Durable Anti-Superbug Polymers: Covalent Bonding of Ionic Liquid onto the Polymer Chains.

Here, we fabricated the ionic liquid (IL) grafted poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) (PVDF-g-IL) via electron-beam irradiation to fight common bacteria and multidrug-resistant "superbugs". Two types of ILs, 1-vinyl-3-butylimmidazolium chloride (IL (Cl)) and 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (IL (BF)), were used. It was found that the PVDF-g-IL exhibited superior antibacterial performance, with almost the same mechanical and thermal performance as unmodified PVDF.

Towards Flexible Dielectric Materials with High Dielectric Constant and Low Loss: PVDF Nanocomposites with both Homogenously Dispersed CNTs and Ionic Liquids Nanodomains.

Flexible dielectric materials with high dielectric constant and low loss have attracted significant attention. In this work, we fabricated novel polymer-based nanocomposites with both homogeneously dispersed conductive nanofillers and ion-conductive nanodomains within a polymer matrix. An unsaturated ionic liquid (IL), 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([VEIM][BF₄]), was first coated on the surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by the mechanical grinding.

Semicrystalline Polymer Binary-Phase Structure Templated Quasi-Block Graft Copolymers.

Herein, we report a simple strategy to synthesize quasi-block graft copolymers using the binary phase structure of semicrystalline polymers as the template. An unsaturated ionic liquid, 1-vinyl-3-butylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([VBIm] [TFSI]), is thermodynamically miscible with poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF-co-HFP)) in solution. The solidification of P(VDF-co-HFP)/[VBIm] [TFSI] blend leads to the expelling of ILs from the crystalline region and the ILs are only located in the amorphous region.

Enhancing isomaltulose production by recombinant Escherichia coli producing sucrose isomerase: culture medium optimization containing agricultural wastes and cell immobilization.

Isomaltulose is a structural isomer of sucrose commercially used in food industries. In this work, recombinant Escherichia coli producing sucrose isomerase (SIase) was used to convert sucrose into isomaltulose. To develop an economical industrial medium, untreated cane molasses (10.