A novel, green and effective approach to fabricate uniform functional spherical polymer particles remains a huge challenge. Herein, we present a novel one-pot approach superior to traditional precipitation polymerization, called precipitated droplets in-situ cross-linking (PDIC) polymerization, by which uniform particles are fabricated on large scale without any toxic organic solvents or stabilizers . With this approach, functional spherical polymer particles can be fabricated continuously only relying on gravity, and the preparation process is thus super-fast. For example, polyacrylic acid (PAA) hydrogel particles with ultra-high adsorption capacity are fabricated within only 60 s. Moreover, we have successfully fabricated different functional hydrogel particles, including anticoagulant , reinforced and bactericidal particles, based on the monomers of 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS), acrylamide (AM) and [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride (DMC), respectively. This approach has several advantages: (i) the technology is green; (ii) the size and porosity of the particles can be well-controlled; (iii) various functional spherical hydrogel particles can be fabricated by using corresponding monomers. More importantly, this approach fits the commercialization of functional hydrogel particles on demand.
Qingqing Cheng,Yang Liu,Jing Lyu,Qiang Lu,Xuetong Zhang,Wenhui Song
Auxetic architectures with a negative Poisson's ratio have attracted increasing attention due to their intriguing physical properties and numerous promising applications and recent advancements in manufacturing techniques. However, fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) polymeric auxetic architectures with a tailored hierarchically porous structure and desired physical/mechanical properties remains challenging. Herein, 3D nanofibrous Kevlar aerogel architectures with porosity at multiple scales have been designed and fabricated through a new additive manufacturing strategy, i.e., integration of direct ink writing and freeze-casting with non-toxic solvent-based inks followed by special drying techniques. The highly porous 3D nanofibrous Kevlar aerogel architectures achieve excellent mechanical properties with an ultralow density (down to 11.9 mg cm−3) and large specific surface area (up to 350 m2 g−1). The Poisson's ratio is tunable in a wide range, spanning from −0.8 to 0.4, by adjusting the spatial arrangement of the designed pattern struts. Finally, these nanofibrous Kevlar aerogel architectures have been further functionalized into hydrophobic, luminescent and thermoresponsive architectures by using fluorocarbon resin, functional dyes and organic phase-change materials respectively. The multi-functional auxetic aerogel architectures demonstrate potential for a broad range of applications.