Phototherapies including photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) are the most promising and non-invasive cancer treatments. However, the efficacy of mono-therapy of PDT or PTT is often limited by the phototherapeutic defects such as low light penetration depth of photosensitizers and insufficiency of photothermal agents. Peroxynitrite (ONOO−) has been proved to be an efficient oxidizing

Poly(styrene-b-isobutylene-b-styrene) triblock copolymer (SIBS), a kind of thermoplastic elastomer with biocompatibility and biostability containing fully saturated soft segments, could be synthesized via living cationic copolymerization. A novel poly[(styrene-co-methylstyrene)-b-isobutylene-b-(styrene-co-methylstyrene)]-g-polytetrahydrofuran (M-SIBS-g-PTHF) block graft copolymer was prepared to increase

In this work, the lamellar structural evolution and microvoids variations of β polypropylene (β-PP) during the processing of two different stretching methods, sequential biaxial stretching and simultaneous biaxial stretching, were investigated in detail. It was found that different stretching methods led to significantly different lamellae deformation modes, and the microporous membranes obtained from

Benzothiadiazole (BT) is an electron-deficient unit with fused aromatic core, which can be used to construct conjugated polymers for application in organic solar cells (OSCs). In the past twenty years, huge numbers of conjugated polymers based on BT unit have been developed, focusing on the backbone engineering (such as by using different copolymerized building blocks), side chain engineering (such

Acrylonitrile rubber (NBR) composites filled with barium titanate (BT) were prepared using an internal mixer and a two-roll mill. Also, a secondary filler, namely carbon nanotubes (CNT), was added in order to find a potential synergistic blend ratio of BT and CNT. The cure characteristics, tensile and dielectric properties (dielectric constant and dielectric loss) of the composites were determined

It remains a challenge to use a simple approach to fabricate a multi-shape memory material with high mechanical performances. Here, we report a triple crosslinking design to construct a multi-shape memory epoxy vitrimer (MSMEV), which exhibits high mechanical properties, multi-shape memory property and malleability. The triple crosslinking network is formed by reacting diglycidyl ether of bisphenol

Photo-controlled reversible-deactivation radical polymerization (photo-RDRP) has been investigated as a “green” and spatiotemporally controlling pathway for polymer synthesis. While the combination of photo-RDRP and flow chemistry has offered opportunities to increase light intensity and enable uniform light irradiation, problems associated with flow approaches still remain for photoflow-RDRP, which

The isoselective ring-opening polymerization of racemic lactide was achieved by combining N-heterocyclic olefin (NHO) with mono(thio)ureas or bis(thio)ureas as catalytic systems. The polymerization process shows high stereoselectivity, controllability and reactivity, delivering multi-block isotactic polylactides with high chain-end fidelity and narrow molecular weight distributions. The enhancement

The synthesis of block copolymers of poly(tetrahydrofuran)-b-poly(a-amino acid) (PTHF-b-PAA) is challenging since it is difficult to combine the two blocks produced via different/conflicting ring-opening polymerization (ROP) mechanisms. In this contribution, the cationic ROP of THF is catalyzed by rare-earth triflate [RE(OTf)3] and terminated by 2-(t-butyloxycarbonyl-amino) ethanol (BAE). After the

The great potential of liquid-crystalline block copolymers (LCBCs) containing photoresponsive mesogens toward novel applications in photonics and nanotechnology has been attracting increasing attention, due to the combination of the inherent property of microphase separation of block copolymers and the hierarchically-assembled structures of liquid-crystalline polymers (LCPs). The periodically ordered

Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) receives increasing attention in membrane separation field based on its advantages such as high mechanical strength, thermal and chemical stability. However, controlling the microporous structure is still challenging. In this work, we attempted to tailor the morphology of PVDF-HFP membrane via a one-step reactive vapor induced phase separation

Even under low external force, a few macromolecules of a polymer have to be much more highly stressed and fractured first due to the inherent heterogeneous microstructure. When the materials keep on working under loading, as is often the case, the minor damages would add up, endangering the safety of use. Here we show an innovative solution based on mechanochemically initiated reversible cascading

The crystallization and melting behavior of polymers is of theoretical importance. In this work, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) was selected as an example to study such behavior at low supercooling via introduction of the extended-chain crystal (ECC) of the same polymer as nucleating agent. The crystallization of PBS with its ECC as nucleating agent in a wide temperature range (90–127 °C) and the following

To design high efficiency polymer solar cells (PSCs), it is of great importance to develop suitable polymer donors that work well with the low bandgap acceptors, providing complementary absorption, forming interpenetrating networks in the active layers and minimizing energy loss. Recently, we developed a series of two-dimension-conjugated polymers based on bithienylbenzodithiophene-alt-benzotriazole

Multilayer membranes prepared via microlayer coextrusion have attracted wide attention due to their unique properties and broad applications. In present study, the foam/film alternating multilayer sheets based on ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and high-density polyethylene are successfully prepared via microlayer coextrusion. The cells in the sheets are single-cell-array along the foamed EVA

Graphene oxide (GO), which consists of two-dimensional (2D) sp2 carbon hexagonal networks and oxygen-contained functional groups, has laid the foundation of mass production and applications of graphene materials. Made by chemical oxidation of graphite, GO is highly dispersible or even solubilized in water and polar organic solvents, which resolves the hard problem of graphene processing and opens a

We describe the lower critical solution temperature (LCST)-type phase behavior of poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) dissolved in hydrophobic 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis{(trifluoromethyl) sulfonyl}amide ionic liquids (ILs). The temperature-composition phase diagrams of these PBA/ILs systems are strongly asymmetric with the critical composition shifted to low concentrations of PBA. As the molecular weight

An imidazolium-based ionic liquid (IL) modified triphenylamine derivative, namely 1-(4-((4-(diphenylamino)benzoyl) oxy)butyl)-3-methyl imidazole tetrafluoroborate (TPAC6IL-BF4), was designed and synthesized, and further applied with 3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene (EDOT) to prepare conjugated copolymer P(EDOT:TPAC6IL-BF4) via electrochemical polymerization. The cyclic voltammetry curves show that the copolymer

Conformation and dynamical evolution of block copolymers in shear flow is an important topic in polymer physics that underscores the forming process of various materials. We explored deformation and dynamics of copolymers composed of rigid or flexible blocks in simple shear flow by employing multiparticle collision dynamics integrated with molecular dynamics simulations. We found that compared with

Silica rods with homogeneous (hydrophilic or hydrophobic) and amphiphilic surface properties were synthesized and their efficiencies in suppressing the flow-induced droplet coalescence of immiscible polyisobutylene (PIB)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) blends were evaluated via in situ visualization technique. The flow-induced coalescence behavior of blends was found to strongly depend on the surface nature

The polyacidic character of polyoxometalate (POM) clusters endows high ionic conductivity, making these clusters good candidates for solar and fuel cells. Covalent bonding of clusters to polymer chains creates poly(POM)s that are polyelectrolytes with both cluster functions and polymer performance. Thus, solution-processable poly(POM)s are expected to be used as key materials in advanced devices. Further

High-performance carbon nanofibers are highly dependent on the performance of their precursors, especially polyacrylonitrile (PAN). In this work, the copolymer of PAN (coPAN) was synthesized for electrospinning. A self-assembling set-up was used for the stretching of single coPAN nanofibers. FTIR and Raman spectroscopies were used to characterize the chemical structure of coPAN nanofibers. Scanning

Recently, hollow filler as an emerging concept is attracting more attention in preparation of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). Herein, poly(ethylene glycol) microcapsules (PMC) are synthesized via distillation precipitation polymerization and embedded into the polyetherimide (Ultem®1000) matrix to fabricate MMMs for CO2 capture. The PMC exhibits a preferential hollow structure within the Ultem matrix

An effective design strategy for preparing highly transparent polyimide film with low dielectric constant is presented. The key to the strategy is to simultaneously introduce meta-substituted structure and trifluoromethyl in polymer chains. By using this design strategy, a highly transparent polyimide film with low-k was synthesized from 3,5-diaminobenzotrifluoride (m-TFPDA) and 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)

Smart materials with a combination of tough solid-like properties, fast self-healing and optical responsiveness are of interests for the development of new soft machines and wearable electronics. In this work, tough physically cross-linked elastomers that show high mechanical strength, intriguing temperature-adaptable self-healing and fluorochromic response properties are designed using aluminum (Al)

Spherulites are the most common crystalline morphology and thus the visual expression of crystal structures for polymers. The diversified patterns have provided intuitive morphology probes for various crystallization behaviors, while the correlations between them are still needed to be enriched. In this work, the complicated spherulitic morphology of poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF), which is sensitive

Photoinduced reversible liquefaction and solidification of polymers enable processing and healing of polymers with light. Some azobenzene-containing polymers (azopolymers) exhibit two types of photoinduced liquefaction properties: photoinduced reversible solid-to-liquid transition and directional photofluidization. For the first type, light switches the glass transition temperature (Tg) values of azopolymers

The infection induced by implantation of biomedical materials may result from the biofilm formation after bacteria attachment. Hence, the antibiofilm surface coating represents a novel technique to improve the antibacterial activity of biomedical materials. The traditional antibiofilm surface coatings exhibited some disadvantages and provided a limited service life. In this work, we used polyethyleneimine

Stereocomplex crystallization in asymmetric diblock copolymers was studied using dynamic Monte Carlo simulations, and the key factor dominating the formation of stereocomplex crystallites (SCs) was uncovered. The asymmetric diblock copolymers with higher degree of asymmetry exhibit larger difference between volume fractions of beads of different blocks, and local miscibility between different kinds

Polymerization of 2-(4-halophenyl)-1,3-butadiene (2-XPB) and their copolymerization with isoprene using a yttrium catalyst have been examined. The β-diketiminato yttrium bis(alkyl) complex (1) activated by [Ph3C][B(C6F5)4] and AliBu3 shows high cis-1,4-selectivity (>98%) for the polymerization of 2-XPB (2-XPB = 2-FPB, 2-ClPB and 2-BrPB) to afford halogenated plastic poly(dienes) with glass transition

With the quick emergence of antibiotic resistance and multi-drug resistant microbes, more and more attention has been paid to the development of new antimicrobial agents that have potential to take the challenge. Polysaccharides, as one of the major classes of biopolymers, were explored for their antimicrobial properties and applications, owing to their easy accessibility, biocompatibility and easy

In this work, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) microfiltration hollow fiber membranes prepared via the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method were modified by chemically bounding hydrophilic silica (SiO2) nanoparticles onto the surface to improve anti-fouling performance. A range of testing techniques including attenuated total reflection Flourier transformed infrared spectroscopy

Flexible electrochromic (EC) materials have an urgent demand in the current electronic equipment market due to their technological interest and applications. However, at present, few flexible EC devices developed by industry exist due to some problems and challenges still to be solved such as flexibility. In this work, we have successfully synthesized a novel thiophene-furan (TFu) monomer via Stille

Flexible strain sensor has promising features in successful application of health monitoring, electronic skins and smart robotics, etc. Here, we report an ultrasensitive strain sensor with a novel crack-wrinkle structure (CWS) based on graphite nanoplates (GNPs)/thermoplastic urethane (TPU)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanocomposite. The CWS is constructed by pressing and dragging GNP layer on TPU substrate

With the exploration of novel sustainable protocol for functional polyamides’ (PAs) construction as the starting point, herein, the small molecular model compound (M1-ssBIC) was prepared firstly by manual grinding of monofunctional benzoxazine (1a) and isocyanide (1b) via solid-state benzoxazine-isocyanide chemistry (ssBIC) to evaluate the feasibility of ssBIC. Linear PAs (P1-series polymers) were

It is still a great challenge to mimic the structure and function of natural rubber by introducing polar components into synthetic polyisoprene. In order to explore the function of phosphate groups on the mechanical properties of polyisoprene rubber, a terminally functionalized compound (PIP-P) containing phosphate groups was synthesized and further vulcanized to prepare the model compound V-PIP-P

In the family of polyimide (PI) materials, Upilex-S® film has been a shining star through the research PI materials due to its appealing merits. Unfortunately, the wholly rigid-rod backbone and easily formed skin-core micromorphology and microvoids of Upilex-S® type PI lead to the high difficulty in melt- and wet-spinning fabrication. Herein, we propose a facile and scalable method, reaction-spinning

Rheological explosion in polymers under uniaxial compression in an open volume occurs at the end of continuous rapid plastic deformation after several stages of creep. Two types of polymers were chosen for this study: brittle glassy amorphous polystyrene and thermoplastic semi-crystalline polypropylene. Electric pulses were detected during explosion, and their spectra were analyzed with two models

Direct arylation methods have been used to polymerize thienylmethylene oxindoles (TEIs) and 3,3-bis[[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]methyl]-3,4-dihydro-2H-thieno-[3,4-b][1,4]dioxepin (ProDOT) for new donor-acceptor conjugated polymers. The polymers exhibited blue hues in neutral-state with distinct color-to-transmissive reversible electrochromic switching under applied potentials from 0 V to +1.5 V, and showed

In the version of this Article originally published, Fig. 7(f) was confused with Fig. 4(f). The corrected version of Fig. 7 is provided below. This graphical amendment does not affect the analyses, and additional text corrections are not needed.

In this work, Monte Carlo simulations are used to study the critical adsorption behaviors of flexible polymer chains under the action of an external driving force F parallel to an attractive flat surface. The critical adsorption temperature Tc decreases linearly with increasing F, indicating that the driving force suppresses the adsorption of polymer. The conformation of polymer is also affected by

Stimulus-responsive polymers containing dynamic bonds enable fascinating properties of self-healing, recycling and reprocessing due to enhanced relaxation of polymer chain/network with labile linkages. Here, we study the structure and properties of a new type of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) with trapped dynamic covalent bonds in the hard-phase domain and report the frustrated relaxation of TPUs

The stability of ultrathin polymer films plays a crucial role in their technological applications. Here, we systematically investigated the influence of interfacial adsorption in physical aging and the stability of thin polymer films in the solvent-induced process. We further identify the stability mechanism from the theory of thin film stability. Our results show that the aging temperature and film

We adopt Langevin dynamics to explore the stress-structure relationship of telechelic reversible associating polymer gel during startup shear flow, with shear strengths varying from Wi = 12.6 to Wi = 12640. At weak shear flow Wi = 12.6, the shear stress proportionally increases with shear strain at short times, followed by a strain hardening behavior and then passes through a maximum (σmax, γmax) and

A series of semi-aromatic polyesters named as Poly(PO-CHO-PA) were facilely synthesized via ring-opening terpolymerization of bio-based cyclohexane oxide (CHO)/propylene oxide (PO)/phthalic anhydride (PA) using economical U1/PPNCl as dual catalyst. The proportion of CHO-PA and PO-PA segments in polymer can be readily altered by changing the feed ratio of CHO/PO because the reactivity ratios of CHO

Side-chain engineering plays a significant role in the design of conjugated materials. In this work, a series of conjugated polymers PBDB-T-R with functionalized groups at the end of side units were developed as electron donor for organic solar cells (OSCs). The donor polymers PBDB-T-I and PBDB-T-OAc with iodine and acetate end groups exhibited similar absorption and energy levels, but showed much

Due to the important role of oil source in our life, the separation of water-in-oil emulsion is urgent and necessary. Membrane seperation technology has been an efficient and widely used method in separating oil-water separation. Herein, we report a versatile approach to fabricate surface carbonized membranes with self-standing property from biomass-derived precursor by synergistic charring of phytic

Chain architecture effect on static and dynamic properties of unentangled polymers is explored by molecular dynamics simulation and Rouse mode analysis based on graph theory. For open chains, although they generally obey ideal scaling in chain dimensions, local structure exhibits nonideal behavior due to the incomplete excluded volume (EV) screening, the reduced mean square internal distance (MSID)

The correlation between aggregates and bound rubber structures in silicone rubbers (S(phr)) with various silica fractions (ΦSi) has been investigated by contrast matching small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), swelling kinetics, and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Mixed solvents with deuterated cyclohexane fractions of 4.9% and 53.7% were chosen to match the scattering length densities

The nanoparticle (NP) functionalization is an effective method for enhancing their compatibility with polymer which can influence the fracture property of the polymer nanocomposites (PNCs). This work aims to further understand the cavitation and crazing process, hoping to uncover the fracture mechanism on the molecular level. By adopting a coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation, the fracture

The integration of high strength and toughness concurrently is a vital requirement for elastomers from the perspective of long-term durability and reliability. Unfortunately, these properties are generally conflicting in artificial materials. In the present work, we propose a facile strategy to simultaneously toughen and strengthen elastomers by constructing 3D segregated filler network via a simple

The intramolecular cross-linking of single polymer chains can form single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs), which have many applications. In this study, styrenic copolymers with pendent triphenylphosphine as the coordination site for platinum ions (Pt(II)) and benzocyclobutene as the latent reactive groups are synthesized. Triphenylphosphine groups in the chains can coordinate Pt(II) and aid slight single-chain

The branching structures in natural rubber (NR) were believed to be critical for its superior mechanical properties. However, it is challenging to unravel the branching structure-function relationship of NR due to the complexity of the system. Herein, polyisoprene-(polyisoprene-g-polylactide) (PI-PLA) as model compound containing branching structure was designed and synthesized, which can improve the

Flexible and wearable strain sensors for human-computer interaction, health monitoring, and soft robotics have drawn widespread attention to promising applications in the next generation of artificial intelligence devices. However, conventional semiconductor sensors are difficult to meet the requirements of flexibility and stretchability. Here, we reported a kind of novel and simple sensor based on

New ambient sound absorption material, lightweight isocyanate-based polyimide foam (IBPIF), was fabricated by operable combination between different distinctive acoustic IBPIF. Cellular structure of IBPIF was facilely and obviously adjusted by increased slurry temperature corresponding to change in distinctive acoustic properties. Moreover, density of all IBPIF kept at only 12–17 kg/m3. With increasing

With the expanding application of capacitors, thermal resistant dielectric materials are in high demand due to the increasing harsh environments where the capacitors are needed and the heat generated by the capacitors. Herein, we present polyarylene ether nitrile and titanium dioxide hybrids which can be used as thermal resistant dielectrics for these capacitors. Phthalonitrile modified titanium dioxide

Elastomeric vitrimers with covalent adaptable networks are promising candidates to overcome the intrinsic drawbacks of conventional covalently-crosslinked elastomers; however, most elastomeric vitrimers show poor mechanical properties and require the addition of exogenous catalysts. Herein, we fabricate a catalyst-free and mechanically robust elastomeric vitrimer by constructing a segregated structure

Oriented “shish-kebab” structures could be obtained by shearing to enhance the mechanical properties of polymer samples markedly. However, the effect of shear mode on mechanical properties is still uncertain. The study of stepped hoop shear field on the isotactic polypropylene (iPP) pipe was developed through applying a self-designed rotational shear system (RSS). The effect of stepped shear field

4-Aminophenylalanine (4APhe), an exotic amino acid which is obtained as a microorganism metabolite of glucose, is polycondensed with various tetracarboxylic dianhydrides as a diamine monomer to obtain poly(amic acid)s. Subsequent thermal imidization of poly(amic acid)s is made at 220 °C with stepwise heating from 100 °C. Some of the obtained polyimides (PIs) exhibited good solubility in organic solvents

Cellulose diacetate (CDA) can be melt-processed to produce numerous and widely-used plastic products. However, due to the high glass transition temperature (Tg) of CDA, the addition of up to 30 wt% of micromolecular plasticizers is indispensable, which significantly reduces the dimensional stability and raises safety concerns from the migration of plasticizers. In this work, a series of CDA-graft-poly(lactic