Deformation-Resistant Underwater Adhesion in a Wide Salinity Range.

Conventional adhesives experience reduced adhesion when exposed to aqueous environments. The development of underwater adhesives capable of forming strong and durable bonds across various wet substrates is crucial in biomedical and engineering domains. Nonetheless, limited emphasis placed on retaining high adhesion strengths in different saline environments, addressing challenges such as elevated osmotic pressure and spontaneous dimensional alterations. Herein, a series of ionogel-based underwater adhesives are developed using a copolymerization approach that incorporates "dynamic complementary cross-linking" networks. Synergistic engineering of building blocks, cross-linking networks, pendant groups and counterions within ionogels ensures their adhesion and cohesion in brine spanning a wide salinity range. A high adhesion strength of ≈3.6 MPa is attained in freshwater. Gratifyingly, steady adhesion strengths exceeding 3.3 MPa are retained in hypersaline solutions with salinity ranging from 50 to 200 g kg-1, delivering one of the best-performing underwater adhesives suitable for diverse saline solutions. A combination of outstanding durability, reliability, deformation resistance, salt tolerance, and self-healing properties showcases the "self-contained" underwater adhesion. This study shines light on the facile fabrication of catechol-free ionogel-based adhesives, not merely boosting adhesion strengths in freshwater, but also broadening their applicability across various saline environments.

Solar-Powered Interfacial Evaporation and Deicing Based on a 3D-Printed Multiscale Hierarchical Design.

Solar-powered interfacial heating has emerged as a sustainable technology for hybrid applications with minimal carbon footprints. Aerogels, hydrogels, and sponges/foams are the main building blocks for state-of-the-art photothermal materials. However, these conventional three-dimensional (3D) structures and related fabrication technologies intrinsically fail to maximize important performance-enhancing strategies and this technology still faces several performance roadblocks. Herein, monolithic, self-standing, and durable aerogel matrices are developed based on composite photothermal inks and ink-extrusion 3D printing, delivering all-in-one interfacial steam generators (SGs). Rapid prototyping of multiscale hierarchical structures synergistically reduce the energy demand for evaporation, expand actual evaporation areas, generate massive environmental energy input, and improve mass flows. Under 1 sun, high water evaporation rates of 3.74 kg m-2 h-1 in calm air and 25.3 kg m-2 h-1 at a gentle breeze of 2 m s-1 are achieved, ranking among the best-performing solar-powered interfacial SGs. 3D-printed microchannels and hydrophobic modification deliver an icephobic surface of the aerogels, leading to self-propelled and rapid removal of ice droplets. This work shines light on rational fabrication of hierarchical photothermal materials, not merely breaking through the constraints of solar-powered interfacial evaporation and clean water production, but also discovering new functions for photothermal interfacial deicing.

Abrasivity database of different genetic rocks based on CERCHAR Abrasivity Test.

Rock abrasivity is one of the main factors affecting the wear of rock-cutting tools, which is usually quantified by the CERCHAR Abrasivity Index (CAI). Researchers and engineers study tool wear and predict tool life based on the CAI of rocks. However, there is still a lack of a dataset on rock properties, especially the abrasivity of various rocks. This paper reports the abrasive dataset of 10 kinds of rocks, including sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks, and igneous rocks, with the aid of the CERCHAR Abrasivity Test and digital measurement techniques. The dataset comprises rock abrasivity data, point cloud data for visualization, scratch photos, CERCHAR Abrasivity Test force data, and mechanical properties (uniaxial compressive strength) of rock samples. This dataset facilitates future research on rock abrasivity and rock-cutting tool wear.

Hygroscopic and Photothermal All-Polymer Foams for Efficient Atmospheric Water Harvesting, Passive Humidity Management, and Protective Packaging.

Environmental humidity and thermal control are of primary importance for fighting global warming, growing energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting is an emerging technology with great potential in clean water production and passive cooling applications. However, sorption-based humidity management and their hybrid applications are limited due to the lack of energywise designs of hygroscopic materials and devices. Herein, all polymeric 3D foams are developed and evaluated as hygroscopic and photothermal materials. The gas-foaming method generates closed-cell structures with interconnected hydrophilic networks and wrinkled surfaces, expanding hygroscopic, photothermal, and evaporating areas of the 3D foams. These unique advantages lead to efficient water vapor sorption in a wide broad relative humidity (RH) range of 50-90% and efficient water release in a wide solar intensity (0.4-1 sun) and temperature range (27-80 °C). The reversible moisture sorption/release in 50 adsorption/desorption cycles highlights the excellent durability of the 3D foams compared to conventional inorganic desiccants. The 3D foams disclose passive and efficient apparent temperature regulation in warm and humid environments. Moreover, the use of the 3D foams as loose fill for fruit preservation and packaging is demonstrated for the first time by taking the merit of the 3D foams' moisture-absorbing, quick-drying, cushioning, and thermal-insulating properties. This work presents an integrated design of polymeric desiccants and scaffolds, not merely delivering stable water adsorption/desorption but also discovering innovative hybrid applications in humidity management and protective packaging.

Photothermal Aerogel Beads Based on Polysaccharides: Controlled Fabrication and Hybrid Applications in Solar-Powered Interfacial Evaporation, Water Remediation, and Soil Enrichment.

Solar-powered interfacial evaporation has emerged as an innovative and sustainable technology for clean water production. However, the rapid, mass and shape-controlled fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) steam generators (SGs) for versatile hybrid applications remains challenging. Herein, composite aerogel beads with self-contained properties (i.e., hydrophilic, porous, photothermal, and durable) are developed and demonstrated for threefold hybrid applications including efficient solar-powered interfacial evaporation, water remediation, and controlled soil enrichment. The rational incorporation of selected polysaccharides enables us to fabricate bead-like aerogels with rapid gelation, continuous processing, and enhanced ion adsorption. The composite beads can attain a high water evaporation rate of 1.62 kg m-2 h-1 under 1 sun. Meanwhile, high phosphate adsorption capacity of over 120 mg g-1 is achieved in broad pH (2.5-12.4) and concentration (200-1000 mg L-1) ranges of phosphate solutions. Gratifyingly, we demonstrate the first example of recycling biomaterials from interfacial SGs for controlled nutrient release, soil enrichment, and sustainable agriculture. The phosphate-saturated beads can be gradually broken down in the soil. Macronutrients (N, P, and K) can be slowly released in 50 days, sustaining the plant germination and growth in a whole growth stage. This work shines light on the mass and controlled fabrication of aerogel beads based on double-network biopolymers, not merely scaling up solar-powered interfacial evaporation but also considering water remediation, waste material disposal, and value-added conversion.

Digital Mirror Device Application in Reduction of Wave-front Phase Errors.

In order to correct the image distortion created by the mixing/shear layer, creative and effectual correction methods are necessary. First, a method combining adaptive optics (AO) correction with a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) is presented. Second, performance of an AO system using the Phase Diverse Speckle (PDS) principle is characterized in detail. Through combining the DMD method with PDS, a significant reduction in wavefront phase error is achieved in simulations and experiments. This kind of complex correction principle can be used to recovery the degraded images caused by unforeseen error sources.

Tunable Dual Temperature-Pressure Sensing and Parameter Self-Separating Based on Ionic Hydrogel via Multisynergistic Network Design.

Hydrogel-based wearable sensors have experienced an explosive development, whereas functional integration to mimic the multisignal responsiveness of skin especially for pressure and temperature remained a challenge. Herein, a functional ionic hydrogel-base flexible sensor was successfully prepared by integrating the thermal-sensitive N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) into another conductive double-network hydrogel based on polyvinyl alcohol-graphene oxide (PVA-GO) and polyacrylic acid-Fe3+ (PAA-Fe3+). Because of the multisynergistic network design, the triple-network hydrogel was endowed with excellent conductivity (∼170 Ω/mm), mechanical tolerance (1.1 MPa), and rapid recoverability (within 0.5 s), which demonstrated the potential use in pressure monitoring. Moreover, the introduction of a thermal-sensitive network allowed it to capture the changes in the human body temperature accurately simultaneously and to be further developed as a flexible temperature sensor. In particular, the unsynchronization of pressure and temperature strain (straining to stability within 0.5 s and more than 50 s, respectively) caused the two electrical signals to be automatically separated. Intuitive reading of data without involving complex parameter separation calculations allowed the hydrogel to be developed as an integrated dual temperature-pressure-sensitive flexible sensor. In addition, all above properties demonstrated that the as-prepared functional hydrogel could be extended to the practical application in human-machine interactions and personalized multisignal monitoring.

Anticancer Effects of Gleditsia sinensis Extract in Rats Transplanted With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells.

The thorns of Gleditsia sinensis have been historically used in Chinese medicine and are considered one of the fundamental therapeutic herbs. Its anticancer effects are currently being explored. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer and still requires the development of new drugs with higher efficiency. By using a rat HCC model implanted with cancerous Walker-256 cells, the therapeutic effects of G. sinensis extract (GSE) were assessed, as well as its regulatory effects on miRNAs. GSE significantly restored liver morphology and dramatically induced cell apoptosis in HCC rats. In addition, miR-21/181b/183 was upregulated in the HCC liver, and the elevation of these miRNAs could be alleviated by both GSE and sorafenib. PTEN/TIMP3/PDCD4 downregulation was consistent with the targets of miR-21/181b/183 in the HCC liver, and the alteration of these target genes was restored by both GSE and sorafenib. TIMP3 effects on MMP-2/9 expression were also determined. Our present findings indicate the potential of GSE in HCC treatment, and expand the understanding of miRNA-related mechanisms in the anticancer effects of GSE.