Improving the Tensile Properties of Wet Spun Silk Fibers Using Rapid Bayesian Algorithm.

Wet spinning of silkworm silk has the potential to overcome the limitations of the natural spinning process, producing fibers with exceptional mechanical properties. However, the complexity of the extraction and spinning processes have meant that this potential has so far not been realized. The choice of silk processing parameters, including fiber degumming, dissolving, and concentration, are critical in producing a sufficiently viscous dope, while avoiding silk's natural tendency to gel via self-assembly.

Efficient Bayesian Function Optimization of Evolving Material Manufacturing Processes.

The scale-up of laboratory procedures to industrial production is the main challenge standing between ideation and the successful introduction of novel materials into commercial products. Retaining quality while ensuring high per-batch production yields is the main challenge. Batch processing and other dynamic strategies that preserve product quality can be applied, but they typically involve a variety of experimental parameters and functions that are difficult to optimize because of interdependencies that are often antagonistic.

Optimizing a High-Entropy System: Software-Assisted Development of Highly Hydrophobic Surfaces using an Amphiphilic Polymer.

In materials science, the investigation of a large and complex experimental space is time-consuming and thus may induce bias to exclude potential solutions where little to no knowledge is available. This work presents the development of a highly hydrophobic material from an amphiphilic polymer through a novel, adaptive artificial intelligence approach. The hydrophobicity arises from the random packing of short polymer fibers into paper, a highly entropic, multistep process.

Sulfonated Thiophene Derivative Stabilized Aqueous Poly(3-hexylthiophene):Phenyl-C-butyric Acid Methyl Ester Nanoparticle Dispersion for Organic Solar Cell Applications.

Aqueous dispersions of poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) nanoparticles (NPs) have been fabricated using a thiophene-based surfactant 2-(3-thienyl)ethyloxybutylsulfonate sodium salt (TEBS) for the first time via the mini-emulsion process. The use of TEBS resulted in a stable colloidal dispersion of P3HT:PCBM NPs, of which the effect of various fabrication parameters is investigated. The fabricated NPs were characterized by dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, contrast-variation small and ultra-small angle neutron scattering, and cyclic voltammetry.

Water-Reprocessable, Reformable, and Ecofriendly Sustainable Material Based on Disulfide-Cross-Linked Polyethyleneimine.

A reformable polymer gel material has been developed based on the disulfide cross-linking of low-molecular-weight polyethylenimine (PEI) that can be synthesized through a facile thiolation method and reprocessed through an aqueous method without the use of solvents or additional chemicals. Despite being made with water-soluble PEI, the cross-linked gel shows good mechanical integrity and its properties can be controlled through the fabrication parameters, maintaining the hydrophilic nature of PEI while being sufficiently robust to form a free-standing film that does not dissolve in water. The properties of the gel have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, and dynamic mechanical analyses, showing the effect of parameters such as the degree of thiolation and thermal curing.

Bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics from water-processable nanomaterials and their facile fabrication approaches.

Organic thin film photovoltaics based on bulk-heterojunction donor-acceptor combinations have received significant interest due to their potential for low-cost, large-scale solution processing. However, current state-of-the-art cells utilise materials soluble mainly in halogenated solvents which pose processing challenges due to their toxicity and thus environmental hazards. In this contribution, we look at various nanomaterials, and alternative processing of these solar cells using environmentally friendly solvents, and review recently reported different strategies and approaches that are making inroads in this field.

Polymeric Ionic Liquid Nanoparticle Emulsions as a Corrosion Inhibitor in Anticorrosion Coatings.

In this contribution, we report the facile preparation of cross-linked polymerizable ionic liquid (PIL)-based nanoparticles via thiol-ene photopolymerization in a miniemulsion. The synthesized PIL nanoparticles with a diameter of about 200 nm were fully characterized with regard to their chemical structures, morphologies, and properties using different techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. To gain an in-depth understanding of the physical and morphological structures of the PIL nanoparticles in an emulsion, small-angle neutron scattering and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering were used.

Facile Fabrication of Polymerizable Ionic Liquid Based-Gel Beads via Thiol-ene Chemistry.

Multipurpose gel beads prepared from natural or synthetic polymers have received significant attention in various applications such as drug delivery, coatings, and electrolytes because of their versatility and unique performance as micro- and nanocontainers.1 However, comparatively little work has been done on poly(ionic liquid)-based materials despite their unique ionic characteristics. Thus, in this contribution we report the facile preparation of polymerizable ionic liquid-based gel beads using thiol-ene click chemistry.

Negligible degradation upon in situ voltage cycling of a PEMFC using an electrospun niobium-doped tin oxide supported Pt cathode.

Novel platinum-catalysed, corrosion-resistant, loose-tube-structured electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells have been obtained using single-needle electrospinning associated with a microwave-assisted polyol method. Monodisperse platinum particles supported on Nb-SnO2 demonstrated higher electrochemical stability than conventional Pt/C electrodes during ex situ potential cycling and comparable activity in the oxygen reduction reaction. In situ fuel cell operation under accelerated stress test conditions of a membrane electrode assembly elaborated using a Pt/C anode and Pt/Nb-SnO2 cathode confirmed that the voltage loss is significantly lower for the novel cathode than for an MEA prepared using conventional Pt/C supported electrocatalysts.

Promising aquivion composite membranes based on fluoroalkyl zirconium phosphate for fuel cell applications.

Layered zirconium phosphate (ZP) that bears fluorinated alkyl chains bonded covalently to the layers (ZPR) was used as a nanofiller in membranes based on a short-side-chain perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) to mechanically reinforce the PFSA hydrophobic component. Compared to the pristine PFSA, membranes with a ZPR loading up to 30 wt% show enhanced mechanical properties, and the largest improvement of elastic modulus (E) and yield stress (σY ) are observed for the 10 wt% ZPR membrane: ΔE/E up to 90% and ΔσY /σY up 70% at 70°C and 80% relative humidity (RH). In the RH range 50-95%, the in-plane conductivity of the composite membranes reaches 0.

Composite Electrolyte Membranes from Partially Fluorinated Polymer and Hyperbranched, Sulfonated Polysulfone.

Macromolecular modification of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF) was done with various proportions of sulfonic acid terminated, hyperbranched polysulfone (HPSU) with a view to prepare ion conducting membranes. The PVDF-co-HFP was first chemically modified by dehydrofluorination and chlorosulfonation in order to make the membrane more hydrophilic as well as to introduce unsaturation, which would allow crosslinking of the PVDF-co-HFP matrix to improve the stability of the membrane. The modified samples were characterized for ion exchange capacity, morphology, and performance.

Single step elaboration of size-tuned Pt loaded titania nanofibres.

Conductive titania nanofibres supporting Pt nanoparticles were synthesised in a one-pot method based on the electrospinning technique. The dimensions of both the oxide fibres and platinum particles were tuneable, leading to versatile nanomaterials with possible applications as electrodes for energy conversion devices.

Composite polymer electrolyte containing ionic liquid and functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes for anhydrous PEM applications.

A new type of supported liquid membrane was made by combining an ionic liquid (IL) with a Nafion membrane reinforced with multifunctional polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSSs) using a layer-by-layer strategy for anhydrous proton-exchange membrane (PEM) application. The POSS was functionalized by direct sulfonation, and the sulfonated POSS (S-POSS) was incorporated into Nafion 117 membranes by the infiltration method. The resultant hybrid membrane shows strong ionic interaction between the Nafion matrix and the multifunctional POSS, resulting in increased glass transition temperature and thermal stability at very low loadings of S-POSS (1%).

Interfacial interactions in aprotic ionic liquid based protonic membrane and its correlation with high temperature conductivity and thermal properties.

Novel supported liquid membranes (SLMs) have been developed by impregnating Nafion and Hyflon membranes with ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (BMI-BTSI). These supported liquid membranes were characterized in terms of their ionic liquid uptake behavior, leaching of ionic liquid by water, thermal stability, mechanical properties, glass transition temperature, ion exchange capacity, and proton conductivity. In general, modified membranes are more flexible than unmodified samples due to the plasticization effects of the ionic liquid.