Liquid crystal phase behavior of oxalated cellulose nanocrystal and optical films with controllable structural color induced by centripetal force.

Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) is a sustainable bio-nanomaterial. The distinctive left-handed polarization properties render cellulose nanocrystal a promising candidate for optical film. Due to eco-friendliness, reliability, mildness and simplicity, the oxalate hydrolysis method stands out among various preparation methods for CNC.

Construction of strain responsive Ti-containing carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel with transitional coordination precursor.

Due to marvelous sensitivity and flexibility, conductive hydrogels are popularly used as strain sensors in intelligent skin and wearable electronic devices fields. However, hydrogel tends to be destroyed after long-term use or in accident, leading to performance degradation. Herein, we developed an environmental-friendly Ti-containing conductive hydrogel.

An eco-friendly versatile superabsorbent hydrogel based on sodium alginate and urea for soil improvement with a synchronous chemical loading strategy.

In this paper, an eco-friendly versatile superabsorbent material was designed for soil improvement, and a synchronous chemical loading strategy was proposed. In this strategy, urea not only acted as fertilizer but also acted as a crosslinker to construct an alginate network. The microstructure, chemical structure, thermal stability and composition of the obtained SA/urea hydrogel were characterized in detail.

Advances in Asymmetric Wettable Janus Materials for Oil-Water Separation.

The frequent occurrence of crude oil spills and the indiscriminate discharge of oily wastewater have caused serious environmental pollution. The existing separation methods have some defects and are not suitable for complex oil-water emulsions. Therefore, the efficient separation of complex oil-water emulsions has been of great interest to researchers.

Green Preparation of Durian Rind-Based Cellulose Nanofiber and Its Application in Aerogel.

In this study, a green, highly efficient and low energy consumption preparation method of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) was developed by using agricultural and forestry waste durian rinds as raw materials. The power of ultrasonic treatment was successfully reduced to only 360 W with low molecular weight liquid DMSO. The obtained durian rind-based CNF had a diameter of 8-20 nm and a length of several micrometers.

Study on swelling and drug releasing behaviors of ibuprofen-loaded bimetallic alginate aerogel beads with pH-responsive performance.

Bimetallic alginate aerogel beads were prepared by ionotropic gelation method with Ca-Ba bimetallic solution and ibuprofen was loaded as a model drug. The swelling and drug releasing behaviors of the beads, especially the influence of barium, were investigated in artificial gastric and intestinal fluids. The results showed that these beads presented higher encapsulation efficiency due to the special structure of aerogel, and barium was beneficial for the more stable structure and drug releasing behavior.

A 'top modification' strategy for enhancing the ability of a chitosan aerogel to efficiently capture heavy metal ions.

Chitosan is a promising substitute for heavy metal ion adsorbents. However, traditional pure chitosan adsorbents have certain disadvantages that limit their application. In this paper, a 'top modification' strategy was used to enhance the capturing ability of chitosan adsorbents.

A facile slow-gel method for bulk Al-doped carboxymethyl cellulose aerogels with excellent flame retardancy.

Bulk Al-doped carboxymethyl cellulose aerogels were obtained via a facile slow-gel method and freeze-drying technology. In this method, the cross-linker Al was released slowly and completely with enough d-(+)-gluconic acid δ-lactone as a sustained-release agent. Depended on controlled releasing of Al, the reaction speed between Al and carboxyl groups was controlled and Al was well-distributed in the aerogels.

Converting untreated waste office paper and chitosan into aerogel adsorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions.

The utilization of waste paper, an obsolete recyclable resource, helps to save resources and protect environment. In this paper, an aerogel was prepared to convert the waste paper into a useful material, which was used to adsorb heavy metal ions and handle water pollution. Combining waste office paper and chitosan, the aerogel obtained the enhanced mechanical strength, acid resistance and high adsorption capacity (up to 156.

Excellent reusable chitosan/cellulose aerogel as an oil and organic solvent absorbent.

Absorption is one of the most important methods for oil spill cleanup. An ideal absorbent is expected to possess advantages of low cost, green, high absorption capacity and excellent reusability. In this paper, a new kind of cellulose aerogel was successfully fabricated via cellulose oxidation, crosslinking, freeze drying and cold plasma modification.

Dual responsive aerogel made from thermo/pH sensitive graft copolymer alginate-g-P(NIPAM-co-NHMAM) for drug controlled release.

Alginate was grafted with NIPAM and NHMAM successfully, and a new responsive copolymer, alginate-g-P(NIPAM-co-NHMAM), was obtained. A novel dual responsive polysaccharide-based aerogel with thermo/pH sensitive properties was designed from the copolymer as drug controlled release system. The chemical structure of the copolymer was characterized by FT-IR and H NMR.

An environment-friendly and multi-functional absorbent from chitosan for organic pollutants and heavy metal ion.

Developing environment-friendly green absorbents for disposal of wastewater remains to be studied. In this paper, the cross-linked chitosan aerogel (CsA) as an environment-friendly absorbent was obtained by a simple method involving cross-linked process and freeze drying technique. Compared with conventional absorbents, the porous chitosan aerogel was provided with unique properties such as low density (0.

Preparation of bulk sodium carboxymethyl cellulose aerogels with tunable morphology.

Homogeneous and bulk carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogel and aerogel were prepared by a novel process, using Fe(3+) and d-(+)-gluconic acid-lactone as cross-linker and releasing agent, respectively. The results showed that the mass fraction of Fe(3+) has a great effect on CMC aerogels' structure, crystallization and morphology. By adjusting the mass fraction of Fe(3+), granular, three-dimensional network and rod-like morphology were obtained, responding to varying density and porosity.

Heat insulation performance, mechanics and hydrophobic modification of cellulose-SiO2 composite aerogels.

Cellulose-SiO2 composite hydrogel was prepared by combining the NaOH/thiourea/H2O solvent system and the immersion method with controlling the hydrolysis-fasculation rate of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The hydrophobic composite aerogels were obtained through the freeze-drying technology and the cold plasma modification technology. Composite SiO2 could obviously reduce the thermal conductivity of cellulose aerogel.