Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials最新文献

In this study, we introduce supramolecular topological adhesion as an innovative and effective methodology to enhance interlaminar fracture toughness in carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs). We achieved remarkable improvements in delamination resistance by physically entangling phenoxy resins within an epoxy matrix and introducing sacrificial H-bond interactions via ODIN (1-(7-Oxo-7,8-Dihydro-1,8-Naphthyridin-2-yl)urea) units. The ODIN units form sextuple H-bonding dimers in the cured epoxy matrix among plies, experimentally quantified via UV–Vis spectroscopy, whose detachment hinders crack propagation. The viability of this approach was tested using various phenoxy resins with different molecular weights and with different levels of ODIN functionalization. Single lap shear (SLS) tests demonstrated a notable increase in adhesion strength, pointing out PKHB-ODIN 13% as the best candidate as interlaminar adherent. Delamination resistance was determined through double cantilever beam (DCB) and end-notched flexure (ENF) tests, showing up to 120% and 80% increases in Mode I and Mode II fracture toughness, respectively. The limited DCB and ENF test increments observed for control adherent PKHB-PU 23% functionalized with phenylurea (PU) groups, demonstrates that the strength of topological H-bonding is pivotal to boost delamination resistance. The results indicate that this method holds great potential for improving the durability of CFRP composites, especially in applications requiring high resistance to delamination.

Sustainable and self-powered wearable electronics powered by triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have the potential to replace conventional battery-powered devices. In this study, we report a novel approach to enhance the charge density and power output of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based TENGs by incorporating lab-scale synthesized silane-core hyperbranched polyester of 1st generation (Si-HBP-G1; 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt% relative to PVDF content) using electrospinning to form hybrid composite mats. Unlike traditional inorganic fillers, Si-HBP-G1 with a tribonegative silane core and hydroxyl end group ensures uniform dispersion and strong interfacial interaction with PVDF. The electrospun PVDF/Si-HBP-G1 (PG1) composite mats served as the tribonegative layer and an aluminum electrode served as the tribopositive layer in the fabricated TENG device. The optimized PVDF/Si-HBP-G1-15 wt% (PG1-15)-based TENG exhibited voltage output of 76 V, current of 2.1 µA, charge density of 8.3 µC m^− 2 and peak power density of 0.035 W m^− 2. PG1-15-based TENG also demonstrated its ability to power 40 LEDs and a stopwatch. The device also produced voltage outputs in response to mechanical stimuli, such as tapping and bending, demonstrating its applicability for integration into advanced sensing systems for real-world applications.

With the rapid advancement in the design and manufacturing of fibre-reinforced polymer composites, the limited research on the high-rate dynamic flexural behaviour restricts the effective use of these materials in high-performance load-bearing applications. Sustainable composites made from intralaminar-hybridised basalt-flax fibres, along with their hybrids incorporating carbon fibres, were fabricated using vacuum assisted resin infusion technique. A modified Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar technique was employed for the high-rate three-point bending tests, while the quasi-static flexural behaviour was assessed with an electromechanical universal testing machine. In-situ damage characterisation for the dynamic testing was analysed with the aid of high-speed camera footages. The strain rate effect and energy absorption capability were also analysed. The novel basalt-flax/carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy composite achieved an ultimate flexural strength exceeding 2000 MPa at a loading velocity of 30.5 m/s, which represents a 21% improvement over its pure carbon fibre-reinforced counterpart and a 93% improvement surpassing its carbon/basalt fibre-reinforced counterpart. Their superior dynamic flexural properties demonstrate great applicability of basalt and flax fibres as sustainable reinforcing fibres in high-velocity impact applications, especially in the automotive and aerospace industries.

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Counterfeiting has rapidly evolved with advances in manufacturing and digital replication technologies, posing serious challenges across various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, electronics, textiles, finance, and food. Traditional anti-counterfeiting methods such as holograms, barcodes, and radio frequency identification tags have become increasingly vulnerable to high-resolution reproduction techniques, necessitating innovative solutions. Fluorescent materials have emerged as particularly promising candidates due to their tunable optical responses, hidden features under normal light, and highly complex, multi-layered security signals that are difficult to replicate. In this review, we comprehensively summarize recent progress in fluorescence-based anti-counterfeiting technologies, classifying them into three major categories: organic, inorganic, and nanomaterial systems. Organic materials, including aggregation-induced emission luminogens, spiropyrans, single-benzene-based fluorophores, polymers, hydrogels, and proteins, offer versatile molecular design, high responsiveness to external stimuli, and biocompatibility, making them suitable for on-dose pharmaceutical security. Inorganic systems, such as metal complexes, metal–organic frameworks, and crystalline materials, provide long lifetimes, excellent thermal and photochemical stability, and multiparameter readouts. Nanomaterials, including quantum dots, carbon dots, nanoparticles, and nanoclusters, leverage size-dependent emission, surface functionalization, and multimodal properties to enable advanced and dynamic security patterns. Beyond the materials themselves, integration with printing, coating, fiber embedding, smartphone-based readers, and artificial intelligence-assisted detection highlights the translational potential of these approaches for real-world deployment. Emerging directions, such as multimodal fluorescence, physically unclonable functions, edible and biocompatible tags, and environmentally sustainable systems, further expand the scope of application. Collectively, this review provides a forward-looking framework that not only summarizes the current state of the art but also outlines future strategies for developing programmable, robust, and user-friendly fluorescent anti-counterfeiting technologies.

The exceptional versatility of chromogenic phases in polymers, such as conjugated polydiacetylene (PDA), plays a crucial role in durable sensing applications. This study explores the synthesis and application of PDA-based functionalized dyes as visual color indicators. The dyes were synthesized by modifying the head groups of 10,12-tricosadiynoic acid (T) with alcoholic ethers using Steglich esterification reaction. The functionalization of the dye derivative was confirmed through various analytical techniques. The composite films were then prepared by mixing the modified monomer dye with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and exposed to UV radiation for topochemical polymerization, forming PDA. The functionalized materials/PVA composite films exhibited an irreversible color transition above −8 °C in thermochromic studies. The results indicate that these conjugated PDA-based thermochromic composite films, with their irreversible color change at low temperatures, can function as effective indicators and sensors for real-time monitoring and, delivering reliable information for security applications such as anti-counterfeiting.

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● This study presents conjugated low-temperature thermochromic dyes synthesized via Steglich esterification and embedded in a polymer matrix to form biocompatible thermochromic composite films.

● The dyes exhibit irreversible thermochromic behavior above -8 °C, enabling their use as visual and real-time temperature-monitoring sensors.

●These films offer reliable information for security applications, including anti-counterfeiting in low-temperature environments.

Zirfon diaphragms, widely employed in alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) systems, exhibit excellent mechanical robustness; however, their highly porous structure results in poor gas-barrier properties, rendering them unsuitable for high current density operation in anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE). In this work, we developed a thin-film-assembled (TFA) membrane by laminating commercial Zirfon with ultrathin polymer membranes, including para-polybenzimidazole (p-PBI) and poly(dibenzyl-co-terphenyl piperidinium) (PDTP). This multilayer architecture significantly reduced hydrogen permeance compared with Zirfon alone (over tenfold reduction) while maintaining high mechanical integrity. Consequently, the TFA membrane demonstrated outstanding AEMWE cell performance, achieving 3,926 mA cm⁻² at 2.0 V with PGM catalysts, and 2,261 mA cm⁻² at 2.0 V using PGM-free catalysts in 30 wt% KOH at 90 °C. Furthermore, the TFA membrane showed remarkable durability, stably operating at 2.0 A cm⁻² for 1,000 h and 2.5 A cm⁻² for 670 h at 90 °C without interruption. This study highlights the effectiveness of Zirfon–polymer hybrid stacking as a membrane design strategy for achieving high current density, durable AEMWE operation.

Efficient oil spill remediation and heating insulation are crucial for energy sustainability and environmental protection. This study proposes a novel synergistic enhancement strategy by integrating high-density polyethylene (HDPE) homologous reinforcement with the “window-broken” effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to optimize the foaming properties of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Using microcellular foaming technology, high-porosity UHMWPE/HDPE/MWCNTs open-cell foams with outstanding multifunctional properties were fabricated. Functionalization of MWCNTs with triethoxy-1 H,1 H,2 H,2 H-Tridecafluoro-N-octylsilane (PFOTS) significantly improved their dispersion within polymer, leading to improved crystallinity, thermal stability, and elasticity of the polymer. The optimized foam (containing 0.5 wt% MWCNTs) achieved an expansion ratio of 44.8 and a foaming window of 26.0 °C, improving by 307.3% and 2500.0%, respectively, over pure UHMWPE foam. Notably, this expansion ratio is the highest reported to date for UHMWPE foam. Additionally, it demonstrated superior biphasic separation, characterized by a water contact angle of 148.6° and a carbon tetrachloride adsorption capacity of 50.2 g/g, maintaining excellent recyclability over 15 cycles. Its ultra-low thermal conductivity of 32.8 mW/m·K highlights its outstanding heating insulation. This work presents an innovative strategy for the development of high-performance polymer foams for environmental and energy applications.

In this study, hybrid boron nitride-nano silica solid self-lubricating filler (hBN-SiO₂) was prepared via in-situ growth method. Using lubricating oil containing hBN-SiO₂ as the core material and polyimide (PI) as the wall material, solid-liquid coupled self-lubricating microcapsules (OIL/hBN-SiO₂@PI) were fabricated. These capsules exhibit high core content (OIL content: 56 wt%) and excellent thermal stability (mass loss of only 9.8 wt% after constant temperature at 310 °C for 3 h). These microcapsules can notably improve the tribological performance of Polyphthalazinone Ether Ketone (PPEK). Specifically, for the PPEK-OIL/hBN-SiO₂@PI composite, the wear rate (ω = 1.70 × 10⁻¹⁵ m³/(N·m)) and friction coefficient (µ = 0.089) are reduced by 91.5% and 86.0% respectively. The interfacial friction region develops a stable transfer film owing to a distinctive “solid-liquid synergistic” lubrication mechanism. This work provides new insights for designing high-temperature-resistant solid-liquid coupled capsules and developing self-lubricating polymer composites.

Rapid globalization has created an increasing demand for miniaturized electronic devices that can detect biologically important molecules, biomarkers and toxins present in the environment to ameliorate living standards. This has been achieved primarily by integrating nanomaterials with electrochemical sensor technology. Among the different classes of nanomaterials, covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a crystalline porous polymer comprising a predetermined shape, have gained considerable attention due to their large surface area, tuneable porosity and extended π-conjugation, which makes them suitable electrocatalysts in designing electrochemical sensors. This review brings to light the various multifaceted insights on COFs-based electrochemical sensors for the detection of biologically significant molecules and environmental toxicants. Then, the recent advances in the fabrication of COF-based electrochemical sensor matrices are comprehensively summarized along with their performance. The merits associated with COFs which include their intrinsic electrocatalytic activity, synthetic versatility, and ease of functionalization towards construction of electrochemical sensors and the sensing mechanism is systematically introduced. Finally, the current challenges in COFs-based electrochemical sensors are discussed along with the potential avenues for future research. This includes the demand for multiplexed biosensors with enhanced analytical performance and shelf-life, and ease of integration with microfluidic devices, and wearable & wireless database technologies for remote-sensing applications.

Effective water treatment is essential for securing access to clean water, maintaining healthy ecosystems, and supporting sustainable socio-economic development. However, conventional water treatment methods often rely on materials derived from non-renewable resources, such as synthetic membranes and chemical adsorbents, which can cause secondary pollution and limit long-term applications. In contrast, wood-derived monolithic materials (WMMs) have emerged as a highly promising, eco-friendly alternative due to their renewable nature, lightweight structure, high surface area, and tunable hierarchical porosity. These unique properties allow WMMs to be effective for diverse water treatment applications, including dye and heavy metal ion removal, oil/water separation, and seawater desalination. Despite significant progress, various key issues related to their long-term applicability, as well as economic and environmental aspects, remain underexplored and require comprehensive investigation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in WMMs, discussing their performance, challenges, and future potential as a versatile materials platform for next-generation water treatment technologies, aiming to accelerate the development of practically applicable and sustainable WMMs.

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