Andrea Veciana

Systemic drug administration often causes off-target effects, limiting the efficacy of advanced therapies. Targeted drug delivery approaches increase local drug concentrations at the diseased site while minimizing systemic drug exposure. We present a magnetically guided microrobotic drug delivery platform capable of precise navigation under physiological conditions. This platform integrates a clinical electromagnetic navigation system, a custom-designed release catheter, and a dissolvable capsule for accurate therapeutic delivery. In vitro tests showed precise navigation in human vasculature models, and in vivo experiments confirmed tracking under fluoroscopy and successful navigation in large animal models. The microrobot balances magnetic material concentration, contrast agent loading, and therapeutic drug capacity, offering a promising solution for precise targeted drug delivery.

The last decade has witnessed rapid progress in the development of soft microrobots for biomedical applications, largely powered by the incorporation of new materials in their design to address various challenges. Herein, a unique magnetic nanoparticle‐hydrogel composite designed for microrobot applications is introduced. This composite comprises iron platinum‐zinc ferrite nanoparticles whose magnetic properties are enhanced by magnetic exchange‐coupling behavior. The introduction of zinc ferrite further allows for grafting alkyne‐bearing ligands on the nanoparticles, enabling them to be covalently immobilized within the hydrogel framework via azide‐alkyne cycloaddition, thereby improving the composite's stability. Using a template‐assisted 3D fabrication technique, the feasibility of using this composite for soft microrobots is demonstrated. Hence, one can assume this straightforward procedure to be easily adapted to other material systems, facilitating the creation of more customized soft microrobots.

The last decade has witnessed rapid progress in the development of soft microrobots for biomedical applications, largely powered by the incorporation of new materials in their design to address various challenges. In this study, we introduce a unique magnetic nanoparticle-hydrogel composite designed for microrobot applications. This composite comprises iron platinum-zinc ferrite nanoparticles whose magnetic properties are enhanced by magnetic exchange-coupling behavior. The introduction of zinc ferrite further allows for grafting alkyne-bearing ligands on the nanoparticles, enabling them to be covalently immobilized within the hydrogel framework via azide-alkyne cycloaddition, thereby improving the composite’s stability. Using a template-assisted 3D fabrication technique, we demonstrated the feasibility of using this composite for soft microrobots. Hence, one could assume this straightforward procedure to be easily adapted to other material systems, facilitating the creation of more customized soft microrobots.

Per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pose significant environmental and health risks due to their ubiquitous presence and persistence in water systems. Herein, the efficacy of piezocatalysis using barium titanate nanoparticles under ultrasound irradiation for the degradation and defluorination of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in water is investigated. The research demonstrates a substantial 90.5% degradation and 29% defluorination of PFOS after 6 h of treatment, highlighting the potential of piezocatalysis as a promising approach for PFAS degradation. Additionally, the quantification of degradation products elucidates the transformation pathways of PFOS, suggesting a stepwise chain‐shortening mechanism. The findings underscore the importance of continued research in optimizing piezocatalytic processes and exploring synergistic approaches with other advanced oxidation methods to effectively address PFAS contamination challenges. These efforts are essential for advancing sustainable water treatment strategies and mitigating the environmental and health hazards associated with PFAS contamination.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pose significant environmental and health risks due to their ubiquitous presence and persistence in water systems. In this study, we investigate the efficacy of piezocatalysis using barium titanate (BTO) nanoparticles under ultrasound irradiation for the degradation and defluorination of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in water. The research demonstrates a substantial 90.5% degradation and 29% defluorination of PFOS after six hours of treatment, highlighting the potential of piezocatalysis as a promising approach for PFAS degradation. Additionally, the quantification of degradation products elucidates the transformation pathways of PFOS, suggesting a stepwise chain-shortening mechanism. Our findings underscore the importance of continued research in optimizing piezocatalytic processes and exploring synergistic approaches with other advanced oxidation methods to effectively address PFAS contamination challenges. These efforts are essential for advancing sustainable water treatment strategies and mitigating the environmental and health hazards associated with PFAS contamination.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are crystalline materials with intrinsic porosity that offer a wide range of potential applications spanning diverse fields. Yet, the main goal in the COF research area is to achieve the most stable thermodynamic product while simultaneously targeting the desired size and structure crucial for enabling specific functions. While significant progress has been made in the synthesis and processing of 2D COFs, the development of processable 3D COF nanocrystals remains challenging. Here, we present a water-based nanoreactor technology for producing processable sub-40 nm 3D COF nanoparticles at ambient conditions. Significantly, this technology not only improves the processability of the synthesized 3D COF, but also unveils exciting possibilities for their utilization in previously unexplored domains, such as nano/microrobotics and biomedicine, which were limited by larger crystallites.

A novel approach to magnetoelectricity: the magnetopyroelectric effect enables heat-mediated magnetoelectricity through the combination of magnetic particle heating and pyroelectricity.

Microfluidic devices offer important benefits for forensic applications, in particular for fast tests at a crime scene. A large portion of forensic applications require microfluidic chip material to show compatibility with biochemical reactions (such as amplification reactions), and to have high transparency in the visible region and high chemical resistance. Also, preferably, manufacturing should be simple. The characteristic properties of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) fulfills these requirements and offers new opportunities for the development of new forensic tests. In this work, the versatility of COC as material for lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems in forensic applications has been explored by realizing two proof-of-principle devices. Chemical resistance and optical transparency were investigated for the development of an on-chip presumptive color test to indicate the presence of an illicit substance through applying absorption spectroscopy. Furthermore, the compatibility of COC with a DNA amplification reaction was verified by performing an on-chip multiple displacement amplification (MDA) reaction.