Yin, Shanshan; Zhao, Dong; Ji, Qing; Xia, Yonggao; Xia, Senlin; Wang, Xinming; Wang, Meimei; Ban, Jianzhen; Zhang, Yi; Metwalli, Ezzeldin; Wang, Xiaoyan; Xiao, Ying; Zuo, Xiuxia; Xie, Shuang; Fang, Kai; Liang, Suzhe; Zheng, Luyao; Qiu, Bao; Yang, Zhaohui; Lin, Yichao; Chen, Liang; Wang, Cundong; Liu, Zhaoping; Zhu, Jin; Müller-Buschbaum, Peter; Cheng, Ya-Jun
Si/Ag/C Nanohybrids with in Situ Incorporation of Super-Small Silver Nanoparticles: Tiny Amount, Huge Impact
Silicon (Si) has been regarded as one of the most promising anodes for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its exceptional capacity, appropriate voltage profile, and reliable operation safety. However, poor cyclic stability and moderate rate performance have been critical drawbacks to hamper the practical application of Si-based anodes. It…
Enhancing moisture tolerance in efficient hybrid 3D/2D perovskite photovoltaics
Koh, Teck Ming; Shanmugam, Vignesh; Guo, Xintong; Lim, Swee Sien; Filonik, Oliver; Herzig, Eva M.; Müller-Buschbaum, Peter; Swamy, Varghese; Chien, Sum Tze; Mhaisalkar, Subodh G.; Mathews, Nripan
Surface imperfections in perovskite films upon crystallization may trigger trap-assisted non-radiative recombination which is a dominant recombination mechanism that potentially restricts the performance of solar devices. In this work, 2D alkylammonium halide perovskites are formed on the 3D perovskite structure to passivate interfacial defects and vacancies and enhance moisture tolerance.…
Surface-initiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of chloroprene and mechanical properties of matrix-free polychloroprene nanocomposites
Zheng, Yang; Abbas, Zaid M.; Sarkar, Amrita; Marsh, Zachary; Stefik, Morgan; Benicewicz, Brian C.
RAFT polymerization and surface-initiated RAFT polymerization (SI-RAFT) of chloroprene was studied. The SI-RAFT polymerization rate of chloroprene was found to be slower than free solution RAFT polymerization, and further regulated by the graft density of grafted polymers. The resulting polychloroprene-grafted silica nanoparticles were directly crosslinked to obtain matrix-free polychloroprene…
Manufacturing & characterization of regenerated cellulose/curcumin based sustainable composites fibers spun from environmentally benign solvents
Coscia, Marta Gina; Bhardwaj, Jyoti; Singh, Nandita; Santonicola, M. Gabriella; Richardson, Robert; Thakur, Vijay Kumar; Rahatekar, Sameer
We report a novel manufacturing method for bio renewable regenerated cellulose fibres modified with curcumin, a molecule is known for its medicinal properties. Ionic liquid namely 1-Ethyl 3-Methyl Imidazolium diethyl phosphate (emim DEP) was found to be capable of dissolving cellulose as well as curcumin. Regenerated cellulose/curcumin composites fibres with…
Opposing Phase-Segregation and Hydrogen-Bonding Forces in Supramolecular Polymers
Chen, Senbin; Yan, Tingzi; Fischer, Matthias; Mordvinkin, Anton; Saalwächter, Kay; Thurn‐Albrecht, Thomas; Binder, Wolfgang H.
Phase segregation between different macromolecules and specific weak interactions are the basis of molecular organization in many biological systems, which are held together by attractive hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) and dissociated by phase segregation. We report significant changes in the association behavior of covalent H-bonds by the phase of attached polymer…
Dimensional Control and Morphological Transformations of Supramolecular Polymeric Nanofibers Based on Cofacially-Stacked Planar Amphiphilic Platinum(II) Complexes
Robinson, Matthew E.; Nazemi, Ali; Lunn, David J.; Hayward, Dominic W.; Boott, Charlotte E.; Hsiao, Ming-Siao; Harniman, Robert L.; Davis, Sean A.; Whittell, George R.; Richardson, Robert M.; De Cola, Luisa; Manners, Ian
Square-planar platinum(II) complexes often stack cofacially to yield supramolecular fiber-like structures with interesting photophysical properties. However, control over fiber dimensions and the resulting colloidal stability is limited. We report the self-assembly of amphiphilic Pt(II) complexes with solubilizing ancillary ligands based on polyethylene glycol . The…
3D Orientational Control in Self-Assembled Thin Films with Sub-5 nm Features by Light
Nickmans, Koen; Bögels, Gerardus M.; Sánchez‐Somolinos, Carlos; Murphy, Jeffrey N.; Leclère, Philippe; Voets, Ilja K.; Schenning, Albertus P. H. J.
While self-assembled molecular building blocks could lead to many next-generation functional organic nanomaterials, control over the thin-film morphologies to yield monolithic sub-5 nm patterns with 3D orientational control at macroscopic length scales remains a grand challenge. A series of photoresponsive hybrid oligo(dimethylsiloxane) liquid crystals that form periodic cylindrical…
Nanorattles with tailored electric field enhancement
Schnepf, Max J.; Mayer, Martin; Kuttner, Christian; Tebbe, Moritz; Wolf, Daniel; Dulle, Martin; Altantzis, Thomas; Formanek, Petr; Förster, Stephan; Bals, Sara; König, Tobias A. F.; Fery, Andreas
Nanorattles are metallic core–shell particles with core and shell separated by a dielectric spacer. These nanorattles have been identified as a promising class of nanoparticles, due to their extraordinary high electric-field enhancement inside the cavity. Limiting factors are reproducibility and loss of axial symmetry owing to the movable metal core;…
Can high oxygen and water vapor barrier nanocomposite coatings be obtained with a waterborne formulation?
Tsurko, Evgeny S.; Feicht, Patrick; Habel, Christoph; Schilling, Theresa; Daab, Matthias; Rosenfeldt, Sabine; Breu, Josef
Modification of synthetic, high aspect ratio clay with 6-aminocaprohydroxamic acid hydrochloride pushes the interaction between the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix and the filler to the level where the waterborne nanocomposite becomes rather insensitive to swelling, even at an elevated relative humidity (RH). The modifier can form strong hydrogen bonds with…
Matrix-Free Polymer Nanocomposite Thermoplastic Elastomers
Huang, Yucheng; Zheng, Yang; Sarkar, Amrita; Xu, Yanmei; Stefik, Morgan; Benicewicz, Brian C.
Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) grafted nanoparticles were prepared by grafting block copolymer poly(styrene-block-(n-butyl acrylate)) onto silica nanoparticles (NPs) via surface-initiated reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The effects of polymer chain length and graft density on the mechanical properties were investigated using films made solely from the…