The increasing demand for nutraceutical products formulated from bioactive compounds has prompted the development and application of encapsulation technologies to facilitate their incorporation and en...

High-performance soft electronics require conductive fillers that balance functional electrical properties with mechanical compliance. This study investigates conductive protein nanowires (CPNs) from ...

Boron- and nitrogen-codoped porous carbon materials derived from polyacrylonitrile-based polymer blends are of broad interest for a range of applications, from batteries to carbon capture. However, th...

High chemical stability is key for nanofiltration (NF) membranes used in challenging separation processes. An especially challenging stream to treat is one where high salinities and extreme pH values ...

Polyelectrolyte complexation is an entropically driven, associative phase separation that has been leveraged to produce aqueously processed plastics known as polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs). Previous...

NiTi shape memory alloys possess outstanding superelasticity and functional recoverability, but their widespread application is constrained by slow stabilization and fatigue accumulation during mechanical training, often requiring hundreds of cycles. In this work, we designed a high-stability NiTi composite by engineering grain-boundary chemistry and interface structure. Using low-energy ball milling followed by spark plasma sintering, a quaternary Ti–Ni–Si–C phase forms in situ and self-organizes into a continuous grid-like network along grain boundaries. This phase exhibits a semicoherent interface with the B2 NiTi matrix phase, featuring partial lattice matching and periodic misfit dislocations. As a result, the composite rapidly stabilizes after only five cycles and demonstrates linear superelasticity of 10,000 compression cycles at 2% strain, with progressively reduced hysteresis. Meanwhile, the introduction of the Ti–Ni–Si–C and TiC phases, along with refined Ni4Ti3 precipitates, doubles the hardness from ∼250 to ∼500 HV1. This interface-guided phase design provides a general strategy for developing NiTi-based materials with rapid training, enhanced fatigue resistance, and improved mechanical robustness for advanced actuation and structural applications.

Rising energy costs in dwellings cause a significant negative social impact, creating energy insecurity. In the United States, over 33 million homes report forms of energy insecurity, with over 24 mil...

In this paper, we demonstrate electrothermal heating and curing of carbon fiber (CF)/phenolic composites to enable successive deposition for additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing). Electric fields a...

This study fabricates free-standing films from the natural polyanion carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) paired with the synthetic polycation poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) using all-aqueous processing. First, the ability of CMC and PDADMAC to form polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) in the presence of sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium bromide (KBr) was screened by using turbidity measurements. This revealed that an excess of polycations was required to induce coacervation in CMC/PDADMAC in the presence of either salt, which amassed a net positive charge in the coacervates. The optimized PEC conditions for casting were corroborated via rheological testing, which indicated higher coacervate sensitivity to KBr than to NaCl. Next, blade casting was used to spread the coacervates into a thin layer, which were processed into films using aqueous phase separation (APS). The morphology, thermal properties, and mechanical performance of the films were evaluated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and tensile testing, respectively. SEM revealed that the films were dense, with Young’s moduli ranging from 436 to 975 MPa. Higher salt concentrations in the coacervates yielded films with fractured and unstable surfaces, which resulted in a significant decrease in mechanical strength, though the films were still robust with Young’s moduli ranging from 110 to 330 MPa. With the knowledge that our CMC/PDADMAC films were manufactured with an excess of PDADMAC, we hypothesized that their cationic nature would result in intrinsic antimicrobial properties via contact killing. Indeed, all CMC/PDADMAC films inactivated ∼50% of the Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, supporting that the manufactured films present free cationic groups available to kill microbes or further chemical modifications. We suggest that these high-strength biopolymer-based films produced via sustainable all-aqueous processing hold potential for use as membranes, packaging materials, and high-touch coatings.

Polymer–metal composites that combine a soft polymer matrix with low-melting-point metal/alloy particles that can be melted within a compatible temperature range hold great promise for multifunctional additive manufacturing (AM). The reversible melting–solidification phase transition of the metal component, coupled with the mechanical flexibility and stretchability of the polymer matrix, enables thermally responsive and mechanically tunable composites suitable for 3D printing. However, a fundamental understanding of their thermal, rheological, and morphological behaviors remains limited. In this work, we investigate a series of polymer–metal composites composed of Field’s metal (FM) and thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), with the goal of elucidating the critical structure–property relationships for material extrusion-based AM. Thermo-rheological analyses reveal distinct temperature-dependent transitions strongly influenced by FM content and processing conditions. X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy further demonstrate significant process-dependent morphological evolution. Notably, these composites exhibit highly tunable thermal conductivity, achieving values up to 19 W m–1 K–1 after the postprinting processing. Successful 3D printing via pellet extrusion reveals substantial differences in thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties compared to solution-cast counterparts, primarily due to shear-induced morphological rearrangement during printing. The insights gained into the key structure–property relationships of these 3D-printable multifunctional FM–TPE composites pave the way for their potential applications in thermal management, soft electronics, and robotics.

The PMSE Division is providing up to two (2) $500 travel awards to students presenting at the ACS National Meeting Eligibility: PMSE Members who identify as female and/or who are under-represented…

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a diverse range of anthropogenic organic compounds, pose significant concerns to society due to their potential harmful impacts on human health and ecosyste...

The persistent presence of hospital-acquired bacterial infections and the growing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains necessitates a greater understanding of the initial adhesion of b...

This work introduces a class of nitrogen-rich porous polymers synthesized via “knitting polymerization” using a redox-active triphenyltriindole monomer. Two synthetic routes-thermal Friedel–Crafts rea...

ConspectusWith the rise of green engineering, there is an increasing need to manufacture materials without relying on organic solvents. Using all-aqueous approaches mitigates the industrial safety and...

We developed polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers embedded with various commercially available metal oxide particles (Fe2O3, TiO2, MnO2, Co3O4, CoFe2O4, ZnFe2O4) via electrospinning for the removal of uranium (U(VI)) from aqueous systems. We compared the performance of composites electrospun with and without the inclusion of phthalic acid (PTA), building on our prior evidence that PTA can promote particle dispersion in precursor sol–gels. Characterization using SEM, TEM, XPS, and BET confirmed that PTA results in improved metal oxide distribution within the polymer fiber, promotes enrichment of metal oxides on the nanofiber surface, and increases composite surface area and porosity. In batch sorption experiments, PTA-containing composites consistently exhibited greater U(VI) uptake than those without PTA, producing more than 2- and 3-fold increases for top-performing Fe2O3 and TiO2 composites, respectively. For Fe2O3 and TiO2 composites with PTA, U(VI) uptake increased from pH 2 to 7, suggesting a contribution from retained phthalic acid (as phthalate), and isotherm studies revealed sorption capacities exceeding ∼8 mg U/g (corresponding to >90% of U(VI) removal) at environmentally relevant concentrations (∼1 μM). These composites are offer a simple, one-pot fabrication route to high-performing U(VI) sorbents in which PTA improves metal oxide distribution, surface area and pore volume of the polymer–metal oxide composites while also contributing to U(VI) uptake via cooperative binding with embedded metal oxides.