Article
Engineering, Manufacturing
Hongjie Bi, Gaoyuan Ye, Hao Sun, Zechun Ren, Tongfei Gu, Min Xu
Summary: This study demonstrates the excellent thermal, mechanical, shape memory, and self-healing properties of 3D printable, thermoreversible, cross-linked network composites. The use of thermoplastic polyurethane, poly(epsilon-caprolactone), and cellulose nanocrystalline as cross-linking agents significantly improves the mechanical properties and self-healing capabilities of the composites. The study also provides insights into the mechanism of performance enhancement through molecular dynamics simulations.
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Tongfei Xu, Danfeng Pei, Shanyu Yu, Xiaofang Zhang, Meigui Yi, Chaoxu Li
Summary: Researchers have developed a smart and flexible conductive composite by mixing MXene with a hydrophilic polymer, allowing the material to bend rapidly and oscillate spontaneously near a moist surface. The composite can reversibly bend and self-oscillate under ambient humidity changes, demonstrating potential applications in artificial muscles and energy harvesting.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Swati Panda, Sugato Hajra, Haejin Jeong, Basanta Kumar Panigrahi, Phakkhananan Pakawanit, Deepak Dubal, Seonki Hong, Hoe Joon Kim
Summary: A polymeric composite material based on calcium titanate was developed as a piezoelectric nanogenerator for energy harvesting. This material showed improved electrical performance and biocompatibility. The device could collect signals generated from skipping exercises and monitor human health using digital signal processing techniques and artificial neural networks.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Liangliang Xu, Haowen Zheng, Fuhua Xue, Qixiao Ji, Changwen Qiu, Qian Yan, Renjie Ding, Xu Zhao, Ying Hu, Qingyu Peng, Xiaodong He
Summary: A soft actuator based on MXene and polydimethylsiloxane has been designed and fabricated, which can produce reversible large deformation under various forms of stimulus and possesses biological versatility such as self-sensing and diverse locomotion. The actuator utilizes the internal stress generated during the preparation process to achieve its responsive abilities to heat, light, electric, and gas.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Lori M. Estes Bright, Lauren Griffin, Arnab Mondal, Sean Hopkins, Ekrem Ozkan, Hitesh Handa
Summary: This study reports the fabrication and characterization of nitric oxide-releasing alginate beads, which demonstrate biologically relevant activities without eliciting a cytotoxic response, revealing their potential use as an antimicrobial material with multiple mechanisms of bacterial killing.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiyuan Yu, Wei Lin, Qian Lai, Juan Song, Yilong Liu, Rui Su, Qi Niu, Liu Yang, Chaoyong Yang, Huimin Zhang, Zhi Zhu
Summary: In this study, an Armor strategy was proposed to protect mammalian cell integrity from environmental changes. The Armor was created through dual-aptamer-based hybridization chain reaction (HCR) and Ca2+ assisted calcification for selective cell protection.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuyan Wang, Rui Shu, Xinxing Zhang
Summary: An ultratough nanocomposite laminate is prepared by constructing chain-sliding cross-linking at the interface between sulfonated graphene nanosheets and polyurethane layers, enabling interfacial molecular chains reversible slippage when the inorganic nanosheets bear stretching force. The resulting laminates exhibit strong strength, supertoughness, ultrahigh stretchability, and self-healing ability, surpassing most of reported synthetic and natural laminate materials. The fabricated proof-of-concept electronic skin shows excellent flexibility, sensitivity, and healability for human physiological signals monitoring. This strategy breaks through the challenge that traditional layered nanocomposites are intrinsically stiff and opens up the functional application of layered nanocomposites in flexible devices.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Liwei Sun, Lingjie Song, Xu Zhang, Shuaishuai Yuan, Shifang Luan
Summary: A hierarchical zwitterionic surface with bacterial phosphatase responsiveness was developed for preventing polymeric implant-associated bacterial infection. The surface showed self-adaptive bacterial responsiveness and biocompatibility, demonstrating great potential in combating infections.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Crystallography
Bartlomiej Czubak, Nicholas J. Warren, Mamatha Nagaraj
Summary: This paper reviews the recent key developments in steroid-based liquid crystal polymers and co-polymers, covering the structure-property relationship and the influence of chemical structure on liquid crystalline behavior. It also discusses the applications of liquid crystalline properties in nano-objects, drug delivery, and photonic and electronic devices.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Hao Wu, Zilong Zhu, Ningjie Gao, Lin Ma, Jiwen Li, Fuchun Liu
Summary: Developing high-performance protective materials with self-healing defects and self-warning damage is important in combating corrosion. Inspired by biological skin and pearls, the authors combined biological polyurethanes embedded with multiple dynamic bonds with polydopamine, 1,10-phenanthroline, and graphene oxide to create a versatile nacre structure polymer with ultrahigh toughness, abnormal elongation, and satisfactory repair performance. The coating also showed an active warning function through color change. In addition, the biomimetic coating exhibited reliable repair performance and protection effect in a corrosive solution.
Article
Electrochemistry
Agnieszka Mech-Dorosz, Muhammad Salman Khan, Ramona Valentina Mateiu, Claus Helix-Nielsen, Jenny Emneus, Arto Heiskanen
Summary: This study investigates the impedimetric behavior of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels cross-linked with poly(ethylene glycol)-dimethacrylate in different ratios. The results indicate that an increased fraction of the high-molecular weight cross-linker significantly decreases the charge transfer resistance, while the hydration degree of the hydrogels shows no statistically significant differences.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yao Yao, Xingzhi Dang, Xinyu Qiao, Rong Li, Jiazhi Chen, Zhihuan Huang, Yong-Kuan Gong
Summary: In this study, highly durable and completely self-cleaning stainless steel mesh membranes were successfully fabricated for the separation of massive oil/water mixtures. The membranes exhibited high water filtration flux and separation efficiency, and could be operated for a long period of time without the need for additional cleaning.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sven Ullrich, Josemon George, Alexandra Coram, Richard Morewood, Christoph Nitsche
Summary: Bicyclic peptides have great potential for drug discovery but their chemical synthesis is often challenging. In this study, a selective reaction was developed for the direct synthesis of complex bicyclic peptides in high yield, using solid-phase peptide synthesis. The resulting peptides can be tailored with various linkers to achieve desired qualities such as plasma stability and high target affinity. The method was successfully demonstrated for a Zika virus protease inhibitor and a bicyclic version of an antimicrobial peptide.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Komi Sato, Takafumi Enomoto, Aya M. Akimoto, Ryo Yoshida
Summary: We have developed a new method for fabricating self-oscillating gels through post-polymerization crosslinking. This method allows for easy fabrication of self-oscillating gels by simply mixing two polymer solutions at room temperature, resulting in fast gelation. Additionally, by utilizing the polymer crosslinking method, the self-oscillating gels can be made from well-defined linear polymers. Our findings showed that the dynamic swelling-deswelling behavior of the gels is primarily influenced by the net amount of catalyst used in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, while the equilibrium swelling behavior is affected by the properties of the constituent linear polymers. This research provides valuable insights into the dynamic and equilibrium behavior of materials, and also offers a convenient method for microfabrication of self-oscillating gels.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Haoze Li, Sensen Zhou, Min Wu, Rui Qu, Xin Wang, Weizhi Chen, Yuyan Jiang, Xiqun Jiang, Xu Zhen
Summary: This study reports a biomimetic semiconducting polymer nanoparticle (SPNP) that does not require vascular disrupting agents (VDAs), but can precisely disrupt tumor vasculature through two-stage light manipulation. The study not only proposes a light-driven self-recruitment strategy to enhance tumor vascular disruption, but also reveals the immunotherapeutic role of vascular disruption therapy in reversing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
