High-strength cellulose/poly(ethylene glycol) gels

Robust, transparent, self-healable, recyclable all-starch-based gel with thermoelectric capability for wearable sensor

Conventional all-starch-based (ASB) gels are weak and lack ductility. The preparation of a robust ASB gel with multi-functionalities e.g., self-healing, anti-freezing, conductivity, and so forth, is highly desirable but challenging. Herein, a new kind of ASB gel was prepared by gelatinizing starch in urea and choline chloride solution (UC) with the aid of water. Its tensile strength was up to 1.08 MPa with a tensile strain of 313 %, and this value hardly changed after 10 days ageing. A high healing efficiency of 98 % can be achieved after 1 h of healing at room temperature, and the healed tensile strength reaches up to ca. 1.06 MPa, which is almost the highest value for ASB gel. The resultant ASB gel can surfer from bending and twisting at -80 °C. Moreover, ASB gel also exhibits excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. In addition, UC endowed the ASB gel with ion conductivity, allowing it to be used as a flexible strain sensor to monitor human movement. The ion-conductive ASB gel also exhibited thermoelectric ability with a Seebeck coefficient of 2.5 mV K-1, which can be further improved to 5 mV K-1 with a maximum output voltage of 252 mV by introducing a gradient of ionic concentration.

Efficient dissolution of cellulose in slow-cooling alkaline systems and interacting modes between alkali and urea at the molecular level

The dissolution of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) in a urea-NaOH system is beneficial for its mechanical processing. The apparent MCC solubility was greatly improved to 14 wt% under a slow-cooling condition with a cooling rate of -0.3 °C/min. The cooling curve or thermal history played a crucial role in the dissolution process. An exotherm (-54.7 ± 3 J/g MCC) was detected by DSC only under the slow-cooling condition, and the cryogenic dissolution of MCC was attributed to the exothermic interaction between MCC and solvent. More importantly, the low cooling rate promoted the dissolution of MCC by providing enough time for the diffusion of OH- and urea into MCC granules at higher temperatures. The Raman spectral data showed that the intramolecularly and intermolecularly hydrogen bonds in cellulose were cleaved by NaOH and urea, respectively. XPS and solid-state 13C NMR results showed that hydrogen bonds were generated after dissolution, and a dual-hydrogen-bond binding mode between urea and cellulose was confirmed by DFT calculations. Both the decrease of enthalpy and increase of entropy dominated the spontaneity of MCC dissolution, and that is the reason for the indispensability of cryogenic environment. The high apparent solubility of MCC in the slow-cooling process and the dissolution mechanism are beneficial for the studies on cellulose modification and mechanical processing.

Cellulose Dissolution, Modification, and the Derived Hydrogel: A Review

The cellulose-based hydrogel has occupied a pivotal position in almost all walks of life. However, the native cellulose can not be directly used for preparing hydrogel due to the complex non-covalent interactions. Some literature has discussed the dissolution and modification of cellulose but has yet to address the influence of the pretreatment on the as-prepared hydrogels. Firstly, the "touching" of cellulose by derived and non-derived solvents was introduced, namely, the dissolution of cellulose. Secondly, the "conversion" of functional groups on the cellulose surface by special routes, which is the modification of cellulose. The above-mentioned two parts were intended to explain the changes in physicochemical properties of cellulose by these routes and their influences on the subsequent hydrogel preparation. Finally, the "reinforcement" of cellulose-based hydrogels by physical and chemical techniques was summarized, viz., improving the mechanical properties of cellulose-based hydrogels and the changes in the multi-level structure of the interior of cellulose-based hydrogels.

Performance-enhanced regenerated cellulose film by adding grape seed extract

Eco-friendly packaging material with intelligent colorimetric performance has been a requirement for food safety and quality. This work focused on a food packaging material from regenerated cellulose films that added the grape seed extract (GSE) and polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG). FTIR and SEM techniques were employed to prove the compatibility of GSE with cellulose matrix. The composite film showed an enhanced elongation at break (16.61 %) and tensile strength (33.09 MPa). The addition of PEG and GSE also improved the water contact angle of regenerated-cellulose film from 53.8° to 83.8°. Moreover, the composite films exhibited UV-blocking properties while maintaining adequate transparency. The GSE induced the regenerated films with a macroscopic change in color under different pH conditions. Furthermore, the loading of GSE slowed down the decomposition of strawberries and delayed the self-biodegradation compared with the control for more than 3 days and 18 days. The present study showed a regenerated cellulose film with acceptable mechanical and hydrophilia properties, pH-responsiveness, anti-decomposition, and delayed biodegradation performances, indicating a potential color sensor in food packaging.

Evaluation of Cellulose–MXene Composite Hydrogel Based Bio-Resistive Random Access Memory Material as Mimics for Biological Synapses

We report a memory device based on organic-inorganic hybrid cellulose-Ti₃C₂T_X MXene composite hydrogel (CMCH) as a switching layer sandwiched between Ag top and FTO bottom electrodes. The device (Ag/CMCH/FTO) was fabricated by a simple, solution-processed route and exhibits reliable and reproducible bipolar resistive switching. Multilevel switching behavior was observed at low operating voltages (±0.5 to ±1 V). Furthermore, the capacitive-coupled memristive characteristics of the device were corroborated with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and this affirmed the filamentary conduction switching mechanism (LRS-HRS). The synaptic functions of the CMCH-based memory device were evaluated, wherein potentiation/depression properties over 8 × 10³ electric pulses were observed. The device also exhibited spike time-dependent plasticity-based symmetric Hebbian learning rule of a biological synapse. This hybrid hydrogel is expected to be a potential switching material for low-cost, sustainable, and biocompatible memory storage devices and artificial synaptic applications.

Silver loaded biodegradable carboxymethyl chitin films with long-lasting antibacterial activity for infected wound healing

Bacteria-related infections are one of the main causes of human skin infections, which are associated with the delay of wound healing and secondary complications. In this work, a series of novel biodegradable films based on thermosensitive carboxymethyl chitin were prepared without using any crosslinkers. All the carboxymethyl chitin films had good flexibility, high transparency, and appropriate water absorption capacity, and could provide a moist environment for wound healing. The silver ions (Ag⁺) were incorporated on the LTCF-5 film, which had the best mechanical strength (56.39 MPa in the dry state and 0.66 MPa in the wet state) among the carboxymethyl chitin films and was higher than those of the reported biodegradable dressings and commercially available dressings. Compared with the commercial hydrofiber dressing with silver (AQUACEL®), the composite film could provide slow and sustained release of Ag⁺ with good strength and biodegradability, and displayed excellent long-lasting antibacterial activity in vitro against both S. aureus and E. coli without obvious cytotoxicity, which still possessed good antibacterial activity with almost 100% bacteriostatic rates after soaking in phosphate buffered saline for 7 days. More importantly, the Ag⁺ loaded carboxymethyl chitin film could promote infected cutaneous wound healing in a S. aureus infected full-thickness cutaneous defect in vivo model because of its long-lasting antibacterial activity, good biocompatibility, exudate absorption and ability to maintain a moist environment. Thus Ag⁺ loaded carboxymethyl chitin films are excellent candidates for infected wound healing.

High-Performance Hydrogel Adsorbent Based on Cellulose, Hemicellulose, and Lignin for Copper(II) Ion Removal

Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin are three kinds of biopolymer in lignocellulosic biomass, and the utilization of the three biopolymers to synthesize hydrogel adsorbent could protect the environment and enhance the economic value of the biomass. A novel hydrogel adsorbent was prepared using cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose of wheat straw by a one-pot method, and the adsorbent showed excellent adsorption performance for copper(II) ions. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that the prepared straw-biopolymer-based hydrogel had porous structure, and cellulose fibrils had crosslinked with lignin and hemicellulose by poly(acrylic acid) chains. The effects of contact time, initial concentration, and temperature on the copper(II) ion removal using the prepared hydrogels were investigated, and the obtained results indicated that the adsorption kinetics conformed to the pseudo-second-order and Elovich equation models and the adsorption isotherm was in accord with the Freundlich model. The adsorption thermodynamics study indicated that the adsorption process was spontaneous and accompanied by heat. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the adsorption behavior resulted from ion exchange. The prepared hydrogel based on cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin could be used for water treatment and soil remediation because of its high performances of excellent heavy metal ion removal and water retention.

Mechanics Design in Cellulose-Enabled High-Performance Functional Materials

The abundance of cellulose found in natural resources such as wood, and the wide spectrum of structural diversity of cellulose nanomaterials in the form of micro-nano-sized particles and fibers, have sparked a tremendous interest to utilize cellulose's intriguing mechanical properties in designing high-performance functional materials, where cellulose's structure-mechanics relationships are pivotal. In this progress report, multiscale mechanics understanding of cellulose, including the key role of hydrogen bonding, the dependence of structural interfaces on the spatial hydrogen bond density, the effect of nanofiber size and orientation on the fracture toughness, are discussed along with recent development on enabling experimental design techniques such as structural alteration, manipulation of anisotropy, interface and topology engineering. Progress in these fronts renders cellulose a prospect of being effectuated in an array of emerging sustainable applications and being fabricated into high-performance structural materials that are both strong and tough.

Soft Materials by Design: Unconventional Polymer Networks Give Extreme Properties

Hydrogels are polymer networks infiltrated with water. Many biological hydrogels in animal bodies such as muscles, heart valves, cartilages, and tendons possess extreme mechanical properties including being extremely tough, strong, resilient, adhesive, and fatigue-resistant. These mechanical properties are also critical for hydrogels' diverse applications ranging from drug delivery, tissue engineering, medical implants, wound dressings, and contact lenses to sensors, actuators, electronic devices, optical devices, batteries, water harvesters, and soft robots. Whereas numerous hydrogels have been developed over the last few decades, a set of general principles that can rationally guide the design of hydrogels using different materials and fabrication methods for various applications remain a central need in the field of soft materials. This review is aimed at synergistically reporting: (i) general design principles for hydrogels to achieve extreme mechanical and physical properties, (ii) implementation strategies for the design principles using unconventional polymer networks, and (iii) future directions for the orthogonal design of hydrogels to achieve multiple combined mechanical, physical, chemical, and biological properties. Because these design principles and implementation strategies are based on generic polymer networks, they are also applicable to other soft materials including elastomers and organogels. Overall, the review will not only provide comprehensive and systematic guidelines on the rational design of soft materials, but also provoke interdisciplinary discussions on a fundamental question: why does nature select soft materials with unconventional polymer networks to constitute the major parts of animal bodies?

In Vitro Release Study of the Polymeric Drug Nanoparticles: Development and Validation of a Novel Method

The in vitro release study is a critical test to assess the safety, efficacy, and quality of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, but there is no compendial or regulatory standard. The variety of testing methods makes direct comparison among different systems difficult. We herein proposed a novel sample and separate (SS) method by combining the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) apparatus II (paddle) with well-validated centrifugal ultrafiltration (CU) technique that efficiently separated the free drug from nanoparticles. Polymeric drug nanoparticles were prepared by using a four-stream multi-inlet vortex mixer with d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate as a stabilizer. Itraconazole, cholecalciferol, and flurbiprofen were selected to produce three different nanoparticles with particle size <100 nm. By comparing with the dialysis membrane (DM) method and the SS methods using syringe filters, this novel SS + CU technique was considered the most appropriate in terms of the accuracy and repeatability to provide the in vitro release kinetics of nanoparticles. Interestingly, the DM method appeared to misestimate the release kinetics of nanoparticles through separate mechanisms. This work offers a superior analytical technique for studying in vitro drug release from polymeric nanoparticles, which could benefit the future development of in vitro-in vivo correlation of polymeric nanoparticles.

Flexible Films for Smart Thermal Management: Influence of Structure Construction of a Two-Dimensional Graphene Network on Active Heat Dissipation Response Behavior

In recent years, the development and wide application of micro-electronic technology brings forward high demands for active thermal management systems. However, such systems are not only costly, but also usually tethered, and need constant power to operate. To avoid such a limitation, smart thermal management systems have been developed to achieve active thermal management. Here, inspired by the temperature control principle of a butterfly, a shape memory polymer was used to endow the thermally conductive graphene-polymer hybrid film with intelligence. As the device temperature reaches 60 °C, the bud-shaped hybrid film started to bloom, which is a visually active heat dissipation process. As a result, this active process promoted the thermal management capacity of the hybrid film and increased the temperature-raising time of the light-emitting diode. Through the construction of a bilayer structure, the transmission channel for phonon transfer was optimized, which lead the hybrid film to attain a remarkable thermal conductivity of 21.83 W·m^-1·K^-1 with 30 wt % graphene. This graphene-polymer hybrid film shows potential application in the smart thermal management field.

Highly transparent, highly flexible composite membrane with multiple antimicrobial effects used for promoting wound healing

In recent years, bacterial cellulose (BC)-based dressings or patches for skin or soft tissue repair have become investigative emphasis. However, most of the BC-based products used for biomedical applications present limitations due to their low flexibility, poor gas permeability and no inherent antibacterial activity. Herein, we proposed and designed a novel composite composed of natural bacterial cellulose (BC), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyhexamethylene biguanidine (PHMB) through new synthetic approaches. The composite membrane exhibited favorable physicochemical performance, especially transparency, water retention ability, flexibility as well as the characteristic of anti-adhesion. In vitro biochemical experiment results indicated that the composite had excellent biocompatibility and exhibited strong and sustained antibacterial effect. In vivo test further demonstrated that the composite could efficiently promote skin wound healing and regeneration in a rat model. This composite membrane possesses multiple mechanisms of promoting cutaneous wound healing and will provide new ideas for future development of wound dressings.

Paper-Based Supercapacitive Mechanical Sensors

Paper has been pursued as an interesting substrate material for sensors in applications such as microfluidics, bio-sensing of analytes and printed microelectronics. It offers advantages of being inexpensive, lightweight, environmentally friendly and easy to use. However, currently available paper-based mechanical sensors suffer from inadequate range and accuracy. Here, using the principle of supercapacitive sensing, we fabricate force sensors from paper with ultra-high sensitivity and unprecedented configurability. The high sensitivity comes from the sensitive dependence of a supercapacitor's response on the contact area between a deformable electrolyte and a pair of electrodes. As a key component, we develop highly deformable electrolytes by coating ionic gel on paper substrates which can be cut and shaped into complex three-dimensional geometries. Paper dissolves in the ionic gel after determining the shape of the electrolytes, leaving behind transparent electrolytes with micro-structured fissures responsible for their high deformability. Exploiting this simple paper-based fabrication process, we construct diverse sensors of different configurations that can measure not just force but also its normal and shear components. The new sensors have range and sensitivity several orders of magnitude higher than traditional MEMS capacitive sensors, in spite of their being easily fabricated from paper with no cleanroom facilities.

Comparison of Antibacterial Adhesion When Salivary Pellicle Is Coated on Both Poly(2-hydroxyethyl-methacrylate)- and Polyethylene-glycol-methacrylate-grafted Poly(methyl methacrylate)

Although poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) and polyethylene glycol methacrylate (PEGMA) have been demonstrated to inhibit bacterial adhesion, no study has compared antibacterial adhesion when salivary pellicle is coated on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) grafted with pHEMA and on PMMA grafted with PEGMA. In this study, PMMA discs were fabricated from a commercial orthodontic acrylic resin system (Ortho-Jet). Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectra taken before and after grafting confirmed that pHEMA and PEGMA were successfully grafted on PMMA. Contact angle measurements revealed PMMA-pHEMA to be the most hydrophilic, followed by PMMA-PEGMA, and then by PMMA. Zeta potential analysis revealed the most negative surface charges on PMMA-PEGMA, followed by PMMA-pHEMA, and then by PMMA. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed green fluorescence in the background, indicating images that influenced the accuracy of the quantification of live bacteria. Both the optical density value measured at 600 nm and single plate-serial dilution spotting showed that pHEMA was more effective than PEGMA against Escherichia coli and Streptococcus mutans, although the difference was not significant. Therefore, the grafting of pHEMA and PEGMA separately on PMMA is effective against bacterial adhesion, even after the grafted PMMA were coated with salivary pellicle. Surface hydrophilicity, bactericidality, and Coulomb repulsion between the negatively charged bacteria and the grafted surface contributed to the effectiveness.

Gelation-Assisted Layer-by-Layer Deposition of High Performance Nanocomposites

Layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly produces nanocomposites with distinctively high volume fractions of nanomaterials and nanometer scale controlled uniformity. Although deposition of one nanometer scale layer at a time leads to high performance composites, this deposition mode is also associated with the slow multilayer build-up. Exponential LBL, spin coating, turbo-LBL and other methods tremendously accelerate the multilayer build-up but often yield lower, strength, toughness, conductivity, etc. Here, we introduce gelation assisted layer-by-layer (gaLBL) deposition taking advantage of a repeating cycle of hydrogel formation and subsequent polymer infiltration demonstrated using aramid nanofiber (ANF) and epoxy resin (EPX) as deposition partners. Utilization of ANF gels increases the thickness of each deposited layer from 1–10 nm to 30–300 nm while retaining fine control of thickness in each layer, high volume fraction, and uniformity. While increasing the speed of the deposition, the high density of interfaces associated with nanofiber gels helps retain high mechanical properties. The ANF/EPX multilayer composites revealed a rare combination of properties that was unavailable in traditional aramid-based and other composites, namely, high ultimate strength of 505±47 MPa, high toughness of 50.1±9.8 MJ/m3, and high transparency. Interestingly, the composite also displayed close-to-zero thermal expansion. The constellation of these materials properties is unique both for quasi-anisotropic composites and unidirectional materials with nanofiber alignment. gaLBL demonstrates the capability to resolve the fundamental challenge between high-performance and scalability. The gelation-assisted layered deposition can be extended to other functional components including nanoparticle gels.

Water-Rich Biomimetic Composites with Abiotic Self-Organizing Nanofiber Network

Load-bearing soft tissues, e.g., cartilage, ligaments, and blood vessels, are made predominantly from water (65-90%) which is essential for nutrient transport to cells. Yet, they display amazing stiffness, toughness, strength, and deformability attributed to the reconfigurable 3D network from stiff collagen nanofibers and flexible proteoglycans. Existing hydrogels and composites partially achieve some of the mechanical properties of natural soft tissues, but at the expense of water content. Concurrently, water-rich biomedical polymers are elastic but weak. Here, biomimetic composites from aramid nanofibers interlaced with poly(vinyl alcohol), with water contents of as high as 70-92%, are reported. With tensile moduli of ≈9.1 MPa, ultimate tensile strains of ≈325%, compressive strengths of ≈26 MPa, and fracture toughness of as high as ≈9200 J m^-2 , their mechanical properties match or exceed those of prototype tissues, e.g., cartilage. Furthermore, with reconfigurable, noncovalent interactions at nanomaterial interfaces, the composite nanofiber network can adapt itself under stress, enabling abiotic soft tissue with multiscale self-organization for effective load bearing and energy dissipation.

Fundamentals of double network hydrogels

Double network (DN) hydrogels as promising soft-and-tough materials intrinsically possess extraordinary mechanical strength and toughness due to their unique contrasting network structures, strong interpenetrating network entanglement, and efficient energy dissipation.

Multi-scale multi-mechanism design of tough hydrogels: building dissipation into stretchy networks

As swollen polymer networks in water, hydrogels are usually brittle. However, hydrogels with high toughness play critical roles in many plant and animal tissues as well as in diverse engineering applications. Here we review the intrinsic mechanisms of a wide variety of tough hydrogels developed over the past few decades. We show that tough hydrogels generally possess mechanisms to dissipate substantial mechanical energy but still maintain high elasticity under deformation. The integrations and interactions of different mechanisms for dissipating energy and maintaining elasticity are essential to the design of tough hydrogels. A matrix that combines various mechanisms is constructed for the first time to guide the design of next-generation tough hydrogels. We further highlight that a particularly promising strategy for the design is to implement multiple mechanisms across multiple length scales into nano-, micro-, meso-, and macro-structures of hydrogels.

Biosynthesis and Characterization of Nanocellulose-Gelatin Films

A nanocellulose-gelatin (bacterial cellulose gelatin (BCG)) film was developed by a supplement of gelatin, at a concentration of 1%-10% w/v, in a coconut-water medium under the static cultivation of Acetobacter xylinum. The two polymers exhibited a certain degree of miscibility. The BCG film displayed dense and uniform homogeneous structures. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results demonstrated interactions between the cellulose and gelatin. Incorporation of gelatin into a cellulose nanofiber network resulted in significantly improved optical transparency and water absorption capacity of the films. A significant drop in the mechanical strengths and a decrease in the porosity of the film were observed when the supplement of gelatin was more than 3% (w/v). The BCG films showed no cytotoxicity against Vero cells.

Overcoming interfacial affinity issues in natural fiber reinforced polylactide biocomposites by surface adsorption of amphiphilic block copolymers

This work demonstrates that the interfacial properties in a natural fiber reinforced polylactide bio-composite can be tailored through surface adsorption of amphiphilic and biodegradable poly (ethylene glycol)-b-poly(l-lactide) (PEG-PLLA) block copolymers. The deposition from solvent solution of PEG-PLLA copolymers onto the fibrous substrate induced distinct mechanisms of molecular organization at the cellulosic interface, which are correlated to the hydrophobic/hydrophilic ratios and the type of solvent used. The findings of the study evidenced that the performance of the corresponding biocomposites with polylactide were effectively enhanced by using these copolymers as interfacial coupling agents. During the fabrication stage, diffusion of the polylactide in the melt induced a change in the environment surrounding block copolymers which became hydrophobic. It is proposed that molecular reorganization of the block copolymers at the interface occurred, which favored the interactions with both the hydrophilic fibers and hydrophobic polylactide matrix. The strong interactions such as intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds formed across the fiber-matrix interface can be accounted for the enhancement in properties displayed by the biocomposites. Although the results reported here are confined, this concept is unique as it shows that by tuning the amphiphilicity and the type of building blocks, it is possible to control the surface properties of the substrate by self-assembly and disassembly of the amphiphiles for functional materials.

Biocompatible Bacterial Cellulose Composites for Biomedical Application

This paper reports bacterial cellulose composites made by blending chitosan, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and gelatin for potential biomedical application of tissue-engineering scaffold and wound-dressing material. The bacterial cellulose composites were successfully prepared by immersing a wet bacterial cellulose pellicle into chitosan, PEG, or gelatin solutions followed by freeze-drying. The products look like a foam structure. Scanning electron microscopy images show that chitosan molecules penetrated into bacterial cellulose forming a multilayer and a well interconnected porous network structure with a large aspect surface. The morphology of the bacterial cellulose/gelatin scaffold indicates that the gelatin molecules could penetrate well between the individual nanofibers of the bacterial cellulose. Cell adhesion studies for these composites were carried out using 3T3 fibroblast cells. They showed much better biocompatibility than pure bacterial cellulose. Preparation and material characterization of these composites are explained.