Biological activity, limitations and steady-state delivery of functional substances for precision nutrition.

Food-related functional substances with biological activity serve as a crucial material foundation for achieving precision nutrition, which has gained increasing attraction in regulating physiological functions, preventing chronic diseases, and maintaining human health. Nutritional substances typically include bioactive proteins, peptides, polysaccharides, polyphenols, functional lipids, carotenoids, probiotics, vitamins, saponins, and terpenes. These functional substances play an essential role in precise nutrition.

Aerobic mechanochemical reversible-deactivation radical polymerization.

Polymer materials suffer mechano-oxidative deterioration or degradation in the presence of molecular oxygen and mechanical forces. In contrast, aerobic biological activities combined with mechanical stimulus promote tissue regeneration and repair in various organs. A synthetic approach in which molecular oxygen and mechanical energy synergistically initiate polymerization will afford similar robustness in polymeric materials.

Mechanochemical Controlled Radical Polymerization: From Harsh to Mild.

Mechanochemistry constitutes a burgeoning field that investigates the chemical and physicochemical alterations of substances under mechanical force. It enables the synthesis of materials which is challenging to obtain via thermal, optical or electrical activation methods. In addition, it diminishes reliance on organic solvents and provides a novel route for green chemistry.

Tribochemically Controlled Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization Enabled by Contact Electrification.

Traditional mechanochemically controlled reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) utilizes ultrasound or ball milling to regenerate activators, which induce side reactions because of the high-energy and high-frequency stimuli. Here, we propose a facile approach for tribochemically controlled atom transfer radical polymerization (tribo-ATRP) that relies on contact-electro-catalysis (CEC) between titanium oxide (TiO ) particles and CuBr /tris(2-pyridylmethylamine (TPMA), without any high-energy input. Under the friction induced by stirring, the TiO particles are electrified, continuously reducing CuBr /TPMA into CuBr/TPMA, thereby conversing alkyl halides into active radicals to start ATRP.