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Article
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Photochemically responsive polymer films enable tunable gliding flights
Miniature passive fliers are of interest, but there are challenges in controlling their motion. Here, the authors report the use of light-responsive thin films for optical control of the gliding of passive fliers.
- Jianfeng Yang
- , M. Ravi Shankar
- & Hao Zeng
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Article
| Open Access
Multiple photofluorochromic luminogens via catalyst-free alkene oxidative cleavage photoreaction for dynamic 4D codes encryption
Photochromic systems with high contrast and multiple colours are useful for responsive materials, but it is challenging to achieve multiple colours with one molecule. Here, the authors report a photochromic system controlled by oxidative cleavage on light irradiation.
- Lin Lu
- , Bo Wu
- & Ben Zhong Tang
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Article
| Open Access
Internal water circulation mediated synergistic co-hydrolysis of PET/cotton textile blends in gamma-valerolactone
Recycling strategies for mixed plastics and textile blends currently aim for recycling only one of the components. Here the authors demonstrate a water coupling strategy to co-hydrolyze polyester/cotton textile blends into polymer monomers and platform chemicals.
- Shun Zhang
- , Wenhao Xu
- & Yu-Zhong Wang
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Article
| Open Access
Humidity-tolerant porous polymer coating for passive daytime radiative cooling
A consistency issue with the production of porous polymer-based radiative coatings can be a significant drop in the cooling performance when dried under humid conditions. This issue is efficiently resolved by adding polymer reinforcement.
- Dongpyo Hong
- , Yong Joon Lee
- & Sang Yoon Park
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Article
| Open Access
Spider-silk-inspired strong and tough hydrogel fibers with anti-freezing and water retention properties
Hydrogel fibres have potential in a range of applications such as flexible electronics, but achieving the desired mechanical properties can be challenging. Here, the authors report spider silk-inspired hydrogel fibres with tuneable mechanical properties suitable for flexible electronics.
- Shaoji Wu
- , Zhao Liu
- & Yurong Yan
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Article
| Open Access
Urea-formaldehyde resin room temperature phosphorescent material with ultra-long afterglow and adjustable phosphorescence performance
Organic room temperature phosphorescent materials have useful properties, but development can be limited by processing and stability challenges. Here, the authors report a derivatisation strategy for the preparation of room temperature phosphorescent materials responsive to an electrostatic field.
- Wensheng Xu
- , Bowei Wang
- & Ligong Chen
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Article
| Open Access
Nylons with Highly-Bright and Ultralong Organic Room-Temperature Phosphorescence
It may be useful to obtain nylon with room temperature phosphorescence, but identifying a suitable luminophore is challenging. Here, the authors report the doping of nylon with cyano-substituted benzimidazole derivatives for room temperature phosphorescent nylons.
- Dian-Xue Ma
- , Zhong-Qiu Li
- & Yu-Wu Zhong
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Article
| Open Access
Concentration-induced spontaneous polymerization of protic ionic liquids for efficient in situ adhesion
Adhesives require a balance between cohesion and interfacial adhesion, which can be challenging to achieve. Here the authors report the polymerisation of a protic ionic liquid-based monomer, with internal and external non-covalent interactions contributing to both cohesion and adhesion.
- Jun Zhang
- , Xuan Zhou
- & Shiguo Zhang
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Article
| Open Access
A large-strain and ultrahigh energy density dielectric elastomer for fast moving soft robot
Dielectric elastomer actuators require high driving electric fields to achieve high performances for soft robots due to their low dielectric constant and high stiffness. Here, the authors introduce polar fluorinated groups and nanodomains aggregated by long alkyl side chains into the dielectric elastomer design to overcome these issues and develop fast soft robots.
- Wenwen Feng
- , Lin Sun
- & Chao Wang
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Article
| Open Access
Advancing interactive systems with liquid crystal network-based adaptive electronics
There is significant interest in developing electronic units that can perform sensing, signal processing, and actuation functions independently, similar to biological systems. Lyu et al. develop electronic units based on liquid crystal oligomer networks that exhibit adaptive behavior in response to environmental stimuli such as light and heat.
- Pengrong Lyu
- , Dirk J. Broer
- & Danqing Liu
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Article
| Open Access
Stretchable phosphorescent polymers by multiphase engineering
Stretchable phosphorescent materials have potential in applications such as wearable electronics, but achieving a suitable balance of emission and stretchability is challenging. Here, the authors report the use of microphase separation to show stretchability with emission lifetimes maintained.
- Nan Gan
- , Xin Zou
- & Wei Huang
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Article
| Open Access
Nested non-covalent interactions expand the functions of supramolecular polymer networks
Supramolecular polymer networks have unique and useful properties due to the reversible nature of their cross-links. Here, the authors show that when two distinct supramolecular interaction classes exist within a single cross-link, new functions can result.
- David J. Lundberg
- , Christopher M. Brown
- & Jeremiah A. Johnson
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Article
| Open Access
Halide Perovskite Inducing Anomalous Nonvolatile Polarization in Poly(vinylidene fluoride)-based Flexible Nanocomposites
Wang et al. report large nonvolatile polarization in stretchable polymer ferroelectrics incorporating perovskite nanocrystals. The built-in electric field from poled ferroelectrics stabilises Frenkel defects via interfacial coupling, which can also enhance the polarization of nonferroelectrics.
- Yao Wang
- , Chen Huang
- & Jiangyu Li
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Article
| Open Access
Sustainable 3D printing by reversible salting-out effects with aqueous salt solutions
Here, the authors show a facile and sustainable 3D printing by utilizing a reversible salting-out effect on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) solutions. Aqueous salt solutions lower the phase transition temperature of PNIPAM solutions below 10 °C and instantly solidify the PNIPAM solutions upon contact.
- Donghwan Ji
- , Joseph Liu
- & Jinhye Bae
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Article
| Open Access
Finely manipulating room temperature phosphorescence by dynamic lanthanide coordination toward multi-level information security
Room temperature phosphorescent materials have many desirable properties, but fine control of these can be challenging. Here, the authors report a strategy for this control by dynamic lanthanide coordination in combination with organic phosphors.
- Longqiang Li
- , Jiayin Zhou
- & Tao Chen
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Article
| Open Access
Constructing ordered and tunable extrinsic porosity in covalent organic frameworks via water-mediated soft-template strategy
The synthesis of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) by a soft-template methodology is challenging. Here, the authors attach the soft templates to the COFs backbone via ion bonds, avoiding crystallization incompatibilities and allowing subsequent removal of the template by ion exchange for enhanced U(VI)/Th(IV) adsorption performance.
- Ningning He
- , Yingdi Zou
- & Lijian Ma
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Article
| Open Access
Converting inorganic sulfur into degradable thermoplastics and adhesives by copolymerization with cyclic disulfides
The inherent instability of poly(sulfur) renders the conversion of elementary sulfur into sulfur-rich polymers challenging which limits the use of this industrial by-product. Here, the authors demonstrate that inorganic sulfur can be utilized by copolymerizing with cyclic disulfides, producing high-performance thermoplastic elastomers with self-healing ability and degradability.
- Yuanxin Deng
- , Zhengtie Huang
- & Da-Hui Qu
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Article
| Open Access
Efficient recovery and recycling/upcycling of precious metals using hydrazide-functionalized star-shaped polymers
Despite the use of amine-functionalized polymers as metal adsorbents, they are generally ineffective at recovering precious metals. Here the authors prepare a star-shaped, hydrazide-functionalized polymer as a recoverable standalone adsorbent with high precious metal adsorption capability/selectivity and practical feasibility.
- Seung Su Shin
- , Youngkyun Jung
- & Jung-Hyun Lee
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Article
| Open Access
Cellulose nanofiber-mediated manifold dynamic synergy enabling adhesive and photo-detachable hydrogel for self-powered E-skin
Certain devices require rapid adhesion and detachment, but achieving both can be challenging. Here, the authors report the development of a supramolecular hydrogel with reversible tough adhesion and triggered photodetachment.
- Lei Zhang
- , Lu Chen
- & Chaoji Chen
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Article
| Open Access
Multi-color dual wavelength vat photopolymerization 3D printing via spatially controlled acidity
Dual wavelength vat photopolymerization has emerged as a powerful approach to create multimaterial objects but require changing the resin during the printing process. Here, the authors develop a method of dual-wavelength 3D printing that can directly access multicolor parts without requiring changing of resin feedstocks or introduction of new materials during the printing process.
- Kyle C. H. Chin
- , Grant Ovsepyan
- & Andrew J. Boydston
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Article
| Open Access
3D printing with a 3D printed digital material filament for programming functional gradients
3D printing of functional gradients often requires specialized equipment and costly materials, constraining scalability. Here, using a conventional desktop FDM printer, authors present a 3D printing strategy using a filament that is itself 3D-printed to produce functional gradients.
- Sang-Joon Ahn
- , Howon Lee
- & Kyu-Jin Cho
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Article
| Open Access
Color morphing surfaces with effective chemical shielding
Photochromic materials suffer from degradation when exposed to harsh chemical environments, but this can be overcome by providing chemical shielding via superomniphobicity. Here, the authors show the design rationale and careful materials selection for fabrication of color morphing surfaces that can simultaneously display excellent chemical resistance.
- Adil Majeed Rather
- , Sravanthi Vallabhuneni
- & Arun Kumar Kota
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Article
| Open Access
Biocomposite thermoplastic polyurethanes containing evolved bacterial spores as living fillers to facilitate polymer disintegration
Plastic pollution severely threatens the resilience of nature. Here, the authors utilize the spore-forming, polymer-degrading bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, as a living filler to develop biocomposite thermoplastic polyurethane with improved mechanical properties and biodegradation.
- Han Sol Kim
- , Myung Hyun Noh
- & Jonathan K. Pokorski
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Article
| Open Access
Programming viscoelastic properties in a complexation gel composite by utilizing entropy-driven topologically frustrated dynamical state
Tuning the physical interactions and structures to govern the viscoelastic properties in hydrogels without altering the chemistry is challenging. Here the authors design a complexation gel composite and utilize the physical principle of topologically frustrated dynamical state to tune the correlated structures between the guest polycation chains and negatively charged host gels.
- Gui Kang Wang
- , Yi Ming Yang
- & Di Jia
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Article
| Open Access
Predicting maximum strain hardening factor in elongational flow of branched pom-pom polymers from polymer architecture
The quantitative connection between the molecular topology and molecular dynamics is a long-standing, fundamental challenge in polymer science. Here the authors present a model-driven predictive scheme for the uniaxial extensional viscosity and strain hardening of branched polymer melts, specifically for the pom-pom architecture.
- Max G. Schußmann
- , Manfred Wilhelm
- & Valerian Hirschberg
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Article
| Open Access
Control of polymers’ amorphous-crystalline transition enables miniaturization and multifunctional integration for hydrogel bioelectronics
Soft elastic materials could be useful in the fabrication of brain-machine interfaces, but achieving the desirable material properties can be challenging. Here, the authors report control of the amorphous-crystalline transition of polymers to alter hydrogel properties and monitor mouse behaviour.
- Sizhe Huang
- , Xinyue Liu
- & Siyuan Rao
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Article
| Open Access
Establishing superfine nanofibrils for robust polyelectrolyte artificial spider silk and powerful artificial muscles
Spider silk has desirable properties, but these are hard to replicate with artificial materials. Here, the authors report a polyelectrolyte artificial spider silk, with control over dissociation of the polymer chains by introduction of ions, and thermally driven supercontraction.
- Wenqian He
- , Meilin Wang
- & Zunfeng Liu
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Article
| Open Access
Assembly of short amphiphilic peptoids into nanohelices with controllable supramolecular chirality
Helical protein assemblies are an important biological structure, but are challenging to mimic with synthetic materials. Here, the authors report the use of peptoids to form nanohelix structures with controllable supramolecular chirality.
- Renyu Zheng
- , Mingfei Zhao
- & Chun-Long Chen
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Article
| Open Access
Beyond nothingness in the formation and functional relevance of voids in polymer films
Voids are known to impact the properties of materials, but the nanovoids also present are less well understood than macroscopic voids. Here, the authors utilise 3D imaging and graph theory to study nanovoid formation and impact on material properties.
- Falon C. Kalutantirige
- , Jinlong He
- & Qian Chen
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Article
| Open Access
Precision ion separation via self-assembled channels
Selective nanofiltration membranes with accurate molecular sieving offer a solution to recover rare metals and other valuable elements from brines but this demands the development of membranes with precise sub-nanometer pores surpassing those available today. Here, the authors report a scalable approach for membrane fabrication in which functionalized macrocycles are seamlessly oriented via supramolecular interactions during the interfacial polycondensation on a polyacrylonitrile support layer.
- Shanshan Hong
- , Maria Di Vincenzo
- & Suzana P. Nunes
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Article
| Open Access
A facile one step route that introduces functionality to polymer powders for laser sintering
Polyamide-12 is the main polymer employed to produce 3D objects by laser sintering constraining the functionality of the items produced. Here, the authors report a clean and scalable approach for the functionalization of polyamide-12 particles, yielding materials that can be printed using commercial apparatus.
- Eduards Krumins
- , Liam A. Crawford
- & Steven M. Howdle
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Article
| Open Access
Highly robust supramolecular polymer networks crosslinked by a tiny amount of metallacycles
Supramolecular polymeric materials have exhibited attractive features such as self-healing, reversibility and stimuli-responsiveness but because of the weak bonding nature of most noncovalent interactions, constructing supramolecular polymer materials with high robustness remains challenging. Here, the authors describe the construction of highly robust stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymer networks by using only a tiny amount of metallacycles as the supramolecular crosslinkers.
- Lang He
- , Yu Jiang
- & Shijun Li
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Article
| Open Access
Enabling robust blue circularly polarized organic afterglow through self-confining isolated chiral chromophore
The preparation of systems that give blue circularly polarised organic afterglow is desirable but challenging. Here, the authors confine a chiral chromophore within a polymer matrix to limit non-radiative transitions and give blue circularly polarised organic afterglow.
- Mingjian Zeng
- , Weiguang Wang
- & Wei Huang
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Article
| Open Access
Fine-tuning the pore environment of ultramicroporous three-dimensional covalent organic frameworks for efficient one-step ethylene purification
The construction of three-dimensional covalent organic frameworks for gas separation is challenging due to the similar physicochemical properties of the gas mixture. Here, the authors report functional three-dimensional covalent organic frameworks by fine-tunning the pore environment with pyridine units to achieve effective separation of ethane from ethylene.
- Yang Xie
- , Wenjing Wang
- & Cheng Wang
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Article
| Open Access
Closed-loop recycling of sulfur-rich polymers with tunable properties spanning thermoplastics, elastomers, and vitrimers
Sulfur-rich polymers are promising candidates for chemical recycling but lack efficient synthetic strategies for achieving diverse structures. Here, the authors report a synthesis strategy for polytrithiocarbonates which is compatible with a wide range of monomers enabling diverse structures via polycondensation of dithiols and dimethyl trithiocarbonate.
- Jin-Zhuo Zhao
- , Tian-Jun Yue
- & Wei-Min Ren
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Article
| Open Access
Long lifetimes white afterglow in slightly crosslinked polymer systems
It is challenging to achieve multicolor long-lived room temperature phosphorescence in intrinsic polymers, especially for white afterglow. Here, the authors report a strategy to obtain pure white afterglow micro-crosslinked polymers by covalently coupling different conjugated chromophores with precursors through a simple and rapid one-pot reaction.
- Qingao Chen
- , Lunjun Qu
- & Chaolong Yang
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Article
| Open Access
Photo-modulated activation of organic bases enabling microencapsulation and on-demand reactivity
Oil-water emulsion techniques can be used for encapsulation of chemicals and control of reactivity, but is challenging for highly reactive materials such as acids and bases. Here, the authors report the encapsulation of bases by masking of reactivity with photo-removable protecting groups.
- Wenle Li
- , Xiaocun Lu
- & Nancy R. Sottos
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Article
| Open Access
Ultrathin organosiloxane membrane for precision organic solvent nanofiltration
The use of membranes under harsh conditions, particularly involving the separation of complex organic solvents, remains challenging. Here the authors demonstrate an ultrathin organosiloxane polymer membrane using initiated chemical vapor deposition to effectively separate solutes within the molecular weight range of 150–300 g mol−1.
- Jihoon Choi
- , Keonwoo Choi
- & Dong-Yeun Koh
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Article
| Open Access
Catalytic polymer self-cleavage for CO2 generation before combustion empowers materials with fire safety
Overcoming this challenge of fire hazards by carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen rich materials remains challenging. Here, the authors demonstarte that catalytic polymer auto-pyrolysis before combustion releases CO2, equipping the material with fire retardant properties.
- Wei Luo
- , Ming-Jun Chen
- & Hai-Bo Zhao
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Article
| Open Access
Engineering the pore environment of antiparallel stacked covalent organic frameworks for capture of iodine pollutants
Radioiodine capture from nuclear fuel waste and contaminated water sources is of environmental importance but technically challenging. Here, the authors report covalent organic frameworks with antiparallel eclipsed stacked structures with dynamic adsorption performance for iodine pollutants under various conditions.
- Yinghui Xie
- , Qiuyu Rong
- & Xiangke Wang
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Article
| Open Access
Thermodynamic driving forces in contact electrification between polymeric materials
Contact electrification is a widely observed phenomenon in nature and in materials. Here, the authors use molecular dynamics simulations to show the importance of thermodynamic driving forces in contact electrification in insulating materials.
- Hang Zhang
- , Sankaran Sundaresan
- & Michael A. Webb
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Article
| Open Access
Height-renderable morphable tactile display enabled by programmable modulation of local stiffness in photothermally active polymer
The controllability of deformation height in reconfigurable touch displays currently limits their deliverable information. Hwang et al. present a light-triggered morphable tactile display enabling generation of refreshable, height-adjustable, and latchable 3D topologies with varying textures on a thin film surface.
- Inwook Hwang
- , Seongcheol Mun
- & Sungryul Yun
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Review Article
| Open Access
Light-driven polymer recycling to monomers and small molecules
Chemical recycling of plastic enables renewed production of pristine materials, but generally comes at a high energy cost. This review focuses on light-driven approaches for chemically recycling and upcycling plastic waste, with emphasis on reduced energy consumption and selective transformations of challenging to recycle backbone structures.
- Laura Wimberger
- , Gervase Ng
- & Cyrille Boyer
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Article
| Open Access
Sub-8 nm networked cage nanofilm with tunable nanofluidic channels for adaptive sieving
Drawing inspiration from biological cell membranes, here, the authors create sub-8 nm membranes with adaptive nanofluidic channels, mimicking the cell membrane properties, by interconnecting 0D nanoporous molecules at the oil/water interface.
- Si-Hua Liu
- , Jun-Hao Zhou
- & Jian-Ke Sun
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Article
| Open Access
Encoding ordered structural complexity to covalent organic frameworks
Starting from simple building blocks with specific molecular packing geometries, here, the authors synthesized structurally complex covalent organic framework COF-305 with nine different stereoisomers of its constituents showing specific sequences on topologically equivalent sites.
- Lei Wei
- , Xinyue Hai
- & Yingbo Zhao
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Article
| Open Access
Light and matter co-confined multi-photon lithography
Mask-free multi-photon lithography allows the straightforward fabrication of nanostructures, but high precision and good resolution can be challenging to achieve. Here, the authors report a combination of photo-inhibition and chemical quenchers for improved lithography performance.
- Lingling Guan
- , Chun Cao
- & Xu Liu
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Article
| Open Access
Biobased and biodegradable films exhibiting circularly polarized room temperature phosphorescence
Sustainable materials with circularly polarized room-temperature phosphorescence are desirable but challenging to design. Here, the authors report the development of thin films, based on cellulose nanocrystals and lignosulfonate, with circularly polarised room temperature phosphorescence.
- Mengnan Cao
- , Yiran Ren
- & Zhijun Chen
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Article
| Open Access
Electrothermally controlled origami fabricated by 4D printing of continuous fiber-reinforced composites
Effective active origami capable of on-demand modulation are limited by challenges such as limited load-bearing capacity and transformable states. Here, authors report fiber-reinforced composites for controlled electrothermal origami with excellent mechanical performance and spatiotemporal controllability.
- Yaohui Wang
- , Haitao Ye
- & Yi Xiong
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Article
| Open Access
Double charge flips of polyamide membrane by ionic liquid-decoupled bulk and interfacial diffusion for on-demand nanofiltration
Currently polyamide membranes fabricated by interfacial polymerization are limited by inherently negative charge as well as narrow charge tailoring window restricting the application of these membranes. Here, the authors report a facile ionic liquid-decoupled bulk/interfacial diffusion strategy to fabricate polyamide membranes which can transform on-demand from inherently negative to highly positive and near-neutral charge.
- Bian-Bian Guo
- , Chang Liu
- & Zhi-Kang Xu
Efficient intersystem crossing and tunable ultralong organic room-temperature phosphorescence via doping polyvinylpyrrolidone with polyaromatic hydrocarbons