Article
Materials Science, Characterization & Testing
Juraj Svatik, Petr Lepcio, Frantisek Ondreas, Klara Zarybnicka, Marek Zboncak, Premysl Mencik, Josef Jancar
Summary: Bioinspired structures can achieve mechanical properties beyond conventional artificial materials. By using FDM 3D printing to manufacture porous bamboo-inspired structures of unmodified PLA, the toughening of PLA solely by the pore gradient was introduced for the first time, showing improvements in ductility and work at break. This could potentially enable the use of gradient porous materials in structural components and lay a foundation for the future design of toughened 3D printed structures.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Robert D. Crapnell, Iana V. S. Arantes, Matthew J. Whittingham, Evelyn Sigley, Cristiane Kalinke, Bruno C. Janegitz, Juliano A. Bonacin, Thiago R. L. C. Paixao, Craig E. Banks
Summary: This study reports the production of electrically conductive additive manufacturing feedstocks from recycled poly(lactic acid) (rPLA), carbon black (CB), and bio-based plasticizer castor oil. The produced filament was used to print additively manufactured electrodes (AMEs) and compared with commercially available conductive filament. The castor oil/rPLA AMEs showed improved electrochemical performance and were successfully applied to detect bisphenol A (BPA) in water samples.
Article
Materials Science, Composites
Xinyu Song, Caili Zhang, Yang Yang, Fan Yang, Yunxuan Weng
Summary: In order to improve the compatibility between bamboo fibers (BFs) and polylactic acid (PLA), cardanol (CD) and epoxidized cardanol glycidyl ether (ECGE) were used as compatibilizers to prepare PLA/BF/CD and PLA/BF/ECGE bio-composites. The impact strengths of the synthesized bio-composites were significantly improved compared with a PLA/BF composite without compatibilizer. The toughening mechanism of the PLA/BF/CD bio-composites is mainly based on the plasticization of CD, while modification with ECGE improves the impact and tensile strengths of the bio-composite due to the enhanced interfacial structure and chain entanglement of PLA.
POLYMER COMPOSITES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Xiaojie Chen, Ruanquan Zhang, Yixuan Mao, Liling Zhong, Peiyao Lin, Qizhe Deng, Botuo Zheng, Hang Shen, Zhiming Feng, Huagui Zhang
Summary: In this study, a series of dynamically cross-linked polysulfide elastomers were synthesized using inverse vulcanization, and they were blended with PLA to enhance its toughness and achieve good interfacial compatibilization. The composition of the elastomers played a decisive role in determining the toughening efficiency, and an optimized composition (PLA-S(50)O(25)A(25)) was obtained with excellent toughness and antibacterial effects. This study opens up new possibilities for PLA modification with sustainable dynamically-crosslinked elastomers, providing a balance between stiffness, toughness, and antibacterial activity.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Yang Wang, Qiang Liu, Biao Zhang, Haoqian Zhang, Yicheng Jin, Zhaoxin Zhong, Jian Ye, Yuhan Ren, Feng Ye, Wen Wang
Summary: Freeze casting was used to create nacre-like B4C scaffolds with different lamellar thicknesses, which were infiltrated with 2024Al alloy. The effects of lamellar thickness on damage-tolerance behavior and toughening mechanisms were discussed, showing an increase in strength and toughness in composites with refined lamellae structure.
MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A-STRUCTURAL MATERIALS PROPERTIES MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Luzhi Zhang, Jiahui Liang, Chenyu Jiang, Zenghe Liu, Lijie Sun, Shuo Chen, Huixia Xuan, Dong Lei, Qingbao Guan, Xiaofeng Ye, Zhengwei You
Summary: Inspired by peptidoglycan, the first room-temperature autonomous self-healing biodegradable and biocompatible elastomers, PSeHCD, were designed with unique properties including ultrafast self-healing, tunable biomimetic mechanical properties, and good biocompatibility. The potential of PSeHCD elastomers was demonstrated as a super-fast self-healing stretchable conductor and motion sensor in bio-integrated electronics applications.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2021)
Article
Thermodynamics
Antonio Greco, Francesca Ferrari
Summary: This study investigates the thermal properties of poly(lactic acid) with different plasticizers, revealing that PLA plasticized with cardanol derivatives shows higher enthalpy relaxation below T-g, while PLA plasticized with PEG exhibits higher mobility above T-g. In terms of mechanical properties, PLA plasticized with ECA has a lower modulus but forms thicker crystals during crystallization, leading to a more significant increase in modulus in semicrystalline samples.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Fuyu Song, Jiahui Zhang, Jie Lu, Yi Cheng, Yehan Tao, Changyou Shao, Haisong Wang
Summary: A multi-functional physical hydrogel adhesive with durable and repeatable adhesiveness, self-healing capability, antibacterial properties, and biocompatibility has been successfully manufactured in this study, offering a promising prospect for applications in tissue adhesion and wound healing.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Qingye Liu, Xiaohui Wang, Yarui Hou, Yue Cheng, Jianfeng Zhang, Longqiang Xiao, Jingtai Zhao, Wei Li
Summary: Inspired by intelligent biomaterials, this study presents a self-strengthened hydrogel actuator based on a semi-interpenetrating polymer network, which can display diverse programmable actuations by responding to temperature/salt stimuli. The actuator consists of freeze-thawed PNIPAm/PVA (PPGel-F) layer and an original PNIPAm/PVA hydrogel layer (PPGel), and the differential swelling degree across the bilayer structure leads to asymmetric deformations and shape transformations. Mechanical training induces anisotropic arrangement of PVA nanofibrils, enhancing strain-induced crystallization and resulting in rapid self-strengthening behavior. This work provides a potential solution for constructing dynamically adaptive hydrogel systems for intelligent soft robotics and bionic research.
EUROPEAN POLYMER JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mohsen Esmaeili, Sepideh Norouzi, Kyle George, Gelareh Rezvan, Nader Taheri-Qazvini, Monirosadat Sadati
Summary: Inspired by natural Bouligand structures, researchers have successfully used cellulose nanocrystals (CNC)-based inks for 3D printing to create structures with guided long-range radial twisted chirality. The nanostructures during the printing process were evaluated using rheological measurements, in situ flow analysis, polarized optical microscopy (POM), and director field analysis. By incorporating a photo-curable monomer, the chirality of the printed filaments was locked, and optimized Carbopol microgels were used to support the as-printed inks before photo-polymerization. This biomimetic approach opens up new possibilities for developing bio-inspired materials with nanoscale hierarchies in larger-scale 3D printed constructs.
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Anzhe Wang, Shuai Wang, Huimin Yin, Rui Bai, Junjie Liu, Zhen Zhang, Peng Zhou
Summary: We developed a bio-inspired method for preparing highly controllable ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) using a laser process combined with adhesive bonding. The addition of ceramic bricks in the CMCs improved the failure displacement and work of fracture significantly. Inspired by the structure of prismatic-and nacre-like layers in shells, a novel CMCs composed of layered ceramic and 'brick-and-mortar' ceramic was prepared. The strength and failure behavior of the CMCs could be reasonably predicted using the Pimenta and Begley models, but there is no appropriate model for predicting the work of fracture.
CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Article
Mechanics
Dong Wu, Zeang Zhao, Hongshuai Lei, Hao-Sen Chen, Qiang Zhang, Panding Wang, Daining Fang
Summary: Natural tissues can self-strengthen through biological growth, while synthetic materials are typically static. The concept of bio-inspired materials aims to develop materials with dynamically programmable performances. A solvent-free elastomer composite system is proposed in this study, which can be strengthened through tunable self-growth cycles and is compatible with Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D printing for fast manufacturing of high-precision structures.
COMPOSITE STRUCTURES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Qingshan Wu, Hao Yan, Lie Chen, Shuanhu Qi, Tianyi Zhao, Lei Jiang, Mingjie Liu
Summary: Hydrodynamic forces can be used to remove contaminants from underwater surfaces, but their practical applications are limited due to the no-slip condition in the viscous sublayer. Inspired by corals, an active self-cleaning surface with flexible filament-like sweepers is developed. These sweepers can penetrate the viscous sublayer and remove contaminants with high adhesion strength using energy from outer turbulent flows. Under oscillating flow, the single sweeper achieves a removal rate of up to 99.5% through dynamic buckling movements, and the coordinated movements of the sweepers array can completely clean the coverage area within 10 s as symplectic waves. This active self-cleaning surface breaks the concept of conventional self-cleaning by relying on fluid-structure coupling between sweepers and flows.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Weiwen Xin, Lei Jiang, Liping Wen
Summary: This Minireview provides an overview of strategies for engineering bio-inspired self-assembled ion channels and focuses on emerging channel assemblies based on different fabrication processes such as supramolecular assembly, nanosystem-based fabrication, and polymer-based integration. These channels exhibit smart ion-transport properties and have great potential for applications in the exploration of physiological events, detection of molecules/ions, ion separation, and energy conversion. The article also proposes future developments and challenges in this booming research field.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Sudipta Halder, Jialai Wang, Yi Fang, Xin Qian, Muhammad Ali Imam
Summary: This study develops a novel PCM microcapsule using cenosphere as the protective shell and a bio-inspired dopamine coating. Experimental results show that adding this new PCM microcapsule significantly improves the compressive strength of cement mortar, achieving a 35% increase.
MATERIALS CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Tatsuya Muramatsu, Shohei Shimizu, Jessica M. Clough, Christoph Weder, Yoshimitsu Sagara
Summary: This study presents a new approach to design mechanoresponsive reporter molecules based on rotaxanes. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between a donor and an acceptor is mechanically controlled in this system. Stretchable hydrogels containing the mechanophore showed a higher switching contrast in fluorescence compared to dry films due to increased molecular mobility and hydrophobic effects.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Micael G. Gouveia, Justus P. Wesseler, Jobbe Ramaekers, Christoph Weder, Philip B. V. Scholten, Nico Bruns
Summary: Protein-based therapeutics are a rapidly growing family of drugs that offer an attractive alternative to traditional therapeutic approaches. However, the use of protective carriers, such as lipid-based structures, is sometimes necessary due to the sensitivity of proteins to denaturation. Despite the advantages of polymersome-based targeted drug-delivery systems over lipid-based structures, the translation of polymersome formulations into approved pharmaceuticals has been slow. This review article highlights key obstacles in the development of polymersomes as protein nanocarriers and suggests areas for further exploration to advance their clinical translation.
CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Alessandro Ianiro, Jose Augusto Berrocal, Remco Tuinier, Michael Mayer, Christoph Weder
Summary: This paper presents a theoretical investigation on a new actuator design using anisotropic colloidal particles grafted with stimuli-responsive polymer chains. These artificial muscles combine the osmotic actuation principle of hydrogels with the structural alignment of colloidal liquid crystals for directional motion. The study identifies the solubility, degree of polymerization, salt concentration, and grafting density of the polymer chains as important factors for actuator performance and tunability. Computational results suggest that the proposed material matches or exceeds the performances of natural muscles, providing guidelines for the realization of artificial muscles with predefined actuation properties.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Andrea Dodero, Kenza Djeghdi, Viola Bauernfeind, Martino Airoldi, Bodo D. D. Wilts, Christoph Weder, Ullrich Steiner, Ilja Gunkel
Summary: This paper presents a promising approach to create color through photonic morphologies manufactured by molecular self-assembly. It demonstrates the feasibility of achieving full-color tuning in photonic spheres across the visible spectrum. The study establishes important principles for manufacturing photonic colloids through the control of lamellar thickness and selection of swelling additives.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Livius F. F. Muff, Austin S. S. Mills, Shane Riddle, Veronique Buclin, Anita Roulin, Hillel J. J. Chiel, Roger D. D. Quinn, Christoph Weder, Kathryn A. A. Daltorio
Summary: A mechanically compliant worm-like robot with a fully modular body based on soft polymers is reported. The robot consists of strategically assembled, electrothermally activated polymer bilayer actuators, enabling it to move through repeatable peristaltic locomotion on slippery or sticky surfaces and be oriented in any direction. The soft body allows the robot to wriggle through openings and tunnels much smaller than its cross-section.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jess M. Clough, Cedric Kilchoer, Bodo D. Wilts, Christoph Weder
Summary: This paper reports a new type of mechanochromic material that overcomes the limitations of traditional mechanochromic polymers by combining photonic structures with covalent mechanophores. These materials can change their reflection spectra upon deformation and provide quantitative detection of the range of changes, with a broad strain detection range.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Viola V. Vogler-Neuling, Matthias Saba, Ilja Gunkel, Justin O. Zoppe, Ullrich Steiner, Bodo D. Wilts, Andrea Dodero
Summary: This article reviews biological photonic structures and their characterization techniques, focusing on those structures not yet artificially manufactured. Then, employed and potential nanofabrication strategies for biomimetic, bio-templated, and artificially created biopolymeric photonic structures are discussed. The discussion is extended to responsive biopolymer photonic structures and hybrid structures. Last, future fundamental physics, chemistry, and nanotechnology challenges related to biopolymer photonics are foreseen.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Derek J. Kiebala, Robert Style, Dimitri Vanhecke, Celine Calvino, Christoph Weder, Stephen Schrettl
Summary: Blending polymers with telechelic macromolecules that have excimer-forming chromophores as end-groups creates materials with sensitive and reversible mechanochromic response to strain. Confocal microscopy reveals phase-separated inclusions of the additive in various host polymers. The mechanochromism of the blends arises from the distortion of the inclusions, which deform homogeneously and reversibly in response to macroscopic strain, regardless of the additive content and matrix composition. These findings demonstrate the potential of using telechelic macromolecules as universal additives for the fabrication of mechanochromic materials.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Livius F. Muff, Sandor Balog, Jozef Adamcik, Christoph Weder, Roman Lehner
Summary: Research on polymer nanoparticles in the environment and their impact on animal and human health is growing. This study presents a method to prepare well-defined nanoparticles with tailored characteristics, allowing for their detection in complex environments and mimicking environmentally relevant morphologies.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Cristina Prado-Martinez, Preston Sutton, Isabella Mombrini, Aristotelis Kamtsikakis, Worarin Meesorn, Christoph Weder, Ullrich Steiner, Ilja Gunkel
Summary: Replacing liquid electrolytes with solid polymer electrolytes in lithium-based batteries can inhibit dendritic growth, but it often compromises the efficiency of lithium-ion transport. This study introduces a composite solid polymer electrolyte that combines a soft copolymer with high ionic conductivity and cellulose nanofibers, which enhances the hardness without sacrificing the ionic conductivity. The composite electrolyte demonstrates good cycling ability and electrochemical stability, showing great potential for application in lithium metal batteries.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hanna Traeger, Derek Kiebala, Celine Calvino, Yoshimitsu Sagara, Stephen Schrettl, Christoph Weder, Jess M. Clough
Summary: In this study, a generalisable protocol based on optical microscopy, tensile testing, and image processing is proposed for the spatially resolved interrogation of mechanical deformation at the molecular level around defects in mechanophore-containing polymers. This approach can be applied to a broad range of polymeric materials, mechanophores, and deformation scenarios.
MATERIALS HORIZONS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Keiko Hiratsuka, Tatsuya Muramatsu, Takuya Seki, Christoph Weder, Go Watanabe, Yoshimitsu Sagara
Summary: In this study, the correlation between the mechanoresponsive luminescent behavior of rotaxane mechanophores and the size of the stopper used in the mechanophores was investigated. It was found that larger stoppers prevent the detachment of the ring molecule, resulting in reversible emission intensity changes, while smaller stoppers lead to irreversible emission intensity changes. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed these experimental observations. This study demonstrates the ability to create polymers with a wide range of mechanoresponsive luminescence behaviors by varying the size of the stopper.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Automation & Control Systems
Livius F. Muff, Christoph Weder
Summary: This study develops segmented polyurethanes with crystallizable polyethylene glycol (PEG) soft segments and hard segments formed by the reaction of 1,6-hexane diisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol (BDO). By varying the molecular weight of the PEG segments and the hard-segment content, the thermal expansion of these materials is correlated with their crystallinity, resulting in high deflection and low switching temperatures.
ADVANCED INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
(2023)