Shape-Regulated Motion and Energy Conversion of Polyelectrolyte Membrane Actuators.

Smart actuators hold great potential in soft robotics and sensors, but their movement at the fluid interface is less understood and controlled, hindering their performances and applications in complicated fluids. Here an ethanol-containing polyelectrolyte actuator is prepared that demonstrates excellent actuating performance via the Marangoni effect. These actuators exhibit enduring (17 min), repeatable (50 cycles), and autonomous motion on the water surface.

Anisotropic Elastomer Ionomer Composite-Based Strain Sensors: Achieving High Sensitivity and Wide Detection for Human Motion Detection and Wireless Transmission.

Anisotropic strain sensors capable of multidirectional sensing are crucial for advanced sensor applications in human motion detection. However, current anisotropic sensors encounter challenges in achieving a balance among high sensitivity, substantial stretchability, and a wide linear detection range. To address these challenges, a facile freeze-casting strategy was employed to construct oriented filler networks composed of carbon nanotubes and conductive carbon black within a brominated butyl rubber ionomer (iBIIR) matrix.

Recent Progress on the Air-Stable Battery Materials for Solid-State Lithium Metal Batteries.

Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) offer numerous advantages in terms of safety and theoretical specific energy density. However, their main components namely lithium metal anode, solid-state electrolyte, and cathode, show chemical instability when exposed to humid air, which results in low capacities and poor cycling stability. Recent studies have shown that bioinspired hydrophobic materials with low specific surface energies can protect battery components from corrosion caused by humid air.

Loofah-inspired sodium alginate/carboxymethyl cellulose sodium-based porous frame for all-weather super-viscous crude oil adsorption and wastewater treatment in harsh environment.

Solar-driven viscosity reduction of highly viscous crude oil has emerged as an environmentally friendly method to address large-scale oil spills. However, the challenge lies in the limited availability of sunlight during cloudy days and at night, which hinders the effectiveness of green advanced porous materials. This study developed all-weather-available advanced porous materials in the form of loofah-like structured porous frame composed of 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane/MXene/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/sodium alginate (SA)/carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (NaCMC).

Ingenious use of autocatalytic hydrodeoxygenation for the separation and recovery of oil and iron from rolling oil sludge.

This paper introduces a transformative hydrodeoxygenation process for the simultaneous recovery of oil and iron from hazardous rolling oil sludge (ROS). Leveraging the inherent catalytic capabilities of iron/iron oxide nanoparticles in the sludge, our process enables the conversion of fatty acids and esters into hydrocarbons under conditions of 4.5 MPa, 330 °C, and 500 rpm.

Multifunctional liquid-like magnetic nanofluids mediated coating with anticorrosion and self-healing performance.

The long-term protective efficacy of organic coatings against corrosion can be diminished by the presence of micropores/cracks and poor self-healing capabilities. To address these issues, TiC MXene was subjected to liquefaction-like treatment to maintain a two-dimensional lamellar structure in water and polymer matrix for a long time, as well as improve the dispersion stability and loading capacity of MXene. The inorganic corrosion inhibitor ferroferric oxide (FeO) was then electrostatically loaded onto MXene nanofluids to obtain a hybrid material.

In-situ formation of thermo-responsive petal-like cellulose nanocrystals hybridized particles towards optimizing mechanical, rheological and dielectric properties of polylactic acid blends.

Enhancing the toughness of biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) blends with minimal filler content meanwhile preserving their thermomechanical properties remains a highly desirable objective. Here, through a simple in situ mixing of PLA with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and cellulose nanocrystal nanofluids (CNCfs), the electrostatic interaction between CNCfs (+22.6 mv) and CNC (-9.

Fabrication, Performance, and Potential Applications of MXene Composite Aerogels.

Aerogel, known as one of the remarkable materials in the 21st century, possesses exceptional characteristics such as high specific surface area, porosity, and elasticity, making it suitable for a diverse range of applications. In recent years, MXene-based aerogels and MXene composite aerogels as functional materials have solved some limitations of traditional aerogels, such as improving the electrical conductivity of biomass and silicon aerogels, further improving the energy storage capacity of carbon aerogels, enhancing polymer-based aerogels, etc. Consequently, extensive research efforts have been dedicated to investigating MXene-based aerogels, positioning them at the forefront of material science studies.

Fabrication of anti-dripping and flame-retardant polylactide modified with chitosan derivative/aluminum hypophosphite.

As a very promising biodegradable polymer, polylactic acid (PLA) has been applied in various fields. Unfortunately, the disadvantages of flammability and large amounts of molten droplets limit its application. In this work, we constructed a novel flame-retardant system by combining the as-prepared bio-based chitosan derivative (CS-TE) and aluminum hypophosphite (AP), and used it to improve the flame retardancy and anti-dripping property.

Effect of Crystallization on Shape Memory Effect of Poly(lactic Acid).

The opportunity for the preparation of high-performance shape memory materials was brought about by the excellent mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA). As the effect of crystallization on shape memory was still unclear, this brings constraints to the high-performance design of PLA. The PLA plates with different aggregation structure were prepared by three kinds of molding methods in this paper.

Liquefied Polysaccharides-Based Polymer with Tunable Condensed State Structure for Antimicrobial Shield by Multiple Processing Methods.

The phase behavior of biomolecules containing persistent molecular entities is generally limited due to their characteristic size that exceeds the intermolecular force field. Consequently, favorable properties normally associated with the liquid phase of a substance, such as fluidity or processability, are not relevant for the processing of biomolecules, thus hindering the optimal processing of biomolecules. The implied problem that arises is how to convert folded biomolecules to display a richer phase behavior.

Mechanically Robust Janus Poly(lactic acid) Hybrid Fibrous Membranes toward Highly Efficient Switchable Separation of Surfactant-Stabilized Oil/Water Emulsions.

An ideal oil/water separation membrane should possess the characteristics of high flux and separation efficiency, recyclability, as well as good mechanical stability. Herein, a facile method is applied to fabricate a Janus polylactic acid (PLA) fibrous membrane for efficiently separating surfactant-stabilized oil/water mixtures. The Janus PLA fibrous membrane architecture was prepared by electrospinning a PLA/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) fibrous membrane and the subsequent electrospinning of a PLA/SiO nanofluids (nfs) membrane onto one side of the PLA/CNTs fibrous membrane.

Facile fabrication of cellulose/polyphenylene sulfide composite separator for lithium-ion batteries.

As an indispensable component, separator is close related to electrochemical performance and safety of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the current widely applied polyolefin microporous separator impedes the development of high power LIBs due to poorer electrolyte wettability and inferior thermal stability. Herein, heat-resistant polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) fibers and cellulose fibers (CFs) are adopted to fabricate a novel composite separator (CFs/PPS) via a facile papermaking process.

Preparation and characterization of solvent-free fluids reinforced and plasticized polylactic acid fibrous membrane.

In this paper, the electronspun Polylactic acid (PLA)/TiO nanofluids (nfs) fibrous membrane with good toughness, hydrophilicity and antibacterial activities are fabricated by taking full advantages of solvent-free TiO nfs with amphiphilicity and ionic conductivity. The resulting PLA/TiO nfs fibrous membrane exhibits excellent mechanical performance with a tensile strength and elongation at break of 3.68 MPa and 97.

Flexible and Highly Efficient Bilayer Photothermal Paper for Water Desalination and Purification: Self-Floating, Rapid Water Transport, and Localized Heat.

In view of the sustainable and environmentally friendly characteristics of solar energy, solar water evaporation has been identified as a promising approach to mitigate the global water crises. However, it is still a great challenge to develop a portable, flexible, scalable, and high-performance solar water evaporation material. Herein, a bilayer-structured solar water evaporation material consisting of a top multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) layer and a bottom polyphenylene sulfide/fibrillated cellulose (PPS/FC) paper was fabricated via a simple vacuum filtration technology for efficient solar water evaporation.

Development of Hydrogen-Rich Benzoxazine Resins with Low Polymerization Temperature for Space Radiation Shielding.

A systematic study has been carried out to develop a material with significant protection properties from galactic cosmic radiation and solar energetic particles. The research focused on the development of hydrogen-rich benzoxazines, which are particularly effective for shielding against such radiation. Newly developed benzoxazine resin can be polymerized at 120 °C, which meets the low-temperature processing requirements for use with ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber, a hydrogen-rich composite reinforcement.

Multifunctionalization of cotton fabrics with polyvinylsilsesquioxane/ZnO composite coatings.

Ultraviolet (UV) shielding, superhydrophobic and antimicrobial cotton fabrics were fabricated using functional coatings combined with advantages of polyvinylsilsesquioxane and ZnO nanoparticles by solution immersion. The influence of composite coatings on surface morphology, water-repellence, UV shielding property, mechanical property, thermal degradation behavior and antibacterial property of the cotton fabrics was investigated respectively. It is evidently found that the cotton fabrics functionalized by composite coatings exhibited excellent UV shielding, durable superhydrophobic and antimicrobial properties as compared to the reference materials.

High-Performance Photopolymerized Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Silica Nanocomposite Hydrogels with Enhanced Cell Adhesion.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels have been considered as promising implants for various soft tissue engineering applications because of their tissue-like viscoelasticity and biocompatibility. However, two critical barriers including lack of sufficient mechanical properties and non-tissue-adhesive characterization limit their application as tissue substitutes. Herein, PVA is methacrylated with ultralow degrees of substitution of methacryloyl groups to produce PVA-glycidyl methacrylate (GMA).

Photopolymerized maleilated chitosan/methacrylated silk fibroin micro/nanocomposite hydrogels as potential scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering.

Hydrogels composed of natural materials exhibit great application potential in artificial scaffolds for cartilage repair as they can resemble the extracellular matrices of cartilage tissues comprised of various glycosaminoglycan and collagen. Herein, the natural polymers with vinyl groups, i.e.

Photopolymerized water-soluble maleilated chitosan/methacrylated poly (vinyl alcohol) hydrogels as potential tissue engineering scaffolds.

Photocrosslinkable water-soluble maleilated chitosan and methacrylated poly (vinyl alcohol) were synthesized and therefore maleilated chitosan/methacrylated poly (vinyl alcohol) (MCS/MPVA) hydrogels were prepared under UV radiation. Series of properties of the hydrogels including rheological property, swelling behavior, morphology and mechanical test were investigated. The main results showed that the MCS/MPVA hydrogels had fast gel-forming rate (complete transformation to gel within 150s), improved compressive strength at 0.

Photocrosslinked maleilated chitosan/methacrylated poly (vinyl alcohol) bicomponent nanofibrous scaffolds for use as potential wound dressings.

To improve water stability of hydrophilic nanofibers, photocrosslinked maleilated chitosan/methacrylated poly (vinyl alcohol) (MCS/MPVA) bicomponent nanofibrous scaffolds were successfully obtained by electrospinning of aqueous MCS/MPVA solution and consequent photopolymerization. The parameters of MCS/MPVA solutions such as viscosity and conductivity were measured to evaluate electrospinnability of the blend solutions. The bicomponent nanofibrous scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively.

Nanoscale zero-valent iron/persulfate enhanced upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor for dye removal: Insight into microbial metabolism and microbial community.

This study investigated the efficiency of nanoscale zero-valent iron combined with persulfate (NZVI/PS) for enhanced degradation of brilliant red X-3B in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, and examined the effects of NZVI/PS on anaerobic microbial communities during the treatment process. The addition of NZVI (0.5 g/L) greatly enhanced the decolourization rate of X-3B from 63.

The effects of manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieve chitosan microspheres on sludge bacterial community structures during sewage biological treatment.

This study examines the effects of manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieve chitosan microspheres (FeO@OMS-2@CTS) on anaerobic and aerobic microbial communities during sewage biological treatment. The addition of FeO@OMS-2@CTS (0.25 g/L) resulted in enhanced levels of operational performance for decolourization dye X-3B.