Electroless or electrolytic deposition processes require the use of a very costly catalyst, usually palladium, as a seed material. Here we present the use of a copper complex as a very efficient replacement for the conventional catalysts, which can be directly printed by various technologies such as screen, gravure, and inkjet, on both 2D and 3D substrates. The copper complex can be reduced to pure copper upon short exposure to low-temperature plasma, by heating under inert atmosphere or via photonic sintering. By combining the complex with electroless plating (EP), a resistivity as low as 2.38.cm which corresponds to 72% conductivity of bulk copper can be achieved

This work demonstrates 3D printed soft actuators with complex shapes and remote actuation using an external magnetic field. Instead of embedding magnetic particles in a polymeric matrix, we fabricated a novel ferrofluid-based actuator, in which the fluid can be moved to different locations in the actuator to affect actuator response. We studied the effect of both the ferrofluid and the 3D printed material on the motion of simple actuators using 3D printed tubes. In addition, we 3D printed more complex actuators mimicking a human hand and a worm to demonstrate more complex motion.

Microencapsulation is a process by which a gas, liq., or solid material (core) is packaged inside capsules of a second material (shell), which protects and isolates the core material from the surrounding environment and adjusts its properties in accordance with requirements. In other words, a microcapsule (MC) is a reservoir contg. an active substance surrounded by a membrane (typically made of a natural or synthetic polymer). MCs are spherical or irregular particles in the size range from 50 nm to a few hundred micrometers; the most widely used are capsules of micron size (capsules smaller than I mm are often classified as nanocapsules, and capsules larger than 1000 mm are called macrocapsules or beads). Com. MCs typically have a diam. between 3 and 800 mm. In this entry we focus on the manufg. methodologies and mechanisms of microencapsulation, including evaluation of the nature and properties of core and shell ingredients. Current and potential applications of MCs in various fields of chem. and life sciences, as well as in related industries, will also be presented. [on SciFinder(R)]