Redondo, Alexandre; Chatterjee, Sourav; Brodard, Pierre; Korley, LaShanda T. J.; Weder, Christoph; Gunkel, Ilja; Steiner, Ullrich
Melt-Spun Nanocomposite Fibers Reinforced with Aligned Tunicate Nanocrystals
The fabrication of nanocomposite films and fibers based on cellulose nanocrystals (P-tCNCs) and a thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) elastomer is reported. High-aspect-ratio P-tCNCs were isolated from tunicates using phosphoric acid hydrolysis, which is a process that affords nanocrystals displaying high thermal stability. Nanocomposites were produced by solvent casting (films) or melt-mixing…
4D biofabrication of skeletal muscle microtissues
Apsite, Indra; Uribe, Juan Manuel; Posada, Andrés Fernando; Rosenfeldt, Sabine; Salehi, Sahar; Ionov, Leonid
Skeletal muscle is one of the most abundant tissues in the body. Although it has a relatively good regeneration capacity, it cannot heal in the case of disease or severe damage. Many current tissue engineering strategies fall short due to the complex structure of skeletal muscle. Biofabrication techniques have emerged…
Cell wall structure and composition is affected by light quality in tomato seedlings
Falcioni, Renan; Moriwaki, Thaise; Perez-Llorca, Marina; Munné-Bosch, Sergi; Gibin, Mariana Sversut; Sato, Francielle; Pelozo, Andressa; Pattaro, Mariana Carmona; Giacomelli, Marina Ellen; Rüggeberg, Markus; Antunes, Werner Camargos
Light affects many aspects of cell development. Tomato seedlings growing at different light qualities (white, blue, green, red, far-red) and in the dark displayed alterations in cell wall structure and composition. A strong and negative correlation was found between cell wall thickness and hypocotyl growth. Cell walls was thicker under…
Microstructure and properties of polyacrylonitrile based carbon fibers
Lu, Junshan; Li, Weiwei; Kang, Hongliang; Feng, Libang; Xu, Jian; Liu, Ruigang
The microstructure of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers with different mechanical properties was investigated. It was found that the tensile strength of the PAN-based carbon fibers generally decrease with the increase in the modulus. The properties of PAN-based carbon fiber are mainly controlled by the microstructure and microvoids. The increase in…
Biomimetic Mineralized OrganicInorganic Hybrid Macrofiber with Spider Silk-Like Supertoughness
Yu, Yadong; He, Yan; Mu, Zhao; Zhao, Yueqi; Kong, Kangren; Liu, Zhaoming; Tang, Ruikang
Spider silk fibers (SSF) have a hierarchical structure composed of proteins with highly repetitive sequences and biomineralization is sophisticated in hierarchical organicinorganic constructions. By using inorganic hydroxyapatite (HAP) and organic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to simulate the rigid crystalline and flexible amorphous protein blocks of SSF, respectively, biomimetic mineralization is
Tubular Sensor with Multi-Axial Strain Sensibility and Heating Capability Based on Bio-Mimic Helical Networks
Li, Yijun; Zhang, Kailin; Nie, Min; Wang, Qi
Sensors are crucial in industrial robotics and smart production line owing to the basic needs for humanmachine communication and real-time monitoring. However, a lack of versatile sensing capability and multifunctionalities are still two urgent bottlenecks for current sensors to break through. In this study, from the biomimic perspective, helical and…
Nanofibril Organization in Silk Fiber as Inspiration for Ductile and Damage-Tolerant Fiber Design
Lin, Shihui; Ye, Chao; Zhang, Wenwen; Xu, Anchang; Chen, Shixian; Ren, Jing; Ling, Shengjie
Ductile and damage-tolerant fibers (DDTFs) are desired in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, and biomedical engineering because of their ability to prevent the catastrophic sudden structural/mechanical failure. However, in practice, design and fabrication of DDTFs remain a major challenge due to finite fiber size and limited processing techniques. In this regard,…
Strong, Water-Stable Ionic Cable from Bio-Hydrogel
Kong, Weiqing; Li, Tian; Chen, Chaoji; Chen, Gegu; Brozena, Alexandra H.; Liu, Dapeng; Liu, Yang; Wang, Chengwei; Gan, Wentao; Wang, Sha; He, Shuaiming; Hu, Liangbing
Nanofluids have attracted much attention due to their various applications in energy storage, water desalination, and ionic circuits. However, the practical applications of the existing ionic conductors are limited due to their poor mechanical strength and stability in water. Here, inspired by nature, we develop a mechanically robust and water-stable…
Thermally Conductive and Electrically Insulating PVP/Boron Nitride Composite Films for Heat Spreader
Liu, Y.; Wang, N.; Ye, L.; Zehri, A.; Nylander, A.; Nkansah, A.; Lu, H.; Liu, J.
Thermally conductive materials with electrically insulating properties have been extensively investigated for thermal management of electronic devices. The combined properties of high thermal conductivity, structural stability, corrosion resistance and electric resistivity make hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) a promising candidate for this purpose. Theoretical studies have revealed that h-BN has a
Aggregation behavior of the amyloid model peptide NACore
Pallbo, Jon; Sparr, Emma; Olsson, Ulf
The aggregation of the 11 residue long NACore peptide segment of ?-synuclein (68-GAVVTGVTAVA-78) has been investigated using a combination of cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering, and spectroscopy techniques. The aqueous peptide solubility is pH dependent, and aggregation was triggered by a pH quench from pH…