Direct Digital Photonic Patterning of Hydrogen-Bonded Cholesteric Liquid-Crystalline Films.

A modular tool box for photoresponsive cholesteric liquid crystals based on hydrogen-bonded assemblies is reported. By employing 3-azopyridines as photoswitch in cholesteric liquid-crystalline thin films, a fast and reversible blue shift is observed upon irradiation, allowing tuning of the structural color over the whole visible electromagnetic spectrum. Investigations of the materials via X-ray diffraction studies indicate that the blue shift is attributed to the photoinduced destruction of smectic clusters in the cholesteric phase, resulting in a contraction of the helical structure. Unprecedently, the use of a stereolithography 3D printer (SLA) allowed direct transfer of digital information into a multicolor photonic pattern, an important step toward photonic imaging and data storage.

Transparent Sol-Gel-Based Coatings Reflecting Heat Radiation in the Near Infrared.

Thin, flat textile roofing offers negligible heat insulation. In warm areas, such roofing membranes are therefore equipped with metallized surfaces to reflect solar heat radiation, thus reducing the warming inside a textile building. Heat reflection effects achieved by metallic coatings are always accompanied by shading effects as the metals are non-transparent for visible light (VIS). Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) are transparent for VIS and are able to reflect heat radiation in the infrared. TCOs are, e.g., widely used in the display industry. To achieve the perfect coatings needed for electronic devices, these are commonly applied using costly vacuum processes at high temperatures. Vacuum processes, on account of the high costs involved and high processing temperatures, are obstructive for an application involving textiles. Accepting that heat-reflecting textile membranes demand less perfect coatings, a wet chemical approach has been followed here when producing transparent heat-reflecting coatings. Commercially available TCOs were employed as colloidal dispersions or nanopowders to prepare sol-gel-based coating systems. Such coatings were applied to textile membranes as used for architectural textiles using simple coating techniques and at moderate curing temperatures not exceeding 130 °C. The coatings achieved about 90% transmission in the VIS spectrum and reduced near-infrared transmission (at about 2.5 µm) to nearly zero while reflecting up to 25% of that radiation. Up to 35% reflection has been realized in the far infrared, and emissivity values down to ε = 0.5777 have been measured.

Moving adsorption belt system for continuous bioproduct recovery utilizing composite fibrous adsorbents.

A continuous protein recovery and purification system based on the true moving bed concept is presented. A novel adsorbent material, in the form of an elastic and robust woven fabric, served as a moving belt following the general designs observed in known belt conveyors. The composite fibrous material that forms the said woven fabric showed high protein binding capacity, reaching a static binding capacity equal to 107.3 mg/g, as determined via isotherm experiments. Moreover, testing the same cation exchange fibrous material in a packed bed format resulted in excellent dynamic binding capacity values (54.5 mg/g) even when operating at high flow rates (480 cm/h). In a subsequent step, a benchtop prototype was designed, constructed, and tested. Results indicated that the moving belt system could recover a model protein (hen egg white lysozyme) with a productivity up to 0.5 mg/cm2/h. Likewise, a monoclonal antibody was directly recovered from unclarified CHO_K1 cell line culture with high purity, as judged by SDS-PAGE, high purification factor (5.8), and in a single step, confirming the suitability and selectivity of the purification procedure.

Development of Carbon-Nanodot-Loaded PLA Nanofibers and Study of Their Barrier Performance for Medical Applications.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the usage of personal protective equipment (PPE) all round the world and, in turn, it has also increased the waste caused by disposable PPE. This has exerted a severe environmental impact, so in our work, we propose the utilization of a sustainable electrospun nanofiber based on poly lactic acid (PLA), as it is biobased and conditionally degradable. We optimized the weight percentage of the PLA-precursor solution and found that 19% PLA produces fine nanofibers with good morphology. We also introduced carbon nanodots (CNDs) in the nanofibers and evaluated their antibacterial efficiency. We used 1, 2, 3, and 4% CNDs with 19% PLA and found increased antibacterial activity with increased concentrations of CNDs. Additionally, we also applied a spunbond-nanofiber layered assembly for the medical face masks and found that with the addition of only 0.45 mg/cm2 on the nonwoven sheet, excellent particle filtration efficiency of 96.5% and a differential pressure of 39 Pa/cm2 were achieved, meeting the basic requirements for Type I medical face masks (ASTM-F2100).

Revisiting the Contribution of Additives to the Long-Term Mechanical Stability and Hydrolytic Resistance of Highly Crystalline Polylactide Fibers.

Additives are widely used to improve the processability, toughness, and hydrolytic resistance of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-based materials. This study compares neat PLA fibers and fibers made from PLA blends with either poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) as a plasticizer or poly(d-lactic acid) (PDLA) as a nucleating agent. The fibers have been characterized with regard to their physical and structural properties after fabrication as well as after artificial aging at elevated temperature and humidity conditions. All samples have been fabricated using industrial melt-spinning equipment, resulting in a high crystallinity of about XC = 80% and a good initial toughness. Long-term relaxation behavior has been assessed with a self-developed lifetime prediction model, which is successfully verified for semicrystalline blended fibers. Despite slight improvement of the fiber elasticity and ductility, both types of blended fibers demonstrated a reduced hydrolytic resistance. These results suggest a design strategy for neat durable PLA fibers through processing-induced high crystallinity and orientation, which provide improved hydrolytic stability while preserving tough mechanical performance.

Megaporous monolithic adsorbents for bioproduct recovery as prepared on the basis of nonwoven fabrics.

Megaporous adsorbents were prepared based on nonwoven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics and functionalized by covalent modification with polyvinylamine (PVAm) or monotriazinyl-ß-cyclodextrin-substituted polyvinylamine (PVAm-MCT-ß-CD). Mechanical properties of the resulting fabrics were maintained, as judged by tensile strength tests and scanning electron microscopy. Exceptional porosity (≥82%) and preserved hydrodynamic characteristics (Pe ≥ 63) indicated excellent structural stability when packed. The performance of the constructed adsorbents was evaluated with high molecular weight (proteins) and low molecular weight (dyes) model compounds. The static binding capacity (SBC) for bovine serum albumin (BSA) was 79.7 ± 1.3 and 92.9 ± 8.2 mg/g for PVAm-modified and PVAm-MCT-ß-CD-modified fabrics, respectively. The mentioned materials also adsorbed Orange II, an acidic dye (92.4 ± 2.6 and 101.9 ± 2.6 mg/g, respectively), indicating that the hydrophobicity was a prevailing binding mechanism operating at a pH close to isoelectric point. SBC for lysozyme and toluidine blue O (TBO, a basic dye) onto PVAm-MCT-ß-CD functionalized PET was 52.7 ± 5.1 and 73.3 ± 0.6 mg/g, respectively. TBOs have also shown some affinity for PVAm functionalized PET, but this was most likely to be mediated by hydrophobicity. On the other hand, operating at a superficial velocity of 90 cm/h, dynamic binding capacity for BSA was 11.4 ± 3.5 and 2.5 ± 0.6 mg/g indicating the importance of possible aggregation mechanisms during protein binding at equilibrium. Thus, PET-based adsorbents require further functional improvement for chromatography applications. However, the easy-to-construct, scalable nonwoven adsorbents deserve further attention as a potential alternative to packed-bed-chromatography adsorbents.

Manipulation of Liquid Crystalline Properties by Dynamic Covalent Chemistry─En Route to Adaptive Materials.

Dynamic covalent bonds bear great potential for the development of adaptive and self-healing materials. Herein, we introduce a versatile concept not only for the design of low-molecular-weight liquid crystals but also for their in situ postsynthetic modification by using the dynamic covalent nature of imine bonds. The methodology allows systematic investigations of structure-property relationships as well as the manipulation of the materials' behavior (liquid crystallinity) and the introduction of additional properties (here, fluorescence) by a solvent-free method. For the first time, the transamination reaction is followed by variable-temperature 19F solid-state NMR in the mesophase, providing insights into the reaction dynamics in a liquid crystalline material. Finally, the application potential for the design of liquid crystalline materials with adaptive properties is demonstrated by a sequential combination of these reactions.

Enzymatic synthesis of novel aromatic-aliphatic polyesters with increased hydroxyl group density.

BACKGROUND: Polyesters with pendant hydroxyl groups are attractive materials which offer additional functionalization points in the polymer chain. In contrast to chemical polycondensation, lipase regioselectivity enables the synthesis of these materials as certain hydroxyl groups remain unaffected during the enzymatic process. METHODS AND MAJOR RESULTS: In this study, a combination of synthesis development and reactor design was used for the enzymatic synthesis of an aliphatic-aromatic polyester with two different classes of pendant hydroxyl groups. Using 2,6-bishydroxy(methyl)-p-cresol as diol in lipase catalyzed polycondensation with adipic acid required the addition of hexane diol as third monomer for polycondensation to take place. Reaction conditions were explored in order to identify the preferred reaction conditions for the incorporation of the aromatic diol and the enhancement of the hydroxyl group density. Post-polymerization with glycerol at low temperature integrated additional aliphatic hydroxyl groups, reduced the polydispersity and increased the end group functionality. CONCLUSION: A new material with aromatic building blocks and boosted polymer chain reactivity was obtained, which is suggested to find application in various areas of material development from coatings to adhesives.

Linear shrinkage of hydrogel coatings exposed to flow: interplay between dissolution of water and advective transport.

We investigate the shrinkage of a surface-grafted water-swollen hydrogel under shear flows of oils by laser scanning confocal microscopy. Interestingly, external shear flows of oil lead to linear dehydration and shrinkage of the hydrogel for all investigated flow conditions irrespective of the chemical nature of the hydrogel. The reason is that the finite solubility of water in oil removes water from the hydrogel continuously by diffusion. The flow advects the water-rich oil, as demonstrated by numerical solutions of the underlying convection-diffusion equation. In line with this hypothesis, shear does not cause gel shrinkage for water-saturated oils or non-solvents. The solubility of water in the oil will tune the dehydration dynamics.

Characterization and Optimization of AZO Nanoparticles as Coatings for Flexible Substrates toward High IR Reflectivity.

Energy consumption by air-conditioning is expansive and leads to the emission of millions of tons of CO2 every year. A promising approach to circumvent this problem is the reflection of solar radiation: Rooms that would not heat up by irradiation will not need to be cooled down. Especially, transparent conductive metal oxides exhibit high infrared (IR) reflectivity and are commonly applied as low-emissivity coatings (low-e coatings). Indium tin oxide (ITO) coatings are the state-of-the-art application, though indium is a rare and expensive resource. This work demonstrates that aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) can be a suitable alternative to ITO for IR-reflection applications. AZO synthesized here exhibits better emissivity to be used as roofing membrane coatings for buildings in comparison to commercially available ITO coatings. AZO particles forming the reflective coating are generated via solvothermal synthesis routes and obtain high conductivity and IR reflectivity without the need of any further post-thermal treatment. Different synthesis parameters were studied, and their effects on both conductive and optical properties of the AZO nanoparticles were evaluated. To this end, a series of characterization methods, especially 27Al-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (27Al-NMR) analysis, have been conducted for a deeper insight into the particles' structure to understand the differences in conductivity and optical properties. The optimized AZO nanoparticles were coated on flexible transparent textile-based roofing membranes and tested as low-e coatings. The membranes demonstrated higher thermal reflectance compared with commercial ITO materials with an emissivity value lowered by 16%.

Tensiometry as a Simple Analytical Method for Quantification of Solubility and Release of Aroma Molecules in Aqueous Media.

Dynamic tensiometry is shown to be a high-potential analytical tool in assessing physico-chemical characteristics of fragrance molecules, such as solubility limit, volatility as well as much rarely assessed interfacial activity of these amphiphilic molecules. Surface tension of aqueous solutions of selected essential oils has been measured as a function of time and fragrance concentration using maximum bubble pressure method. The effect of the temperature and saline solution on the rate of dissolution in water was assessed. Dynamic surface tension turned to be sensitive to the composition of fragrances, as demonstrated on examples of natural and synthetic mixtures. Furthermore, presented work reveals the possibility of maximum bubble pressure tensiometry method to quantify the amount of fragrance compositions in flavored salts, including the artificially aged carrier samples. Suggested here analytical approach can be used for the detection of the purity of essential oils, for the optimization of compositions and of the manufacturing processes of fragrances-containing products, as well as for the assessment of the release/evaporation of fragrances from carrier systems.

NIR-Sensitized Cationic and Hybrid Radical/Cationic Polymerization and Crosslinking.

NIR-sensitized cationic polymerization proceeded with good efficiency, as was demonstrated with epoxides, vinyl ether, and oxetane. A heptacyanine functioned as sensitizer while iodonium salt served as coinitiator. The anion adopts a special function in a series selected from fluorinated phosphates (a: [PF6 ]- , b: [PF3 (C2 F5 )3 ]- , c: [PF3 (n-C4 F9 )3 ]- ), aluminates (d: [Al(O-t-C4 F9 )4 ]- , e: [Al(O(C3 F6 )CH3 )4 ]- ), and methide [C(O-SO2 CF3 )3 ]- (f). Vinyl ether showed the best cationic polymerization efficiency followed by oxetanes and oxiranes. DFT calculations provided a rough pattern regarding the electrostatic potential of each anion where d showed a better reactivity than e and b. Formation of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) using trimethylpropane triacrylate and epoxides proceeded in the case of NIR-sensitized polymerization where anion d served as counter ion in the initiator system. No IPN was formed by UV-LED initiation using the same monomers but thioxanthone/iodonium salt as photoinitiator. Exposure was carried out with new NIR-LED devices emitting at either 805 or 870 nm.

Singlet-Oxygen Generation by Peroxidases and Peroxygenases for Chemoenzymatic Synthesis.

Singlet oxygen is a reactive oxygen species undesired in living cells but a rare and valuable reagent in chemical synthesis. We present a fluorescence spectroscopic analysis of the singlet-oxygen formation activity of commercial peroxidases and novel peroxygenases. Singlet-oxygen sensor green (SOSG) is used as fluorogenic singlet oxygen trap. Establishing a kinetic model for the reaction cascade to the fluorescent SOSG endoperoxide permits a kinetic analysis of enzymatic singlet-oxygen formation. All peroxidases and peroxygenases show singlet-oxygen formation. No singlet oxygen activity could be found for any catalase under investigation. Substrate inhibition is observed for all reactive enzymes. The commercial dye-decolorizing peroxidase industrially used for dairy bleaching shows the highest singlet-oxygen activity and the lowest inhibition. This enzyme was immobilized on a textile carrier and successfully applied for a chemical synthesis. Here, ascaridole was synthesized via enzymatically produced singlet oxygen.

Investigation of Roughness Correlation in Polymer Brushes via X-ray Scattering.

Thin polymer films and coatings are used to tailor the properties of surfaces in various applications such as protection against corrosion, biochemical functionalities or electronic resistors. Polymer brushes are a certain kind of thin polymer films, where polymer chains are covalently grafted to a substrate and straighten up to form a brush structure. Here we report on differences and similarities between polymer brushes and spin-coated polymer films from polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate with special emphasis on surface roughness and roughness correlation. The phenomenon of roughness correlation or conformality describes the replication of the roughness profile from the substrate surface to the polymer surface. It is of high interest for polymer physics of brush layers as well as applications, in which a homogeneous polymer layer thickness is required. We demonstrate that spin-coated films as well as polymer brushes show roughness correlation, but in contrast to spin-coated films, the correlation in brushes is stable to solvent vapor annealing. Roughness correlation is therefore an intrinsic property of polymer brushes.

NIR Light-Induced ATRP for Synthesis of Block Copolymers Comprising UV-Absorbing Moieties.

NIR exposure at 790 nm activated photopolymerization of monomers comprising UV-absorbing moieties by using [CuII /(TPMA)]Br2 (TPMA=tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine) in the ppm range and an alkyl bromide as initiator. Some of them comprised structural elements selected either from those showing proton transfer or photocycloaddition upon UV excitation. Polymers obtained comprise living end groups serving as macroinitiator for controlled synthesis of block copolymers with relatively narrow molecular weight distributions. Chromatographic results indicated formation of block copolymers produced by this synthetic approach. Free-radical polymerization of monomers pursued for comparison exhibited the expected broader dispersity of molecular weight compared to photo-ATRP. Polymerization of these monomers by UV photo-ATRP failed on the contrary to NIR photo-ATRP demonstrating the UV-filter function of the monomers. This work conclusively provides a new approach for the polymerization of monomers comprising UV-absorbing moieties through photo-ATRP in the NIR region. This occurred in a simple and efficient pathway. However, studies also showed that not all monomers chosen successfully proceeded in the NIR photo-ATRP protocol.

Porous Ultra-Thin Films from Photocleavable Block Copolymers: In-Situ Degradation Kinetics Study of Pore Material.

On the basis of the major application for block copolymers to use them as separation membranes, lithographic mask, and as templates, the preparation of highly oriented nanoporous thin films requires the selective removal of the minor phase from the pores. In the scope of this study, thin film of polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer with a photocleavable junction groups based on ortho-nitrobenzylester (ONB) (PS-hν-PEO) was papered via the spin coating technique followed by solvent annealing to obtain highly-ordered cylindrical domains. The polymer blocks are cleaved by means of a mild UV exposure and then the pore material is washed out of the polymer film by ultra-pure water resulting in arrays of nanoporous thin films to remove one block. The removal of the PEO materials from the pores was proven using the grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) technique. The treatment of the polymer film during the washing process was observed in real time after two different UV exposure time (1 and 4 h) in order to draw conclusions regarding the dynamics of the removal process. In-situ X-ray reflectivity measurements provide statistically significant information about the change in the layer thickness as well as the roughness and electron density of the polymer film during pore formation. 4 H UV exposure was found to be more efficient for PEO cleavage. By in-situ SFM measurements, the structure of the ultra-thin block copolymer films was also analysed and, thus, the kinetics of the washing process was elaborated. The results from both measurements confirmed that the washing procedure induces irreversible change in morphology to the surface of the thin film.

Tuning the Density of Zwitterionic Polymer Brushes on PET Fabrics by Aminolysis: Effect on Antifouling Performances.

Here, we synthesize zwitterionic polymer brushes on polyester fabrics by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) after a prefunctionalization step involving an aminolysis reaction with ethylenediamine. Aminolysis is an easy method to achieve homogeneous distributions of functional groups on polyester fibers (PET) fabrics. Varying the polymerization time and the prefunctionalization conditions of the reaction, it is possible to tune the amount of water retained over the surface and study its effect on protein adhesion. This study revealed that the polymerization time plays a major role in preventing protein adhesion on the PET surface.

Aroma Molecules as Dynamic Volatile Surfactants: Functionality beyond the Scent.

Understanding of nonequilibrium processes at dynamic interfaces is indispensable for advancing design and fabrication of solid-state and soft materials. The research presented here unveils specific interfacial behavior of aroma molecules and justifies their usage as multifunctional volatile surfactants. As nonconventional volatile amphiphiles, we study commercially available poorly water-soluble compounds from the classes of synthetic and essential flavor oils. Their disclosed distinctive feature is a high dynamic interfacial activity, so that they decrease the surface tension of aqueous solutions on a time scale of milliseconds. Another potentially useful property of such amphiphiles is their volatility, so that they notably evaporate from interfaces on a time scale of seconds. This behavior allows for control of wetting and spreading processes. A revealed synergetic interfacial behavior of mixtures of conventional and volatile surfactants is attributed to a decrease of the activation barrier as a result of high statistical availability of new sites at the surface upon evaporation of the volatile component. Our results offer promising advantages in manufacturing technologies which involve newly creating interfaces, such as spraying, coating technologies, ink-jet printing, microfluidics, laundry, and stabilization of emulsions in cosmetic and food industry, as well as in geosciences for controlling aerosol formation.

In Situ Monitoring Mesoscopic Deformation of Nanostructured Porous Titania Films Caused by Water Ingression.

Nanostructured porous titania films are used in many energy-related applications. In this work, the temporal evolution of the mesoscopic deformation of mesoporous titania films synthesized via block copolymer-assisted sol-gel chemistry is investigated with in situ grazing incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) during exposure to D2O vapor. Two types of mesoporous titania films are compared, which have a different degree of structural stability, depending on the applied annealing temperature (400 °C vs 600 °C) in a nitrogen atmosphere. Water ingression causes a gradual structure deformation in terms of decreasing center-to-center distances and broadening of the size distribution of the titania nanostructures. Based on the evolution of the mesopore size obtained from in situ GISANS measurements, the results show that structures synthesized at lower temperature undergo a stronger deformation because of the lower elastic modulus originating from larger pores, despite having a higher degree of order.

Hydrogel Functionalized Polyester Fabrics by UV-Induced Photopolymerization.

We address a strategy to graft hydrogels onto polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics using different acrylate-based monomers. The hydrogel-modified fabrics were prepared by a two-step modification. To this end, double functional groups were firstly introduced onto the PET surface via an aminolysis reaction involving allylamine. The final grafted polymer networks were then obtained after UV-induced radical photopolymerization by varying acrylate monomer types in the presence of a cross-linker. After characterization, the resulting hydrogels showed different morphologies and abrasion resistance performances depending on their chemical nature. UV-photopolymerization is a fast and low-cost method to achieve technical fabrics with specific desired properties.