Love, Stacy A.; Popov, Elizabeth; Rybacki, Karleena; Hu, Xiao; Salas-de la Cruz, David
Facile treatment to fine-tune cellulose crystals in cellulose-silk biocomposites through hydrogen peroxide
The modulation of structural fibrous protein and polysaccharide biopolymers for the design of biomaterials is still relatively challenging due to the non-trivial nature of the transformation from a biopolymer's native state to a more usable form. To gain insight into the nature of the molecular interaction between silk and cellulose…
An interaction-mediating strategy towards enhanced solubility and redox properties of organics for aqueous flow batteries
Huang, Zhifeng; Kay, Christopher W. M.; Kuttich, Björn; Rauber, Daniel; Kraus, Tobias; Li, Hongjiao; Kim, Sangwon; Chen, Ruiyong
Aqueous redox flow batteries using electroactive organic materials are currently attracting significant attention. However, the influence of supporting electrolytes on the aqueous solubility, electrochemical reversibility and chemical stability of the organic components has rarely been investigated. Here, a new electrolyte design strategy towards enhanced solubility and chemical stability of
Emergence of lead halide perovskite colloidal dispersions through aggregation and fragmentation: insights from the nanoscale to the mesoscale
Pratap, Shambhavi; Keller, Elisabeth; Müller-Buschbaum, Peter
The structural and optoelectronic properties of mixed halide perovskite colloidal precursor dispersions are investigated. With increasing concentration, we observe four stages of growing structures, which affect the thin film morphology: (I) nanoparticles, (II) increasing size of nanoparticles, (III) formation of large aggregates/complex clusters and (IV) fragmentation of large
Effect of Solvent Additives on the Morphology and Device Performance of Printed Nonfullerene Acceptor Based Organic Solar Cells
Wienhold, Kerstin S.; Körstgens, Volker; Grott, Sebastian; Jiang, Xinyu; Schwartzkopf, Matthias; Roth, Stephan V.; Müller-Buschbaum, Peter
Printing of active layers of high-efficiency organic solar cells and morphology control by processing with varying solvent additive concentrations are important to realize real-world use of bulk-heterojunction photovoltaics as it enables both up-scaling and optimization of the device performance. In this work, active layers of the conjugated polymer with benzodithiophene…
Synthesis, Modular Composition, and Electrochemical Properties of Lamellar Iron Sulfides
Horwitz, Noah E.; Shevchenko, Elena V.; Park, Jehee; Lee, Eungje; Xie, Jiaze; Filatov, Alexander S.; Anderson, John
Transition metal chalcogenides with layered structures have emerged as promising materials for energy storage, catalysis, and electronics, among other areas. We have identified a new layered phase of iron sulfide containing interlayer solvated cations. We present an optimized synthesis for the Li+-containing material from an Fe(III) xanthate complex. Structure and…
Grafting and stabilization of ordered mesoporous silica COK-12 with graphene oxide for enhanced removal of methylene blue
M. Henning, Laura; Simon, Ulla; Gurlo, Aleksander; J. Smales, Glen; F. Bekheet, Maged
Large-pore ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) COK-12, analogous to the well-known SBA-15, but synthesized in a more environmentally friendly way and exhibiting a shorter plate-like structure, was grafted with different amounts of graphene oxide (GO) for the first time in an inexpensive and rapid process, that was successfully upscaled. Samples were…
Rheological modifiers based on supramolecular block copolymers: From weak associations to interconnected micelles
Goldansaz, Hadi; Jangizehi, Amir; Nikravan, Goolia; Verkinderen, Olivier; Goderis, Bart; Ghaffarian, Seyed Reza; van Ruymbeke, Evelyne; Ahmadi, Mostafa
The rheological spectra of poly(n-butyl acrylate) in the presence of a series of P(nBA-b-HEMA) rheology modifiers show a two-step relaxation process originating from the PnBA matrix and the self-assemblies. The HEMA segments are further grafted with strong, hydrogen bonding UPy groups, which both magnifies and slows down the relaxation of…
Ballistic thermal phonons traversing nanocrystalline domains in oriented polyethylene
Robbins, Andrew B.; Drakopoulos, Stavros X.; Martin-Fabiani, Ignacio; Ronca, Sara; Minnich, Austin J.
Polymer crystals that are good conductors of heat are highly desirable for thermal management applications. Although thermally conductive polymer crystals are well known, the microscopic thermal transport processes that enable these properties have been challenging to probe experimentally. We used an optical method to probe heat conduction at submicrometer length…
Tunable Fluorophobic Effect Determines Nanoparticle Dispersion in Homopolymers and Block Polymers
Marsh, Zachary M.; Blom, Douglas A.; Stefik, Morgan
The controlled placement of nanoparticles (NPs) within homopolymers and block polymers is of broad interest for functional nanomaterials. This manuscript focuses on small molecule-stabilized NPs that bring a large fraction of functionality. For such NP mixtures with block polymers, the overwhelming focus to date has been the use of attractive…
Bacteria-Resistant, Transparent, Free-Standing Films Prepared from Complex Coacervates
Kurtz, Irene S.; Sui, Shuo; Hao, Xi; Huang, Mengfei; Perry, Sarah L.; Schiffman, Jessica D.
We report the fabrication, properties, and bacteria-resistance of polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) coatings and free-standing films. Poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid), poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), and salt were spin-coated into PEC films. After thermal annealing in a humid environment, highly transparent, mechanically strong, and chemically robust films were formed. Notably, we demonstrate