Simultaneous Toughening and Strengthening of Ductile Polymer by Rigid Polymeric Fillers: The Role of Interfacial Entanglement.

The modification of thermoplastic polymers is frequently impeded by the inherent contradiction between their toughness and strength. In this study, an effective strategy to significantly improve the mechanical properties of ductile polymers by simply adding a complimentary rigid polymer is introduced. This work uses a semi-crystalline polymer aliphatic polyketone (POK) as the matrix material and a small quantity of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as the rigid polymer, through establishing molecular chain entanglements at the interface to produce POK/PMMA blends with exceptional mechanical property.

Nanomechanical mapping of PLA hydroxyapatite composite scaffolds links surface homogeneity to stem cell differentiation.

Polymer composite scaffolds hold promise in bone tissue engineering due to their biocompatibility, mechanical properties, and reproducibility. Among these materials, polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastics has gained attention for its processability characteristics. However, a deeper understanding of how PLA scaffold surface properties influence cell behavior is enssential for advancing its applications.

Deciphering and Integrating Functionalized Side Chains for High Ion-Conductive Elastic Ternary Copolymer Solid-State Electrolytes for Safe Lithium Metal Batteries.

A critical challenge in solid polymer lithium batteries is developing a polymer matrix that can harmonize ionic transportation, electrochemical stability, and mechanical durability. We introduce a novel polymer matrix design by deciphering the structure-function relationships of polymer side chains. Leveraging the molecular orbital-polarity-spatial freedom design strategy, a high ion-conductive hyperelastic ternary copolymer electrolyte (CPE) is synthesized, incorporating three functionalized side chains of poly-2,2,2-Trifluoroethyl acrylate (PTFEA), poly(vinylene carbonate) (PVC), and polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether acrylate (PEGMEA).

Entropically Toughened Robust Biodegradable Polymer Blends and Composites for Bone Tissue Engineering.

Biodegradable polymers and composites are promising candidates for biomedical implants in tissue engineering. However, state-of-the-art composite scaffolds suffer from a strength-toughness dilemma due to poor interfacial adhesion and filler dispersion. In this work, we propose a facile and scalable strategy to fabricate strong and tough biocomposite scaffolds through interfacial toughening.

General Entropy Approach Toward Ultratough Sustainable Plastics.

Entropy is a universal concept across the physics of mixtures. While the role of entropy in other multicomponent materials has been appreciated, its effects in polymers and plastics have not. In this work, it is demonstrated that the seemingly small mixing entropy contributes to the miscibility and performance of polymer alloys.

An Amphiphilic Entangled Network Design Toward Ultratough Hydrogels.

Hydrogels find important roles in biomedicine, wearable electronics, and soft robotics, but their mechanical properties are often unsatisfactory. Conventional tough hydrogel designs are based on hydrophilic networks with sacrificial bonds, while the incorporation of hydrophobic polymers into hydrogels is less well understood. In this work, a hydrogel toughening strategy is demonstrated by introducing a hydrophobic polymer as reinforcement.

Entropy-Driven Ultratough Blends from Brittle Polymers.

Polymer blends with synergetic performance play an integral part in modern society. The discovery of compatible polymer systems often relies on strong chemical interactions. By contrast, the role of entropy in polymers is often neglected.

The crystallization of decanoic acid/dopamine supramolecular self-assemblies in the presence of coacervates.

Hypothesis: Supramolecular self-assemblies involving non-covalent interactions play important roles in material science as well as living systems as they result in unique properties and/or functions. However, understanding of their self-assembly mechanism and crystallization has remained rudimentary.

Experiment: Here, we focus on biomolecular fatty acid and dopamine, which commonly exist in biological systems and closely related to neurodegenerative diseases, and investigate their self-assembly pathway by optical and fluorescence microscopy, DLS, SAXS, TEM, 2D-NMR, etc.

Fatty Acid-Based Coacervates as a Membrane-free Protocell Model.

Membrane-less scenarios that involve liquid-liquid phase separation (coacervation) provide clues for how protocells might emerge. Here, we report a versatile approach to construct coacervates by mixing fatty acid with biomolecule dopamine as the protocell model. The coacervate droplets are easily formed over a wide range of concentrations.

Strong Interface via Weak Interactions: Ultratough and Malleable Polylactic acid/Polyhydroxybutyrate Biocomposites.

Bio-based and biodegradable polymer composites, most notably poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), represent a promising solution to replace conventional petroleum-based plastics. However, the brittleness and low miscibility of PLLA and PHB remain two major obstacles to practical applications. In this work, first PLLA/PHB blends are reported by melt mixing with a rigid component, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA).

Temperature and pH Responsive Light-Harvesting System Based on AIE-Active Microgel for Cell Imaging.

A highly emissive microgel is synthesized by polymerizing tetraphenylethene (TPE) based comonomers, acrylic acid, NIPAM, and permanent crosslinker ethylenebisacrylamide (BIS) (named as TPE microgel), which exhibited temperature responsive fluorescence emission. Rhodamine B (RhB), a positively charged molecule, is then inserted onto the surface of fabricated microgels through electrostatic interaction. As a result, a novel artificial light harvesting system with high energy transfer efficiency is constructed (named as TPE microgel-RhB light harvesting system), which is the first light harvesting system based on TPE microgels presenting dual response to pH and temperature.

Interfacial arrangement and phase transitions of PNiPAm microgels with different crosslinking densities.

Microgels are colloidal hydrogel particles that exhibit a pronounced softness, which arises from the swollen nature of the constituent polymer network. This softness leads to a substantial deformability of such particles at liquid interfaces, which, in turn translates into a complex phase behaviour that can exhibit a phase transition between a non-close packed and a close packed arrangement. Here, we explore how the degree of swellability and deformability - and therefore the softness of the particles - affects the phase behaviour of microgels at the air/water interface upon compression.

Preparation and characterization of amine-functionalized sugarcane bagasse for CO2 capture.

A low-cost solid amine adsorbent for CO2 capture was prepared by using sugarcane bagasse (SB), a dominant agro-industrial residue in the sugar and alcohol industry as raw materials. In this preparation process, acrylamide was grafted on SB, and the grafted fiber was then aminated with different type of amine reagents to introduce primary and secondary amine groups onto the surface of SB fibers. The graft and amination conditions were optimized.