Advances in Cellulose-Based Composites for Energy Applications.

The various forms of cellulose-based materials possess high mechanical and thermal stabilities, as well as three-dimensional open network structures with high aspect ratios capable of incorporating other materials to produce composites for a wide range of applications. Being the most prevalent natural biopolymer on the Earth, cellulose has been used as a renewable replacement for many plastic and metal substrates, in order to diminish pollutant residues in the environment. As a result, the design and development of green technological applications of cellulose and its derivatives has become a key principle of ecological sustainability.

Concepts and Emerging Trends for Structural Battery Electrolytes.

The structural battery is a multifunctional energy storage device that aims to address the weight and volume efficiency issues that conventional batteries face, especially in electric transportation. By combining the functions of mechanical load bearing and energy storage, structural batteries can reduce the reliance on, or even eventually replace the main power source in an electric vehicle or a drone. However, one of the key challenges to be addressed before achieving multifunctionality in structural batteries would be the design of a suitable multifunctional structural battery electrolyte.

Fabrication of electrospun nanofibers with moisture-triggered carvacrol release in fresh produce packaging.

In this study, by incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG) into the polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibers, a moisture-controlled system was developed in the release of carvacrol to the food package headspaces. With the use of electrospinning technology, an optimized solution (80:20 [PLA:PEG] polymer mixture incorporated with a carvacrol content of 20% [w/w polymer]) generated nanofibers with excellent encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, and controlled release of carvacrol at different humidity levels. Carvacrol was prevented from release when the fibers were kept in dry states.

Counter-Intuitive Magneto-Water-Wetting Effect to CO Adsorption at Room Temperature Using MgO/Mg(OH) Nanocomposites.

MgO/Mg(OH)-based materials have been intensively explored for CO adsorption due to their high theoretical but low practical CO capture efficiency. Our previous study on the effect of HO wetting on CO adsorption in MgO/Mg(OH) nanostructures found that the presence of HO molecules significantly increases (decreases) CO adsorption on the MgO (Mg(OH)) surface. Furthermore, the magneto-water-wetting technique is used to improve the CO capture efficiency of various nanofluids by increasing the mass transfer efficiency of nanobeads.

J-Aggregation of Perylene Diimides in Silica Nanocapsules for Stable Near-Infrared Photothermal Conversion.

A novel near-infrared-responsive (NIR-responsive) photothermal therapy (PTT) agent based on perylene-diimide-encapsulated (PDI-encapsulated) PEGylated silica nanocapsules (SNCs) is developed. Dicyclohexylamino-PDI (DCAPDI) with electron-donating cyclohexylamino substitutes at bay positions aggregates into J-aggregation in the core of SNCs, and their electronic coupling interactions are strengthened because of the spatial confinement of SNCs, resulting in strong NIR absorption but negligible fluorescence emission which is crucial for NIR-responsive PTT. Based on our knowledge, this is the first example of generating NIR photothermal conversion by means of molecular aggregation derived from spatial confinement.