in water, with or without stabilizers, is still a focus of great interest for sustainable and commercial production. In this thesis, different methods of LPE in water with and without stabilizers are investigated and discussed. Stabilizers such as surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and modified cellulose2-hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), were employed. Because waterdoes not have surface energy parameters that match those of2D materials, the dispersions in water do not usually have a high yield. Therefore, to circumvent the use of organic solvents that are known to be able to successfully exfoliate and stabilize nanosheets of two-dimensional materials, this thesis focuses on water as the solution-process medium for exfoliation and the assisting stabilizers used to keep the exfoliated nanomaterials in dispersion with a long half-time. Surfactant-assisted dispersions are discussed together with test-printing resultsusing inkjet to deposit the material. Process parameters for the LPE method using HEC as a stabilizer are presented together with thin nanosheets characterized by Raman spectroscopy. Dispersions using HEC presented the longest half-time among the studied methods, higher than previously reported values for methods using mixed low-boiling-point solvents. Devices using exfoliated nanosheets have been fabricated and presented in the present study. The photoconductivity of MoS2 using a device fabricated with LPE MoS2 nanosheets and the cathodoluminescence of LPE MoS2 are discussed. Although fabricated with mechanically exfoliated nanosheets and not LPE ones, another photodetector fabricated with one of the MoS2 grades used in this thesis is presented to highlight the excellent photoresponse of this material. A method of producing thin nanosheets with-out stabilizers by pre-processing the MoS2 grades withs and papers is introduced. With this method, nanosheets with a lateral size of around 200nm and a concentration around 0.14 g L−1 - that is half the concentration at the same processing conditions in solvent n-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) - are discussed. Inkjet printing as a deposition method is discussed together with the requirements for the 2D inks. Printed organic electronics using the conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS are compared to those using commercially-available graphene ink, with a focus on printing on paper substrates. In order to bring the thesis into perspective from materials to device fabrication, I study the suitability of inkjet paper substrates for printed electronics, by extensively characterizing the chemical and physical properties of their ink-receiving layers (IRLs) and their impact on the electronic properties of the conductive printed lines.

In this paper, a micrometre thin film of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is characterized for thermoelectric properties. The sample was prepared through mechanical exfoliation of a molybdenite crystal. The Seebeck coefficient measurement was performed by generating a temperature gradient across the sample and recording the induced electrical voltage, and for this purpose a simple measurement setup was developed. In the measurement, platinum was utilized as reference material in the electrodes. The Seebeck value of MoS2 was estimated to be approximately -600 μV/K at a temperature difference of 40 °C. The negative sign indicates that the polarity of the material is n-type. For measurement of the thermal conductivity, the sample was sandwiched between the heat source and the heat sink, and a steady-state power of 1.42Wwas provided while monitoring the temperature difference across the sample. Based on Fourier's law of conduction, the thermal conductivity of the sample was estimated to be approximately 0.26 Wm-1 K-. The electrical resistivity was estimated to be 29 W cm. The figure of merit of MoS2 was estimated to be 1.99 × 10-4. 

In this work we present an ink-jet printed temperature sensor consisting of PEDOT:PSSprinted on paper suitable for packaging, flexible electronics and other printed applications. Thesubstrate showed to have a large influence on both the resistance aswell as the temperature sensitivityof the PEDOT:PSS ink. This effect is most likely due to NaCl content in the photo paper coating,which reacts with the PEDOT:PSS. The temperature coefficient of a prepared device of  α= -0.030 relative to room temperature (22°C) was measured, which is higher than compared to for exampleSilicon α = -0.075.

MoS2 has been studied intensively during recent years as a semiconducting material in several fields, including optoelectronics, for applications such as solar cells and phototransistors. The photoresponse mechanisms of MoS2 have been discussed but are not fully understood, especially the phenomenon in which the photocurrent slowly increases. Here, we report on a study of the photoresponse flash-light-processed MoS2 films of different thicknesses and areas. The photoresponse of such films under different light intensities and bias voltages was measured, showing significant current changes with a quick response followed by a slow one upon exposure to pulsed light. Our in-depth study suggested that the slow response was due to the photothermal effect that heats the MoS2; this hypothesis was supported by the resistivity change at different temperatures. The results obtained from MoS2 films with various thicknesses indicated that the minority-carrier diffusion length was 1.36 mu m. This study explained the mechanism of the slow response of the MoS2 film and determined the effective thickness of MoS2 for a photoresponse to occur. The method used here for fabricating MoS2 films could be used for fabricating optoelectronic devices due to its simplicity.