Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials最新文献

Magneto-plasmonic nanoparticles (MPNPs), such as solid gold (Au) or hollow gold (HG) coated superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) nanoparticles (NPs), have attracted increasing attention for brain-targeted therapeutics. This is due to their supreme magnetic targeting capability, light-to-heat conversion efficiency, and biocompatibility. Though promising, their therapeutic efficiency is difficult to predict because of the complex absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion process and the intrinsic and extrinsic properties of the blood–brain barrier (BBB). This paper presents a modern physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to predict pharmacokinetic (PK) behaviors of brain-targeting MPNPs and investigate their morphology and surface function-dependent BBB crossing efficiency. This model quantifies intrinsic and extrinsic properties of PK parameters, including phagocytic cellular uptake rate and brain permeability. This model successfully predicts the biodistribution of functionalized Au-SPIO (18.42 ± 0.23 nm) and HG-SPIO (73.65 ± 1.46 nm) MPNPs in 8-week-old adult mice in a 16-h window after intraperitoneal (IP) injection. These predictions agree well with the experimental data with a low absolute average fold error (1.5381 for Au-SPIO and 1.1225 for HG-SPIO NPs). Interestingly, Au-SPIO MPNPs with thinner plasmonic layers result in higher magnetization levels and thus lead to more efficient BBB crossing. Static magnetic field stimulation could improve brain accumulation of IP-injected Au-SPIO and HG-SPIO NPs by up to 4.9% and 1.4%, respectively. Additionally, IP injection led to higher brain accumulation compared to intravenous injection. This modern PBPK model can guide MPNP design optimization for brain-specific therapeutics.

Polylactic acid (PLA) nanocomposites are lightweight, environmentally friendly, easy fabrication, low cost, and excellent biocompatibility. Its nanocomposites are usually made of PLA matrix filled with nano-fillers such as nanotubes (e.g., carbon nanotubes), quantum dots, nanoclays, nanofibers, graphene, and even other polymers. Compared to PLA, PLA nanocomposites can have improved electrical properties, higher thermal conductivity, dielectric constant, better thermal stability, biodegradability, and so on. Thus, PLA nanocomposites have been widely used for various sensing applications. This review discusses the common methods, such as chemical/physical modification and electrospinning, used to prepare the PLA nanocomposites. Meanwhile, recent applications of PLA nanocomposites as sensors in the field of moisture, piezo/strain, chemical/bio, thermal, and other fields are summarized in this review. The performances of each type of sensors have been highlighted in each section.

Natural environmental preservatives are widely used in wooden building materials due to their low toxicity, renewable, and degradable properties. Inspired by the long-lasting durability of Tibetan paper, we propose for the first time to fill the pores of wood materials with the extract of Stellera chamaejasme root to improve their fungal resistance. The extract not only inhibits the secretion of lignin degrading enzymes by fungi but also inhibits the growth of fungal hyphae. Therefore, the growth inhibition rates of wood rot and mold fungi both reach 100% when the concentration of the extract is higher than 0.75%. The composite wood treated with Stellera chamaejasme extract has good fungal resistance. The mass loss rate of composite wood is only 5.26% at 22 °C for 12 weeks during a relative humidity (RH) of 75%, which is 49.34% lower than that of the blank sample. Excellent fungal resistance and easy-to-industrial modification method are beneficial for the further commercialization of wood building materials.

Graphical abstract

Extract of Stellera chamaejasme root can significantly improve the wood’s ability to resist decay and mold.

Graphene skeletons have great potential for thermal management. However, their practical applications are usually limited by their low thermal conductivity (λ) due to their low density and undesirable contact efficiency between graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs). Here, a high-density, anisotropic skeleton was constructed from polyamide acid/graphene oxide/graphene nanoplatelets (PAA/GO/GNPs) hybrid dispersion by PAA welding and syneresis. Notably, the mechanical strength and thermal conductivity of the skeletons were significantly enhanced by the carbonized PAA. The internal structure of skeletons was regulated by adjusting the driving force and resistance (PAA and GNPs content) during syneresis. When the concentrations of PAA and GNP in the precursor dispersion are 20 mg/ml and 100 mg/ml, the skeleton maintains the anisotropic structure after syneresis, while its density and axial thermal conductivity (λ_axial) is 0.1701 g/cm³ and 3.104 W/(m·K). Moreover, the strength of the as-prepared skeleton is up to 1.64 MPa at 50% strain. With filling polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) into the as-prepared skeletons, the λ_axial of the obtained thermal interface materials (TIMs) is 4.421 W/(m·K). Therefore, this work provides a facile strategy for fabricating mechanically strong and highly thermally conductive graphene skeletons as well as TIMs.

The application of carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites in high-temperature environments was hindered by the bottleneck of poor interfacial performance between carbon fiber and epoxy resin at elevated temperatures. In this work, a sophisticated “brick-and-mortar” interphase, inspired by the structure of nacre, was produced through an industrialized roll-to-roll process. The resulting interphase comprised both inorganic and organic components, namely graphene oxide (GO) and amino-functionalized polyetherimide (APEI), respectively. At 180 ℃, the APEI-GO@carbon fiber (CF)/epoxy (EP) composite showed significant improvements in both interfacial shear strength (IFSS) and transverse fiber bundle tensile (TFBT) strength, with increases of 91.2% and 144.4%, respectively, compared to desized CF/EP composites. These enhancements were attributed to synergistic reinforcement facilitated by strengthened interaction and interphase. Furthermore, the “brick-and-mortar” interphase demonstrated a strong moisture barrier effect, enabling the composite to retain good ILSS (92.8%) after 70 days of hydrothermal aging. The proposed bio-inspired strategy for constructing “brick-and-mortar” interphase with excellent thermostability shed fresh insights into the industrialized design and fabrication of CFRP composite with outstanding high-temperature durability.

Graphical Abstract

In the field of efficient and clean energy, significant challenges remain in constructing highly active bifunctional electrodes for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, two high-performance bifunctional electrodes with brush-like and wire-like cobalt/nickel phosphide heterostructure nanoarrays supported on nickel foam are constructed using a surface/interface reconstruction strategy, termed b-CoP/Ni₂P/NF, and w-CoP/Ni₂P/NF, respectively. The unique morphological configuration and rich heterostructure interface effectively accelerate the transformation of electrons and protons, exposing ultra-high active sites and carrier mobility. As a result, b-CoP/Ni₂P/NF, with its stronger proton/electron removal/insertion ability and higher conductivity, demonstrates remarkable electrocatalytic activity and kinetics in OER/HER processes. Moreover, the density functional theory calculations reveal that designing the construction of high-index surface heterojunctions can significantly optimize hydrogen adsorption energy in HER and reduce the intermediate (O* → OOH*) conversion barrier in OER. In practical applications, the b-CoP/Ni₂P/NF achieves a very low overpotential and excellent stability in alkaline double-electrode full-cell water-splitting systems.

Fabricating advanced nanomaterials with multiple functionalities is an intriguing approach to leveraging clean and sustainable energy technologies. The study elucidates the scaffold and encapsulation capabilities of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), demonstrating the influence of different DNA concentrations on the structural and electrochemical properties of Gd(OH)₃ nanorods. As evidence of concept application, the optimal Gd(OH)₃-DNA-60 electrode delivers a specific capacity of 346 C g⁻¹ (576.6 F g⁻¹) at 1 A g⁻¹ and a high rate capability. Interestingly, it provides superior cyclic stability with 98% initial capacity retention after 5000 charge/discharge cycles at 20 A g⁻¹. The Gd(OH)₃-DNA-60//activated carbon (AC) asymmetric device delivers the specific capacity of 151 C g⁻¹ (107.8 F g⁻¹) at 1 A g⁻¹ with a cell voltage of 1.4 V. It provides the energy and power densities of 29.3 and 799.6 W kg⁻¹, respectively, and withstands 95% of initial capacity after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g⁻¹. In OER analysis, increasing DNA concentration lowers overpotential, Tafel slope, and resistance while enhancing ECSA characteristics. After the stability studies, the physicochemical experiments confirmed the structural stability of the composite material. The results indicate that the proposed approach is a significant method to tune structures and improve the electrochemical properties of nanomaterials for future energy storage and conversion applications.

The inadequate impedance matching and weak attenuation capability for incident electromagnetic waves exhibited by carbon fibers (CF) are critical factors limiting their application served as absorbing materials. Constructing a nanocomposite system that simultaneously exhibits both dielectric loss and magnetic loss characteristics is a feasible strategy to overcome these limitations. In the present study, a core-shell CF@PPy@CoFe₂O₄ nanocomposite is fabricated through electrodeposition and subsequent hydrothermal methods to enhance the attenuation capacity and impedance matching of bare CF. Under the synergistic effects of diverse components and a peculiar network structure, the nanocomposite demonstrates optimized conductive loss and polarization loss, which results in a remarkable electromagnetic wave absorption performance with a minimum reflection loss (RL_min) of -55.33 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 6.48 GHz (12 ~ 18 GHz) at optimal thicknesses of 2.11 and 2.42 mm, respectively, suggesting its promising application as a candidate absorber. More importantly, the exploration concerning the absorption mechanism provides significant insights into the attenuation modes of the dielectric-magnetic loss hetero-junction, which is beneficial for developing similar absorbing materials.

Graphical abstract

CF@PPyCoFe₂O₄ nanocomposite displays an efficient electromagnetic wave absorption capacity by virtue of its excellent conductive loss and polarization loss.

Abstract

The utilization of cation substitution presents a prospective approach to manipulate the structural characteristics and enhance the electrochemical functionality of spinel cobaltous sulfide (Co₃S₄). However, the underlying mechanism behind the impact of distinct cation substitutions on this phenomenon remains inadequately elucidated. In this study, we perform a thorough assessment to elucidate the influence of replacing cations on the pseudocapacitive properties of porous nanowires made of spinel bimetallic sulfide (Me_xCo_3-xS₄; Me=Mn, Ni, Cu, and Co). One of the top competitors, NiCo₂S₄, demonstrates a significant specific capacitance of 1032.7 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 2 A g⁻¹. Furthermore, it demonstrates an impressive capacitance retention rate of 92.1% after undergoing 8000 cycles. Moreover, the use of NiCo₂S₄ and AC as the anode and cathode in the hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) lead to a significant energy density of 49.3 Wh kg⁻¹ at 1600 W kg⁻¹, validating the effectiveness of the prepared porous nanowire-like NiCo₂S₄ as an appropriate substance for energy storage systems. Density functional theory (DFT) confirms that the substitution of cation can stimulate the electrochemical activity of Co, facilitate stronger inter-element interactions, and synergistically enhance the conductivity of cobalt-based bimetallic sulfides.

Abstract

With the sharp increase in modern energy consumption, phase change composites with the characteristics of rapid preparation are employed for thermal energy storage to meet the challenge of energy crisis. In this study, a NaCl-assisted carbonization process was used to construct porous Pleurotus eryngii carbon with ultra-low volume shrinkage rate of 2%, which provides enormous space for encapsulation of PEG-4000. Such composite possesses exceptional thermal stability, with an absorption rate of 88.24%, a melting enthalpy of 174.87 J/g, and a relative enthalpy efficiency of 97.78%. Consequently, the resultant composites exhibit outstanding performances in storing and releasing thermal energy for photo-thermal, electric-thermal, and magnetic-thermal conversion. This study presents a highly valuable strategy into the quick fabrication of phase change composites, facilitating their practical applications in thermal energy storage.