{"title":"A high-performance electrochromic device assembled with WO3/Ag and TiO2/NiO composite electrodes towards smart window","authors":"Haorui Liu, Jikai Yang, Decai Nie, Chunlei Liu, Liumenghan Zheng, Yining Mu, Weijun Chen","doi":"10.1007/s11706-024-0674-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-024-0674-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The choice of cathode and anode materials for electrochromic devices plays a key role in the performance of electrochromic smart windows. In this research, WO<sub>3</sub>/Ag and TiO<sub>2</sub>/NiO composite thin films were separately prepared by the hydrothermal method combined with electrodeposition. The electrochromic properties of the single WO<sub>3</sub> thin film were optimized, and TiO<sub>2</sub>/NiO composite films showed better electrochromic performance than that of the single NiO film. WO<sub>3</sub>/Ag and TiO<sub>2</sub>/NiO composite films with excellent electrochromic properties were respectively chosen as the cathode and the anode to construct a WO<sub>3</sub>/Ag-TiO<sub>2</sub>/NiO electrochromic device. The response time (<i>t</i><sub>c</sub> = 4.08 s, <i>t</i><sub>b</sub> = 1.08 s), optical modulation range (35.91%), and coloration efficiency (30.37 cm<sup>2</sup>·C<sup>−1</sup>) of this electrochromic device are better than those of WO<sub>3</sub>-NiO and WO<sub>3</sub>/Ag-NiO electrochromic devices. This work provides a novel research idea for the performance enhancement of electrochromic smart windows.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140942406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hang Zhang, Shu Cai, Huanlin Zhang, Lei Ling, You Zuo, Hao Tian, Tengfei Meng, Guohua Xu, Xiaogang Bao, Mintao Xue
{"title":"Hydroxyapatite/palmitic acid superhydrophobic composite coating on AZ31 magnesium alloy with both corrosion resistance and bacterial inhibition","authors":"Hang Zhang, Shu Cai, Huanlin Zhang, Lei Ling, You Zuo, Hao Tian, Tengfei Meng, Guohua Xu, Xiaogang Bao, Mintao Xue","doi":"10.1007/s11706-024-0678-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-024-0678-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The coating-modified magnesium (Mg) alloys exhibit controllable corrosion resistance, but the insufficient antibacterial performance limits their clinical applications as degradable implants. Superhydrophobic coatings show excellent performance in terms of both corrosion resistance and inhibition of bacterial adhesion and growth. In this work, a hydroxyapatite (HA)/palmitic acid (PA) superhydrophobic composite coating was fabricated on the Mg alloy by the hydrothermal technique and immersion treatment. The HA/PA composite coating showed superhydrophobicity with a contact angle of 153° and a sliding angle of 2°. The coated Mg alloy exhibited excellent corrosion resistance in the simulated body fluid, with high polarization resistance (77.10 kΩ·cm<sup>2</sup>) and low corrosion current density ((0.491 ± 0.015) µA·cm<sup>−2</sup>). Meanwhile, the antibacterial efficiency of the composite coating was over 98% against <i>E. coli</i> and <i>S. aureus</i> in different periods. The results indicate that the construction of such superhydrophobic composite coating (HA/PA) on the Mg alloy can greatly improve the corrosion resistance of Mg alloy implants within the human body and avoid bacterial infection during the initial stages of implantation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140940315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"High-sensitivity formaldehyde gas sensor based on Ce-doped urchin-like SnO2 nanowires derived from calcination of Sn-MOFs","authors":"Wei Xiao, Wei Yang, Shantang Liu","doi":"10.1007/s11706-024-0676-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-024-0676-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted widespread attention due to their regular structures, multiple material centers, and various ligands. They are always considered as one kind of ideal templates for developing highly sensitive and selective gas sensors. In this study, the advantages of MOFs with the high specific surface area (71.9891 m<sup>2</sup>·g<sup>−1</sup>) and uniform morphology were fully utilized, and urchin-like SnO<sub>2</sub> nanowires were obtained by the hydrothermal method followed by the calcination using Sn-MOFs consisting of the ligand of C<sub>9</sub>H<sub>6</sub>O<sub>6</sub> (H<sub>3</sub>BTC) and Sn/Ce center ions as sacrificial templates. This unique urchin-like nanowire structure facilitated gas diffusion and adsorption, resulting in superior gas sensitivity. A series of Ce-doped SnO<sub>2</sub> nanowires with different doping ratios were synthesized, and their gas sensing properties towards formaldehyde were studied. The resulted Ce-SnO<sub>2</sub> was revealed to have high sensitivity (201.2 at 250 °C), rapid response (4 s), long-term stability, and good repeatability for formaldehyde sensing, and the gas sensing mechanism of Ce-SnO<sub>2</sub> exposed to formaldehyde was also systematically discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140585474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qi Zhang, Chongyang Liu, Xuehong Wu, Xueling Zhang, Jun Song
{"title":"Mesoporous molecular sieve confined phase change materials with high absorption, enhanced thermal conductivity, and cooling energy charging/discharging capacity","authors":"Qi Zhang, Chongyang Liu, Xuehong Wu, Xueling Zhang, Jun Song","doi":"10.1007/s11706-024-0672-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-024-0672-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The biggest challenge for organic phase change materials (PCMs) used in cold energy storage is to maintain high heat storage capacity while reducing the leakage risk of PCMs during the phase transition process. This is crucial for expanding their applications in the more demanding cold storage field. In this study, novel form-stable low-temperature composite PCMs are prepared with mesoporous materials, namely SBA-15 and CMK-3 (which are prepared using the template method), as supporting matrices and dodecane as the PCM. Owing to the combined effects of capillary forces within mesoporous materials and interactions among dodecane molecules, both dodecane/SBA-15 and dodecane/CMK-3 exhibit outstanding shape stability and thermal cycling stability even after 200 heating/cooling cycles. In comparison to those of dodecane/SBA-15, dodecane/CMK-3 exhibits superior cold storage performance and higher thermal conductivity. Specifically, the phase transition temperature of dodecane/CMK-3 is −8.81 °C with a latent heat of 122.4 J·g<sup>−1</sup>. Additionally, it has a thermal conductivity of 1.21 W·m<sup>−1</sup>·K<sup>−1</sup>, which is 9.45 times that of dodecane alone. All these highlight its significant potential for applications in the area of cold energy storage.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140585584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Weiwei Lan, Mingbo Wang, Zhenjun Lv, Jun Li, Fuying Chen, Ziwei Liang, Di Huang, Xiaochun Wei, Weiyi Chen
{"title":"Carbon nanotubes-reinforced polylactic acid/hydroxyapatite porous scaffolds for bone tissue engineering","authors":"Weiwei Lan, Mingbo Wang, Zhenjun Lv, Jun Li, Fuying Chen, Ziwei Liang, Di Huang, Xiaochun Wei, Weiyi Chen","doi":"10.1007/s11706-024-0675-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-024-0675-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In the field of bone defect repair, critical requirements for favorable cytocompatibility and optimal mechanical properties have propelled research efforts towards the development of composite materials. In this study, carbon nanotubes/polylactic acid/hydroxyapatite (CNTs/PLA/HA) scaffolds with different contents (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 wt.%) of CNTs were prepared by the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. The results revealed that the composite scaffolds had uniform pores with high porosities over 68% and high through performances. The addition of CNTs significantly enhanced the mechanical properties of resulted PLA/HA, in which the 1.5 wt.% CNTs/PLA/HA composite scaffold demonstrated the optimum mechanical behaviors with the bending elastic modulus of (868.5 ± 12.34) MPa, the tensile elastic modulus of (209.51 ± 12.73) MPa, and the tensile strength of (3.26 ± 0.61) MPa. Furthermore, L929 cells on the 1.5 wt.% CNTs/PLA/HA scaffold displayed good spreading performance and favorable cytocompatibility. Therefore, it is expected that the 1.5 wt.% CNTs/PLA/HA scaffold has potential applications in bone tissue engineering.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140156570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mengnan Dai, Meng Li, Peixuan Li, Boyu Zhang, Jianmei Xu, Jiannan Wang
{"title":"Bioactivity of silk fibroin peptides on vascular endothelial cells","authors":"Mengnan Dai, Meng Li, Peixuan Li, Boyu Zhang, Jianmei Xu, Jiannan Wang","doi":"10.1007/s11706-024-0671-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-024-0671-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>To determine the contribution of non-repetitive domains to the bioactivity of the heavy chain in silk fibroin (SF) macromolecules, a gene motif f(1) encoding this fragment and its multimers (f(4) and f(8)) were biosynthesized from <i>Escherichia coli</i> BL21. Based on the positive application potential of SF materials for the vascular tissue engineering, this study focused on examining the active response of these polypeptides to vascular endothelial cells. Biosynthetic polypeptides F(1), F(4), and F(8) were separately grafted onto the surfaces of bioinert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films, resulting in remarkable improvements in the spread and proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Using the same grafting dose, the activity of cells on polypeptide-modified PET films enhanced with the increase of the molecular weight of those grafted polypeptides from F(1) to F(8). Meanwhile, the growth of cells on the surface of the alkaline-treated PET film was improved, indicating that the hydrophilicity of the surface material had influence on the growth of HUVECs. Moreover, on surfaces with the same water contact angle, the spread and proliferation activity of cells on PET films were significantly lower than those on polypeptide-modified PET films.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140044426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comparative studies on Fenton-like reactions catalyzed by Fe3O4 loaded inside and outside halloysite nanotubes for the removal of organic pollutants","authors":"Yang Li, Jia-Qi Zhou, Huan-Yan Xu, Li-Min Dong, Mao-Chang Cao, Lian-Wei Shan, Li-Guo Jin, Xiu-Lan He, Shu-Yan Qi","doi":"10.1007/s11706-024-0673-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-024-0673-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In this work, Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanoparticles (NPs) loaded inside and outside halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were prepared and developed as the heterogeneous Fenton-like catalysts for the removal of representative organic pollutants. Characterization results indicated that the samples with Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> NPs loaded outside the HNTs lumen (Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/HNTs) and inside the HNTs lumen (Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@HNTs) were successfully prepared. Both samples had typical magnetic hysteresis loops, while Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@HNTs exhibited higher magnetization intensity. The comparative experiments showed that Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@HNTs had better Fenton-like catalytic ability than that of Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/HNTs in the degradation of various organic pollutants. Taking Rhodamine B (RhB) as an example, the adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics of RhB onto Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/HNTs and Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@HNTs were also investigated. The comparative results demonstrated that the adsorption ability of Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/HNTs was better than that of Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@HNTs. Moreover, the dissolved concentration of Fe<sup>2+</sup> and production amount of hydroxyl radical (·OH) in the Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@HNTs-H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> system were significantly higher than those in the Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/HNTs-H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> system. Based on aforementioned comparison, the nano-confinement effect in the Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@HNTs-H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> system was verified. This work provides meaningful guidance for the cheap and convenient design of nanoreactors for Fenton-like applications.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139765291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Preparation of a wearable K-PAN@CuS composite fabric with excellent photothermal/electrothermal properties","authors":"Jintao Zhang, Qi Zhang, Wei Pan, Yu Qi, Yajie Qin, Zebo Wang, Jiarui Zhao","doi":"10.1007/s11706-023-0670-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-023-0670-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Electrospun nanofibers with highly efficient photothermal/electrothermal performance are extremely popular because of their great potential in wearable heaters. However, the lack of necessary wearable properties such as high mechanical strength and quick response of electrospun micro/nanofibers seriously affects their practical application. In this work, a technical route combining electrospinning and surface modification technology is proposed. The 3-triethoxysilylpropylamine-polyacrylonitrile@ copper sulfide (K-PAN@CuS) composite fabric was achieved by modifying the original electrospinning PAN fiber and subsequently loading CuS nanoparticles. The results show that the break strength of the K-PAN@CuS fabric was increased by 10 times compared to that of the original PAN@CuS fabric. Furthermore, the saturated temperature of the K-PAN@CuS fabric heater could reach 116 °C within 15 s at a relatively low voltage of 3 V and 120.3 °C within 10 s under an infrared therapy lamp (100 W). In addition, due to its excellent conductivity, such a unique structural design enables the fiber to be closely attached to the human skin and helps to monitor human movements. This K-PAN@CuS fabric shows great potential in wearable heaters, hyperthermia, all-weather thermal management, and <i>in vitro</i> physical therapy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"17 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138578075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hang Chen, Xinghan Yuan, Hongmei Qin, Chuanxi Xiong
{"title":"Highly reversible and long-lived zinc anode assisted by polymer-based hydrophilic coating","authors":"Hang Chen, Xinghan Yuan, Hongmei Qin, Chuanxi Xiong","doi":"10.1007/s11706-023-0668-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-023-0668-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are the most promising candidates for the energy storage due to their high safety, rich resources, and large specific capacity. However, AZIBs using neutral or slightly acidic electrolytes still face side effects and zinc dendrites on the anode surface. To stabilize the Zn anode, a chemically stable and multi-functional coating of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) was prepared on the Zn surface. The anhydride groups in 6FDA can improve the hydrophilicity, promoting the migration of zinc ions. Besides, PVDF is compatible with 6FDA because of the presence of organic F-containing groups, which can also effectively reduce the nucleation overpotential and exhibit the dendrite-free Zn deposition/stripping. The PVDF/6FDA@Zn symmetric cell can cycle for 5000 h at a current density of 0.5 mA·cm<sup>−2</sup>, maintaining the extremely low polarization voltage and overpotential of 28 and 8 mV, respectively. The PVDF/6FDA@Zn∥MnO<sub>2</sub> full cell can remain a specific capacity of ∼90 mAh·g<sup>−1</sup> after 2000 cycles at 1.5 A·g<sup>−1</sup>. This simple method achieves a reversible Zn anode, providing an inspiring strategy for ultra-long-cycle AZIBs.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"17 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138485073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effect of carbonization atmosphere on electrochemical properties of nitrogen-doped porous carbon","authors":"Fangfang Liu, Jinan Niu, Xiuyun Chuan, Yupeng Zhao","doi":"10.1007/s11706-023-0669-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11706-023-0669-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Nitrogen atom doping has been found to enhance the electrochemical performance of porous carbon (PC). In this study, hollow tubular nitrogen-doped porous carbon (N/PC) was synthesized using polyvinylpyrrolidone as the carbon–nitrogen source and fibrous brucite as the template through carbonization. The effects of nitrogen and argon protective atmospheres on the nitrogen content, the specific surface area (SSA), and electrochemical properties of N/PC were investigated. The results showed that compared with N/FBC-Ar, N/FBC-N<sub>2</sub> prepared in nitrogen protective atmosphere had a higher nitrogen content and a larger proportion of pyrrolic nitrogen (N-5) and pyridinic nitrogen (N-6). N/FBC-N<sub>2</sub> displayed a specific capacitance (<i>C</i>) of 194.1 F·g<sup>−1</sup> at 1 A·g<sup>−1</sup>, greater than that of N/FBC-Ar (174.3 F·g<sup>−1</sup>). This work reveals that the nitrogen doping with a higher nitrogen content in nitrogen protective atmosphere is more favorable. Furthermore, a larger proportion of pyrrolic nitrogen and pyridinic nitrogen in the doped nitrogen atoms significantly enhances the electrochemical performance.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":572,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers of Materials Science","volume":"17 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138480837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}