A heat insulation and preservation composite board includes a first panel layer and a heat insulation and preservation layer. The heat insulation and preservation layer and the first panel layer are integrally formed. The first panel layer is a fiber-reinforced resin-based composite sheet, a metal plate, a cement plate, a calcium silicate plate, or a gypsum plate. The heat insulation and preservation layer is a fiber-reinforced aerogel felt. A preparation method of the heat insulation and preservation composite board includes: (1) laying the fiber-reinforced aerogel felt flat; (2) laying the first panel layer flat on the upper surface of the fiber-reinforced aerogel felt; (3) performing a hot-press molding process to obtain the heat insulation and preservation composite board.

The disclosure relates to a method or a platform for hydrogel-based 3D fabrication, wherein the hydrogel is patterned with a programmable femtosecond light sheet with a power density of 0.1 to 100 TW/cm.sup.2.

Disclosed is a new 3D bioprinting method of soft polymeric material such as a hydrogel or elastomer and/or cells for scaffolds or devices with structures. The method utilizes in one aspect extrusion based printing of polymer solutions, hydrogels and cells referred as direct ink writing (DIW) or BioPlotting that is modified to offer break-through advantages. The method may utilize sequential printing of a photocurable polymer solution or matrix material, and a functional hydrogel and/or cells. Printing within or inside of a viscous non-cured layer is accomplished by printing cells directly into the functional hydrogel. The viscous layer does not need to be shear thinning and thus allows use of a wide variety of bioinks never before allowed because of shear thinning and recovery requirement of commonly utilized extrusion based embedded bioprinting approach. Complex printing patterns never before allowed for bioinks are now possible utilizing this new printing method.

Embodiments of the present invention describe a method for manufacture of a gel material comprising the steps of: forming a gel sheet by dispensing a gel precursor mixture; allowing gelation to occur to the gel precursor mixture; and cooling the formed gel with a cooling system to control reaction rate.

A formulation usable in additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object is provided. The formulation comprises one or more monofunctional curable material(s); one or more hydrophilic multifunctional curable material(s); and one or more water-miscible non-curable material(s), such that a total amount of the curable materials is 20% or less, by weight, and a weight ratio of a total weight of the monofunctional curable material(s) and a total weight of the hydrophilic multifunctional curable material(s) ranges from 1:1 to 10:1. The formulation features, when hardened, properties of a weak and flowable gel. Additive manufacturing processes utilizing the formulation as a support material formulation are also provided.

The invention is related to contact lenses that not only comprise the much desired water gradient structural configurations, but also have a minimized uptakes of polycationic antimicrobials and a long-lasting surface hydrophilicity and wettability even after going through a 30-days lens care regime. Because of the water gradient structural configuration and a relatively-thick, extremely-soft and water-rich hydrogel surface layer, a contact lens of the invention can provide superior wearing comfort. Further, a contact lens of the invention is compatible with multipurpose lens care solutions present in the market and can endure the harsh lens care handling conditions (e.g., digital rubbings, accidental inversion of contact lenses, etc.) encountered in a daily lens care regime. As such, they are suitable to be used as weekly- or monthly-disposable water gradient contact lenses.

A method of producing a cryogel-based multicompartment 3D scaffold is herein disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: a) providing a first frozen polymeric layer on a refrigerated support kept at subzero temperature; b) providing subsequent polymeric layers to obtain a stack of polymeric layers by possibly modulating the subzero temperature of the refrigerated support; c) optionally incubating the final polymeric structure at subzero temperature; and d) placing the produced cryogel at a temperature above 0° C., the method being characterized in that each subsequent layer i) is deposited on the previous one after freezing of this latter; ii) is deposited on the previous one before the complete polymerization of this latter; and iii) is deposited with a temperature higher than the freezing temperature of the previously deposited layer. Cryogel scaffolds obtained from the method of the invention are also disclosed.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for three dimensional printing apparatuses, methods of three dimensional printing, and the like.

Disclosed are methods for scalable, cost-effective, and rapid production manufacturing and packaging a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium that can be used for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment systems and techniques. In some aspects, a method includes forming a staged solution by adding together a stock solution comprising a monomer and a block copolymer in deoxygenated water and a primed solution comprising a covalent crosslinking agent and a catalyst; forming a gel-sol by mixing the staged solution with a first network activator solution comprising a monomer activator and a second network activator solution comprising a block copolymer activator; dispensing the gel-sol into a mold; and curing the gel-sol in the mold to produce a semi-rigid acoustic coupling material, where the method is carried under an inert atmosphere.

Embodiments herein relate to chemical sensing elements including a rolled multilayer structure. In a first aspect, a method of making a chemical sensor element is included, the method including depositing a polymer layer onto a deposition substrate, infusing a chemical sensor composition into the polymer layer, applying a hydrogel layer over the polymer layer to form a multilayer film, rolling the multilayer film down the deposition substrate, and slicing the multilayer film to form the chemical sensor element. Other embodiments are also included herein.