The recent progress of synergistic supramolecular polymers: preparation, properties and applications.

Supramolecular polymers have the combined properties of both traditional polymers and supramolecules. They are generally formed via the self-assembled polymerization driven noncovalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, metal coordination, and host-guest interaction between building blocks. The driving force for the formation of supramolecular polymers has changed from single noncovalent interactions to multiple noncovalent interactions.

Excellent selectivity and high capacity of As (V) removal by a novel lignin-based adsorbent doped with N element and modified with Ca.

As one of the most significant natural polymer with the highest annual yield, lignin has been applied in the treatment of wastewater to remove heavy metal ions. However, there are still some shortages, such as low reactivity, difficulties in adsorbing oxyanions and low selectivity on specific oxyanions. To improve its adsorption properties, a novel lignin-based adsorbent was prepared in this study, doped with nitrogen by Mannich reaction, using triethylenetetramine (TETA) as N source, and further modified with Ca.

Roadmap on Ionic Liquid Electrolytes for Energy Storage Devices.

Ionic liquids are considered to be promising electrolyte solvents or additives for rechargeable batteries (i. e., lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, aluminum-ion batteries, etc.

CN: A Class of Covalent Frameworks with Unique Properties.

CN is a unique member of the CN family (carbon nitrides), i.e., having a covalent structure that is ideally composed of carbon and nitrogen with only 33 mol% of nitrogen.

Influences of aggressive ions in human plasma on the corrosion behavior of AZ80 magnesium alloy.

Magnesium alloys can work as biomedical materials due to their Young's modules similar to that of bone. Nevertheless, in a human plasma, one of the major drawbacks of these materials is the low corrosion resistance. Here, AZ80 corrosion in the solutions containing chloride, bicarbonate, sulphate and hydrogen phosphate ions were investigated by a short-term immersion test and electrochemical techniques.

Excited state dynamics and exciton diffusion in triphenylamine/dicyanovinyl push-pull small molecule for organic optoelectronics.

Triphenylamine-based small push-pull molecules have recently attracted substantial research attention due to their unique optoelectronic properties. Here, we investigate the excited state de-excitation dynamics and exciton diffusion in TPA-T-DCV-Ph-F small molecule, having simple chemical structure with asymmetrical architecture and end-capped with electron-withdrawing p-fluorodicyanovinyl group. The excited state lifetime in diluted solutions (0.

Advances of Carbon-Based Materials for Lithium Metal Anodes.

Lithium metal with high theoretical specific capacity (3,860 mAh g), low mass density, and low electrochemical potential (-3. 040 V vs. SHE) is an ideal candidate of the battery anode.

Metal-Free Multi-Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Bifunctional Electrocatalysts Derived from a Covalent Triazine Polymer.

The construction of multi-heteroatom-doped metal-free carbon with a reversibly oxygen-involving electrocatalytic performance is highly desirable for rechargeable metal-air batteries. However, the conventional approach for doping heteroatoms into the carbon matrix remains a huge challenge owing to multistep postdoping procedures. Here, a self-templated carbonization strategy to prepare a nitrogen, phosphorus, and fluorine tri-doped carbon nanosphere (NPF-CNS) is developed, during which a heteroatom-enriched covalent triazine polymer serves as a "self-doping" precursor with C, N, P, and F elements simultaneously, avoiding the tedious and inefficient postdoping procedures.

Chemical characteristic and bioactivity of hemicellulose-based polysaccharides isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza.

Salvia miltiorrhiza roots (SMRs), the main component of cell wall from the residual waste extraction, differ depending on the forming ways of monosaccharides. The extraction from 8% sodium hydroxide solution (H-8) was characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), monosaccharide composition, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The structure model of hemicellulose-based polysaccharides (HBPs) was derived by combining one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR.

One-pot microwave-hydrothermally synthesized carbon nanotube-cerium oxide nanocomposites for enhanced visible photodegradation of acid orange 7.

Carbon nanotubes (CNT)-cerium oxide (CeO2) nanocomposites were fabricated successfully by one-pot microwave hydrothermal growth of regular CeO2 nanoparticles with a size of 8 nm on hydroxyl-functionalized multi-walled CNTs. These nanocomposite photocatalysts demonstrated an acid orange (AO7) photocatalytic degradation efficiency of above 90% under solar-simulated light irradiation for 3 h, which was much higher than that of the pure CeO2 nanoparticles. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was observed to mainly originate from the ˙O2- and hole traps, while the hydroxyl radical ˙OH played a secondary role.

The Properties and Preparation Methods of Different Boron Nitride Nanostructures and Applications of Related Nanocomposites.

Due to special non-metallic polar bond between the III group (with certain metallic properties) element boron (B) and the V group element nitrogen (N), boron nitride (BN) has unique physical and chemical properties such as strong high-temperature resistance, oxidation resistance, heat conduction, electrical insulation and neutron absorption. Its unique lamellar, reticular and tubular morphologies and physicochemical properties make it attractive in the fields of adsorption, catalysis, hydrogen storage, thermal conduction, insulation, dielectric substrate of electronic devices, radiation protection, polymer composites, medicine, etc. Therefore, the synthesis and properties of BN derived materials become the main research hotspots of low-dimensional nanomaterials.

Electrolytes for Lithium- and Sodium-Metal Batteries.

High-energy-density batteries have attracted significant attention due to the huge demand in electric transportation in future. Metal-based batteries, especially lithium metal batteries (LMBs) and sodium metal batteries (SMBs), have been hot research topics nowadays. The uncontrolled growth of metal dendrites has retarded the development of LMBs and SMBs.

2020 Roadmap on Zinc Metal Batteries.

Metallic zinc (Zn) is considered to be a safe and low-cost anode for rechargeable batteries. Thus, several zinc metal batteries (ZMBs) have been well developed, i. e.

Highly Conductive Two-Dimensional Metal-Organic Frameworks for Resilient Lithium Storage with Superb Rate Capability.

Redox-active organic cathode materials have drawn growing attention because of the broad availability of raw materials, eco-friendliness, scalable production, and diverse structural flexibility. However, organic materials commonly suffer from fragile stability in organic solvents, poor electrochemical stability in charge/discharge processes, and insufficient electrical conductivity. To address these issues, using Cu(II) salt and benzenehexathiolate (BHT) as the precursors, we synthesized a robust and redox-active 2D metal-organic framework (MOF), [Cu(CS)], namely, Cu-BHT.

Domino Effect of Thickness Fluctuation on Subband Structure and Electron Transport within Semiconductor Cascade Structures.

Effectively restraining random fluctuation of layer thickness (RFT) during the thin-film epitaxy plays an essential part in improving the quality of low-dimensional materials for device application. While it is already challenging to obtain an ideal growth condition for thickness control, the tangle of RFT with interfacial problems makes it even more difficult to guarantee the properties of heterostructures and the performance of devices. In our research, the RFT of potential barriers and wells within a semiconductor multilayer is demonstrated to correlate with the interfacial grading effect (IFG) and to affect the band offset strongly.

Microwave Hydrothermally Synthesized Metal-Organic Framework-5 Derived C-doped ZnO with Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B.

C-doped ZnO particles have been successfully prepared by the calcination using microwave hydrothermally prepared metal-organic framework-5 (MOF-5) as the precursor. MOF-5 was turned into C-doped ZnO through calcination at 500 °C, and its cubic shape was well-maintained. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies confirmed the C-doping in the ZnO.

Solvent-free nanoalumina loaded nanocellulose aerogel for efficient oil and organic solvent adsorption.

Hypothesis: Cellulose-based aerogel, due to its rich reserves, environmental friendliness and porous structure, is considered as a new type of adsorbents for treating oil and water pollution. However, the functionalization of cellulose aerogel is still required for the efficient increase of its adsorption performance in wide applications. The combination of nanomaterials could significantly improve the adsorption capability of nanocellulose aerogel.

Conductive polyaniline hydrogel enhanced methane production from anaerobic wastewater treatment.

Three-dimensional polyaniline (PANI) hydrogel was used as the conductive medium to improve the methane (CH) production from the anaerobic degradation of organics in wastewater. The porous structure and hydrophilic surface of the PANI hydrogel promoted the adhesion of the anaerobes. The PANI hydrogel existed as a conductive emeraldine base (EB) form with a conductivity of 0.

Self-Formed Electronic/Ionic Conductive Fe S @ S @ 0.9Na SbS ⋅0.1NaI Composite for High-Performance Room-Temperature All-Solid-State Sodium-Sulfur Battery.

Fe S  @ S @ 0.9Na SbS ⋅0.1NaI composite cathode is prepared through one-step wet-mechanochemical milling procedure.

Synthesis of dynamic imine macrocyclic supramolecular polymers via synchronized self-assembly based on dynamic covalent bonds and noncovalent interactions.

The preparation of dynamic imine macrocycles and supramolecular polymers is combined into a single step to form supramolecular polymers (SPs). 1,4-Diazabicyclo[2.2.

Overview of Ionogels in Flexible Electronics.

Ionogels have aroused wide interests in the field of flexible electronics. The combination of solid-state networks and ionic liquids opens up thousands of possibilities for ionogels. The unique structures of ionogels endow them excellent mechanical properties, conductivity and thermal stability to approach the challenge of flexible electronic.

Polyethylene oxide enhances the ductility and toughness of polylactic acid: the role of mesophase.

A lack of understanding of the structure-property relationship of the polylactic acid (PLA)-based polymer composite system makes it a challenge to manufacture products with optimized mechanical performance by precisely regulating the microscopic structure and morphology. Herein, we chose the PLA/polyethylene oxide (PEO) blend as a model to investigate the structural reason for the enhanced ductility and toughness of this kind of material. We have demonstrated that a considerable amount of the PLA mesophases exist in the melt quenched films that display high ductility and toughness, in contrast to the PLA crystals in their counterparts of slowly cooled films that are dominated by brittle fracture.

Bimetallic metal-organic frameworks anchored corncob-derived porous carbon photocatalysts for synergistic degradation of organic pollutants.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising for photocatalysis owing to their excellent structure and performance. Unfortunately, poor stability in both aqueous solutions and high temperatures and lack of adsorption centers during reactions limit their practical applications. Herein, a bimetallic MOF anchored corncob calcined derived activated carbon (CCAC) was successfully prepared by a one-step solvothermal method.

Binder-free CuS/ZnS/sodium alginate/rGO nanocomposite hydrogel electrodes for enhanced performance supercapacitors.

CuS/ZnS/sodium alginate/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (CZSrG) were prepared by physical crosslinking followed by one-step reduction and were justified as green binder-free hydrogel high-capacitance electrodes. The physical crosslinking was realized simply through the hydrogen-bond interaction between sodium alginate (SA) and graphene oxide (GO), avoiding the usage of traditional Ca crosslinking agent. The hydrogel structure made of CZSrG possessed the most beneficial effect of avoiding large volume change and increasing cycle stability for supercapacitors.

Flexible conductive Ag nanowire/cellulose nanofibril hybrid nanopaper for strain and temperature sensing applications.

With the rapid development of smart wearable devices, flexible and biodegradable sensors are in urgent needs. In this study, "green" electrically conductive Ag nanowire (AgNW)/cellulose nanofiber (CNF) hybrid nanopaper was fabricated to prepare flexible sensors using the facial solution blending and vacuum filtration technique. The amphiphilic property of cellulose is beneficial for the homogeneous dispersion of AgNW to construct effective electrically conductive networks.