Progress in Polymer Science最新文献

Polycatechols are a class of polymers bearing multiple catechol moieties. These polymers possess unique physiochemical properties such as antioxidant, bioadhesive, metal chelating, and dynamic covalent bonding. As a result, polycatechols have shown great promise in various biomedical applications i.e. drug delivery, gene and protein delivery, free radical scavenging, antimicrobials, bio-adhesions, tissue engineering, and bioimaging. The polymers have strong binding affinities with biomolecules such as genes, proteins, phospholipids, and extracellular matrices via non-covalent interactions, and are proposed as effective carriers for biotherapy and bioadhesives for tissue engineering. The abundant catechol moieties on polycatechols allow strong free radical scavenging to treat oxidative stress and inflammation. In addition, polycatechols form dynamic covalent linkages with boronate ligands, and are used to modulate the quorum-sensing signaling in bacteria, or deliver anticancer drug bortezomib to tumor microenvironments. Besides, polycatechols coordinate with metal ions such as gadolinium (III) to provide contrast reagents for magnetic resonance imaging. In this critical review, currently developed synthetic methods for polycatechols and their physiochemical properties will be introduced. The design principles for polycatechols in detailed biomedical applications will be intensively described. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives in the development of next-generation polycatechols will be discussed.

Over the past decades, there has been a flourishing of phase-separated polymer gels. Unlike traditional design methods that rely on chemical structure and polymer network construction, phase separation enables polymers to tune morphologies across the microscopic, mesoscopic, and macroscopic levels, thereby creating a new path for regulating and innovating the performance of polymer gels. This comprehensive review offers a deep dive into the mechanisms underlying phase separation formation in polymer gels and makes a particular focus on the methods used to induce phase separation in polymer gels. Additionally, the review highlights the potential performance improvements and innovations of polymer gels based on phase separation and explores the promising applications of phase separation polymers in various fields. Finally, this review emphasizes the potential benefits yet significant challenges associated with phase-separated polymer gels. The versatility and multi-scale applicability of this approach make it a promising pathway for developing cutting-edge materials with tailored properties and functionalities.

Converting lignin into useful colloidal entities with uniform size and shape offers exciting opportunities for utilization; however, this endeavor requires overcoming challenges caused by structural heterogeneity and gaining further understanding to exploit its unique functional possibilities. Still, colloidal lignin has already provided new insights into bio-polymeric materials and has triggered various innovative applications that have inspired the scientific community. This review aims to provide a comprehensive discussion of the current understanding of colloidal lignin and its emergent applications. First, a fundamental overview of lignin, including its chemistry and processing is provided. Subsequently, a multitude of technical routes to tune the properties of colloidal lignin using nano-/micro-fabrication approaches to control macroscale properties is presented. Thereafter, examples of innovative material technologies based on colloidal lignin in areas such as pollution remediation, polymeric materials, macromolecular materials, and drug delivery are given. Finally, open challenges and suggestions for future research will be discussed to guide future research to rationally expand the portfolio of promising lignin-based technologies.

The pursuit of achieving both ceramic-like hardness and polymer-like flexibility in a coating, known as a polymer–ceramic hybrid coating, is a challenging yet highly desirable goal. The application of these coatings spans various domains such as foldable displays, wearable devices, maritime industries, and biomedical engineering. Particularly, endowing polymer–ceramic hybrid coatings with functions such as transparency, anti-liquid adhesion, anti-biofouling, and self-healing expand their potential in fields necessitating highly protective performance, which have gained significant attention in recent years. In this comprehensive review, our main objective is to provide interested readers with a clear framework for assessment and future exploration of this topic. We systematically outline the fundamentals of functional polymer-ceramic hybrid coatings, explaining their fabrication intricacies. Additionally, we explore their practical applications, intricately tailored to the unique requirements of each field. Concluding our review, we address the key challenges facing modern functional polymer–ceramic coatings and propose potential paths for future advancements.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) have long held significant promise as materials for artificial muscles and smart actuators. Recent advancements in this field have introduced innovative LCE structures at various scales, resulting in novel properties and functionalities that further accentuate their actuation advantages, bolstering their potential as future soft actuation systems. The ongoing pursuit of enhanced performance and functionality in LCE actuators, essential for advancing them towards superior material-based machines and devices, is intricately linked to the understanding of the fundamental structure-property-function relationships. This review provides a perspective on these relationships across multiple structural levels, encompassing chemical structures, mesophase structures, and micro-to-macroscale programmed structures. It delves into the impact of various LCE structures on key actuation-related properties, actuation features, and functionalities. This review aspires to provide valuable insights into the design of high-performance LCE actuators, the development of exceptional actuation modes and behaviors, and the expansion of achievable functionality.

Coacervation is a liquid-liquid phase separation phenomenon. It involves the formation of a dense coacervate phase, rich in concentrated materials, and a co-existing immiscible dilute supernatant. This phenomenon can occur either from a homogeneous aqueous solution (simple coacervation) or when two different macromolecular aqueous solutions (proteins, polymers, and colloids) are brought into contact (complex coacervation). Coacervation has historical significance as it may have played a role in the origin of life, concentrating nutritious materials through liquid-liquid phase separation. It also reveals the underlying mechanisms of many biological phenomena such as intracellular biomolecular condensates, extracellular matrices, squid beak's gradient properties, sessile organism's wet adhesion, Alzheimer's diseases, and more. Coacervation provides insights and inspires promising solutions in areas like artificial cells/tissues, gradient materials, gene/drug delivery, underwater adhesives, and beyond. The driving forces of coacervation are noncovalent molecular interactions, often referred to as ‘chemistry beyond the molecule’, including hydrophobic interaction, electrostatic interaction, hydrogen-bonding interaction, cation-π interaction, π-π interaction, multivalency, etc. In this work, we have systematically reviewed the underlying noncovalent molecular interactions of simple coacervation and complex coacervation, respectively. We summarize commonly used materials and their corresponding molecular structures, discussing their applications. Some remaining challenge issues and perspectives for future studies are also presented. Understanding the underlying noncovalent molecular interactions of coacervation, alongside insights into molecular compositions and structures, can better guide the design of novel materials, elucidate various biological phenomena, and contribute to the development and optimization of relevant engineering technologies.

Structural characterization of polymer materials is a major step in the process of creating materials' design-structural-property relationships. With growing interests in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven materials design and high-throughput synthesis and measurements, there is now a critical need for development of complementary data-driven approaches (e.g., machine learning models and workflows) to enable fast and automated interpretation of the characterization results. This review sets out with a description of the needs for machine learning specifically in the context of three commonly used structural characterization techniques for polymer materials: microscopy, scattering, and spectroscopy. Subsequently, a review of notable work done on development and application of machine learning models / workflows for these three types of measurements is provided. Definitions are provided for common machine learning terms to help readers who may be less familiar with the terminologies used in the context of machine learning. Finally, a perspective on the current challenges and potential opportunities to successfully integrate such data-driven methods in parallel/sequentially with the measurements is provided. The need for innovative interdisciplinary training programs for researchers regardless of their career path/employment in academia, national laboratories, or research and development in industry is highlighted as a strategy to overcome the challenge associated with the sharing and curation of data and unifying metadata.

MXene/polymer composites are attractive materials and find extensive use in many applications, such as energy storage, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, membranes, catalysis, sensors, and biomedicine. The major challenge to fabricate MXene/polymer composites are the processing conditions and poor control over the distribution of the MXene nanosheets within the polymer matrix. Traditional ways involve the direct mix of fillers and polymers to form a random homogeneous composite, which leads to inefficient use of fillers. To address these challenges, researchers have focused on the development of ordered MXene/polymer composite structures using various fabrication strategies. In this review, we summarize recent advances of structured MXene/polymer composites and their processing-structure-property relationships. Two main forms of MXene/polymer composites (films and foams) are separately discussed with a focus on the detailed fabrication means and corresponding structures. These architected composites complement those in which MXenes nanosheets are isotropically dispersed throughout, such as those formed by aqueous solution mixing approaches. This review culminates in a perspective on the future opportunities for architected MXene/polymer composites.

High-safety and low-cost aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIB) are expected to be used in large-scale energy storage systems. However, currently used zinc (Zn) anode materials are susceptible to derogatory processes such as dendrite growth or cause side reactions which limits their practical applications. Although polymeric materials have been specifically applied for Zn anode protection, the complicated composition and lack of understanding of the working mechanisms of currently used materials are not conducive to guiding further research. This review provides a summary and discussion of polymer materials that are used in AZIB applications and a platform for future material development. The importance of polymer materials and the advantages of their applications in Zn batteries are described. Subsequently, the latest progress in the design and optimization of polymer for stable Zn anodes is summarized from multiple perspectives, including electrolyte additives, artificial protective layers, hydrogel electrolytes, and novel separators. Finally, the future challenges and research directions of polymer-stabilized Zn anode are proposed.

The kinetics, thermodynamics and mechanistic studies of sulfur homo- and copolymerization with cyclic and vinyl monomers are described as the major subjects of our review article. Besides, the syntheses, homo- and copolymerization of cyclic mono- and polysulfides are added. The analytical text is complemented with review of the related theoretical topics (mostly DFT), and include theoretical studies of the experimental data of the corresponding sections. Recently, mostly because of the elaboration of the novel process of sulfur copolymerization, so called “inverse vulcanization”, there is renewed interest in polymers of sulfur, with expectation of finding industrial applications, mostly as the Li-sulfur batteries, in optics, removal of toxic metals and biomaterials. We are also discussing papers on the equilibrium between polysulfur and sulfur, in homo- and copolymerization of sulfur with cyclic sulfides and with vinyl monomers. Copolymerization of sulfur is described for cyclic sulfides and vinyl monomers. Analysis of interaction with vinyl monomers involves both low temperatures - then sulfur is merely acting as the chain transfer agent, and for temperatures around the floor temperature, when more or less stable copolymers are formed with high sulfur content. It is also shown that with cyclic monomers the high molar mass copolymers of sulfur were prepared (up to 80 % of sulfur). Analysis of papers describing the molecular structures of copolymers of sulfur are complementing the analysis of the kinetics, thermodynamics and DFT of the studied processes, including the living/controlled polymerization of sulfur with cyclic sulfides. In the final section we analyse the published DFT and other theoretical analyses of the subjects discussed in the major text. These methods have been successfully applied to make predictions of the bond dissociation energies, enthalpies of formation, reaction energies and energy barriers, etc., contributing to a deeper understanding of the chemical processes, as it is shown in this review.