Signed languages are not as pervasive a conversational medium as spoken languages due to the history of institutional suppression of the former and the linguistic hegemony of the latter This has led to a communication barrier between signers and non-signers that could be mitigated by technology-mediated approaches Here, we show that a wearable sign-to-speech translation system, assisted by machine learning, can accurately translate the hand gestures of American Sign Language into speech The wearable sign-to-speech translation system is composed of yarn-based stretchable sensor arrays and a wireless printed circuit board, and offers a high sensitivity and fast response time, allowing real-time translation of signs into spoken words to be performed By analysing 660 acquired sign language hand gesture recognition patterns, we demonstrate a recognition rate of up to 9863% and a recognition time of less than 1 s Wearable yarn-based stretchable sensor arrays, combined with machine learning, can be used to translate American Sign Language into speech in real time

Sign-to-speech translation using machine-learning-assisted stretchable sensor arrays

Fossil fuel internal combustion engines generate and release a huge amount of nitrogen dioxide, leading to respiratory and allergic diseases such as asthma, pneumonia, and possibly tuberculosis. He...

Alveolus-Inspired Active Membrane Sensors for Self-Powered Wearable Chemical Sensing and Breath Analysis.

As the world marches into the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), the practice of human health care is on the cusp of a revolution, driven by an unprecedented level of personalization enabled by a variety of wearable bioelectronics A sustainable and wearable energy solution is highly desired , but challenges still remain in its development Here, we report a high-performance wearable electricity generation approach by manipulating the relative permittivity of a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) A compatible active carbon (AC)-doped polyvinylidene fluoride (AC@PVDF) composite film was invented with high relative permittivity and a specific surface area for wearable biomechanical energy harvesting Compared with the pure PVDF, the 08% AC@PVDF film-based TENG obtained an enhancement in voltage, current, and power by 25, 35, and 98 times, respectively This work reports a stable, cost-effective, and scalable approach to improve the performance of the triboelectric nanogenerator for wearable biomechanical energy harvesting, thus rendering a sustainable and pervasive energy solution for on-body electronics

Manipulating Relative Permittivity for High-Performance Wearable Triboelectric Nanogenerators.

Nanogenerators for smart cities in the era of 5G and Internet of Things

Stretchable piezoelectric energy harvesters and self-powered sensors for wearable and implantable devices

Summary Smart textiles for electricity generation are a superior energy solution with greatly improved convenience and comfort for wearable bioelectronics. However, maintaining the sustainability and stability of the power supply, though highly desirable, remains a great challenge. Here, we present a photo-rechargeable fabric with economically viable materials and scalable fabrication technologies. The fabric was able to constantly deliver electric power for 10 min at 0.1 mA after being charged for 1 min under the standard 1-sun condition. It can also work normally under twisted and watery circumstances and hold the stored energy for over 60 days without significant voltage loss. The photo-rechargeable fabric was demonstrated to power a body area sensor network for personalized healthcare.

Photo-Rechargeable Fabrics as Sustainable and Robust Power Sources for Wearable Bioelectronics

Aqueous Zn‐ion batteries are well regarded among a next‐generation energy‐storage technology due to their low cost and high safety. However, the unstable stripping/plating process leading to severe dendrite growth under high current density and low temperature impede their practical application. Herein, it is demonstrated that the addition of 2‐propanol can regulate the outer solvation shell structure of Zn2+ by replacing water molecules to establish a “eutectic solvation shell”, which provides strong affinity with the Zn (101) crystalline plane and fast desolvation kinetics during the plating process, rendering homogeneous Zn deposition without dendrite formation. As a result, the Zn anode exhibits promising cycle stability over 500 h under an elevated current density of 15 mA cm−2 and high depth of discharge of 51.2%. Furthermore, remarkable electrochemical performance is achieved in a 150 mAh Zn|V2O5 pouch cell over 1000 cycles at low temperature of −20 °C. This work not only offers a new strategy to achieve excellent performance of aqueous Zn‐ion batteries under harsh conditions, but also reveals electrolyte structure designs that can be applied in related energy storage and conversion fields.

Regulation of Outer Solvation Shell Toward Superior Low‐Temperature Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries

Electrochemical CO2 reduction to CO is a potential sustainable strategy for alleviating CO2 emission and producing valuable fuels. In the quest to resolve its current problems of low‐energy efficiency and insufficient durability, a dual‐scale design strategy is proposed by implanting a non‐noble active Sn–ZnO heterointerface inside the nanopores of high‐surface‐area carbon nanospheres (Sn–ZnO@HC). The metal d‐bandwidth tuning of Sn and ZnO alters the extent of substrate–molecule orbital mixing, facilitating the breaking of the *COOH intermediate and the yield of CO. Furthermore, the confinement effect of tailored nanopores results in a beneficial pH distribution in the local environment around the Sn–ZnO nanoparticles and protects them against leaching and aggregating. Through integrating electronic and nanopore‐scale control, Sn–ZnO@HC achieves a quite low potential of −0.53 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) with 91% Faradaic efficiency for CO and an ultralong stability of 240 h. This work provides proof of concept for the multiscale design of electrocatalysts.

Dual‐Scale Integration Design of Sn–ZnO Catalyst toward Efficient and Stable CO2 Electroreduction

Solid polymer electrolytes exhibit huge advantages but are hindered by insufficient mechanical strength and ionic conductivity in the applications of all‐solid‐state lithium‐metal batteries (ASSLBs). Herein, poly(ether‐block‐amide) (Pebax) strategies to construct heterogeneous nanodomain electrolytes (HNEs) for ultra‐long‐life ASSLBs are introduced. Pebax HNEs forms conductive nanodomains via phase separation, exhibiting interconnected and high Li+ conductive features. Compared with conventional PEO‐based electrolytes, the Pebax HNEs with controllable size and order can facilitate rapid Li+ transport with steerable transport channels, further enhancing the Li+ conductivity and inducing the uniform Li+ deposition. Furthermore, the obtained thin and dense hybrid SEI layer with potent mechanical strength can synergistically suppress the dendrite growth, and the as‐prepared ASSLBs exhibit a satisfactory capacity with a tiny capacity reduction of 0.013% per cycle over 1500 cycles. This work provides a brand‐new insight to construct a conductive structure in electrolytes for high‐performance ASSLBs.

Yi Nie

Papers

Photo-Rechargeable Fabrics as Sustainable and Robust Power Sources for Wearable Bioelectronics

Regulation of Outer Solvation Shell Toward Superior Low‐Temperature Aqueous Zinc‐Ion Batteries

Dual‐Scale Integration Design of Sn–ZnO Catalyst toward Efficient and Stable CO2 Electroreduction

Heterogeneous Nanodomain Electrolytes for Ultra‐Long‐Life All‐Solid‐State Lithium‐Metal Batteries

The Plasticizer-Free Composite Block Copolymer Electrolytes for Ultralong Lifespan All-Solid-State Lithium-Metal Batteries