Gels
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2023
·Vol. 9
·期 2
·158
·
IF 4.6
Shilei Zhu,Dongdong Yan,Lin Chen,Yan Wang,Fengbo Zhu,Yanan Ye,Yong Zheng,Wenwen Yu,Qiang Zheng
The Kirigami approach is an effective way to realize controllable deformation of intelligent materials via introducing cuts into bulk materials. For materials ranging from ordinary stiff materials such as glass, ceramics, and metals to soft materials, including ordinary hydrogels and elastomers, all of them are all sensitive to the presence of cuts, which usually act as defects to deteriorate mechanical properties. Herein, we study the influence of the cuts on the mechanical properties by introducing “dispersed macro-scale cuts” into a model tough double network (DN) hydrogel (named D-cut gel), which consists of a rigid and brittle first network and a ductile stretchable second network. For comparison, DN gels with “continuous cuts” having the same number of interconnected cuts (named C-cut gel) were chosen. The fracture tests of D-cut gel and C-cut gel with different cut patterns were performed. The fracture observation revealed that crack blunting occurred at each cut tip, and a large wrinkle-like zone was formed where the wrinkles were parallel to the propagation direction of the cut. By utilizing homemade circular polarizing optical systems, we found that introducing dispersed cuts increases the rupture force by homogenizing the stress around the crack tip surrounding every cut, which reduces stress concentration in one certain cut. We believe this work reveals the fracture mechanism of tough soft materials with a kirigami cut structure, which should guide the design of advanced soft and tough materials along this line.Keywords:double-network hydrogels;cut dispersion;fracture;toughness
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Gels
·
2023
·Vol. 9
·期 2
·145
·
IF 4.6
Shilei Zhu,Yan Wang,Zhe Wang,Lin Chen,Fengbo Zhu,Yanan Ye,Yong Zheng,Wenwen Yu,Qiang Zheng
Biological soft tissues are intrinsically viscoelastic materials which play a significant role in affecting the activity of cells. As potential artificial alternatives, double-network (DN) gels, however, are pure elastic and mechanically time independent. The viscoelasticization of DN gels is an urgent challenge in enabling DN gels to be used for advanced development of biomaterial applications. Herein, we demonstrate a simple approach to regulate the viscoelasticity of tough double-network (DN) hydrogels by forming sulfonate–metal coordination. Owing to the dynamic nature of the coordination bonds, the resultant hydrogels possess highly viscoelastic, mechanical time-dependent, and self-recovery properties. Rheological measurements are performed to investigate the linear dynamic mechanical behavior at small strains. The tensile tests and cyclic tensile tests are also systematically performed to evaluate the rate-dependent large deformation mechanical behaviors and energy dissipation behaviors of various ion-loaded DN hydrogels. It has been revealed based on the systematic analysis that robust strong sulfonate–Zr4+coordination interactions not only serve as dynamic crosslinks imparting viscoelastic rate-dependent mechanical performances, but also strongly affect the relative strength of the first PAMPS network, thereby increasing the yielding stress σyand the fracture stress at break σband reducing the stretch ratio at break λb. It is envisioned that the viscoelasticization of DN gels enables versatile applications in the biomedical and engineering fields.Keywords:metal-coordinated dynamics;viscoelastic properties;double-network gels
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SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS AND SOLAR CELLS
·
2023
·
IF 6.9
Chang Cong,Jixiao Wang,Guangyu Xing,Zhan Wang,Sicheng Yuan,Zhi Wang
Polymeric coatings , widely used in large-scaled outdoor applications including solar energy collection, metal protection and so on, are limited by short service life caused by degradation and structural damage due to constant exposure in air and external force. Here, oxidized carbon black (OCB)/epoxy vitrimer (EV) composite without catalysts, dispersants and pre-heating was prepared by facile solvent mixing method. The addition of OCB improved the stress relaxation rate of the composite and endowed high solar absorptance (α) at 94.57% and solar thermal efficiency (η) at 93.28%. The efficiency of remote and local photothermal-stimulated healing for micro scratches of the composite coating was as high as 95.08%. And the macroscopic damage repairing which was rarely reported can be about 100% by a novel photothermal patching method. Meanwhile, the composites also have behaviors of shape memory, reusability and ion transfer barrier performance. Overall, based on the advantages of facile preparation, cheap raw materials, high solar absorptance and solar thermal efficiency and excellent remote and local healing efficiency, the OCB/EV composite coatings have potential applications in solar energy harvesting and provides a new strategy for the local and contactless repair of polymeric coatings used in outdoor applications such as solar-energy collector, solar absorption systems and metal protection, especially for the repair of the macroscopic damage.
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Materials Today Communications
·
2022
·
IF 3.662
Wenzhen Wang,Xiangmin Zhang,Weiwei Han,Jian Huang,Yile Zhang,Chen Zhao,Leilei Li
A functional monomer chlorendic anhydride (CA) with flame retardancy was added to the polymerization reaction between CO 2 and propylene oxide (PO) to form a terpolymer plastic polycarbonates (PPCCA) for the first time. Compared with conventional poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), the synthesized PPCCA exhibited excellent thermal properties, mechanical properties , dimensional stability, high degradation and flame retardant (FR) properties. When the CA content was increased to 5 mol% (with respect to PO, except specially stated), the 5% weight-loss degradation temperatures ( T d , - 5%), the maximum weight-loss degradation temperatures ( T d , max ) and the glass transition temperature ( T g ) of PPCCA were increased to 235 ℃, 345 ℃ and 44 ℃, respectively. Additionally, in the CA content range of 0–5 mol%, the tensile strength of PPCCA increased to 26.7 ± 1.4 MPa and the elongation at break decreased to 144.4 ± 1.2%. Furthermore, within the same content range (0–5 mol%) of CA, the hot-set elongation (Δ L h ) and permanent deformation (Δ L p ) were reduced to 95% and 50%, respectively. The PPCCA exhibited good degradability as well. In terms of FR properties, the limiting oxygen index (LOI) of PPCCA (with 5 mol% CA, PPCCA5) was 33.5%, with which the vertical combustion test level turned out to be at the highest level (V-0), which truly improved the flame retardancy of the polymer.
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CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
·
2023
·
IF 8.6
Guang Huang,Honglei Guo,Zhuofu Tang,Shuaiwei Peng,Huansen Liang,Guozhe Meng,Ping Zhang
Hydrophobic hydrogels with high strength and great stretchability hold immense potential in various fields, such as soft robots, 3D printing, and flexible sensors. However, the formation of large hydrophobic domains in a hydrophobic hydrogel can lead to a heterogeneous structure in the bulk hydrogel. This phenomenon will result in the hydrophobic hydrogel becoming opaque, having a large energy hysteresis during stretching, poor strain-sensitivity, and slow self-recovery. In this study, we successfully developed a series of transparent hydrophobic hydrogels that exhibit excellent mechanical properties (low hysteresis and high toughness of ∼1.8–2.5 MJ m–3) with a desirable strain-sensitivity. The key factor in achieving this was the ability to tune large, inhomogeneous hydrophobic structures into small, well-ordered domains at the scale of 16.50–52.08 nm by introducing a small number of electrostatic groups into the hydrophobic networks. The hydrophobic hydrogels were able to form strong dual physical interactions, including electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic associations, making them ideal materials for fabricating wearable sensors with both in air and underwater applications. This facile and effective approach provides a novel method to prepare hydrophobic hydrogels with good mechanical performance, low hysteresis, and good strain-sensitivity, opening up new potential for their applications in various fields.
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ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2022
·
IF 10.383
Tianqi Niu,Fuchao Zhen,Yue-Min Xie,Tinghuan Yang,Qin Yao,Jing Lu,Kui Zhao,Hin-Lap Yip
Metal oxides are commonly employed as electron transport layers (ETLs) for n-i-p perovskite solar cells (PSCs), but the presence of surface traps and their mismatched energy alignment with perovskites limits the corresponding device performance. Therefore, the interfacial modification of ETLs by functional molecules becomes an important strategy for tailoring the interfacial properties and facilitating an efficient charge extraction and transport in PSCs. However, an in-depth understanding of the influences of their molecular structures on the surface chemistry and electronic properties of ETLs is rarely discussed. Herein, three carboxylic acid-based molecules with different chemical structures were employed to modify the SnO2 ETL and their effects on the performance of PSCs were systematically investigated. We found that the alkyl-chain length and carboxyl number in molecular structures can dramatically alter their binding strength to SnO2, providing a good strategy to fine-tune their film quality, electron mobility, and energy offset at the cathode interface. Benefiting from the optimal coordination ability of citric acid (CA) to SnO2, the corresponding PSCs show better charge transport properties and suppressed nonradiative recombination, leading to a champion efficiency of 23.1% with much improved environmental stability, highlighting the potential of rational design of molecular modifiers for high-performance ETLs applied in PSCs.
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ACS Applied Electronic Materials
·
2022
·
IF 4.494
Weiwei Zhang,Jiahao Liu,Hao Liu,Jianqiang Wang,Luobin Zhang,Jintao Wang,Haozhong Wang,Fengyi Wang,Xinjie Wang,Fuwen Yu,Ziwen Lv,Zheng Zhang,Chunjin Hang,Mingyu Li,Hongtao Chen
Silver (Ag) flakes are widely used as conductive fillers in the electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs). However, there are organic lubricants on the Ag surface such as oleic acid and stearic acid, a kind of surfactant commonly used in the production of Ag flakes, which will deteriorate the conductivity and mechanical properties of the ECAs. In this study, glutaric acid was used to remove the organic lubricants, which can increase the electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of the ECAs. FTIR, Raman, and XPS tests revealed that the glutaric acid was chemically adsorbed on the Ag surface by single-dentate coordination and then reacted with organic lubricants, explaining the action mechanism by which the glutaric acid enhanced the electrical and mechanical properties of the ECAs. In addition, the effects of glutaric acid on the thermal stability, bulk resistivity, shear strength, and viscosity of the ECAs were investigated. When the glutaric acid reached 0.12 wt %, the minimum bulk resistivity of the ECAs was 1.52 × 10–4 Ω·cm, the shear strength was 24.57 MPa, and the viscosity was 149 Pa·s. This provides a method for fabricating high-performance ECAs.
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JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR STRUCTURE
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2022
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IF 3.841
Man Zhang,Xiaomeng Zhao,Siyang Tang,Kejing Wu,Binshen Wang,Yingying Liu,Yingming Zhu,Houfang Lu,Bin Liang
To implement different applications of deep eutectic solvents (DESs), the knowledge of their structure and properties should be enhanced. In this work, experimental characterizations together with theoretical calculations were employed to study the structure–properties relationships of seven ChCl-carboxylic acids DESs. The obtained DESs were analyzed using NMR spectroscopy to check their structures and interactions. The physicochemical properties of DESs, such as viscosity, conductivity, and Kamlet-Taft solvatochromic parameters, are closely related to the structure of carboxylic acids. A DES with more hydroxyl or carboxyl groups has a greater viscosity and a lower conductivity. Increasing the carbon chain of carboxylic acid reduces the polarity of the corresponding DES. Moreover, the calculation results from density functional theory (DFT) indicate that the type and intensity of intermolecular interaction of DESs are closely related to the structure of the carboxylic acid, which are consistent with experimental results. The systematic research on the structure–properties relationships expand our knowledge on the rational design of task-specific DESs.
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Nature Communications
·
2022
·Vol. 13
·期 1
·1-12
·
IF 17.694
Zhang Yan,Wang Yafei,Guan Ying,Zhang Yongjun
Natural gels and biomimetic hydrogel materials have been able to achieve outstanding integrated mechanical properties due to the gain of natural biological structures. However, nearly every natural biological structure relies on water as solvents or carriers, which limits the possibility in extreme conditions, such as sub-zero temperatures and long-term application. Here, peptide-enhanced eutectic gels were synthesized by introducing α-helical “molecular spring” structure into deep eutectic solvent. The gel takes full advantage of the α-helical structure, achieving high tensile/compression, good resilience, superior fracture toughness, excellent fatigue resistance and strong adhesion, while it also inherits the benefits of the deep eutectic solvent and solves the problems of solvent volatilization and freezing. This enables unprecedentedly long and stable sensing of human motion or mechanical movement. The electrical signal shows almost no drift even after 10,000 deformations for 29 hours or in the −20 °C to 80 °C temperature range.
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INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
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2022
·
IF 4.326
Zheming Zhang,Pingping Jiang,Phyu Thin Wai,Shan Feng,Minjia Lu,Pingbo Zhang,Yan Leng,Lingen Pan,Jie Pan
A novel green plasticizer, cyclohexyl ester-capped glutaric acid oligomeric lactate (CGOL) with many poly(lactic acid) (PLA) matrix repeating units, applicable for plasticizing both poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and PLA, was designed and developed through a two-step esterification reaction route. Due to the growing concerns about the environment and health, we used biobased raw materials to synthesize the biobased plasticizer with the hope of potentially replacing petroleum-based plasticizers that are already widely used. The molecular structure of CGOL was confirmed, and then CGOL was blended with PVC or PLA for performance testing. Compared with commercial plasticizers, it had better comprehensive plasticization performance, showing high thermal stability, mechanical stability, and migration stability in both PVC and PLA polymers, which could be demonstrated by thermogravimetric analysis, tensile tests, and migration resistance test results. Among all PVC blends containing 50 phr plasticizer, CGOL plasticized PVC films exhibited the highest elongation at break (736.3%) and initial degradation temperature (Ti, CGOL-50 = 273.5 °C), the lowest glass transition temperature (Tg = 24.8 °C), and minimal migration in various environments, better than that of commercial ATBC, DOTP, and DOP. As for PLA blends, CGOL plasticized PLA films outperformed PLA/ATBC films in terms of comprehensive performance. Overall, CGOL demonstrated potential as a novel green substitute plasticizer for preparing flexible products of PVC and PLA.
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ENERGY & FUELS
·
2022
·
IF 4.654
Wei-Wei Yan,Xian-Yong Wei,Jun Li,Meng-Xiao Wang,Hong-Cun Bai,Zhi-Min Zong
Several liquid deep eutectic solvents (DESs) at room temperature were screened and used to extract phenols from an acetonitrile-extractable portion (ANEP) of the oil from oil shale pyrolysis. Among choline chloride (CC)/ethylene glycol (EG) with lowest viscosity and neutral oil entrainment (molar ratio = 1:3) was selected as an optimal DES for isolating phenols from ANEP. As a result, the CC/EG-extractable portion contains 56.7% of oxygen-containing aromatics, among which phenols account for 75.1% by magnetically stirring the isometric mass mixture of ANEP and the CC/EG at room temperature and 500 rpm for 0.5 h. Intermolecular interaction energy and type between different DESs and solutes were calculated by molecular dynamics simulation, independent gradient model analysis, energy decomposition analysis based on the force field, and electrostatic potential analysis to uncover the mechanism for the priority separation of phenols. The result shows that the DES that contains polar HBD with lower viscosity and carbon number and asymmetric HBA with shorter alkyl chains, e.g., CC/EG, could strongly interact with phenols by the strong hydrogen bond, X-H···π and/or cation/anion···π compared to other aromatics.
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JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
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2022
·
IF 0.243
Xiao-Na Liang,Li-Ying Xu,Ming-Li Zhai,Jie Zhang
In the current research, through employing the dual ligand method, a novel coordination polymer has been produced in success via the reaction between H 2 glu and In(NO 3 ) 3 ·6H 2 O in the existence of the nitrogen-donor chelating 2,2′-bpy ligand in CH 3 CN In(III) and DMF mixed solvent, and its chemical formula is In(glu)(Hglu)(2,2′-bpy) ( 1 , 2,2′-bpy is 2,2′-bipyridine and H 2 glu is glutaric acid). Its application values on the acute stroke were assessed and the corresponding mechanism was investigated simultaneously. Firstly, the levels of inflammatory response in the astrocytes were evaluated by ELISA by measuring the content of inflammatory cytokines released into cerebrospinal fluid. Additionally, the miRNA199a relative expression levels in astrocytes were measured via exploiting real time RT-PCR. Molecular docking simulation demonstrated that synthesized In ion complex exhibited excellent biological activities, multiple binding interactions were formed by the carboxyl groups on the In ion complex.
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