Antiadhesive coatings have been extensively studied owing to their wide applications in biology, environment, and energy. However, developing a mechanically robust coating with broad-spectrum antiadhesion properties remains challenging. Herein, a novel strategy for preparing hard yet flexible and self-adaptive zwitterionic polysilazane coatings with broad-spectrum antiadhesion properties (anti-biofouling, anti-liquid adhesion, and anti-scaling) is proposed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImidazole-based materials have attracted considerable attention due to their promising potential for facilitating anhydrous proton transport at high temperatures. Herein, a machine learning-based deep potential (DP) model for bulk imidazole with first-principles accuracy is developed. The trained model exhibits remarkable accuracy in predicting energies and forces, with minor errors of 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrganogel materials are vital for impact or shock resistance because of their highly tailored dynamic properties. However, concurrently achieving excellent anti-impact and damping performances, high stability, and self-healing properties is challenging. Herein, a novel intelligent protective organogel (IPO) comprising a dynamic boronic ester containing poly(urethane-urea) as the network skeleton with a matching mesh size is synthesized, the network precisely entraps the hyperbranched fluid used as the bulky solvent via steric hindrance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicroelectromechanical system-based microphones demand high ingress protection levels with regard to their use in harsh environment. Here, we develop environmental protective components comprising polyimide nanofibers combined onto polyether ether ketone fabric meshes and subsequently appraise their impact on the electroacoustic properties of high signal-to-noise-ratio microelectromechanical system-based microphones via industry-standard characterizations and theoretical simulations. Being placed directly on top of the microphone sound port, the nanofiber mesh die-cut parts with an inner diameter of 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLithium-ion batteries using quasi-solid gel electrolytes (QSEs) have gained increasing interest due to their enhanced safety features. However, their commercial viability is hindered by low ionic conductivity and poor solid-solid contact interfaces. In this study, a QSE synthesized by in situ polymerizing methyl methacrylate (MMA) in 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME)-based electrolyte is introduced, which exhibits remarkable performance in high-loading graphite||LiNiCoMnO (NCM811) pouch cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe utilization of sulfur has been a global issue. Copolymerization of element sulfur (S) with other monomers is a promising route to convert it to useful materials but is limited by the comonomers. Here, we report anionic hybrid copolymerization of S with acrylate and epoxide at room temperature, where S does not copolymerize with epoxide in the absence of acrylate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMarine antibiofouling using low-amplitude electric pulses (EP) is an energy-efficient and eco-friendly approach, but potential mechanisms for preventing biofouling remain unclear. In the present study, the 3D adhesion dynamics of a model microorganism─ (PAO1)─under low-amplitude cathodic EP were examined as a function of applying voltage and its duration (). The results demonstrated that adhered bacteria escaped from the electrode surface even when EP was removed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIonogels are promising for soft iontronics, with their network structure playing a pivotal role in determining their performance and potential applications. However, simultaneously achieving mechanical toughness, low hysteresis, self-healing, and fluorescence using existing network structures is challenging. Drawing inspiration from jellyfish, we propose a novel hierarchical crosslinking network structure design for in situ formation of hyperbranched cluster aggregates (HCA) to fabricate polyurea ionogels to overcome these challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
May 2024
Polyurea has found applications in protective coatings. Yet, the too fast polymerization and lack of functions limit its application. Herein, we report a high-performance polyurea via the stepwise polymerization of an isocyanate (NCO)-terminated prepolymer consisting of poly(propylene glycol)--poly(ethylene glycol)--poly(propylene glycol) (PPG--PEG--PPG) with a nanocluster synthesized via the hydrolysis of -phenylaminomethyltriethoxysilane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderwater adhesives hold significant relevance in daily life and numerous industrial applications. Despite considerable efforts, developing scalable, high-performance underwater adhesives through a simple and effective method remains a formidable challenge. This study presents a novel mesh-tailoring strategy for in situ, rapid, and ultrastrong oleogel-based underwater adhesives (OUA), which comprises a highly crosslinked polyurethane network with a matching mesh size (≈2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh-performance elastomers are essential in daily life and various industrial sectors such as personal protection, soft electronics, and vibration control. Nevertheless, despite massive efforts, concurrently achieving ultrahigh flexibility and remarkable impact resistance continues to be elusive. Herein, we report an innovative modular construction strategy that employs a topology-tailoring polymer network consisting of stereoscopic (epoxy-oligosiloxane nanoclusters) and linear (amino-terminated polyurea) building blocks as independent modules to develop intelligent anti-impact elastomers an epoxy-amine mechanism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLocal high concentration electrolytes (LHCEs) have been proved to be one of the most promising systems to stabilize both high voltage cathodes and Li metal anode for next-generation batteries. However, the solvation structures and interactions among different species in LHCEs are still convoluted, which bottlenecks the further breakthrough on electrolyte development. Here, it is demonstrated that the hydrogen bonding interaction between diluent and solvent is crucial for the construction of LHCEs and corresponding interphase chemistries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe topology of a polymer profoundly influences its behavior. However, its effect on imbibition dynamics remains poorly understood. In the present work, capillary filling (during imbibition and following full imbibition) of star polymer melts was investigated by molecular dynamics simulations with a coarse-grained model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe components and structures of the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) are critical for stable cycling of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). LiF has been widely studied as the dominant component of SEI, but LiO, which has a much lower diffusion barrier for Li, has rarely been investigated as the dominant component of SEI. The effect of LiO-dominated SEI on electrochemical performance still remains elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo understand the antimicrobial effect of surfaces fabricated with dead probiotics, we prepared surfaces decorated with dead probiotics GG (LGG) with varied inactivation methods and explored their inhibitory interactions with (PAO1). By combining several techniques, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
December 2023
Chemical transfer across the air-water interface is one of the most important geochemical processes of global significance. Quantifying such a process has remained extremely challenging due to the lack of suitable technologies to measure chemical diffusion across the air-water microlayer. Herein, we present a fluorescence optical system capable of visualizing the formation of the air-water microlayer with a spatial resolution of 10 μm and quantifying air-water diffusion fluxes using pyrene as a target chemical.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe adhesion of probiotics plays an important role in the gastrointestinal tract. Understanding the effect of the coverage of colonized probiotics on enteric pathogens is critical for the design of effective probiotic therapies. In the present work, we have investigated the adaptive behaviors of the intestinal pathogenic bacteria (ES) near the surfaces coated with a probiotic─ GG (LGG) as a function of surface coverage ratio () by using a home-setup digital holographic microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThiol-functionalized polyethers, especially poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), have extensive applications in biomedicine and materials sciences. Herein, we report a simple one-pot synthesis of α-thiol-ω-hydroxyl polyethers through ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of epoxides using thiocarboxylic acid initiators followed by in situ aminolysis. The efficient and chemoselective metal-free Lewis pair catalyst avoids transthioesterification thus achieving well-controlled molar mass, low dispersity, and high end-group fidelity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSurface tension plays a critical role in a wide range of fields such as adhesion, wetting, and capillarity. Herein, we combine experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the surface tension (γ) of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) solution as a function of its molecular weight (). In experiments, we reveal that γ is scaled to with |γ - γ| ∝ up to a critical molecular weight (*).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopolymerization of elemental sulfur (S) with vinyl monomers to develop new polymer materials is significant. Here, for the first time, we report the anionic hybrid copolymerization of S with acrylate at 25 °C, yielding a copolymer with short polysulfide segments; i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne-step sequence-selective block copolymerization requires stringent catalytic control of monomers relative activity and enchainment order. It has been especially rare for A B -type block copolymers from simple binary monomer mixtures. Here, ethylene oxide (EO) and N-sulfonyl aziridine (Az) compose a valid pair provided with a bicomponent metal-free catalyst.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe electrochemical stability window of the electrolyte solution limits the energy content of non-aqueous lithium metal batteries. In particular, although electrolytes comprising fluorinated solvents show good oxidation stability against high-voltage positive electrode active materials such as LiNiCoMnO (NCM811), the ionic conductivity is adversely affected and, thus, the battery cycling performance at high current rates and low temperatures. To address these issues, here we report the design and synthesis of a monofluoride ether as an electrolyte solvent with Li-F and Li-O tridentate coordination chemistries.
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