Polylactic acid aerogel with antibacterial, early warning and heat preservation functions applied to fresh trays.

Fresh trays could not provide efficient protection and detection to the fresh foods during the transportation and sale processes due to its less functions. To address these challenges, one type of multifunctional fresh tray with antibacterial and detection properties was fabricated by the combining of two types of functionalized polylactic acid (PLA) aerogels, PLA/carvacrol (PLA/CA) aerogel and PLA-red cabbage anthocyanin (PLA-RCA) aerogel. The PLA/CA aerogel prepared by in situ encapsulation strategy exhibits a strong antioxidant effect with the free radical clearance rate of 69.

Robust Superhydrophobic Composite Fabric with Self-Healing and Chemical Durability.

Superhydrophobic fabrics with multiple functions have become a research hotspot. However, it is challenging to make self-healing mechanically robust and eco-friendly superhydrophobic fabrics, which are limited by complex fabrication processes and excessive use of environmentally unfriendly solvents during fabrication. Herein, inspired by the secretion of a waxy substance from the surface of lotus leaves to restore water repellency, self-healing superhydrophobic composite fabrics (as-synthesized PA66/6-PET@Tico) are obtained by constructing a papillary TiO and tentacle-like fluorinated acrylate polymer (FCB015) coating on polyester-nylon composite fabrics using two-step hydrothermal method.

Bilayer fiber membrane electrospun from polylactic acid/alginate/bromelain and polylactic acid for enhancing the functionality of tea bags.

Tea bags have been extensively used in the food industry and daily life as an efficient way to pack tea. However, the large pores of the commercial tea bags not only lead to the inner contents of tea bag susceptible to bacteria and moisture but also result in the faster water infusion which is undesired during tea brewing. In this study, the polylactic acid (PLA)-PLA/sodium alginate (SA)/bromelain (BL) bilayer fiber membrane imitating the asymmetric wetting structure of lotus leaf blades was fabricated to avoid the above disadvantages of commercial tea bag.

In-situ growth of zinc sulfide on the surface of alginate-based biomass carbon: A new material for removing methylene blue/basic fuchsin and copper ions.

This work aims to prepare a composite adsorbent with a fixed shape to improve the performance of carbon materials and to solve the problem of adsorbent in powder form which is difficult to recycle after use. The BC-ZnS composite system was successfully prepared by hydrothermal method based on the preparation of biomass carbon (BC) using alginate (Alg), while the ZnS component was grown in-situ on the surface of BC. The effects of Alg, Zn source, hydrothermal temperature and time on the synthesis of BC-ZnS were explored, the results indicated that ZnS was successfully grown in-situ on the BC surface, while the BC maintained its original morphology.

Molybdenum disulfide nanoflowers - doped sodium alginate/polyvinyl alcohol porous xerogel for methylene blue and copper ion adsorption.

In order to improve the adsorption performance of MoS, as well as to solve the problems of MoS-powder in adsorption, which is prone to agglomeration and difficulty to be recycled, we prepared MoS-nanoflowers(MoS-NFs), and mixed them with sodium alginate/polyvinyl alcohol(SA/PVA) to prepare MoS-NFs/SA/PVA xerogel(MSP) by freezing-lyophilization. Then two forms of xerogels - block-MSP(MSPB) and spherical-MSP(MSPS) were prepared, and they were used as methylene blue(MB) and Cu adsorbent. It was found that MoS-NFs were evenly dispersed inside the SA/PVA with no agglomeration, while the interior of MSPB/MSPS showed the structure of parallel-pores and radial-pores, respectively.

Guar gum-based multilayer fiber membranes inspired by plant transpiration for enhancing the functionality of dry facial masks.

As more eco-friendly and economical choice for wet facial masks, dry facial masks have always had the problem of cumbersome application process and poor water retention property. In this study, based on the mechanism of directional water transport of Janus membrane and plant transpiration, the hydrophobic polylactic acid (PLA) nanofiber layer and the superhydrophilic guar gum (GG) nanofiber layer were prepared on both sides of the silk facial mask (SM) by electrospinning to obtain the guar gum-based bionic Janus directional water transport facial mask (G-DFM). The results showed that the directional water transport function improved the facial mask's water retention by 37 %, and the nicotinamide (NAM) encapsulated in the GG layer gave the facial mask excellent whitening and antibacterial properties.

Development of cell adhesive and inherently antibacterial polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene oxide nanofiber scaffolds via incorporating chitosan for tissue engineering.

Currently, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyethylene oxide (PEO), as tissue engineering scaffolds materials, had been widely studied, however the hard issues in cell adhesive and antimicrobial properties still seriously limited their application in biomedical respects. Herein, we solved both hard issues by incorporating chitosan (CHI) into the PVA/PEO system, and successfully prepared PVA/PEO/CHI nanofiber scaffolds via electrospinning technology. First, the hierarchical pore structure and elevated porosity stacked by nanofiber of the nanofiber scaffolds supplied suitable space for cell growth.

Preparation and characterization of multi-network hydrogels based on sodium alginate/krill protein/polyacrylamide-Strength, shape memory, conductivity and biocompatibility.

Sodium alginate/krill protein/polyacrylamide (SA/AKP/PAM) hydrogel with "covalent bond-ion complex-hydrogen bond" multi-network structure was prepared by covalent cross-linking and complexion ion crosslinking using SA, AKP, and acrylamide (AM) as raw materials. The effects of ion species (Fe, Ba, Sr, Ca, and Zn) on the structure, morphology, and properties of multi-network hydrogels were studied in detail. The results showed that the mechanical strength of ionic cross-linked hydrogels increased significantly.