Advanced Fiber Materials最新文献

Zinc–iodine (Zn–I₂) batteries have emerged as promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems due to their high theoretical energy density, cost-effectiveness, and enhanced safety. However, critical challenges such as polyiodide shuttle effects and sluggish redox kinetics at the cathode–electrolyte interface impede their practical implementation. In this study, we design a hierarchically porous hetero-carbon nanofiber-based iodine host material, incorporating TiO₂ active sites with homojunction configurations, designed to simultaneously immobilize and catalytically convert polyiodide species. Through integrated density functional theory calculations and comprehensive experimental characterization, we reveal that the synergistic hetero-/homojunction structure substantially improves charge transfer efficiency and catalytic activity, effectively mitigating polyiodide diffusion while promoting redox kinetics. The optimized band structure endows the cathode with a high specific capacity of 190.5 mAh·g⁻¹ and exceptional cycling stability, retaining 98.9% of its capacity after 50,000 cycles under high iodine loading (8 mg·cm⁻²). Furthermore, the structural flexibility of this cathode enables the development of high-performance flexible Zn–I₂ batteries, opening new avenues for wearable energy storage devices.

Exudate reversal to wounds significantly limits rapid and effective wound healing when a hydrophilic dressing is used. Inspired by Murray’s law of the structural characteristics of rhizomatous plants, we constructed an electrospinning-nanofibrous membrane to achieve unidirectional exudate transport. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was used to construct a graded pore size variation compliant with Murray’s law. Upon liquid wetting, the macro-pore layer (wound side) forms unidirectional capillary forces that propel fluid toward the micro-pore layer (outer side), exhibiting liquid transport efficiency compliant with Murray’s law. This outward capillary force, on the one hand, drives the continuous drainage of wound exudate, reducing the accumulation of inflammatory substances, and promoting wound healing; on the other hand, it prevents the backflow of inflammatory fluid within the outer hydrophilic material. Moreover, hydrophobic materials do not adhere to tissues, which helps reduce secondary damage during dressing replacement. In addition, curcumin (CUR) loading on the wound side enhances the membrane’s antioxidant and proangiogenic properties, supporting vascularization, collagen deposition, reducing inflammation, and accelerating healing. In conclusion, this biomimetic nanofiber dressing represents straightforward wound treatment approach with substantial clinical potential.

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Enhancing the mechanical performance of synthetic fibers is pursued in aerospace, wearable devices, and protective textiles. However, current reinforcement methods rely on the chemical modification of polymer stock, introducing greater complexity and processing challenge. In this work, the mechanical properties of different aramid fibers and their composite fibers are improved through a cool spinning strategy. By reducing the coagulation temperature to –25 °C, the interactions between polymer chains and solvent molecules are substantially enhanced, thereby improving the drawability of the polymer solution. The draw ratio markedly increases typically from 200% to 380%, leading to optimized oriented and crystalline structures. Consequently, the tensile strength, Young’s modulus and toughness of large-diameter heterocyclic para-aramid fibers increase by 112%, 123% and 118%, respectively. The cool spinning proposal is further applied to 36-μm-thick heterocyclic para-aramid/graphene oxide composite fibers, realizing elevated tensile strength, Young’s modulus and toughness of 6.28 GPa, 119.62 GPa and 172.7 MJ⋅m⁻³, respectively. This strategy is also applicable to meta-aramid fibers, where tensile strength increases up to 1.35 GPa. The simple and universal cool spinning approach opens an avenue towards the preparation of high-performance fibers and composite fibers for structural and functional applications.

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A new cool spinning strategy for aramid fibers is proposed by reducing the coagulation temperature. This strategy dramatically enhances the interactions between polymer and solvent molecules, thereby increasing the draw ratio. It enables the preparation of different high-performance aramid fibers and their composite fibers with substantially improved tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and toughness.

With the advancement of wearable devices, textiles as flexible substrates are increasingly applied in strain sensors to enhance flexibility and wearing comfort for monitoring physiological signals and recognizing gestures. However, obtaining resistive strain sensors with stable electrical conductivity and precise signals remains a great challenge since ambient temperature fluctuation significantly compromises sensitivity and reliability in practical applications. Addressing this, we proposed a near-zero temperature coefficient resistive (TCR) yarn sensor with a three-layer coaxial structure, namely NZ-TCRY. The near-zero resistivity behavior of the yarn sensor is achieved by using silver nanowires (AgNWs) with a positive TCR behavior to compensate for the negative TCR behavior of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). To achieve thermos-protective behavior under high temperature conditions, aramid fibers were spun into yarn sheaths. Based on the aforementioned materials and structural designs, the NZ-TCRY sensor achieved an approximately zero TCR value (| TCR | ≤ 2.21 × 10⁻⁴ K⁻¹) from − 20 °C to 130 °C, high sensitivity (3.3977), fast transient response (≤ 72 ms), and remarkable durability (over 20,000 cycles). The NZ-TCRY sensor can be seamlessly integrated with smart wearables and soft robot-sensor integration for various applications, such as gesture recognition, intelligent sorting, and human–machine interaction, precisely recognizing objects with different sizes and weights across diverse temperature conditions. This work provides an effective approach to solving the issue of temperature dependence for preparing sensitive and flexible strain sensors and expanding the application prospects in healthcare, personal protection, artificial intelligence, and digital twins.

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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.