ACS Applied Polymer Materials最新文献

Textile dyeing remains a major environmental challenge due to its high water and chemical consumption. Herein, we presented a scalable antireflective coating (ARC) strategy to enhance color performance while reducing dye usage in poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabrics. By thermally reshaping poly(methyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate-co-trifluoroethyl methacrylate) (PMGF) terpolymer nanoparticles into subwavelength-structured microlenses on PET, the resulting ARC minimized reflection through multiscale light trapping. The optimized ARC-coated PET exhibited a 29.49% increase in color yield (I %) with negligible chromatic deviation compared to pristine PET. The coated PET also exhibited high colorfastness, ensuring long-term durability. Notably, pilot-scale tests confirmed the excellent process stability and reproducibility of this approach. Additionally, the ARC coating demonstrated the potential to impart a deeper color to fabrics with reduced dye consumption. Furthermore, the technique demonstrated universal applicability across diverse hues (blue, black, and green), offering an enhanced coloration performance. The mechanisms of color management, based on selective light reflection, were elaborated, showing that the micro-nano-structure, morphology, and refractive indices collectively contributed to the desired color appearance by manipulating the interaction between visible light and PET fabric.

Bismaleimide/2,2’-diallylbisphenol A (BD) resin, a high-performance thermosetting resin, is widely used in various fields. However, its toughness and flame retardancy still need further improvement to meet the requirements of harsher service conditions. In this study, a phosphorus-containing siloxane-based allyl compound (ADOEG) was synthesized and incorporated into the BD resin system, yielding an improved BD/ADOEG (BDAD) resin. ADOEG incorporation effectively enhanced the toughness, flame retardancy, and hydrophobicity of BD resin while retaining its strength and thermal performance. Relative to cured BD resin, cured BDAD-5% (5 wt % ADOEG) showed 77.2%, 75.6%, and 226.5% increases in impact strength, critical stress intensity factor (K_IC), and critical strain energy release rate (G_IC), respectively, alongside 5.2% and 32.6% higher flexural and tensile strengths. Cured BDAD resin with 1 wt % ADOEG attained UL94 V-0 classification in vertical burning tests. At 7 wt % ADOEG, the cured resin’s limiting oxygen index rose from 29.3% (neat BD) to 34.5%, with peak heat release rate, total heat release, and total smoke production reduced by 31.6%, 15.2%, and 55.2%, respectively. Cured BDAD-5% exhibited a water contact angle of 103.8°, up from 89.8° for neat BD. Additionally, the cured BDAD resin’s initial thermal decomposition temperature and glass transition temperature were barely reduced relative to neat BD. This study offers an effective strategy for enhancing BD resin performance.

Deep eutectic solvent (DES)-based eutectogels are emerging as promising candidates for flexible sensors owing to their intrinsic ionic conductivity, nonvolatility, biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness. However, conventional eutectogels are typically mechanically weak, as they lack efficient mechanisms to dissipate energy through reversible molecular interactions. In this work, we demonstrate the rational design of transparent and ultratough eutectogels achieved by in situ polymerization of sulfobetaine vinylimidazole (VIPS) in a ZnCl₂–acetamide (ZnCl₂–AcAm) Type IV metal-salt DES. In this system, the sulfonate groups on PVIPS chains dynamically coordinate with Zn²⁺, while the adjacent imidazolium rings stabilize these interactions through dipole–dipole and π–π associations. Meanwhile, acetamide molecules form extensive hydrogen bonds with sulfonate and imidazolium groups of PVIPS, providing an additional dynamic cross-linking network. The resulting eutectogel exhibits outstanding mechanical performance with a tensile strength of 3.95 MPa, toughness of 19.78 MJ m^–3, stretchability of 683%, and high optical transparency of 90%. The eutectogels also display multifunctional features including self-healing, adhesion, shape memory, and stable mechano-ionic coupling, which enable sensitive responses to strain, pressure, and temperature. These results establish the integration of zwitterionic polymers with metal-salt DESs as a distinctive strategy for designing adaptive eutectogels, advancing the development of flexible and wearable electronics.

In order to reduce the pollution of electronic waste, mixed-acid-doped poly aniline (TSPANI) was prepared via in situ solution polymerization, while poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) was synthesized by direct esterification. TSPANI and PBS were then blended in solution to fabricate a conductive and biodegradable polymer composite film (TSPANI/PBS). TSPANI and PBS are combined through intermolecular interactions. The addition of an appropriate amount of TSPANI improves the mechanical properties of the film while enhancing its electrical conductivity. When the TSPANI content reaches 20%, the semicircular arc diameter is minimized, indicating the lowest charge transfer resistance of 3.16 MΩ and optimal electrical conductivity. The film maintains excellent conductivity even under bending and twisting conditions. Concurrently, the film surface exhibits significant collapse and pores compared to other proportions, resulting in a faster degradation rate─achieving 34.3% after 42 days of enzymatic degradation and 35.75% after 180 days of soil degradation. When tested under various pressures, human motion, joint movement, and other subtle pressures, the sensor based on this electrically conductive film could effectively capture these changes and generate corresponding current responses. Furthermore, compatibility simulations conducted via Materials Studio software systematically evaluated the interfacial interactions in the TSPANI/PBS composite system, elucidating at the molecular level the formation of a hydrogen-bonding network and its role in enabling proton-hopping transport and synergistic electron conduction. The development of this composite material serves as a promising alternative to nondegradable polymers, effectively mitigating electronic waste pollution and contributing significantly to environmental protection.

Polyacrylate latex (PA) is widely applied in waterborne inks, but the stable C–C backbone of conventional PA hinders deinking efficiency in paper recycling. To address this challenge, we incorporated dibenzo[c,e]oxepane-5(7H)-thione (DOT) into the PA backbone via radical ring-opening polymerization (rROP), creating a degradable polymer system. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations revealed that butyl acrylate (BA) facilitates ternary copolymerization by bridging DOT and methyl methacrylate (MMA), enabling a statistical distribution of cleavable groups. Emulsion polymerization yielded high-molecular-weight degradable PA (M_n ∼ 300 kg·mol^–1) with embedded thioester bonds. The yielded degradable PA polymer cleaved into low-molecular-weight fragments (M_n < 5 kg·mol^–1) under mild oxidative conditions, while possessing satisfactory mechanical strength with a maximum tensile strength of up to 7.55 MPa. The resultant ink from the as-prepared degradable PA demonstrated exceptional degradability (95.3% degradation ratio) using only H₂O₂ treatment, enabling efficient fiber–ink separation. This work establishes a strategy for synthesizing high-performance degradable polymers through facile conventional emulsion polymerization techniques.

Polyamide 66 (PA66) is of particular importance in both academic and industrial areas such as automotive, electronics, and machinery. However, its abundance of polar amide groups results in high moisture adsorption, which significantly restricts its barrier performance especially for packaging applications. To address that, we proposed a strategy that enhanced the chain asymmetry and steric hindrance of PA66 via introducing an aliphatic ring to effectively reduce its hydrogen bond density. A series of PA66 copolymers with varying contents of aliphatic rings was designed and prepared via adjusting the content of 4,4′-diaminodicyclohexylmethane (PACM) as well as the dicarboxylic acids with different carbon chain lengths. It was found that the introduction of PACMs not only caused the crystal structure of the copolymer to shift from α-phase to γ-phase but also seriously reduced crystallinity. When combined with longer diacid chains, these changes substantially enhanced the barrier properties of the copolymers, which were further revealed via molecular simulations. The results further revealed that the cyclic structure of PACM weakened the hydrogen bonding strength while complicating gas diffusion pathways, thus improving the copolymer’s barrier performance. These results indicated that the intrinsic strategy of adjusting the chain structure is a promising approach for developing PA66-based materials, thereby demonstrating their potential as high-performance functional components for advanced multilayer packaging films.

Water-soluble polymers (WSPs) are widely used in diverse industrial, biomedical, and consumer applications; however, their release into the environment has raised growing concerns regarding their potential ecological impacts. The development of effective methods for detecting and identifying WSPs in aqueous systems is therefore of increasing importance. In this study, we developed a series of protein-based fluorescent sensors by conjugating a microenvironment-responsive fluorophore (N-(1-anilinonaphthyl-4)maleimide, ANM) into proteins through a linker-mediated conjugation reaction. The resulting sensors exhibited unique fluorescence responses in the presence of various synthetic and biorelated WSPs. These responses varied depending on the protein species and the ANM conjugation rate, reflecting distinct modes of interaction between the sensors and WSPs. The application of multivariate statistical analyses to the obtained fluorescence spectra enabled the precise and reproducible identification of multiple WSPs. Remarkably, nearly all sensors achieved 100% classification accuracy in two cross-validations, confirming their high potential in WSP identification. Moreover, the combination of multiple sensors further enhanced the robustness and reliability of classification, demonstrating complementary sensing behaviors among different proteins. This study provides the first proof of concept for employing naturally derived proteins as molecular sensors for WSP classification and identification.

The chemical recycling of plastic waste to value-added chemicals, with the advantages of reducing pollution and lower carbon emissions, shows great potential in the circular economy. However, traditional treatment methods have limitations such as high energy consumption, the need for toxic reagents, limited substrate scope, and low efficiency. Here, we present an efficient and sustainable flavin–scandium–thiourea upcycling method employing an easily available, green, and nontoxic flavin as a catalyst. This method enables the conversion of polystyrene with M_w as high as 1,700,000 g/mol and already-used plastics into benzoic acid with yields of up to 68%. Operating under mild conditions with visible light and ambient air, the protocol features a green catalyst, high efficiency, and broad substrate scope for the selective upcycling of PS from real-life plastic waste, aligning with green chemistry principles.

Bioderived camphoric acid (CPA) was cross-linked with epoxidized soybean oil to yield fully biobased thermosets with self-healing ability at room temperature. The self-healing performance improved with increasing temperature close to the curing temperature of 180 °C, with the welding starting as early as 1 h, and the cut was completely repaired after 16 h. The cross-linker’s rigid 5-carbon ring reinforced the polymeric structure, resulting in a higher T_g (28.9 °C) as compared to aliphatic cross-linkers. The thermoset films exhibited hydrophobic properties, with a contact angle of greater than 90° and excellent thermal stability above 300 °C. These biobased thermosets were synthesized through a facile method in the absence of a catalyst, enhancing the green credential of the products. These thermoset materials were utilized in the fabrication of biobased triboelectric nanogenerators (bio-TENGs). The electrical output performance of the bio-TENG demonstrated significant promise with an output voltage of 75 V and a current of 4 μA. The ESO/CPA thermoset films therefore represent an interesting alternative for manufacturing environmentally friendly TENGs.

Efficient CO₂/CH₄ separation is vital for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and upgrading natural gas. This study reports a cost-effective mixed-matrix membrane (MMM) incorporating acid-activated, dopamine-functionalized bentonite clay (D-Clay) into a PDMS-coated polysulfone support. Dopamine modification enhances the clay surface area and introduces amine-rich sites that promote CO₂-selective sorption and transport. The optimized membrane containing 0.5 wt % D-Clay exhibits a CO₂ permeance of 37.54 GPU and a CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of 27 representing nearly a 2-fold improvement over the pristine PDMS/PSf (M0) membrane and outperforming several reported nanocomposite systems. The enhanced performance arises from synergistic contributions of facilitated transport, surface diffusion, and molecular sieving. Under mixed-gas testing, membranes M2 and M3 showed CO₂/CH₄ selectivity losses of 44.59% and 54.8%, respectively, relative to single-gas data, yet maintained performance levels relevant for industrial operation. Overall, the results establish D-Clay as a scalable, low-cost filler that enables robust, high-performance MMMs for natural gas purification and CO₂ mitigation.