Electroactive Dressing with Selective Sorption of Exudate Enables Treatment of Complicated Wound.

Exudate management and cell activity enhancement are vital to complicated wound healing. However, current exudate management dressings indiscriminately remove exudate, which is detrimental to cell activity enhancement. Herein, a novel class of electroactive bilayer (cMO/PVA) dressing is developed by constructing manganese oxide nanoneedle-clusters decorated commercial carbon cloth (MO), in situ casting polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel, and finally charging.

Arylamine-Linked Porous Organic Polymers with Abundant Redox-Active Sites as High-Capacity and High-Rate Organic Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Redox-active porous organic polymers (POPs) have emerged as promising and sustainable organic cathode materials (OCMs) for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, their performance is significantly limited by insufficient redox-active sites and low intrinsic conductivity. Herein, a series of novel arylamine-linked and bipolar POPs (denoted as HATN-AQ, HATN-BQ, HATN-CBD, and HATN-PTO) are designed and prepared as OCMs for LIBs.

Robust Nanoscale Anode Protective Layers toward Fast-Charge High-Energy-Density Lithium Metal Batteries.

Mechanically stable and structurally homogeneous lithium-electrolyte interfacial layers are crucial in stabilizing lithium (Li) anodes for practical Li metal batteries. Herein, an ultrathin (≈84 nm) and robust artificial protective layer is constructed with reactive two-dimensional (2D) molecular brushes as building blocks. The artificial protective layer can in situ react with underlying Li metal to produce a nanoscale poly(lithium styrenesulfonate)-grafted graphene oxide (GO-g-PSSLi) layer on the outermost surface and an infinite Li-Ag solid solution in the anode.

A versatile reactive layer toward ultra-long lifespan lithium metal anodes.

Unstable anode/electrolyte interfaces have significantly hindered the development of lithium (Li) metal batteries under high rates and large capacities. In this study, a versatile reactive layer based on sulfur-selenium crosslinked polyacrylonitrile brushes has been developed by a combined strategy of polymer topology design and chemical crosslinking. The sulfur-selenium crosslinked polyacrylonitrile side-chains can react with Li to generate passivated LiS-LiSe-containing solid electrolyte interphase while 3D lithiophilic porous nanonetworks enable Li penetration, contributing to achieving rapid and uniform Li ion flux and a dendrite-free anode.

Asymmetric porous hydrogel encapsulating vulcanized molecular brushes with anti-bacterial adhesion, anti-infection, and pro-healing properties towards infected wound treatment.

Inspired by the hierarchical structure of the skin, asymmetric porous hydrogel encapsulating vulcanized molecular brushes (VMB@APH) as multifunctional wound dressing has been integrally constructed. The as-obtained VMB@APH effectively combines the anti-bacterial adhesion, anti-infection, and pro-healing properties, which is of great significance for accelerating the recovery of infected wounds.

Personalized PLGA/BCL Scaffold with Hierarchical Porous Structure Resembling Periosteum-Bone Complex Enables Efficient Repair of Bone Defect.

Using bone regeneration scaffolds to repair craniomaxillofacial bone defects is a promising strategy. However, most bone regeneration scaffolds still exist some issues such as a lack of barrier structure, inability to precisely match bone defects, and necessity to incorporate biological components to enhance efficacy. Herein, inspired by a periosteum-bone complex, a class of multifunctional hierarchical porous poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/baicalein scaffolds is facilely prepared by the union of personalized negative mold technique and phase separation strategy and demonstrated to precisely fit intricate bone defect cavity.

Synergistic Drug-Loaded Shear-Thinning Star Polymer Hydrogel Facilitates Gastrointestinal Lesion Resection and Promotes Wound Healing.

Easy injection, long-lasting barrier, and drug loading are the critical properties of submucosal injection materials for endoscopic surgery. However, conventional injectable polymers face challenges in simultaneously attaining these properties due to the inherent conflict between injectability and in situ stability. Here, a multi-arm star polymer hydrogel (denoted as βCP hydrogel) with long-lasting submucosal barrier (exceeding 120 min), rapid hemostasis, and sustained antibacterial properties is successfully developed by grafting poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PEGMA) side-chains from β-CD via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP).

Topological Defect-Regulated Porous Carbon Anodes with Fast Interfacial and Bulk Kinetics for High-Rate and High-Energy-Density Potassium-Ion Batteries.

Carbonaceous materials are regarded as one of the most promising anodes for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs), but their rate capabilities are largely limited by the slow solid-state potassium diffusion kinetics inside anode and sluggish interfacial potassium ion transfer process. Herein, high-rate and high-capacity PIBs are demonstrated by facile topological defect-regulation of the microstructure of carbon anodes. The carbon lattice of the as-obtained porous carbon nanosheets (CNSs) with abundant topological defects (TDPCNSs) holds relatively high potassium adsorption energy yet low potassium migration barrier, thereby enabling efficient storage and diffusion of potassium inside graphitic layers.

Double-Layer Asymmetric Porous Mesh with Dynamic Mechanical Support Properties Enables Efficient Single-Stage Repair of Contaminated Abdominal Wall Defect.

Contamination tolerance and long-term mechanical support are the two critical properties of meshes for contaminated abdominal wall defect repair. However, biological meshes with excellent pollution tolerance fail to provide bio-adaptive long-term mechanical support due to their rapid degradation. Here, a novel double-layer asymmetric porous mesh (SIS/PVA-EXO) is designed by simple and efficient in situ freeze-thaw of sticky polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution on the loosely porous surface of small intestinal submucosal decellularized matrix (SIS), which can successfully repair the contaminated abdominal wall defect with bio-adaptive dynamic mechanical support through only single-stage surgery.

One-Pot Construction of Articular Cartilage-Like Hydrogel Coating for Durable Aqueous Lubrication.

Articular cartilage has an appropriate multilayer structure and superior tribological properties and provides a structural paradigm for design of lubricating materials. However, mimicking articular cartilage traits on prosthetic materials with durable lubrication remains a huge challenge. Herein, an ingenious three-in-one strategy is developed for constructing an articular cartilage-like bilayer hydrogel coating on the surface of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (BH-UPE), which makes full use of conceptions of interfacial interlinking, high-entanglement crosslinking, and interface-modulated polymerization.

All-in-one porous membrane enables full protection in guided bone regeneration.

The sophisticated hierarchical structure that precisely combines contradictory mechanical and biological characteristics is ideal for biomaterials, but it is challenging to achieve. Herein, we engineer a spatiotemporally hierarchical guided bone regeneration (GBR) membrane by rational bilayer integration of densely porous N-halamine functionalized bacterial cellulose nanonetwork facing the gingiva and loosely porous chitosan-hydroxyapatite composite micronetwork facing the alveolar bone. Our GBR membrane asymmetrically combine stiffness and flexibility, ingrowth barrier and ingrowth guiding, as well as anti-bacteria and cell-activation.

Hydrogel Encapsulating Wormwood Essential Oil with Broad-spectrum Antibacterial and Immunomodulatory Properties for Infected Diabetic Wound Healing.

The integration of hydrogels with bio-friendly functional components through simple and efficient strategies to construct wound dressings with broad-spectrum antibacterial and immunomodulatory properties to promote the healing of infected diabetic wounds is highly desirable but remains a major challenge. Here, wormwood essential oil (WEO) is effectively encapsulated in the hydrogel via an O/W-Pickering emulsion during the polymerization of methacrylic anhydride gelatin (GelMA), acrylamide (AM), and acrylic acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (AAc-NHS) to form a multifunctional hydrogel dressing (HD-WEO). Compared with conventional emulsions, Pickering emulsions not only improve the encapsulation stability of the WEO, but also enhance the tensile and swelling properties of hydrogel.

Super-Structured Wet-Adhesive Hydrogel with Ultralow Swelling, Ultrahigh Burst Pressure Tolerance, and Anti-Postoperative Adhesion Properties for Tissue Adhesion.

Wet-adhesive hydrogels have been developed as an attractive strategy for tissue repair. However, achieving simultaneously low swelling and high burst pressure tolerance of wet-adhesive hydrogels is crucial for in vivo application which remains challenges. Herein, a novel super-structured porous hydrogel (denoted as PVA/PAAc-N ) is designed via facile moisture-induced phase separation-solvent exchange process for obtaining porous polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel as dissipative layer and in situ photocuring technology for entangling quaternary ammonium-functionalized poly(acrylic acid)-based wet-adhesive layer (PAAc-N ) with the porous surface of PVA layer.

Biocompatible Cryogel with Good Breathability, Exudate Management, Antibacterial and Immunomodulatory Properties for Infected Diabetic Wound Healing.

Due to the complex microenvironment and healing process of diabetic wounds, developing wound dressing with good biocompatibility, mechanical stability, breathability, exudate management, antibacterial ability, and immunomodulatory property is highly desired but remains a huge challenge. Herein, a multifunctional cryogel is designed and prepared with bio-friendly bacterial cellulose, gelatin, and dopamine under the condition of sodium periodate oxidation. Bacterial cellulose can enhance the mechanical stability of the cryogel by improving the skeleton supporting effect and crosslinking degree.

Band-Aid-Like Self-Fixed Barrier Membranes Enable Superior Bone Augmentation.

In guided bone regeneration surgery, a barrier membrane is usually used to inhibit soft tissue from interfering with osteogenesis. However, current barrier membranes usually fail to resist the impact of external forces on bone-augmented region, thus causing severe displacement of membranes and their underlying bone graft materials, eventually leading to unsatisfied bone augmentation. Herein, a new class of local double-layered adhesive barrier membranes (ABMs) is developed to successfully immobilize bone graft materials.

A Versatile Sulfur-Assisted Pyrolysis Strategy for High-Atom-Economy Upcycling of Waste Plastics into High-Value Carbon Materials.

With the overconsumption of disposable plastics, there is a considerable emphasis on the recycling of waste plastics to relieve the environmental, economic, and health-related consequences. Here, a sulfur-assisted pyrolysis strategy is demonstrated for versatile upcycling of plastics into high-value carbons with an ultrahigh carbon-atom recovery (up to 85%). During the pyrolysis process, the inexpensive elemental sulfur molecules are covalently bonded with polymer chains, and then thermally stable intermediates are produced via dehydrogenation and crosslinking, thereby inhibiting the decomposition of plastics into volatile small hydrocarbons.

Facile and Universal Defect Engineering Toward Highly Stable Carbon-Based Polymer Brushes with High Grafting Density.

Carbon-based polymer brushes (CBPBs) are an important class of functional polymer materials, which synergistically combine the advantageous properties of both carbons and polymers. However, the conventional fabrication procedures of CBPBs involve tedious multistep modification, including preoxidation of carbon substrates, introduction of initiating groups, and subsequent graft polymerization. In this study, a simple yet versatile defect-engineering strategy is proposed for the efficient synthesis of high-grafting-density CBPBs with highly stable CC linkages via free radical polymerization.

Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum Inspired Polystyrene-Brush-Based Superhigh Sulfur Content Cathodes Enable Lithium-Sulfur Cells with High Mass and Capacity Loading.

The development of highly sophisticated biomimetic models is significant yet remains challenging in the electrochemical energy storage field. Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) cells with high sulfur content and high-sulfur-loading cathodes are urgently required to meet the fast-growing demand for electronic devices. Nevertheless, such cathode materials generally suffer from large sulfur agglomeration, nonporous structure, and insufficient conductivity, leading to rapid capacity decay and low sulfur utilization.

Amphiphilically Modified Porous Polymeric Nanosandwich-Based Membranes for Rapid and Efficient Water Treatment.

Low removal efficiency, long treatment time, and high energy consumption hinder advanced and eco-friendly use of traditional adsorbents and separation membranes. Here, a class of amphiphilically modified 2D porous polymeric nanosandwich is designed and is subsequently assembled into adsorptive membranes. The 2D nanosandwich is gifted with high porosity and excellent pore accessibility, demonstrating rapid adsorption kinetics.

NADPH Selective Depletion Nanomedicine-Mediated Radio-Immunometabolism Regulation for Strengthening Anti-PDL1 Therapy against TNBC.

Anti-PD(L)1 immunotherapy recently arises as an effective treatment against triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) but is only applicable to a small portion of TNBC patients due to the low PD-L1 expression and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). To address these challenges, a multifunctional "drug-like" copolymer that possesses the auto-changeable upper critical solution temperature and the capacity of scavenging reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) inside tumor cells is synthesized and employed to develop a hypoxia-targeted and BMS202 (small molecule antagonist of PD-1/PD-L1 interactions)-loaded nanomedicine (BMS202@HZP NPs), combining the anti-PD-L1 therapy and the low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT) against TNBC. In addition to the controlled release of BMS202 in the hypoxic TNBC, BMS202@HZP NPs benefit the LDRT by upregulating the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP, the primary cellular source for NADPH) of TME whereas scavenging the NADPH inside tumor cells.

Dendrite-Free and Long-Cycling Lithium Metal Battery Enabled by Ultrathin, 2D Shield-Defensive, and Single Lithium-Ion Conducting Polymeric Membrane.

Polymeric membranes are considered as promising materials to realize safe and long-life lithium metal batteries (LMBs). However, they are usually based on soft 1D linear polymers and thus cannot effectively inhibit piercing of lithium dendrites at high current density. Herein, single lithium-ion conducting molecular brushes (GO-g-PSSLi) are successfully designed and fabricated with a new 2D "soft-hard-soft" hierarchical structure by grafting hairy lithium polystyrenesulfonate (PSSLi) chains on both sides of graphene oxide (GO) sheets.

A robust all-organic protective layer towards ultrahigh-rate and large-capacity Li metal anodes.

The low cycling efficiency and uncontrolled dendrite growth resulting from an unstable and heterogeneous lithium-electrolyte interface have largely hindered the practical application of lithium metal batteries. In this study, a robust all-organic interfacial protective layer has been developed to achieve a highly efficient and dendrite-free lithium metal anode by the rational integration of porous polymer-based molecular brushes (poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)-grafted, hypercrosslinked poly(4-chloromethylstyrene) nanospheres, denoted as xPCMS-g-PEGMA) with single-ion-conductive lithiated Nafion. The porous xPCMS inner cores with rigid hypercrosslinked skeletons substantially increase mechanical robustness and provide adequate channels for rapid ionic conduction, while the flexible PEGMA and lithiated Nafion polymers enable the formation of a structurally stable artificial protective layer with uniform Li diffusion and high Li transference number.

Easily-injectable shear-thinning hydrogel provides long-lasting submucosal barrier for gastrointestinal endoscopic surgery.

Submucosal injection material has shown protective effect against gastrointestinal injury during endoscopic surgery in clinic. However, the protective ability of existing submucosal injection material is strictly limited by their difficult injectability and short barrier time. Herein, we report a shear-thinning gellan gum hydrogel that simultaneously has easy injectability and long-lasting barrier function, together with good hemostatic property and biocompatibility.

Self-Supporting Electrocatalyst Film Based on Self-Assembly of Heterogeneous Bottlebrush and Polyoxometalate for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

Developing efficient electrocatalysts to promote the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is essential for a green and sustainable future energy supply. For practical applications, it is a challenge to achieve the self-assembly of electrocatalyst from microscopic to macroscopic scales. Herein, a facile strategy is proposed to fabricate a self-supporting electrocatalyst film (CNT-g-PSSCo/PW ) for HER by electrostatic interaction-induced self-assembly of cobalt polystyrene sulfonate-grafted carbon nanotube heterogeneous bottlebrush (CNT-g-PSSCo) and polyoxometalate (PW ).