Salt-resistant continuous solar evaporation composites based on nonwovens with synergistic photothermal effect of graphene oxide/copper sulphide.

Solar interfacial evaporation is an innovative and environmentally friendly technology for producing freshwater from seawater. However, current interfacial evaporators are costly to manufacture, have poor tolerance to environmental conditions, exhibit instability in evaporation efficiency in highly saline solutions, and fail to prevent salt crystallization. The production of user-friendly, durable and salt-resistant interfacial evaporators remains a significant challenge.

Composite Interlaminar Fracture Toughness Enhancement Using Electrospun PPO Fiber Veils Regulated by Functionalized CNTs.

In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are functionalized through diazonium salt reaction to introduce polar groups onto their surfaces. These functionalized CNTs (FCNTs) are added into PPO solutions at different loadings (0 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 1 wt%, 1.

Fabrication of CoSe/CoP with rich selenium- and phosphorus-vacancies and heterogeneous interfaces for asymmetric supercapacitors.

CoSe/CoP with rich Se- and P-vacancies and heterogeneous interfaces (v-CoSe/CoP) is grown on the surface of nickel foam via a two-step strategy: electrodeposition and NaBH reduction, which can be used as the cathode material in asymmetric supercapacitors. The SEM characterization reveals the honeycomb-like structure of the v-CoSe/CoP, and the results of EPR, XPS and HRTEM reveal the existence of anionic vacancies and heterogeneous interfaces in the v-CoSe/CoP. The as-fabricated v-CoSe/CoP exhibits high specific capacitance (3206 mF cm at 1.

Fabrication of Laminated Micro/Nano Filter and Its Application for Inhalable PM Removal.

Particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of 0.3 µm is inhalable and brings great threats to human health. Traditional meltblown nonwovens used for air filtration need to be treated by high voltage corona charging, which has the problem of electrostatic dissipation and thus reduces the filtration efficiency.

Multi-reflection-enhanced electromagnetic interference shielding performance of conductive nanocomposite coatings on fabrics.

With the rapid development of electronic communications, coated fabrics with EMI shielding capability have attracted increasing attention due to their broad applications in military, civilian, and commercial fields. The coating structure plays a vital role in EMI shielding performance and the fundamental understanding of how the coating structure affects the EMI shielding performance of the coated fabric is urgently needed. In this work, the coating structure has been systematically modulated to study its effects on the shielding performance of the corresponding coated fabric for the rational design of the high-performance EMI shielding materials.

Revealing Electrical-Poling-Induced Polarization Potential in Hybrid Perovskite Photodetectors.

Despite recent rapid advances in metal halide perovskites for use in optoelectronics, the fundamental understanding of the electrical-poling-induced ion migration, accounting for many unusual attributes and thus performance in perovskite-based devices, remain comparatively elusive. Herein, the electrical-poling-promoted polarization potential is reported for rendering hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite photodetectors with high photocurrent and fast response time, displaying a tenfold enhancement in the photocurrent and a twofold decrease in the response time after an external electric field poling. First, a robust meniscus-assisted solution-printing strategy is employed to facilitate the oriented perovskite crystals over a large area.

Reprocessable, Reworkable, and Mechanochromic Polyhexahydrotriazine Thermoset with Multiple Stimulus Responsiveness.

Developing recyclable, reworkable, and intelligent thermosetting polymers, as a long-standing challenge, is highly desirable for modern manufacturing industries. Herein, we report a polyhexahydrotriazine thermoset (PHT) prepared by a one-pot polycondensation between 4-aminophenyl disulfide and paraformaldehyde. The PHT has a glass transition temperature of 135 °C and good solvent resistance.

Three-dimensional rope-like and cloud-like nanofibrous scaffolds facilitating in-depth cell infiltration developed using a highly conductive electrospinning system.

Three-dimensional (3D) nanofibrous scaffolds are at the forefront of tissue engineering research. However, owing to the compact geometries or unstable reserved pores, the scaffolds produced by the current techniques provide limited in-depth cell infiltration, leaving the regeneration of 3D tissues a major challenge. Herein, we have developed a novel single-step 3D electrospinning technique to create 3D rope-like or cloud-like nanofibrous scaffolds by introducing 0 to 0.

A Comprehensive Study on the Mechanical Properties of Different 3D Woven Carbon Fiber-Epoxy Composites.

In this work, the tensile, compressive, and flexural properties of three types of 3D woven composites were studied in three directions. To make an accurate comparison, three 3D woven composites are made to have the same fiber volume content by controlling the weaving parameters of 3D fabric. The results show that the 3D orthogonal woven composite (3DOWC) has better overall mechanical properties than those of the 3D shallow straight-joint woven composite (3DSSWC) and 3D shallow bend-joint woven composite (3DSBWC) in the warp direction, including tension, compression, and flexural strength.

Robust ZIF-8/alginate fibers for the durable and highly effective antibacterial textiles.

Antibacterial fibers have great potential in many applications, such as medical dressings, surgical sutures and masks, etc. owing to their good growth inhibition against bacteria. However, for the fabrication of antibacterial fibers, the traditional inorganic nanoparticles coating method shows the disadvantages of high cost, low stability and binding fastness.

Cost-Effective Yarn-Shaped Lithium-Ion Battery with High Wearability.

Because of flexibility, compactness, weavability, and ergonomic design, yarn-shaped lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have enormous potential applications in wearable electronics. Still, the yarn-shaped LIB with the ability to meet commercialization requirements has never been reported, owing to the current challenge in complex material synthesis technologies, expensive raw material costs, poor safety performance, and nonstandard manufacturing equipment. Herein, we propose a yarn-shaped LIB that meets the aforementioned requirements.

Axial Alignment of Carbon Nanotubes on Fibers To Enable Highly Conductive Fabrics for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding.

Conductive coatings show great promise for next-generation electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding challenges on textile; however, their stringent requirements for electrical conductivity are difficult to meet by conventional approaches of increasing the loading and homogeneity of conductive nanofillers. Here, the axial alignment of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on fibers that were obtained by spontaneous capillary-driven self-assembly is shown on commercial cotton fabrics, and its great potential for EMI shielding is demonstrated. The aligned CNTs structurally optimize the conductive network on fabrics and yield an 81-fold increase in electrical conductivity per unit of CNT, compared with the disordered CNT microstructure.

The Failure Mechanism of Composite Stiffener Components Reinforced with 3D Woven Fabrics.

Composite industry has long been seeking practical solutions to boost laminate through-thickness strengths and interlaminar shear strengths (ILSS), so that composite primary structures, such as stiffeners, can bear higher complex loadings and be more delamination resistant. Three dimensional (3D) woven fabrics were normally employed to render higher transverse and shear strengths, but the difficulty and high expense in producing such fabrics make it a hard choice. Based on a novel idea that the warp yarns that interlock layers of the weft yarns might provide adequate fiber crimps that would allow the interlaminar shear or radial stresses to be transferred and borne by the fibers, rather than by the relatively weaker matrix resin, thus improving the transverse strengths, this work provided a two point five dimensional (2.

Three-Dimensional Hierarchically Porous Graphene Fiber-Shaped Supercapacitors with High Specific Capacitance and Rate Capability.

Chemically converted graphene fiber-shaped supercapacitors (FSSCs) are highly promising flexible energy storage devices for wearable electronics. However, the ultralow specific capacitance and poor rate performance severely hamper their practical applications. They are caused by severe stacking of graphene nanosheets and tortuous ion diffusion path in graphene-based electrodes; thus, the ultralow utilization of graphene has been rarely carefully considered to date.

Sustained Local Delivery of Diclofenac from Three-Dimensional Ultrafine Fibrous Protein Scaffolds with Ultrahigh Drug Loading Capacity.

The three-dimensional (3D) ultrafine fibrous scaffolds loaded with functional components can not only provide support to 3D tissue repair, but also deliver the components in-situ with small dosage and low fusion frequency. However, the conventional loading methods possess drawbacks such as low loading capacity or high burst release. In this research, an ultralow concentration phase separation (ULCPS) technique was developed to form 3D ultrafine gelatin fibers and, meanwhile, load an anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac, with high capacities for the long-term delivery.

Design and Electromagnetic Properties of a Conformal Ultra Wideband Antenna Integrated in Three-Dimensional Woven Fabrics.

Wearable antennas play an important role in transmitting signals wirelessly in body-worn systems, helping body-worn applications to achieve real-time monitoring and improving the working efficiency as well as the life quality of the users. Over conventional antenna types, ultra wideband (UWB) antennas have advantages of very large operating bandwidth, low power consumption, and high data transmission speed, therefore, they become of great interest for body-worn applications. One of the strategies for making the antenna comfortable to wear is replacing the conventional rigid printed circuit board with textile materials in the manufacturing process.

Fabrication of gradient vapor grown carbon fiber based polyurethane foam for shape memory driven microwave shielding.

Gradient vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF) based shape memory polyurethane foam (VGCF@SMPUF) was fabricated by alternate dipping in a gradually diluted VGCF@SMPU/DMF solution and distilled water for shape memory driven microwave shielding. Shape memory performance for this VGCF@SMPUF was achieved by heat transfer of thermally conductive VGCF. Shielding effectiveness (SE) was adjusted through different degrees of angle recovery.

A One-Component, Fast-Cure, and Economical Epoxy Resin System Suitable for Liquid Molding of Automotive Composite Parts.

Imidazole cured epoxy resin systems were evaluated for one-component, fast-curing resins for liquid molding of automotive composite parts according to industry requirements. It was demonstrated that an epoxy resin-1-(cyanoethyl)-2-ethyl-4-methylimidazol(EP-1C2E4MIM) system would cure in a few minutes at 120 °C, while exhibiting acceptable pot life, viscosity profiles, and low water absorption. Moreover, this system yielded high parts with mechanical properties similar to the amine-epoxy systems, which are the mainstream two-component epoxy resin systems for automobiles.

Enhancing Electrochemical Performance of Graphene Fiber-Based Supercapacitors by Plasma Treatment.

Graphene fiber-based supercapacitors (GFSCs) hold high power density, fast charge-discharge rate, ultralong cycling life, exceptional mechanical/electrical properties, and safe operation conditions, making them very promising to power small wearable electronics. However, the electrochemical performance is still limited by the severe stacking of graphene sheets, hydrophobicity of graphene fibers, and complex preparation process. In this work, we develop a facile but robust strategy to easily enhance electrochemical properties of all-solid-state GFSCs by simple plasma treatment.

Effects of Styrene-Acrylic Sizing on the Mechanical Properties of Carbon Fiber Thermoplastic Towpregs and Their Composites.

Thermoplastic towpregs are convenient and scalable raw materials for the fabrication of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites. In this paper, the potential to employ epoxy and styrene-acrylic sizing agents was evaluated for the making of carbon fiber thermoplastic towpregs via a powder-coating method. The protective effects and thermal stability of these sizing agents were investigated by single fiber tensile test and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement.

Fluorescence-enhanced bio-detection platforms obtained through controlled "step-by-step" clustering of silver nanoparticles.

Metal nanoparticle coatings are widely employed as fluorescence-enhanced platforms for high-throughput biological detection; however, complex manufacturing technologies and stringent fabrication procedures hinder their development for use in bioassays. Here, we present the preparation of fluorescence-based bioassay platforms using spray-assisted step-by-step assembly of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). This approach allowed us to control the density and the degree of aggregation of Ag NPs on large surfaces which are prerequisites for the development of bioassay platforms with a substantial fluorescence enhancement.

Morphology and properties of hybrid composites based on polypropylene/polylactic acid blend and bamboo fiber.

The design of new composites based on a polypropylene (PP)/polylactic acid (PLA) matrix and filler bamboo fiber (BF) leads to changes in process ability, morphology, and rheological properties of the raw thermoplastic. We have designed more environmentally friendly composites blended with PLA, filled with bamboo fiber. To refine dispersion of PLA and improve composite toughness, MAH-g-PP was included in the filler-matrix interface to enhance interface strength for PP, PLA and BF.