Breaking the Nanoparticle Loading-Dispersion Dichotomy in Polymer Nanocomposites with the Art of Croissant-Making.

The intrinsic properties of nanomaterials offer promise for technological revolutions in many fields, including transportation, soft robotics, and energy. Unfortunately, the exploitation of such properties in polymer nanocomposites is extremely challenging due to the lack of viable dispersion routes when the filler content is high. We usually face a dichotomy between the degree of nanofiller loading and the degree of dispersion (and, thus, performance) because dispersion quality decreases with loading.

Using graphene networks to build bioinspired self-monitoring ceramics.

The properties of graphene open new opportunities for the fabrication of composites exhibiting unique structural and functional capabilities. However, to achieve this goal we should build materials with carefully designed architectures. Here, we describe the fabrication of ceramic-graphene composites by combining graphene foams with pre-ceramic polymers and spark plasma sintering.

New approach toward reflective films and fibers using cholesteric liquid-crystal coatings.

A new approach for the production of oriented films and fibers with angular-dependent reflective colors is presented. The process consists of spray coating a solution of cholesteric liquid-crystalline monomers onto a melt-processed and oriented polyamide-6 substrate followed by UV curing. Reflectivity measurements and optical microscopy show that a well-defined liquid-crystalline and planar alignment is obtained.

Humidity-responsive bilayer actuators based on a liquid-crystalline polymer network.

A humidity-responsive bilayer actuator has been developed that consists of an oriented polyamide-6 substrate and a liquid-crystalline polymer coating. The oriented substrate acts as an alignment layer for the liquid crystal. The liquid-crystalline polymer consists of a supramolecular network having hydrogen-bonded entities that, after activation with an alkaline solution, exhibit deformation in response to a change in humidity.