Honeycomb Organogel-Fabric for Osmotic Pressure-Driven Atmospheric Water Harvesting.

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is a promising method to combat the challenge of water shortage. Despite the great progress of AWH, the imperfect structural design, complex fabrication procedures, and sluggish sorption/desorption kinetics hinder its AHW performance. Herein, a honeycomb organogel fabric (CHOF) with an interior osmotic pressure of 184.

Sustainable Closed-Loop Recycling of Polyester Waste Using Reconstructed Defective-Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Chemical recycling of polyester waste presents a promising strategy for achieving a sustainable circular economy. However, the development of efficient, low-cost recycling methods that minimize energy consumption and carbon emissions remains challenging. Here, we report an approach for depolymerization polyester waste to bis(hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (BHET) using a reconstructed metal-organic framework (r-Zn-MOF74-NT) catalyst under mild conditions.

Cellulose-based aerogel material with a three-layer gradient structure for both thermal management and infrared camouflage.

Infrared camouflage materials have an important position in the field of national defence and military. However, monofunctional aerogel are unable to adjust their temperature in real time in response to changes in site and ambient temperatures, detected by detectors. Here, a multifunctional cellulose aerogel (MGSCA) with sandwich structure was fabricated by integrating electrothermal conversion layer (cellulose aerogel doped with MXene), thermal insulating layer (silane-modified cellulose aerogel), and thermal infrared camouflage layer (PU mixed with Cu).

Dual-mode strain sensor based on porous MXene/TPU fiber and mechanochromic photonic crystal for human motion detection.

As a critical component for real-time monitoring in smart wearable devices, dual-mode strain sensors offer instantaneous responses to mechanical stimuli through optical and electrical signals, playing a crucial role in monitoring human physiological states in real time. Here, an innovative dual-mode strain sensing fiber was designed and fabricated by integrating PS@P(MMA-BA) photonic crystal nanospheres onto MXene/TPU electrical sensing fibers. It swiftly responds to strain stimuli while simultaneously delivering optical and electrical signals.

Pore formation mechanism and size regulation study of atmospheric dried cellulose nanofiber aerogel templated by emulsions.

Atmospheric pressure drying (APD) method holds great promise in the large-scale production of aerogels without specialized equipment and critical conditions. However, atmospheric-dried cellulose- based aerogels are challenged by the collapse of the pore walls induced by the capillary force that arises during solvent evaporation. This study prepared an atmospheric dried cellulose nanofiber (CNF) aerogel with a low shrinkage rate (17.

Circular Economy and Chemical Conversion for Polyester Wastes.

Polyester waste in the environment threatens public health and environmental ecosystems. Chemical recycling of polyester waste offers a dual solution to ensure resource sustainability and ecological restoration. This minireview highlights the traditional recycling methods and novel recycling strategies of polyester plastics.

A Multimode Dynamic Color-Changing Device for Smart Windows Based on Integrating Thermochromic and Electrochromic Properties.

Electro- and thermochromic materials have been greatly applied in smart windows and displays due to the excellent properties of color variation and solar radiation. However, the mono color and single response to voltage and temperature hinder their application and development. Here, a multimode dynamic color-changing device (T/ECD) was developed by integrating the electrochromic property of synthetic viologen dyes and the thermochromic properties of hydroxypropyl acrylate (HPA).

Phospholipid Bilayer Inspired Sandwich Structural Nanofibrous Membrane for Atmospheric Water Harvesting and Selective Release.

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) has been broadly exploited to meet the challenge of water shortage. Despite the significant achievements of AWH, the leakage of hydroscopic salt during the AWH process hinders its practical applications. Herein, inspired by the unique selective permeability of the phospholipid bilayer, a sandwich structural (hydrophobic-hydrophilic-hydrophobic) polyacrylonitrile nanofibrous membrane (San-PAN) was fabricated for AWH.

Biodegradable Dual-Network Cellulosic Composite Bioplastic Metafilm for Plastic Substitute.

With the escalating environmental and health concerns over petroleum-based plastics, sustainable and biodegradable cellulosic materials are a promising alternative to plastics, yet remain unsatisfied properties such as fragility, inflammability and water sensitivity for practical usage. Herein, we present a novel dual-network design strategy to address these limitations and fabricate a high-performance cellulosic composite bioplastic metafilm with the exceptional mechanical toughness (23.5 MJ m ), flame retardance, and solvent resistance by in situ growth of cyclotriphosphazene-bridged organosilica network within bacterial cellulose matrix.

Recent Advances in Thermoregulatory Clothing: Materials, Mechanisms, and Perspectives.

Personal thermal management (PTM) is a promising approach for maintaining the thermal comfort zone of the human body while minimizing the energy consumption of indoor buildings. Recent studies have reported the development of numerous advanced textiles that enable PTM systems to regulate body temperature and are comfortable to wear. Herein, recent advancements in thermoregulatory clothing for PTM are discussed.

Self-driven super water vapor-absorbing calcium alginate-based bionic leaf for Vis-NIR spectral simulation.

Most bionic leaves cannot autonomously absorb water and maintain high water content like plant leaves, causing the low Vis-NIR spectral similarity to plant leaves. Herein, inspired by the transpiration of plant leaves, a self-driven water vapor-absorbing bionic leaf was prepared by the crosslinking between hygroscopic CaCl and sodium alginate (SA) on the visible spectral simulating materials (VSSM). Based on the synergistic effect of the hygroscopicity of CaCl and the hydrophilia of calcium alginate (CaAlg), the bionic leaf automatically absorbed water vapor from the air according to ambient humidity and temperature.

Cellulose-based aerogel beads for efficient adsorption- reduction- sequestration of Cr(VI).

The reduction and sequestration of toxic Cr(VI) via a one-step process in an aqueous solution is critical to eliminate its environmental risk. In this study, amine functionalized cellulose-based aerogel beads (CGP) was developed for simultaneous and efficient adsorption- reduction- sequestration of Cr(VI). CGP showed a maximum Cr(VI) adsorption capacity of 386.

Long-life zinc electrodes achieved by oxygen plasma functionalization.

A facile oxygen plasma treatment strategy is proposed to promote zinc dendrite inhibition by modifying the surface oxygen functional groups. The plasma-treated zinc electrodes achieved an extended working lifespan of 3800 h with an average Coulombic efficiency of over 99% for 1000 cycles when applied in full batteries. This work provides great prospects for the fabrication of long-life zinc batteries for grid systems.

Advanced Zinc Anode with Nitrogen-Doping Interface Induced by Plasma Surface Treatment.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are one of the most ideal candidates for grid-scale energy storage applications due to their excellent price and safety advantages. However, formation of Zn dendrites and continuous side reactions during cycling result in serious instability problems for ZIBs. In this work, the authors develop a facile and versatile plasma-induced nitrogen-doped Zn (N-Zn) foil for dendrite-free Zn metal anode.

Programmable Asymmetric Nanofluidic Photothermal Textile Umbrella for Concurrent Salt Management and In Situ Power Generation During Long-Time Solar Steam Generation.

Although solar-driven seawater desalination affords a highly promising strategy for freshwater-electricity harvesting by employing abundant solar energy and ocean resources, the inevitable salt crystallization on the surface of evaporators causes a sharp decline in evaporation performance and the poor electricity output of most coupled inflexible evaporation-power generation devices limits the scalability and durability in long-time practical applications. Herein, we report a simple programmable nanofluidic photothermal textile umbrella by asymmetrically depositing MoS nanosheets on cotton textiles, which allows for controllable gravity-assisted edge-preferential salt crystallization/harvesting via self-manipulated saline solution transportation in the wet umbrella and simultaneous drenching-induced electrokinetic voltage generation (0.535 V)/storage (charging a capacitor to 12.

Ultrathin MXene/Polymer Coatings with an Alternating Structure on Fabrics for Enhanced Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Fire-Resistant Protective Performances.

Wearable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding fabrics are highly desirable with the rapid development of electronic devices and wireless communications where electromagnetic pollution is a great concern for human health and the reliability of precision equipment. The balance between EMI shielding efficiency (SE) and the flexibility of fabric is still challenging because of the generally opposite requirements for coating thickness. In this work, MXene/insulative polymer coating with an alternating structure is fabricated a stepwise assembly technique to judiciously combine excellent shielding elements, a reasonable structure, and high nanofiller content together in the coating.

Unidirectionally Driving Nanofluidic Transportation via an Asymmetric Textile Pump for Simultaneous Salt-Resistant Solar Desalination and Drenching-Induced Power Generation.

Solar-driven seawater desalination provides a promising technology for sustainable water energy harvesting. Although tremendous efforts have been dedicated to developing efficient evaporators, the challenge of preventing salt accumulation while simultaneously realizing high-performance steam-electricity cogeneration remains to be addressed. In this work, inspired by the water and solute transportation in plants via the wicking mechanism, a one-way asymmetric nanofluidic photothermal evaporator fabricated by disproportionately depositing photothermal MXene nanosheets on a hydrophilic cotton textile is reported for simultaneous freshwater and power production.

Biomimetic Solid-Liquid Transition Structural Dye-Doped Liquid Crystal/Phase-Change-Material Microcapsules Designed for Wearable Bistable Electrochromic Fabric.

A novel polymer microcapsule-filled dye-doped liquid crystal (DDLC) and phase-change material (PCM) system inspired by biological materials was first proposed, which was further encapsulated into a calcium alginate substrate by wet spinning for making an electrochromic fiber with both bistable electric-optical capability and knitting characteristics. Results show that the optical appearance of the optimized microcapsules and fiber can be reversibly changed between colored and colorless states according to the electric field by switching the DDLCs between isotropic (I) and anisotropic (A) states. Moreover, both I and A states can remain stable for more than 1 week after removing the electric field, due to the synergy of the greatly increased spatial hindrance of the PCM with core loading of 22.

Slippery Antifouling Polysiloxane-Polyurea Surfaces with Matrix Self-Healing and Lubricant Self-Replenishing.

The inferior mechanical properties and the difficulty in repairing damaged substrates and lubricant films of slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces significantly hampered their practical applications. To solve this problem, we fabricated a polysiloxane-polyurea slippery elastomer with lubricant self-replenishing and matrix self-healing properties by encapsulating silicone oil into the thermoplastic elastomers. By optimizing the chemical compositions and molecular interactions, the obtained slippery elastomer exhibits unique mechanical properties with a maximum breaking strength of 0.

Bistable Elastic Electrochromic Ionic Gels for Energy-Saving Displays.

The diversification of electrochromic materials greatly expands the application fields of electrochromic devices. However, highly flexible electrochromic materials remain challenging due to the inherent limitations associated with the existing electrochromic processes. Inspired by the hydrogen bonding effect in the hydrogel structure, a highly elastic and bistable electrochromic ionic gel based on a hydrogen bonding cross-linking network is prepared by solution polymerization having excellent tensile resilience, uniform coloring, reversible switching (≤24.

Bioinspired Electro-Responsive Multispectral Controllable Dye-Doped Liquid Crystal Yolk-Shell Microcapsules for Advanced Textiles.

Liquid crystal microcapsules have attracted increasing attention due to their sophisticated structures and adjustable multifunctional features. However, the synthesis of a microscale substrate with wide electromagnetic waveband modulation characteristics and good photoelectric stabilization is still limited and challenging. Herein, a new breed of microcapsules containing dye-doped liquid crystals in a yolk-shell configuration with VTES (vinyl-trim-ethyl-silane)-modified FeO@SiO is created.

Multicolor and Multistage Response Electrochromic Color-Memory Wearable Smart Textile and Flexible Display.

Electrochromic materials have great application in soft displays and devices, but the application of ideal electrochromic textiles still faces challenges owing to the inconvenience of a continuous power supply. Here, electrochromic color-memory microcapsules (ECM-Ms-red, -yellow, and -blue) with a low drive voltage (2.0 V), coloration efficiency (921.

Cost-effective resource utilization for waste biomass: A simple preparation method of photo-thermal biochar cakes (BCs) toward dye wastewater treatment with solar energy.

Waste biomass and dye wastewater pollution have been the serious environmental problems. The interfacial solar-steam generation technology is an effective and sustainable method for the water purification. However, the complex preparation process, high economic cost and probably secondary environmental pollution of traditional photo-thermal materials restricted their practical large-scale application.

Liquid-repellent and self-repairing lubricant-grafted surfaces constructed by thiol-ene click chemistry using activated hollow silica as the lubricant reservoir.

The development of robust, stain-resistant, and self-healing liquid-repellent surfaces is a common aspiration of both consumer and industrial applications, but the existing methods suffer from limitations, such as complicated procedures, weak mechanical durability and substrate dependency. In this work, a lubricant-grafted slippery surface (LGSS) was prepared by grafting vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (Vi-PDMS) onto various substrates coated with sulfhydryl-modified hollow mesoporous silica (SH-HMS) through a thiol-ene click reaction. The uniform and intact lubricant layer can effectively decrease the absorption of the polysaccharide and protein, exhibiting superior antifouling properties.