Phase-Directed Assembly of Triboelectric Nanopaper for Self-Powered Noncontact Sensing.

Noncontact sensing technology serves as a pivotal medium for seamless data acquisition and intelligent perception in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), bringing innovative interactive experiences to wearable human-machine interaction perception networks. However, the pervasive limitations of current noncontact sensing devices posed by harsh environmental conditions hinder the precision and stability of signals. In this study, the triboelectric nanopaper prepared by a phase-directed assembly strategy is presented, which possesses low charge transfer mobility (1618 cm2 V-1 s-1) and exceptional high-temperature stability. Wearable self-powered noncontact sensors constructed from triboelectric nanopaper operate stably under high temperatures (200 °C). Furthermore, a temperature warning system for workers in hazardous environments is demonstrated, capable of nonintrusively identifying harmful thermal stimuli and detecting motion status. This research not only establishes a technological foundation for accurate and stable noncontact sensing under high temperatures but also promotes the sustainable intelligent development of wearable IoT devices under extreme environments.

Directional Moisture-Wicking Triboelectric Materials Enabled by Laplace Pressure Differences.

Wearable sensors are experiencing vibrant growth in the fields of health monitoring systems and human motion detection, with comfort becoming a significant research direction for wearable sensing devices. However, the weak moisture-wicking capability of sensor materials leads to liquid retention, severely restricting the comfort of the wearable sensors. This study employs a pattern-guided alignment strategy to construct microhill arrays, endowing triboelectric materials with directional moisture-wicking capability. Within 2.25 s, triboelectric materials can quickly and directionally remove the droplets, driven by the Laplace pressure differences and the wettability gradient. The directional moisture-wicking triboelectric materials exhibit excellent pressure sensing performance, enabling rapid response/recovery (29.1/37.0 ms), thereby achieving real-time online monitoring of human respiration and movement states. This work addresses the long-standing challenge of insufficient moisture-wicking driving force in flexible electronic sensing materials, holding significant implications for enhancing the comfort and application potential of electronic skin and wearable electronic devices.

Lightweight and Strong Cellulosic Triboelectric Materials Enabled by Cell Wall Nanoengineering.

As intelligent technology surges forward, wearable electronics have emerged as versatile tools for monitoring health and sensing our surroundings. Among these advancements, porous triboelectric materials have garnered significant attention for their lightness. However, these materials face the challenge of improving structural stability to further enhance the sensing accuracy of triboelectric sensors. In this study, a lightweight and strong porous cellulosic triboelectric material is designed by cell wall nanoengineering. By tailoring of the cell wall structure, the material shows a high mechanical strength of 51.8 MPa. The self-powered sensor constructed by this material has a high sensitivity of 33.61 kPa-1, a fast response time of 36 ms, and excellent pressure detection durability. Notably, the sensor still enables a high sensing performance after the porous cellulosic triboelectric material exposure to 200 °C and achieves real-time feedback of human motion, thereby demonstrating great potential in the field of wearable electronic devices.

High Strength and Toughness Polymeric Triboelectric Materials Enabled by Dense Crystal-Domain Cross-Linking.

Lightweight, easily processed, and durable polymeric materials play a crucial role in wearable sensor devices. However, achieving simultaneously high strength and toughness remains a challenge. This study addresses this by utilizing an ion-specific effect to control crystalline domains, enabling the fabrication of a polymeric triboelectric material with tunable mechanical properties. The dense crystal-domain cross-linking enhances energy dissipation, resulting in a material boasting both high tensile strength (58.0 MPa) and toughness (198.8 MJ m-3), alongside a remarkable 416.7% fracture elongation and 545.0 MPa modulus. Leveraging these properties, the material is successfully integrated into wearable self-powered devices, enabling real-time feedback on human joint movement. This work presents a valuable strategy for overcoming the strength-toughness trade-off in polymeric materials, paving the way for their enhanced applicability and broader use in diverse sensing applications.

A Novel Non-Fullerene D-A Interface with Two Asymmetrical Electron Acceptors Facilitates Charge and Energy Transfer for Effective Carbon Dioxide Reduction.

Converting carbon dioxide (CO2 ) into high-value chemicals using solar energy remains a formidable challenge. In this study, the CSC@PM6:IDT6CN-M:IDT8CN-M non-fullerene small-molecule organic semiconductor is designed with highly efficient electron donor-acceptor (D-A) interface for photocatalytic reduction of CO2 . Atomic Force Microscope and Transmission Electron Microscope images confirmed the formation of an interpenetrating fibrillar network after combination of donor and acceptor. The CO yield from the CSC@PM6:IDT6CN-M:IDT8CN-M reached 1346 µmol g-1  h-1 , surpassing those of numerous reported inorganic photocatalysts. The D-A structure effectively facilitated charge separation to enable electrons transfer from the PM6 to IDT6CN-M:IDT8CN-M. Meanwhile, attributing to the dipole moments of the strong intermolecular interactions between IDT6CN-M and IDT8CN-M, the intermolecular forces are enhanced, and laminar stacking and π-π stacking are strengthened, thereby reinforcing energy transfer between acceptor molecules and significantly enhanced charge separation. Moreover, the strong internal electric field in the D-A interface enhanced the excited state lifetime of PM6:IDT6CN-M:IDT8CN-M. In situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) analysis demonstrated that carboxylate (COOH*) is the predominant intermediate during CO2 reduction, and possible pathways of CO2 reduction to CO are deduced. This study presents a novel approach for designing materials with D-A interface to achieve high photocatalytic activity.

hROS-Responsive Behavior for Long-Term Stability of Cellulosic Gold Nanoclusters.

Understanding the gold core-ligand interaction in gold nanoclusters (GNCs) is essential for the on-demand tailoring of their photoluminescence properties and long-term stability. Here, inspired by the suckers arranged directionally on the tentacles of octopus, a series of GNCs with regulating ligand structures are grown and stabilized on the cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). The carboxylated CNCs providing an electron-rich environment to promote the luminescence of GNCs and stabilize it within a long-term of 1 year through anchoring and diluting effects, and the highest quantum yields reaches 31.02% in ultrapure water. Interestingly, this bionic preparation strategy is generally applicable to various ligands for tailoring on-demand hROS-responsive and nonresponsive GNCs to construct tunable-emission wavelength dual GNCs ratiometric probes. The results show that designing a specific ligand structure to inhibit the transformation of Au-Au to Au (I)-ligand in GNCs is crucial to regulate the hROS-responsive characteristics. As expected, the interfacial compatible dual GNCs ratiometric probe with a hROS limit of detection of 0.74 µmol L-1 can diagnose certain diseases through intracellular hROS imaging. This work provides important insights for understanding the gold core-ligand interaction in GNCs during the oxidation process triggered by intracellular hROS.

Dynamic Thermostable Cellulosic Triboelectric Materials from Multilevel-Non-Covalent Interactions.

Triboelectric materials present great potential for harvesting huge amounts of dispersed energy, and converting them directly into useful electricity, a process that generates power more sustainably. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as a technology to power electronics and sensors, and it is expected to solve the problem of energy harvesting and self-powered sensing from extreme environments. In this paper, a high-temperature-resistant triboelectric material is designed based on multilevel non-covalent bonding interactions, which achieves an ultra-high surface charge density of 192 µC m-2 at high temperatures. TENGs based on the triboelectric material exhibit more than an order of magnitude higher power output (2750 mW m-2 at 200 °C) than the existing devices at high temperatures. These remarkable properties are achieved based on enthalpy-driven molecular assembly in highly unbonded states. Thus, the material maintains bond strength and ultra-high surface charge density in entropy-dominated high-temperature environments. This molecular design concept points out a promising direction for the preparation of polymers with excellent triboelectric properties.

Biomass-Derived Carbon Quantum Dots Chemical Bonding with Sn-Doped Bi2O2CO3 Endowed Fast Carriers' Dynamics and Stabilized Oxygen Vacancies for Efficient Decontamination of Combined Pollutants.

Surface defects on photocatalysts could promote carrier separation and generate unsaturated sites for chemisorption and reactant activation. Nevertheless, the inactivation of oxygen vacancies (OVs) would deteriorate catalytic activity and limit the durability of defective materials. Herein, bagasse-derived carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are loaded on the Sn-doped Bi2O2CO3 (BOC) via hydrothermal procedure to create Bi─O─C chemical bonding at the interface, which not only provides efficient atomic-level interfacial electron channels for accelerating carriers transfer, but also enhances durability. The optimized Sn-BOC/CQDs-2 achieves the highest photocatalytic removal efficiencies for levofloxacin (LEV) (88.7%) and Cr (VI) (99.3%). The elimination efficiency for LEV and Cr (VI) from the Sn-BOC/CQDs-2 is maintained at 55.1% and 77.0% while the Sn-BOC is completely deactivated after four cycle tests. Furthermore, the key role of CQDs in stabilization of OVs is to replace OVs as the active center of H2O and O2 adsorption and activation, thereby preventing reactant molecules from occupying OVs. Based on theoretical calculations of the Fukui index and intermediates identification, three possible degradation pathways of LEV are inferred. This work provides new insight into improving the stability of defective photocatalysts.

Recent Advances in Flexible CNC-Based Chiral Nematic Film Materials.

Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) is a renewable resource derived from lignocellulosic materials, known for its optical permeability, biocompatibility, and unique self-assembly properties. Recent years have seen great progresses in cellulose nanocrystal-based chiral photonic materials. However, due to its inherent brittleness, cellulose nanocrystal shows limitations in the fields of flexible materials, optical sensors and food freshness testing. In order to solve the above limitations, attempts have been made to improve the flexibility of cellulose nanocrystal materials without destroying their structural color. Despite these progresses, a systematic review on them is lacking. This review aims to fill this gap by providing an overview of the main strategies and the latest research findings on the flexibilization of cellulose nanocrystal-based chiral nematic film materials (FCNM). Specifically, typical substances and methods used for their preparation are summarized. Moreover, different kinds of cellulose nanocrystal-based composites are compared in terms of flexibility. Finally, potential applications and future challenges of flexible cellulose nanocrystal-based chiral nematic materials are discussed, inspiring further research in this field.

Recent Advances in Tailored Fabrication and Properties of Biobased Self-Healing Polyurethane.

With the emergence of challenges in the environmental degradation and resource scarcity fields, the research of biobased self-healing polyurethane (BSPU) has become a prevailing trend in the technology of the polyurethane industry and a promising direction for developing biomass resources. Here, the production of BSPU from lignocellulose, vegetable oil, chitosan, collagen, and coumarin is classified, and the principles of designing polyurethane based on compelling examples using the latest methods and current research are summarized. Moreover, the impact of biomass materials on self-healing and mechanical properties, as well as the tailored performance method, are presented in detail. Finally, the applications of BSPU in biomedicine, sensors, coatings, etc. are also summarized, and the possible challenges and development prospects are explored to helpfully make progress in the development of BSPU. These findings demonstrate valuable references and practical significance for future BSPU research.

Influence of biochar incorporation on the collector surface properties and the transport of silver nanoparticles in porous media.

Biochar is widely used as a soil amendment due to its environmental friendliness and convenient availability. It is believed that the presence of biochar in porous media can influence the transport of colloidal and solute contaminants. In this study, different mass ratios of biochar were added to packed sand with a rough or smooth surface to determine the significance of biochar on the retention and release of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The results showed that biochar reduced the transport of AgNPs in rough and smooth sands under different solution conditions. A small amount of biochar (0.1-1% in mass percentage) can significantly enhance the retention of AgNPs due to the alteration in collector surface roughness and chemical heterogeneity that potentially reduce the energy barrier for retention. Furthermore, the retention of AgNPs in rough sand was always higher than that in smooth sand under the same experimental conditions. The presence of biochar also produced nonmonotonic retention of AgNPs mainly due to the changes in collector surface roughness. Additionally, the AgNPs retention associated with biochar tended to be irreversible due to the charge heterogeneity, while the reversible retention could mainly occur on a rough sand surface via shallow primary minima. This work highlights the significance of collector surface roughness that needs to be considered in the process of biochar amendment for practical applications to effectively immobilize colloidal contaminants in soil or groundwater.

Visible-light photocatalytic degradation of water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol in aqueous solution by Cu2O@TiO2: Optimization of conditions, mechanisms and toxicity analysis.

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a water-soluble synthetic polymer, is one of the most prevalent non-native polyvinyl alcohols found in the environment. Due to its inherent invisibility, its potential for causing severe environmental pollution is often underestimated. To achieve efficient degradation of PVA in wastewater, a Cu2O@TiO2 composite was synthesized through the modification of titanium dioxide with cuprous oxide, and its photocatalytic degradation of PVA was investigated. The Cu2O@TiO2 composite, supported by titanium dioxide, facilitated photocarrier separation and demonstrated high photocatalytic efficiency. Under alkaline conditions, the composite exhibited a 98% degradation efficiency for PVA solutions and a 58.7% PVA mineralization efficiency. Radical capture experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analyses revealed that superoxide radicals primarily drive the degradation process within the reaction system. Throughout the degradation process, PVA macromolecules are broken down into smaller molecules, including ethanol, and compounds containing aldehyde, ketone, and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although the intermediate products exhibit reduced toxicity compared to PVA, they still pose certain toxic hazards. Consequently, further research is necessary to minimize the environmental impact of these degradation products.

Heterogeneous Cu2O-Au nanocatalyst anchored on wood and its insight for synergistic photodegradation of organic pollutants.

In this study, a Cu2O-Au nanoparticles (NPs) heterojunction catalyst anchored on wood was developed by in situ reduction and hydrothermal treatment, and the properties of the catalyst were systematically characterized. The catalyst exhibited prominent photocatalysis of methyl orange (MO, 0.169 min- 1), and tetracycline (TC, 0.122 min-1) which were degraded completely within 20 min. Even after four recyclings, the efficiency of MO degradation by the catalyst remained at 80%. The natural wood with three-dimensional porous structures acted as a reducing agent and a stabilizer for Au NPs and Cu2O, which helped to maintain high performance and reusability. The presence of Au NPs mediated the light-induced electron transfer and enhanced the absorption of visible light for promoting photocatalytic activity. The intermediates of contaminants within the degradation process were characterized by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Additionally, the photogenerated superoxide radicals and holes were identified by electron spin resonance. Thus, the potential degradation mechanism catalyzed by the Cu2O-Au NPs-wood was proposed. This findings of this study valorizes biomass as a photocatalyst for wastewater remediation.

Coupling of photocatalysis and biological treatment for elemental chlorine free bleaching wastewater: Application of factorial design methodology.

In this study, the visible-light-induced intimately coupled photocatalysis and biodegradation (ICPB) technology was fabricated using the TiO2/bagasse cellulose composite as the carrier and Phanerochaete mixed activated sludge as the biological source. The ICPB degradation effect of elemental chlorine free (ECF) bleaching wastewater was evaluated via the response surface design. Then, the wastewater was characterized, including absorbable organic halogen (AOX), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), chroma, pH, suspended solids, and the organic compound changes in wastewater were analyzed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Under the optimal conditions of pH 7, carrier filling rate of 5%, aeration rate of 2 L/min, and reaction time of 7 h, the degradation efficiencies of AOX, COD, and DOC were 95%, 91%, and 82%, respectively. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results of the ICPB carrier after the reaction were almost identical to those before the reaction. The biomass and its activity on the ICPB system were analyzed by the dominant bacteria during degradation (Curaneotrichosporon, Paenibacillus, Cellulonas, Phanerochaete, Dechlorobacter, Rhodotorula, Sphingobacterium, and Ruminiclostridium), which had a good degradation effect on wastewater. This study affords a novel method for the degradation of ECF bleaching wastewater and a new idea for ICPB technology optimization.

Developing an Efficient Processing System Treatment for the High Concentration of Eucalyptus Chemical Mechanical Pulp Wastewater.

The current wastewater treatment method shows low efficiency in treating wastewater with high concentrations of chemical mechanical pulp (CMP). Therefore, a chlorine dioxide Pretreatment Anaerobic Treatment (DPAT) was developed and applied to treat the CMP wastewater to obtain higher efficiency, obtaining the following results: The biodegradability of CMP wastewater improved after chlorine dioxide pretreatment. The COD of wastewater treated with chlorine dioxide was reduced from 5634 mg/L to 660 mg/L. The removal rate for chemical oxygen demand (COD) was 88.29%, 29.13% higher than the common anaerobic treatment. The reasons for the high efficiency of the DPAT treatment were that chlorine dioxide pretreatment removed the toxic substances in the original wastewater and thereby promoted the proliferation and growth of the anaerobe. The results show that pretreatment with chlorine dioxide can effectively enhance the biodegradability of high-concentration CMP wastewater. Therefore, DPAT treatment of high-concentration CMP wastewater is beneficial to environmental protection.

Biofilm response and removal via the coupling of visible-light-driven photocatalysis and biodegradation in an environment of sulfamethoxazole and Cr(VI).

The widespread contamination of water systems with antibiotics and heavy metals has gained much attention. Intimately coupled visible -light-responsive photocatalysis and biodegradation (ICPB) provides a novel approach for removing such mixed pollutants. In ICPB, the photocatalysis products are biodegraded by a protected biofilm, leading to the mineralization of refractory organics. In the present study, the ICPB approach exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and biodegradation, providing up to ∼1.27 times the degradation rate of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and 1.16 times the Cr(VI) reduction rate of visible-light-induced photocatalysis . Three-dimensional fluorescence analysis demonstrated the synergistic ICPB effects of photocatalysis and biodegradation for removing SMX and reducing Cr(VI). In addition, the toxicity of the SMX intermediates and Cr(VI) in the ICPB process significantly decreased. The use of MoS2/CoS2 photocatalyst accelerated the separation of electrons and holes, with•O2- and h+ attacking SMX and e- reducing Cr(VI), providing an effective means for enhancing the removal and mineralization of these mixed pollutants via the ICPB technique. The microbial community results demonstrate that bacteria that are conducive to pollutant removal are were enriched by the acclimation and ICPB operation processes, thus significantly improving the performance of the ICPB system.

Degradation of chlorine dioxide bleaching wastewater and response of bacterial community in the intimately coupled system of visible-light photocatalysis and biodegradation.

Intimate coupling of visible-light photocatalysis and biodegradation (ICPB) offers potential for degrading chlorine dioxide bleaching wastewater. In this study, we reported a TiO2-coated sponge biofilm carrier with significant adhesion of TiO2 and the ability to accumulate biomass in its interior. Four mechanisms possibly acting in ICPB were tested separately: adsorption of chlorine dioxide bleaching wastewater to the carrier, photolysis, photocatalysis, and biodegradation by the biofilm inside the carrier. The carrier had an adsorption capacity of 17% and 16% for CODcr and AOX, respectively, in the wastewater. The photodegradation rate of wastewater was very low and could be ignored. Both biodegradation (AOX 30.1%, CODcr 33.8%, DOC 26.2%) and photocatalysis (AOX 65.1%, CODcr 71.2%, DOC 62.3%) possessed a certain degradation efficiency of wastewater. However, the removal rate of AOX, CODcr, and DOC in wastewater treatment by protocol ICPB reached 80.3%, 90.5%, and 86.7%. FT-IR and GC-MS analysis showed that the ICPB system had photocatalytic activity on the surface of the porous carrier in vitro, which could transform organic into small molecules for microbial utilization or complete mineralization. Moreover, the biofilm in the interior of the TiO2-coated sponge carrier could mineralize the photocatalytic products, which enhanced the removal of AOX, CODcr, and DOC by more than 15.2%, 20.0%, and 24.0%, respectively. The biofilm in the carrier of the ICPB system evolved, enriched in Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, microorganisms known to play active roles in the biodegradation of papermaking wastewater.

Improvement in calcified anaerobic granular sludge performance by exogenous acyl-homoserine lactones.

Given the high content of Ca2+ in waste paper recycling wastewater, the anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS) undergoes calcification during wastewater treatment and affects the treatment efficiency. To restore the activity of calcified AnGS and improve the performance of AnGS, four types of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) were added to the AnGS system while papermaking wastewater treatment. The addition of N-butyryl-DL-homoserine lactone(C4-HSL) and N-octanoyl-DL-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL) had an inhibitory affect the COD removal efficiency and SMA of sludge at the inception. The addition of N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL) has no obvious effect on the COD removal efficiency, but can improve the SMA of sludge more obviously. The addition of N-(ß-ketocaproyl)-DL-homoserine lactone (3O-C6-HSL) can increased COD removal efficiency and promoted SMA together obviously. The addition of C6-HSL and 3O-C6-HSL can increase volatile suspended solid (VSS)/total suspended solid (TSS), and regulate extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) secretion in AnGS. Analysis of microbial sequencing revealed changes in the microbial community structure following AHL addition, which enhanced the methane metabolism pathway in sludge. The addition of C6-HSL, C8-HSL, and 3O-C6-HSL increased Methanosaeta population, thus increasing the aceticlastic pathway in sludge. Thus, exogenous AHLs can play an important role in regulating microbial community structure, and in improving the performance of AnGS.

Comparing impacts of physicochemical properties and hydrolytic inhibitors on enzymatic hydrolysis of sugarcane bagasse.

An autohydrolysis pretreatment with different conditions was applied to sugarcane bagasse to compare the impacts of the physicochemical properties and hydrolytic inhibitors on its enzymatic hydrolysis. The results indicate that the autohydrolysis conditions significantly affected the physicochemical properties and inhibitors, which further affected the enzymatic hydrolysis. The inhibitor amount, pore size, and crystallinity degree increased with increasing autohydrolysis severity. Furthermore, the enzymatic hydrolysis was enhanced with increasing severity owing to the removal of hemicellulose and lignin. The physicochemical obstruction impeded the enzymatic hydrolysis more than the inhibitors. The multivariate correlated component regression analysis enabled an evaluation of the correlations between the physicochemical properties (and inhibitors) and enzymatic hydrolysis for the first time. According to the results, an autohydrolysis with a severity of 4.01 is an ideal pretreatment for sugarcane bagasse for sugar production.

Structural Design of a Cellulose-Based Solid Amine Adsorbent for the Complete Removal and Colorimetric Detection of Cr(VI).

A cellulose-based solid amine adsorbent (MCC/TEPAA) with high amino density for the detection and removal of Cr(VI) was designed and prepared through using epichlorohydrin cross-linking with MCC (microcrystalline cellulose) and tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA). The structure and amino density of the cellulose-based solid amine adsorbents could be tailored by adjusting the structure of the amines (triethylenetetramine or diethylenetriamine). The as-prepared cellulose-based solid amine adsorbents could detect and completely remove Cr(VI) from water, and the concentration of Cr(VI) solution after adsorption met the standard concentration of Cr(VI) solution for drinking water (0.05 mg/L). In particular, the MCC/TEPAA, supported by MCC with porosity as a framework, promoted the adsorption rate (adsorption equilibrium within only 10 min), removal rate (100%) of Cr(VI), and adsorption capacity (327.72 mg/g). In addition, the limit of colorimetric detection of Cr(VI) by MCC/TEPAA was 0.5 mg/L at 20 min when other interfering heavy metal ions exist. The adsorption and colorimetric detection mechanism of Cr(VI) on MCC/TEPAA was proposed to include electrostatic interactions, chelating reactions, and oxidation-reduction reactions, all of which contributed to the excellent adsorption and detection performance.