Nanofluidic channels inspired by electric eels open a new era of efficient harvesting of clean blue osmotic energy from salinity gradients.Limited by less charge and weak ion selectivity of the raw material itself,ene...Nanofluidic channels inspired by electric eels open a new era of efficient harvesting of clean blue osmotic energy from salinity gradients.Limited by less charge and weak ion selectivity of the raw material itself,energy conversion through nanofluidic channels is still facing considerable challenges.Here,a facile and efficient strategy to enhance osmotic energy harvesting based on drastically increasing surface charge density of MXenes subnanochannels via oxygen plasma is proposed.This plasma could break Ti–C bonds in the MXenes subnanochannels and effectively facilitate the formation of more Ti–O,C═O,O–OH,and rutile with a stronger negative charge and work function,which leads the surface potential of MXenes membrane to increase from 205 to 430 mV.This significant rise of surface charge endows the MXenes membrane with high cation selectivity,which could make the output power density of the MXenes membrane increase by 248.2%,reaching a high value of 5.92Wm^(−2) in the artificial sea‐river water system.Furthermore,with the assistance of low‐quality heat at 50℃,the osmotic power is enhanced to an ultrahigh value of 9.68Wm^(−2),which outperforms those of the state‐of‐the‐art two‐dimensional(2D)nanochannel membranes.This exciting breakthrough demonstrates the enormous potential of the facile plasma‐treated 2D membranes for osmotic energy harvesting.展开更多
Inhibiting the agglomeration of molten aluminum particles packed in the binder network is a promising scheme to achieve efficient combustion of solid propellants.In this investigation,the hydroxyl-terminated structure...Inhibiting the agglomeration of molten aluminum particles packed in the binder network is a promising scheme to achieve efficient combustion of solid propellants.In this investigation,the hydroxyl-terminated structured fluorinated alcohol compound(PFD)was introduced to modify the traditional polyethylene glycol/polytetrahydrofuran block copolymerization(HTPE)binder;that is,a unique fluorinated polyether(FTPE)binder was synthesized by embedding fluorinated organic segments into the HTPE binder via crosslinking curing.The FTPE was applied in aluminum-based propellants for the first time.Due to the complete release of fluorinated organic active segments in the range of 300℃to 400℃,the burning rate of FTPEbased propellant increased from 4.07(0%PFD)to 6.36 mm/s(5%PFD),increased by 56.27%under 1 MPa.The reaction heat of FTPE propellants increased from 5.95(0%PFD)to 7.18 MJ/kg(5%PFD)under 3.0 MPa,indicating that HTPE binder modified with PFD would be conducive to inhibiting the D90 of condensed combustion products(CCPs)dropped by 81.84%from 75.46(0%PFD)to 13.71μm(5%PFD)under 3.0 MPa,in consistent with the significant reduction of aluminum agglomerates observed on the quenched burning surface of the propellants.Those results demonstrated that a novel FTPE binder with PFD can release fluorinated organic active segments,which motivate preignition reaction with the alumina shell in the early stage of aluminum combustion,and then enhance the melting diffusion effect of aluminum to inhibit the agglomeration.展开更多
With the development of nanotechnology,the precise synthesis of nanoparticles with nicely-defined dimensions and structures has been well-developed,and the functionalization and subsequent applications of the resultan...With the development of nanotechnology,the precise synthesis of nanoparticles with nicely-defined dimensions and structures has been well-developed,and the functionalization and subsequent applications of the resultant nanostructures are becoming increas-ingly important.Comparing to inorganic nanoparticles,the nanostructures based on soft matters,especially block copolymer as-semblies,are much lower in cost,easier to fabricate and richer in morphology.However,the dimensional control over the block co-polymer assemblies is not as easy.Only in recent decade,with the discovery of living Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly(CDSA)by Manners and Winnik,researchers become able to precisely tune the sizes of block copolymer assemblies in a relatively wide range.This discovery has inspired tremendous research effort in the self-assembly field,and considerable progress has been made recently.This review summarizes the main progress in the precise and controllable self-assembly field in the past five years,and is mostly fo-cused on four aspects,including in-depth understanding of the assembly methods,extension of this method to two-dimensional nanostructures,utilization of this method to fabricate hierarchical structures,and the potential applications of these well-defined nanostructures.We hope not only to make a periodic systematic summary of previous studies,but also to provide some useful thinking for the future development of this field.展开更多
Heavy metallic salts are capable to bind with proteins and cause detrimental fibrilization in living cells.Herein,we report a similar case of supramolecular polymerization and thus fibrilization from a liquid crystall...Heavy metallic salts are capable to bind with proteins and cause detrimental fibrilization in living cells.Herein,we report a similar case of supramolecular polymerization and thus fibrilization from a liquid crystalline(LC)block copolymer(BCP)initiated by heavy metallic salts.Analogous to the naturally-occurring process,LC BCP“monomers”could bind with metallic salts to form small aggregates,which functioned as seeds to trigger the subsequent supramolecular polymerization of the rest BCP monomers,to produce highly uniform supramolecular polymers.The lengths of the resultant supramolecular polymer fibrils were linearly proportional to the ratios between the BCP and the metallic salts,and largely influenced by the choice of metallic cations,as well as the counterions.Lastly,this method was used to polymerize two different diblock copolymer“monomers”to produce pentablock supramolecular polymers in a one-pot manner.展开更多
This review summarizes research progress in self-repairing energetic composites based on the design of chemical structure of binders and the introduction of self-repairing properties between composite interfaces.Resea...This review summarizes research progress in self-repairing energetic composites based on the design of chemical structure of binders and the introduction of self-repairing properties between composite interfaces.Researchers have prepared the polyurethane-urea binder and the GAP self-repairingbinder based on the disulfide bond,the polyurethane binder and FTPB-PDMl binder based on the Diels-Alder reaction,and the polyurethane binderbased on dynamic photocroslinking reaction.In addition,PVDF-coHFP/EMIOTf/graphene achieves the self-repairing behavior of the polymer bondedexplosive(PBX).The future development of elf-repairing energetc composites is proposed.lt is pointed out that the mechanical properties,processingproperties and energy properties should be improved together with the introduction of self-repairing properties,and the energetic composites whichcan be repaired in various ways should be prepared.展开更多
Micro/nanorobots are promising for a wide range of biomedical applications(such as targeted tumor,thrombus,and infection therapies in hard-to-reach body sites)because of their tiny size and high maneuverability throug...Micro/nanorobots are promising for a wide range of biomedical applications(such as targeted tumor,thrombus,and infection therapies in hard-to-reach body sites)because of their tiny size and high maneuverability through the actuation of external fields(e.g.,magnetic field,light,ultrasound,electric field,and/or heat).However,fully synthetic micro/nanorobots as foreign objects are susceptible to phagocytosis and clearance by diverse phagocytes.To address this issue,researchers have attempted to develop various cytomembrane-camouflaged micro/nanorobots by two means:(1)direct coating of micro/nanorobots with cytomembranes derived from living cells and(2)the swallowing of micro/nanorobots by living immunocytes via phagocytosis.The camouflaging with cytomembranes or living immunocytes not only protects micro/nanorobots from phagocytosis,but also endows them with new characteristics or functionalities,such as prolonging propulsion in biofluids,targeting diseased areas,or neutralizing bacterial toxins.In this review,we comprehensively summarize the recent advances and developments of cytomembrane-camouflaged medical micro/nanorobots.We first discuss how cytomembrane coating nanotechnology has been employed to engineer synthetic nanomaterials,and then we review in detail how cytomembrane camouflage tactic can be exploited to functionalize micro/nanorobots.We aim to bridge the gap between cytomembrane-cloaked micro/nanorobots and nanomaterials and to provide design guidance for developing cytomembrane-camouflaged micro/nanorobots.展开更多
of main observation and conclusion In this paper,we reported a systematic study on the formation mechanism of bent toroidal micelles from a triblock copolymer poly(acrylic acid)-block-(2-cinnamoyloxylethyl methacrylat...of main observation and conclusion In this paper,we reported a systematic study on the formation mechanism of bent toroidal micelles from a triblock copolymer poly(acrylic acid)-block-(2-cinnamoyloxylethyl methacrylate)-block-poly(perfluorooctylethyl methacrylate)(PAA-b-PCEMA-b-PFMA)in the binary solvent mixture of methanol and a,a,a-trifluorotoluene(MeOH/TFT)through a heating-cooling procedure.It was found that the formation process of toroids was predominantly kinetic-controlled,and can be influenced by the preparation protocol,solvent composition and stirring rate of the solutions.The toroids were formed via a complicated morphological transition process.At high temperature,the polymer formed bilayered vesicles with bumpy surface,while upon cooling,the vesicles broke and unfolded into bumpy platelet micelles,which subsequently perforated into toroidal and cylindrical micelles upon further cooling.Besides the distinct and unique bumpy vesicle and platelet structures,the transformation mechanisms from vesicular to platelet,and toroidal micelles are also very intriguing,and may provide new insights into the interconversion of micellar morphologies.展开更多
Gene therapy is a promising method to treat acquired and inherited diseases by introducing exogenous genes into specific recipient cells.Polymeric micelles with different nanoscopic morphologies and properties hold gr...Gene therapy is a promising method to treat acquired and inherited diseases by introducing exogenous genes into specific recipient cells.Polymeric micelles with different nanoscopic morphologies and properties hold great promise for gene delivery system.Conventional cationic polymers,poly(ethyleneimine)(PEI),poly(L-lysine)(PLL),poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)(PDMAEMA)and novel cationic polymers poly(2-oxazoline)s(POxs),have been incorporated into block copolymers and decorated with targeting moieties to enhance transfection efficiency.In order to minimize cytotoxicity,nonionic block copolymer micelles are utilized to load gene through hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions or covalent conjugations,recently.From our perspective,properties(shape,size,and mechanical stiffness,etc.)of block copolymer micelles may significantly affect cytotoxicity,transfection efficiency,circulation time,and load capacity of gene vectors in vivo and in vitro.This review briefly sums up recent efforts in cationic and nonionic amphiphilic polymeric micelles for gene delivery.展开更多
The rapid development of medical micromotors draws a beautiful blueprint for the noninvasive or minimally invasive diagnosis and therapy.By combining stimuli-sensitive hydrogel materials,micromotors are bestowed with ...The rapid development of medical micromotors draws a beautiful blueprint for the noninvasive or minimally invasive diagnosis and therapy.By combining stimuli-sensitive hydrogel materials,micromotors are bestowed with new characteristics such as stimuli-responsive shape transformation/morphing.excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability,and drug loading ability.Actuated by chemical fuels or external fields(eg,magnetic field,ultrasound,light,and electric field),hydrogel-based stimuli-responsive(HBSR)micromotors can be utilized to load therapeutic agents into the hydrogel networks or directly grip the target cargos(eg.,drug-loaded partides,cells,and thrombus),transport them to sites of interest(e.g.,tumor area and diseased tissues),and unload the cargos or execute a specific task(e.g.,cell capture,targeted sampling,and removal of blood dots)in response to a stimulus(eg.,change of temperature,pH,ion strength,and chemicals)in the physiological environment.The high flexibility,adaptive capacity,and shape morphing property enable the H BSR micromotors to complete specific medical tasks in complex physiological scenarios,especially in confined,hard to-reach tissues,and vessels of the body.Herein,this review summarizes the current progress in hydrogel-based medical micromotors with stimuli responsiveness.The thermo-responsive,photothermal-responsive,magnetocaloric-responsive,pH-responsive,ionic strength-responsive,and chemoresponsive micromotors are discussed in detail.Finally,curent challenges and future perspectives for the development of HBSR micromotors in the biomedical field are discussed.展开更多
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,Grant/Award Number:52175174China Postdoctoral Science Foundation,Grant/Award Number:2022M721791National Key Research and Development Program of China,Grant/Award Number:2020YFA0711003。
文摘Nanofluidic channels inspired by electric eels open a new era of efficient harvesting of clean blue osmotic energy from salinity gradients.Limited by less charge and weak ion selectivity of the raw material itself,energy conversion through nanofluidic channels is still facing considerable challenges.Here,a facile and efficient strategy to enhance osmotic energy harvesting based on drastically increasing surface charge density of MXenes subnanochannels via oxygen plasma is proposed.This plasma could break Ti–C bonds in the MXenes subnanochannels and effectively facilitate the formation of more Ti–O,C═O,O–OH,and rutile with a stronger negative charge and work function,which leads the surface potential of MXenes membrane to increase from 205 to 430 mV.This significant rise of surface charge endows the MXenes membrane with high cation selectivity,which could make the output power density of the MXenes membrane increase by 248.2%,reaching a high value of 5.92Wm^(−2) in the artificial sea‐river water system.Furthermore,with the assistance of low‐quality heat at 50℃,the osmotic power is enhanced to an ultrahigh value of 9.68Wm^(−2),which outperforms those of the state‐of‐the‐art two‐dimensional(2D)nanochannel membranes.This exciting breakthrough demonstrates the enormous potential of the facile plasma‐treated 2D membranes for osmotic energy harvesting.
基金Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,Grant/Award Number:3052017010。
文摘Inhibiting the agglomeration of molten aluminum particles packed in the binder network is a promising scheme to achieve efficient combustion of solid propellants.In this investigation,the hydroxyl-terminated structured fluorinated alcohol compound(PFD)was introduced to modify the traditional polyethylene glycol/polytetrahydrofuran block copolymerization(HTPE)binder;that is,a unique fluorinated polyether(FTPE)binder was synthesized by embedding fluorinated organic segments into the HTPE binder via crosslinking curing.The FTPE was applied in aluminum-based propellants for the first time.Due to the complete release of fluorinated organic active segments in the range of 300℃to 400℃,the burning rate of FTPEbased propellant increased from 4.07(0%PFD)to 6.36 mm/s(5%PFD),increased by 56.27%under 1 MPa.The reaction heat of FTPE propellants increased from 5.95(0%PFD)to 7.18 MJ/kg(5%PFD)under 3.0 MPa,indicating that HTPE binder modified with PFD would be conducive to inhibiting the D90 of condensed combustion products(CCPs)dropped by 81.84%from 75.46(0%PFD)to 13.71μm(5%PFD)under 3.0 MPa,in consistent with the significant reduction of aluminum agglomerates observed on the quenched burning surface of the propellants.Those results demonstrated that a novel FTPE binder with PFD can release fluorinated organic active segments,which motivate preignition reaction with the alumina shell in the early stage of aluminum combustion,and then enhance the melting diffusion effect of aluminum to inhibit the agglomeration.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51973019 and 22175024)B.X.is grateful to the fellow ship of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No.2021TQ0033).
文摘With the development of nanotechnology,the precise synthesis of nanoparticles with nicely-defined dimensions and structures has been well-developed,and the functionalization and subsequent applications of the resultant nanostructures are becoming increas-ingly important.Comparing to inorganic nanoparticles,the nanostructures based on soft matters,especially block copolymer as-semblies,are much lower in cost,easier to fabricate and richer in morphology.However,the dimensional control over the block co-polymer assemblies is not as easy.Only in recent decade,with the discovery of living Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly(CDSA)by Manners and Winnik,researchers become able to precisely tune the sizes of block copolymer assemblies in a relatively wide range.This discovery has inspired tremendous research effort in the self-assembly field,and considerable progress has been made recently.This review summarizes the main progress in the precise and controllable self-assembly field in the past five years,and is mostly fo-cused on four aspects,including in-depth understanding of the assembly methods,extension of this method to two-dimensional nanostructures,utilization of this method to fabricate hierarchical structures,and the potential applications of these well-defined nanostructures.We hope not only to make a periodic systematic summary of previous studies,but also to provide some useful thinking for the future development of this field.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51973019 and 22175024).
文摘Heavy metallic salts are capable to bind with proteins and cause detrimental fibrilization in living cells.Herein,we report a similar case of supramolecular polymerization and thus fibrilization from a liquid crystalline(LC)block copolymer(BCP)initiated by heavy metallic salts.Analogous to the naturally-occurring process,LC BCP“monomers”could bind with metallic salts to form small aggregates,which functioned as seeds to trigger the subsequent supramolecular polymerization of the rest BCP monomers,to produce highly uniform supramolecular polymers.The lengths of the resultant supramolecular polymer fibrils were linearly proportional to the ratios between the BCP and the metallic salts,and largely influenced by the choice of metallic cations,as well as the counterions.Lastly,this method was used to polymerize two different diblock copolymer“monomers”to produce pentablock supramolecular polymers in a one-pot manner.
基金This study is mainly financially supported by the FundamentalResearch funds for the Central Universities(3052017010).
文摘This review summarizes research progress in self-repairing energetic composites based on the design of chemical structure of binders and the introduction of self-repairing properties between composite interfaces.Researchers have prepared the polyurethane-urea binder and the GAP self-repairingbinder based on the disulfide bond,the polyurethane binder and FTPB-PDMl binder based on the Diels-Alder reaction,and the polyurethane binderbased on dynamic photocroslinking reaction.In addition,PVDF-coHFP/EMIOTf/graphene achieves the self-repairing behavior of the polymer bondedexplosive(PBX).The future development of elf-repairing energetc composites is proposed.lt is pointed out that the mechanical properties,processingproperties and energy properties should be improved together with the introduction of self-repairing properties,and the energetic composites whichcan be repaired in various ways should be prepared.
基金Beijing Institute of Technology Teli Young Fellow Program,Grant/Award Number:3320012222218Beijing Institute of Technology Research Fund Program for Young Scholars,Grant/Award Number:1750023022215+3 种基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,Grant/Award Numbers:32101062,32071341Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation,Grant/Award Numbers:2019A1515110005,2022A1515012607Fundamental Research Funds for the Central UniversitiesSun Yat-sen University。
文摘Micro/nanorobots are promising for a wide range of biomedical applications(such as targeted tumor,thrombus,and infection therapies in hard-to-reach body sites)because of their tiny size and high maneuverability through the actuation of external fields(e.g.,magnetic field,light,ultrasound,electric field,and/or heat).However,fully synthetic micro/nanorobots as foreign objects are susceptible to phagocytosis and clearance by diverse phagocytes.To address this issue,researchers have attempted to develop various cytomembrane-camouflaged micro/nanorobots by two means:(1)direct coating of micro/nanorobots with cytomembranes derived from living cells and(2)the swallowing of micro/nanorobots by living immunocytes via phagocytosis.The camouflaging with cytomembranes or living immunocytes not only protects micro/nanorobots from phagocytosis,but also endows them with new characteristics or functionalities,such as prolonging propulsion in biofluids,targeting diseased areas,or neutralizing bacterial toxins.In this review,we comprehensively summarize the recent advances and developments of cytomembrane-camouflaged medical micro/nanorobots.We first discuss how cytomembrane coating nanotechnology has been employed to engineer synthetic nanomaterials,and then we review in detail how cytomembrane camouflage tactic can be exploited to functionalize micro/nanorobots.We aim to bridge the gap between cytomembrane-cloaked micro/nanorobots and nanomaterials and to provide design guidance for developing cytomembrane-camouflaged micro/nanorobots.
基金Li X.Y.is grateful to the financial support from the NSFC(Grantnumber 21604004,51973019).
文摘of main observation and conclusion In this paper,we reported a systematic study on the formation mechanism of bent toroidal micelles from a triblock copolymer poly(acrylic acid)-block-(2-cinnamoyloxylethyl methacrylate)-block-poly(perfluorooctylethyl methacrylate)(PAA-b-PCEMA-b-PFMA)in the binary solvent mixture of methanol and a,a,a-trifluorotoluene(MeOH/TFT)through a heating-cooling procedure.It was found that the formation process of toroids was predominantly kinetic-controlled,and can be influenced by the preparation protocol,solvent composition and stirring rate of the solutions.The toroids were formed via a complicated morphological transition process.At high temperature,the polymer formed bilayered vesicles with bumpy surface,while upon cooling,the vesicles broke and unfolded into bumpy platelet micelles,which subsequently perforated into toroidal and cylindrical micelles upon further cooling.Besides the distinct and unique bumpy vesicle and platelet structures,the transformation mechanisms from vesicular to platelet,and toroidal micelles are also very intriguing,and may provide new insights into the interconversion of micellar morphologies.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.51973019,22175024).
文摘Gene therapy is a promising method to treat acquired and inherited diseases by introducing exogenous genes into specific recipient cells.Polymeric micelles with different nanoscopic morphologies and properties hold great promise for gene delivery system.Conventional cationic polymers,poly(ethyleneimine)(PEI),poly(L-lysine)(PLL),poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)(PDMAEMA)and novel cationic polymers poly(2-oxazoline)s(POxs),have been incorporated into block copolymers and decorated with targeting moieties to enhance transfection efficiency.In order to minimize cytotoxicity,nonionic block copolymer micelles are utilized to load gene through hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions or covalent conjugations,recently.From our perspective,properties(shape,size,and mechanical stiffness,etc.)of block copolymer micelles may significantly affect cytotoxicity,transfection efficiency,circulation time,and load capacity of gene vectors in vivo and in vitro.This review briefly sums up recent efforts in cationic and nonionic amphiphilic polymeric micelles for gene delivery.
基金support from the National Key R&D Program of China(2020YFC2007300)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U20A20388)+2 种基金support from the Beijing Institute of Technology Research Fund Program for Young Scholars(XSQD-202123003)support from the Natu-ral Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China(BK20190809)support from the Beijing Institute of Technology Teli Young Fellow Program(33012222218).
文摘The rapid development of medical micromotors draws a beautiful blueprint for the noninvasive or minimally invasive diagnosis and therapy.By combining stimuli-sensitive hydrogel materials,micromotors are bestowed with new characteristics such as stimuli-responsive shape transformation/morphing.excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability,and drug loading ability.Actuated by chemical fuels or external fields(eg,magnetic field,ultrasound,light,and electric field),hydrogel-based stimuli-responsive(HBSR)micromotors can be utilized to load therapeutic agents into the hydrogel networks or directly grip the target cargos(eg.,drug-loaded partides,cells,and thrombus),transport them to sites of interest(e.g.,tumor area and diseased tissues),and unload the cargos or execute a specific task(e.g.,cell capture,targeted sampling,and removal of blood dots)in response to a stimulus(eg.,change of temperature,pH,ion strength,and chemicals)in the physiological environment.The high flexibility,adaptive capacity,and shape morphing property enable the H BSR micromotors to complete specific medical tasks in complex physiological scenarios,especially in confined,hard to-reach tissues,and vessels of the body.Herein,this review summarizes the current progress in hydrogel-based medical micromotors with stimuli responsiveness.The thermo-responsive,photothermal-responsive,magnetocaloric-responsive,pH-responsive,ionic strength-responsive,and chemoresponsive micromotors are discussed in detail.Finally,curent challenges and future perspectives for the development of HBSR micromotors in the biomedical field are discussed.
