Solvent-adaptive hydrogels with lamellar confinement cellular structure for programmable multimodal locomotion.

Biological organisms can perform flexible and controllable multimodal motion under external stimuli owing to the hierarchical assembly of anisotropic structures across multiple length scales. However, artificial soft actuators exhibit the limited response speed, deformation programmability and movement capability especially in harsh environments because of insufficient anisotropic hierarchy and precision in structural design. Here, we report a programmed assembly directed confinement polymerization method for the fabrication of environmentally tolerant and fast responsive hydrogels with lamellar assembly-confined cellular structure interpenetrated with highly aligned nanopillars by the directional freezing-assisted polymerization in the predesigned anisotropic laminar scaffold.

Insights into the simultaneous removal of Cr and Pb by a novel sewage sludge-derived biochar immobilized nanoscale zero valent iron: Coexistence effect and mechanism.

Cr and Pb are both highly toxic pollutants and commonly co-exist in some industrial effluents and contaminated waters. In this study, simultaneous removal of Cr and Pb by a novel sewage sludge-derived biochar immobilized nanoscale zero-valent iron (SSB-nZVI) was systematically investigated. It was well demonstrated that a porous structure was successfully formed on the SSB-nZVI when the starch was used as an additive.