Nanophase-Separated Block Copolymer Layers Enabling Stable Zinc Metal Batteries.

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries are promising and efficient energy storage systems owing to their low cost, high safety, and satisfactory capacity. However, the instability of Zn metal anodes, caused by dendritic growth and parasitic side reactions, hinders their practical application. In this study, a nanophase-separated block copolymer layer that enhances the reversibility of Zn metal anodes is introduced. This layer consists of two components: a high-performance engineering-plastic-based hydrophobic block exhibiting excellent mechanical properties and chemical stability, and a hydrophilic block that significantly improves the interfacial stability of the anode by selectively permeating Zn ions through the separated nanophase channels. Through an improved electrochemical system and scalable fabrication process, this block copolymer provides a feasible approach for the practical application of Zn metal anodes in aqueous energy storage systems.

Harnessing Liquid Crystal Sensors for High-Throughput Real-Time Detection of Structural Changes in Lysozyme during Refolding Processes.

Despite the rapid advances in process analytical technology, the assessment of protein refolding efficiency has largely relied on off-line protein-specific assays and/or chromatographic procedures such as reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and size exclusion chromatography. Due to the inherent time gap pertaining to traditional methods, exploring optimum refolding conditions for many recombinant proteins, often expressed as insoluble inclusion bodies, has proven challenging. The present study describes a novel protein refolding sensor that utilizes liquid crystals (LCs) to discriminate varying protein structures during unfolding and refolding. An LC layer containing 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) intercalated with 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) is used as a sensing platform, and its proof-of-concept performance is demonstrated using lysozyme as a model protein. As proteins unfold or refold, a local charge fluctuation at their surfaces modulates their interaction with zwitterionic phospholipid DOPE. This alters the alignment of DOPE molecules at the aqueous/LC interface, affecting the orientational ordering of bulk LC (i.e., homeotropic to planar for refolding and planar to homeotropic for unfolding). Differential polarized optical microscope images of the LC layer are subsequently generated, whose brightness directly linked to conformational changes of lysozyme molecules is quantified by gray scale analysis. Importantly, our LC-based refolding sensor is compatible with diverse refolding milieus for real-time analysis of lysozyme refolding and thus likely to facilitate the refolding studies of many proteins, especially those lacking a method to determine structure-dependent biological activity.

Bio-Sourced, High-Performance Carbon Fiber Reinforced Itaconic Acid-Based Epoxy Composites with High Hygrothermal Stability and Durability.

Thermosetting polymers and composites are a class of high-performance materials with significant industrial applications. However, the widespread use of thermosets and their composites generates large quantities of waste and leads to serious economic and environmental problems, there is a critical need in the elaboration of sustainable composite materials. Here, we propose a method to prepare sustainable carbon fiber reinforced composites with different degrees of greenness by blending environmentally friendly EIA with DGEBA in different ratios, and the properties compared with a well-known commercial petroleum-based epoxy resin. The prepared carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites with different degrees of greenness had excellent dimensional stability under extreme hygrothermal aging. After aging, the green CFRP composite T700/EIA-30 has higher strength and performance retention than that of petroleum-based CFRP composites. The higher hygrothermal stability and durability of EIA-based epoxy resins as compared with BPA-based epoxy resins demonstrated significant evidence to design and develop a novel bio-based epoxy resin with high performance to substitute the petroleum-based epoxy resin.

Fabrication of Liquid Crystal Droplet Patterns for Monitoring Aldehyde Vapors.

A sensing method based on the pattern of liquid crystal droplets was developed for detecting and monitoring low levels of organic aldehyde vapors. Exposure of the LC droplet pattern covered with glycine solution to aldehyde vapors induced an optical signal transition from a bright fan shape to a dark cross appearance, as observed by polarized light microscopy. Aldehyde and glycine react at the air/solution interface to form a Schiff-base compound, which controls the orientation of the LCs and induces a change in the optical signals of the LC droplet pattern. The results show that the glycine/LC droplet pattern system is particularly sensitive and selective to aldehydes. In the actual environment, the sensor is exposed to the aldehyde and the signal transition is completed within a few minutes (2-7 min). The LC-based method has the advantages of simple construction, easy operation, convenient data reading, and shows excellent prospects for real-time detection of aldehyde vapors.