Advanced Fiber Materials最新文献

Glass fiber (GF), with exceptional mechanical properties and thermal stability, has garnered increasing attention in composite materials, electronics, aerospace, and other industries. The surface characteristics of GFs are crucial in determining their interfacial bonding within composites, environmental adaptability, and multifunctionality. Consequently, coating technologies designed to enhance the functionality of GFs have become essential for expanding their range of applications. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in surface coating engineering of GFs, focusing on various types of coating materials, including inorganic, organic, nano, and composite coatings. Through analyzing representative case studies, the review describes the diverse functionalities of these coating materials, such as enhanced interfacial bonding strength, improved flame retardancy, and the integration of multiple functions, including electromagnetic shielding, electrothermal properties, battery separators, and catalytic degradation. The application effectiveness and potential of each coating type are summarized. Finally, the review addresses the challenges and future development trends of surface coatings for GFs. This article aims to establish a theoretical foundation for future research on GF coatings and provides valuable insights for the innovative application of GFs in emerging fields.

Ammonia (NH₃) is the second-most-produced chemical worldwide and has numerous industrial applications. However, such applications pose significant risks, as evidenced by human casualties caused by NH₃ leaks or poisoning in confined environments. This highlights the critical need for highly portable and intuitive wearable NH₃ sensors. The chemiresistive sensors are widely employed in wearable devices due to their simple structure, high sensitivity, and short response times, but are prone to malfunctioning and inaccurate gas detection because of the corrosion or failure of the sensing material under the influence of humidity, high temperatures, and interfering gas species. Addressing these limitations, a gas-sensing platform with a polymer-based nanofiber structure has been developed, providing flexibility and facilitating efficient transport of NH₃ between the colorimetric (bromocresol-green-based) and chemiresistive (poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate)-based) sensing layers. This dual-mode design enables reliable NH₃ detection. The NH₃-sensing performance of each individual layer is comparable to that of the dual-mode gas-sensing platform, which operates effectively even when attached to human skin and in humid environments. Therefore, this study establishes a robust, selective, and reproducible NH₃ sensor for diverse applications and introduces an innovative sensor engineering paradigm.

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Nanocomposite technology is recognized as a general and effective strategy to enhance the performance of flexible energy storage devices. However, the enhancement of flexible batteries in nanocomposites is usually much lower than expected, which is mainly attributed to the poor interfacial interactions between active material and conductive substrate as well as sluggish Na⁺ diffusion kinetics and complex assembly techniques. It remains a huge challenge to simultaneously achieve good mechanical properties, excellent electrochemical performance, and high safety in flexible batteries. Here, we developed an interface engineering strategy to prepare a high-strength and high-toughness quasi-solid fiber battery using direct ink writing 3D printing, which was achieved by introducing borate ester dynamic crosslinking as bridging interaction with self-healing properties. This configuration exhibited a remarkably enhanced energy density (104 Wh kg⁻¹) and high power density (20.8 W kg⁻¹), with excellent strain (exceeding 25%) and outstanding thermal stability (200 °C), which exceeds those of previously reported. Density functional theory calculations further reveal the mechanism by which the interface engineering-based borate ester dynamic crosslinking affects the performance of fiber battery. Based on this excellent performance, fiber batteries are woven into a mobile phone pouch for wireless charging of wearable electronic devices. This work provides an effective route toward high-performance flexible energy storage devices for a broad range of applications.

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Firefighting clothing provides essential safeguards for firefighters while engaging in fire suppression and life rescue operations. However, the inability to actively detect hazardous gas and self-thermal degradation of conventional firefighting clothing induce critical safety threats to firefighters. Herein, we design a dual-mode perceptual sensor via programmable assembly of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and Ti₃C₂T_x MXene@MoS₂ nanocomposite in dual-mode triaxial structural aerogel fiber (DM-TSF) for both selective NH₃ and temperature monitoring. The DM-TSF is prepared through triaxial wet spinning, with an alternating p/n-type thermoelectric (TE) core, a signal decoupling aramid nanofibers layer, and an NH₃ sensing outer sheath. The TE core is composed of alternately interconnected p-type/SWCNT and n-type SWCNT/Polyethyleneimine, which exhibits high TE efficiency (8.44 μV K⁻¹ for p-segment, 7.44 μV K⁻¹ for n-segment) and wide-range (10–500 °C) temperature monitoring in DM-TSF. Furthermore, the abundant adsorption sites and high-density Schottky heterojunctions of the Ti₃C₂T_x MXene@MoS₂ nanocomposite in the outer sheath enabled DM-TSF to exhibit an outstanding sensitivity (3.14% ppm⁻¹@20 ppm) and high selectivity for NH₃. A portable wireless system based on DM-TSF was further developed and integrated into firefighting clothing for temperature and NH₃ monitoring, triggering alarms within 2 s and 28 s, respectively. This work sheds new light on the fabrication of intelligent multiplex hazard detection fibers that can respond to multi-hazard elements, thereby enhancing firefighters’ safety in complex fire scenarios.

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The topographical features of biomaterials play pivotal roles in modulating bone regeneration by enhancing the osteogenic potential of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) through cytoskeletal-nuclear dynamics. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the interplay between topography-induced cell morphology modulation and cytoskeletal-nuclear responses remain poorly understood. In this study, we fabricated electrospun fiber membranes with distinct aligned and random topographies and observed a significant enhancement in the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs in vitro on the aligned membranes. RNA sequencing analysis revealed the critical involvement of cytoskeletal reorganization, focal adhesion, and the Rap1 signaling pathway in this process. Specifically, cell elongation driven by the aligned topography activated the p130Cas/Crk/Rap1 pathway, which in turn modulated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling and cytoskeletal rearrangement. This cytoskeletal remodeling induced nuclear deformation and enhanced the nuclear translocation of Yes-associated protein (YAP), synergistically promoting osteogenesis. Finally, in vivo experiments further confirmed the superior bone regeneration capacity of aligned fiber membranes in a rat calvarial defect model. These findings highlight the importance of the topographic features of aligned fibers in regulating cellular and nuclear morphology to enhance bone regeneration, suggesting a novel and effective strategy for tissue engineering applications.

Natural soft systems capable of reversible shape morphing are ubiquitous in living organisms, enabling remarkable multifunctionality such as continuous motions, dexterous manipulation, and adaptive camouflage. However, replicating these capabilities in synthetic materials remains challenging, primarily due to sophisticated mechanical control, restrictive design flexibility, and limited robustness and scalability. Here, we propose a structure-driven design framework to encode the knitted shells with spatially localized strain constraints for soft robotic systems and mimetic camouflage morphing solely by controlling stitch geometry. By leveraging experiments and theoretical analysis, we decouple the effects of stitch-level topology and yarn composition on fabric macromechanical behavior and achieve programmable mechanical responses in knitted shells through geometric tuning. This also enables robust control of non-Euclidean shape morphing in soft textile robotics, including multi-mode inflatable deformation, sequential motion under a single stimulus, and predefined flat-to-shape Gaussian transformations for dynamic mimetic camouflage. This geometry-informed design strategy can provide new insights into scalable, low-cost and customized soft textile robotics for multifunctional applications, such as tailored wearable devices, camouflage gear skin, and human–robot interactions that are resistant to environmental disturbances.

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A structure-driven design framework is presented to encode the knitted shells with customized local strain constraint for soft knit robotic systems and mimetic camouflage morphing. This structure-driven design can provide new insights to develop robust, scalable, and low-cost soft robotics for multifunctional applications in tailored wearable devices, versatile camouflage gear skin, and safe human-machine interactions.

Electrical stimulation could effectively promote the repair of peripheral nerve injuries. However, traditional electrical stimulation requires external devices and connections, inevitably causing unnecessary discomfort and infection risks for patients. Thus, to ensure clinical safety and support neural regeneration, a dual-functional cellulose-based peripheral nerve conduit with both piezoelectric and conductive properties is developed by incorporating barium titanate (BTO) and poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) onto the surface of expanded bacterial cellulose. The electroactive conduit not only provides suitable mechanical support and stability to ensure structural integrity in vivo, but also encourages macrophage polarization into the anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype after 2 weeks of post-implantation. Furthermore, the piezoelectric properties provided by BTO convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, which, in synergy with the conductive PEDOT, enables the conduit to stimulate nerve regeneration by mimicking bioelectric signals with an output voltage of 8.22 mV and output current of 2.05 μA at compression distances of 1.0 mm. After implantation into a sciatic nerve defect model, this conduit significantly reduces atrophy of the gastrocnemius muscle and accelerates the regeneration of sciatic nerve by facilitating the transmission of neural electrical signals. In summary, this artificial peripheral nerve conduit possesses excellent repair capacity for nerve defects, hence holding attractive prospects for clinical application.

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The rejuvenation of bone tissue remains a formidable challenge for osteoporosis (OP) patients who suffer severe bone degeneration or structural deterioration. To reverse the bone loss associated with OP, a dual-enzyme cascade system (PCF@EA) was engineered as a biomimetic engine to regulate bone metabolism imbalance. The bienzyme-driven system was constructed by integrating functionalized polymeric composite fibers with two mineralization-promoting hydrolases: recombinant human ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (rhENPP1) and recombinant human alkaline phosphatase (rhALP). The bienzyme-driven engine efficaciously navigates mitochondria-activated mineralization through an autophagic process, thereby promoting osteogenic differentiation, increasing intracellular inorganic phosphate (Pi), and facilitating calcium influx. Concurrently, metabolic regulation mediated by the bienzyme-driven engine involves the PI3K–Akt pathway, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and glycerophosphate metabolism, significantly down-regulating the mineralization inhibitor pyrophosphate (PPi) while accelerating the formation of phosphate-related metabolites. Moreover, the enzyme-loaded substrates inhibited bone resorption by reducing expression of osteoclast activity markers, including Trap and Cath-K. This bienzymatic cascade strategy has demonstrated efficacy in restoring bone homeostasis in osteoporotic rats, significantly improving defect maturation and catalyzing the recovery of bone mineral density from severe loss back to baseline levels. The unique features of the bienzyme-driven engine provide a promising approach for the therapeutic treatment of degenerative skeletal diseases.

High-performance flexible pressure sensors are crucial electronic components for a diverse array of Internet of Things applications. In real-world scenarios, flexible sensors demonstrate significant promise by effectively detecting subtle anomalous signals from any direction. This study presents a straightforward preparation process for a biodegradable omnidirectional intelligent sensing carpet, inspired by the multi-contact structure of anthozoans. The developed sensor is constructed from conductive polyaniline (PANI) that has been modified through in situ polymerization on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) multi-contact structured materials (CNTs@PANI), combined with an eco-friendly bio-based polyurethane urea (BDPU) flexible substrate. This unique combination enables omnidirectional and stable pressure detection, making it suitable for intelligent monitoring applications of home carpets. The resulting smart carpet based on a pressure sensor exhibits remarkable performance characteristics, including high sensitivity, low monitoring limit, and rapid response and recovery times. Importantly, the sensor notably demonstrates omnidirectional responsiveness, effectively detecting signals from multiple directions while ensuring consistent sensing performance even after self-healing during subsequent use. This sensor also supports the recovery and reuse of the CNTs@PANI conductive materials within it. This innovative, efficient, and versatile sensor is anticipated to find widespread application in multi-scenario monitoring systems.

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Inspired by the multi-contact structures of anthozoans, this study presents a biodegradable omnidirectional intelligent sensing carpet, incorporating conductive polyaniline modified via in situ polymerization on carbon nanotubes, and featuring a flexible substrate made from bio-based polyurethane urea.

Passive cooling strategy with zero-energy consumption is effective in preventing people from heat stress. However, most of the existing radiative cooling textiles are fabricated with non-degradable hydrophobic synthetic polymers and lack the functions of sweat management. Herein, a hierarchically designed dual Janus nanofibrous textile with superior thermal-wet management capability is proposed by targeted selection of spinning solvents with different properties during electrospinning. The embedded Al₂O₃ nanoparticles and BN nanosheets in silk fibroin nanofibers endow the textile with high solar reflectivity (97.12%) and infrared emissivity (98.69%), alongside improved in-plane and through-plane thermal conductivity (1.593 and 0.1187 W·K⁻¹·m⁻¹, respectively). Benefiting from the asymmetric characteristics of the two sides in terms of fiber diameter and wettability, the nanofibrous textile exhibits unparalleled water transport index (({text{R}})=1028.93%) and exceptional water vapor transmission rate (141.34 g·m⁻²·h⁻¹). The textile integrates radiative cooling, rapid heat conduction, and unidirectional sweat evaporation, achieving a cooling effect exceeding 9 °C under direct sunlight when worn. Moreover, the Janus textile has good biocompatibility, satisfactory wearability and air breathability, ensuring its comfort in wearable applications. Computer simulations complement experimental results, providing insights into the deep-seated mechanisms of nanofiber formation, Mie scattering, and water transport. This innovative design offers promising prospects for the development of next-generation passive-cooling textiles.

Highlights

• Biodegradable silk fibroin replaces petroleum polymers for passive-cooling textiles.

• Tunable spinnability is achieved through solvent surface tension/rheology control.

• Asymmetric pore structures enhance unidirectional sweat transport of Janus textiles.

• Heat conduction, radiation and evaporation together contribute to multimode cooling.

• Multiscale simulations elucidate nanofiber formation, radiative cooling, and rapid-drying mechanisms.

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