Wu, Yanjie; Yang, Huaqin; Li, Wei; Mattea, Carlos; Stapf, Siegfried; Zhang, Letian; Ye, Chunlin; Ye, Xiaofeng
Tailored crystalline order of nascent polyethylene from metallocene supported on confined polystyrene
Building the desirable superstructure of polyethylene is one of the important topics for developing high value-added products, which brings potential benefits for society and sustainable development. Crystalline order is the ubiquitous superstructure for enhancing mechanical properties of polymeric materials. In this work, polystyrene copolymers (c-PS) are incorporated into pores of…
Fragmentation of 1,2-Polybutadiene-block-Poly(ethylene oxide) Micelles in Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids
Early, Julia T.; Lodge, Timothy P.
The effect of solvent selectivity on the fragmentation kinetics of spherical micelles formed by a 1,2-polybutadiene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) BO copolymer in five 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide-based ionic liquids (ILs), (, where n = methyl, ethyl, butyl, hexyl, and octyl) was investigated by temperature-jump dynamic light scattering (T-jump DLS),
Reproducible Preparation of Proteopolymersomes via Sequential Polymer Film Hydration and Membrane Protein Reconstitution
Loo, Siew-Leng; Siti, Winna; Thiyagarajan, Monisha; Torres, Jaume; Wang, Rong; Hu, Xiao
Film rehydration method is commonly used for membrane protein (MP) reconstitution into block copolymer (BCP), but the lack of control in the rehydration step formed a heterogeneous population of proteopolymersomes that interferes with the characterization and performance of devices incorporating them. To improve the self-assembly of polymersomes with simultaneous MP…
Efficient Anti-solvent-free Spin-Coated and Printed Sn-Perovskite Solar Cells with Crystal-Based Precursor Solutions
He, Lintao; Gu, Hao; Liu, Xiaolong; Li, Pengwei; Dang, Yangyang; Liang, Chao; Ono, Luis K.; Qi, Yabing; Tao, Xutang
Tin-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs), with more consummate optical band gaps, lower exciton-binding energies, and higher charge-carrier mobility, have not attracted tremendous research efforts compared with the lead-based ones that have a record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.2%. The major challenges for Sn-based research are significantly low open-circuit voltage,…
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…
Facile Route for the Fabrication of Polypropylene Separators for Lithium-Ion Batteries with High Elongation and Strong Puncture Resistance
Kang, Jian; Chen, Dandan; Xiong, Bijin; Zheng, Nan; Yang, Feng; Xiang, Ming; Zheng, Zhuo
A facile route for fabrication of polypropylene separators for lithium-ion batteries with high elongation and strong puncture resistance has been proposed in this work. Polypropylene separators immersed in paraffin wax have been prepared to introduce small molecules into separators. The influence of small molecules on mechanical properties of separators is…
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…
Toughening anti-overswelling semicrystalline polymer hydrogels with ultra-small hydrophobic nanoparticles
Meng, Xiaohui; Wu, Teng; Qiu, Dong
Semicrystalline polymer hydrogels (SC-gels) are intrinsically electrolyte tolerant and over-swelling resistant, emerging as promising candidates for applications in solution environments. However, SC-gels with high mechanical strength are usually brittle. In the present work, by introducing ultra-small hydrophobic nanoparticles, highly-stretchable SC-gels (15 times of its original length) with
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…
Effect of Macromolecular Chain Movement and the Interchain Interaction on Crystalline Nucleation and Spherulite Growth of Polylactic Acid under High-Pressure CO2
Li, Shaojie; Chen, Taoyi; Liao, Xia; Han, Weiqiang; Yan, Zhihui; Li, Junsong; Li, Guangxian
Crystallization behavior of polylactic acid (PLA) under CO2 is meaningful due to its effect on foaming behavior during CO2 foaming, while present studies mainly concentrated on overall crystallization behavior. In this study, the effect of CO2 on nucleation and spherulite growth of PLA crystals was in situ investigated separately. During…