Ultra-strong long-chain polyamide elastomers with programmable supramolecular interactions and oriented crystalline microstructures

New powder reuse schema in laser-based powder bed fusion of polymers

The laser-based powder bed fusion of polymers (PBF-LB/P) process often utilizes a blend of powders with varying degrees of degradation. Specifically, for polyamide 12, the traditional reuse schema involves mixing post-processed powder with virgin powder at a predetermined ratio before reintroducing it to the process. Given that only about 15% of the powder is utilized in part production, and powders are refreshed in equal proportions, there arises a challenge with the incremental accumulation of material across build cycles. To mitigate the consumption of fresh powder relative to the actual material usage, this study introduces the incorporation of recycled material into the PBF-LB/P process. This new powder reuse schema is presented for the first time, focusing on the laser sintering process. The characteristics of the recycled powder were evaluated through scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution, and dynamic powder flowability assessments. The findings reveal that waste powders can be effectively reused in PBF-LB/P to produce components with satisfactory mechanical properties, porosity levels, dimensional accuracy, and surface quality.

A one-stone-two-birds strategy for cellulose dissolution, regeneration, and functionalization as a photocatalytic composite membrane for wastewater purification

Photocatalytic membranes integrate membrane separation and photocatalysis to deliver an efficient solution for water purification, while the top priority is to exploit simple, efficient, renewable, and low-cost photocatalytic membrane materials. We herein propose a facile one-stone-two-birds strategy to construct a multifunctional regenerated cellulose composite membrane decorated by Prussian blue analogue (ZnPBA) microspheres for wastewater purification. The hypotheses are that: 1) ZnCl2 not only serves as a cellulose solvent for tuning cellulose dissolution and regeneration, but also functions as a precursor for in-situ growth of spherical-like ZnPBA; 2) More homogeneous reactions including coordination and hydrogen bonding among Zn2+, [Fe(CN)6]3- and cellulose chains contribute to a rapid and uniform anchoring of ZnPBA microspheres on the regenerated cellulose fibrils (RCFs). Consequently, the resultant ZnPBA/RCM features a high loading of ZnPBA (65.3 wt%) and exhibits excellent treatment efficiency and reusability in terms of photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC) (90.3 % removal efficiency and 54.3 % of mineralization), oil-water separation efficiency (>97.8 % for varying oils) and antibacterial performance (99.4 % for E. coli and 99.2 % for S. aureus). This work paves a simple and useful way for exploiting cellulose-based functional materials for efficient wastewater purification.

3D Printing of Thermo-Mechano-Responsive Photoluminescent Noncovalent Cross-Linked Ionogels with High-Stretchability and Ultralow-Hysteresis for Wearable Ionotronics and Anti-Counterfeiting

Ionogel has recently emerged as a promising ionotronic material due to its good ionic conductivity and flexibility. However, low stretchability and significant hysteresis under long-term loading limit their mechanical stability and repeatability. Developing ultralow hysteresis ionogels with high stretchability is of great significance. Here, a simple and effective strategy is developed to fabricate highly stretchable and ultralow-hysteresis noncovalent cross-linked ionogels based on phase separation by 3D printing of 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate (HPA) in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF4). Ingeniously, the sea-island structure of the physically cross-linked network constructed by the smaller nanodomains and larger nanodomain clusters significantly minimizes the energy dissipation, endowing these ionogels with remarkable stretchability (>1000%), ultra-low hysteresis (as low as 0.2%), excellent temperature tolerance (-33-317 °C), extraordinary ionic conductivity (up to 1.7 mS cm-1), and outstanding durability (5000 cycles). Moreover, due to the formation of nanophase separation and cross-linking structure, the as-prepared ionogels exhibit unique thermochromic and multiple photoluminescent properties, which can synergistically be applied for anti-counterfeiting and encrypting. Importantly, flexible thermo-mechano-multimodal visual ionotronic sensors for strain and temperature sensing with highly stable and reproducible electrical response over 20 000 cycles are fabricated, showing synergistically optical and electrical output performances.

Malleable, Ultrastrong Antibacterial Thermosets Enabled by Guanidine Urea Structure

Dynamic covalent polymers (DCPs) that strike a balance between high performance and rapid reconfiguration have been a challenging task. For this purpose, a solution is proposed in the form of a new dynamic covalent supramolecular motif-guanidine urea structure (GUAs). GUAs contain complex and diverse chemical structures as well as unique bonding characteristics, allowing guanidine urea supramolecular polymers to demonstrate advanced physical properties. Noncovalent interaction aggregates (NIAs) have been confirmed to form in GUA-DCPs through multistage H-bonding and π-π stacking, resulting in an extremely high Young's modulus of 14 GPa, suggesting remarkable mechanical strength. Additionally, guanamine urea linkages in GUAs, a new type of dynamic covalent bond, provide resins with excellent malleability and reprocessability. Guanamine urea metathesis is validated using small molecule model compounds, and the temperature dependent infrared and rheological behavior of GUA-DCPs following the dissociative exchange mechanism. Moreover, the inherent photodynamic antibacterial properties are extensively verified by antibacterial experiments. Even after undergoing three reprocessing cycles, the antibacterial rate of GUA-DCPs remains above 99% after 24 h, highlighting their long-lasting antibacterial effectiveness. GUA-DCPs with dynamic nature, tuneable composition, and unique combination of properties make them promising candidates for various technological advancements.

Semi-crystalline polymers with supramolecular synergistic interactions: from mechanical toughening to dynamic smart materials

Semi-crystalline polymers (SCPs) with anisotropic amorphous and crystalline domains as the basic skeleton are ubiquitous from natural products to synthetic polymers. The combination of chemically incompatible hard and soft phases contributes to unique thermal and mechanical properties. The further introduction of supramolecular interactions as noncovalently interacting crystal phases and soft dynamic crosslinking sites can synergize with covalent polymer chains, thereby enabling effective energy dissipation and dynamic rearrangement in hierarchical superstructures. Therefore, this review will focus on the design principles of SCPs by discussing supramolecular construction strategies and state-of-the-art functional applications from mechanical toughening to sophisticated functions such as dynamic adaptivity, shape memory, ion transport, etc. Current challenges and further opportunities are discussed to provide an overview of possible future directions and potential material applications.

Mechanically Ultra-Robust Fluorescent Elastomer for Elaborating Auxetic Composite

Fluorescent elastomers are predominantly fabricated through doping fluorescent components or conjugating chromophores into polymer networks, which often involves detrimental effects on mechanical performance and also makes large-scale production difficult. Inspired by the heteroatom-rich microphase separation structures assisted by intensive hydrogen bonds in natural organisms, an ultra-robust fluorescent polyurethane elastomer is reported, which features a remarkable fracture strength of 87.2 MPa with an elongation of 1797%, exceptional toughness of 678.4 MJ m-3 and intrinsic cyan fluorescence at 445 nm. Moreover, the reversible fluorescence variation with temperature could in situ reveal the microphase separation of the elastomer in real time. By taking advantage of mechanical properties, intrinsic fluorescence and hydrogen bonds-promoted interfacial bonding ability, this fluorescent elastomer can be utilized as an auxetic skeleton for the elaboration of an integrated auxetic composite. Compared with the auxetic skeleton alone, the integrated composite shows an improved mechanical performance while maintaining auxetic deformation in a large strain below 185%, and its auxetic process can be visually detected under ultraviolet light by the fluorescence of the auxetic skeleton. The concept of introducing hydrogen-bonded heteroatom-rich microphase separation structures into polymer networks in this work provides a promising approach to developing fluorescent elastomers with exceptional mechanical properties.

Sustainable Polymers with High Performance and Infinite Scalability

Our society has been pursuing high-performance biodegradable polymers made from facile methods and readily available monomers. Here, we demonstrate a library of enzyme-degradable polymers with desirable properties from the first reported step polyaddition of diamines, COS, and diacrylates. The polymers contain in-chain ester and thiourethane groups, which can serve as lipase-degradation and hydrogen-bonding physical crosslinking points, respectively, resulting in possible biodegradability as well as upgraded mechanical and thermal properties. Also, the properties of the polymers are scalable due to the versatile method and the wide variety of monomers. We obtain 46 polymers with tunable performance covering high-Tm crystalline plastics, thermoplastic elastomers, and amorphous plastics by regulating polymer structure. Additionally, the polymerization method is highly efficient, atom-economical, quantitatively yield, metal- and even catalyst-free. Overall, the polymers are promising green materials given their degradability, simple and modular synthesis, remarkable and tunable properties, and readily available monomers.

Linearly-Changed Thermal Behavior and Depressed Brill Transition in Long-Chain Polyamides Substituted by Methyl Side Groups

Side substitution is an effective way of functionalizing and modifying the properties of polyamides. Meanwhile, side substitution would significantly influence the crystallization kinetics and polymorphic phase transition of polyamides, which, however, has not been well elucidated. Herein, we synthesized the side-substituted long-chain polyamides with various content of methyl pendent groups and investigated their crystallization and phase transition behaviors. We find that the thermal parameters of side-substituted polyamides vary linearly with the side group content, analogous to the isomorphic crystallization of random copolymers. All the solution-crystallized polyamides experience the α-γ Brill transition during heating, with the Brill transition temperature linearly decreasing as the side group content increases. Intriguingly, the γ-α transition of polyamides during cooling is suppressed with the presence of side methyl groups due to the difficulty in H-bond reorganization and gauche-trans conformational changes. This work has demonstrated the critical role of side substitution in the polymorphic crystallization and phase transition of long-chain polyamides.

Multiple hydrogen bonding driven supramolecular architectures and their biomedical applications

Supramolecular chemistry combines the strength of molecular assembly via various molecular interactions. Hydrogen bonding facilitated self-assembly with the advantages of directionality, specificity, reversibility, and strength is a promising approach for constructing advanced supramolecules. There are still some challenges in hydrogen bonding based supramolecular polymers, such as complexity originating from tautomerism of the molecular building modules, the assembly process, and structure versatility of building blocks. In this review, examples are selected to give insights into multiple hydrogen bonding driven emerging supramolecular architectures. We focus on chiral supramolecular assemblies, multiple hydrogen bonding modules as stimuli responsive sources, interpenetrating polymer networks, multiple hydrogen bonding assisted organic frameworks, supramolecular adhesives, energy dissipators, and quantitative analysis of nano-adhesion. The applications in biomedical materials are focused with detailed examples including drug design evolution for myotonic dystrophy, molecular assembly for advanced drug delivery, an indicator displacement strategy for DNA detection, tissue engineering, and self-assembly complexes as gene delivery vectors for gene transfection. In addition, insights into the current challenges and future perspectives of this field to propel the development of multiple hydrogen bonding facilitated supramolecular materials are proposed.

High Quantum Yield Amino Acid Carbon Quantum Dots with Unparalleled Refractive Index

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are one of the most promising types of fluorescent nanomaterials due to their exceptional water solubility, excellent optical properties, biocompatibility, chemical inertness, excellent refractive index, and photostability. Nitrogen-containing CQDs, which include amino acid based CQDs, are especially attractive due to their high quantum yield, thermal stability, and potential biomedical applications. Recent studies have attempted to improve the preparation of amino acid based CQDs. However, the highest quantum yield obtained for these dots was only 44%. Furthermore, the refractive indices of amino acid derived CQDs were not determined. Here, we systematically explored the performance of CQDs prepared from all 20 coded amino acids using modified hydrothermal techniques allowing more passivation layers on the surface of the dots to optimize their performance. Intriguingly, we obtained the highest refractive indices ever reported for any CQDs. The values differed among the amino acids, with the highest refractive indices found for positively charged amino acids including arginine-CQDs (∼2.1), histidine-CQDs (∼2.0), and lysine-CQDs (∼1.8). Furthermore, the arginine-CQDs reported here showed a nearly 2-fold increase in the quantum yield (∼86%) and a longer decay time (∼8.0 ns) compared to previous reports. In addition, we also demonstrated that all amino acid based CQD materials displayed excitation-dependent emission profiles (from UV to visible) and were photostable, water-soluble, noncytotoxic, and excellent for high contrast live cell imaging or bioimaging. These results indicate that amino acid based CQD materials are high-refractive-index materials applicable for optoelectronic devices, bioimaging, biosensing, and studying cellular organelles in vivo. This extraordinary RI may be highly useful for exploring cellular elements with different densities.

Reconstruction of Cellulose Intermolecular Interactions from Hydrogen Bonds to Dynamic Covalent Networks Enables a Thermo-processable Cellulosic Plastic with Tunable Strength and Toughness

Its excellent renewability and biodegradability make cellulose an attractive resource to prepare fossil-based plastic alternatives. However, cellulose itself exhibits strong intermolecular hydrogen bond (H-bond) interactions, significantly restricting the mobility of cellulose chains, thus leading to poor thermo-processing performance. Here, we reconstructed the intermolecular interactions of cellulose chains via replacing the original H-bonds with dynamic covalent bonds. By this, cellulose can be easily thermo-processed into a cellulosic plastic under mild conditions (70 °C). Through adjusting the chemical structure of dynamic covalent networks, the cellulosic plastic shows tunable mechanical strength (3.0-33.5 MPa) and toughness (43-321 kJ m-2). The cellulosic plastic also exhibits excellent resistance to water, organic solvent, acid solution, alkali solution, and high temperature (>400 °C). Moreover, it owns good chemical and biological degradability and recyclability. This work provides an effective method to develop high-performance cellulosic plastics for fossil-based plastic substitution.

High-Performance Supramolecular Organogel Adhesives for Antimicrobial Applications in Diverse Conditions

Supramolecular organogel coatings that can disinfect the deposited microbial pathogens are emerging as an effective vehicle to prevent pathogen transmission. However, the development of anti-pathogen supramolecular adhesives with mechanical robustness and controlled oil inclusion is technically challenging. Here, we report supramolecular adhesives with mechanical integrity and robust interfacial adhesion over a wide range of biogenic antimicrobial oil. Bifunctional monomers are synthesized and assembled into linear polymers with semicrystalline stackings through hierarchical hydrogen bonds, where incorporated bioactive oil could regulate the semicrystalline stackings into nanosized crystalline domains through intermolecular hydrogen bonds. The abundant bonding motifs provided by the supramolecular cross-linked networks could accommodate oil molecules with high inclusion capability and provide more interfacial binding sites with high adhesion strength, and the nanosized crystalline domains could stabilize the organogel network and compensate for the interactions with oil molecules to enhance structural and mechanical stability. In addition, rapid healing, robust adhesion, and antimicrobial and antiviral properties of the resultant organogel coatings are demonstrated. This study paves the way for the development of high-performance antimicrobial supramolecular adhesives with controlled oil inclusion, showing potential applications in soft robotics, tissue engineering, and biomedical devices.

Configuration of a Simple Method for Different Polyamides 6.9 Recognition by ATR-FTIR Analysis Coupled with Chemometrics

This study proposes a simple approach for the recognition of polyamide 6.9 samples differing in impurity amounts and viscosities (modulated during the synthesis), which are parameters plausibly variable in polymers' manufacturing processes. Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) was combined with chemometrics, applying statistical methods to experimental data. Both non-supervised and supervised methods have been used (PCA and PLS-DA), and a predictive model that could assess the polyamide type of unknown samples was created. Chemometric tools led to a satisfying degree of discrimination among samples, and the predictive model resulted in a great classification of unknown samples with an accuracy of 88.89%. Traditional physical-chemical characterizations (such as thermal and mechanical tests) showed their limits in the univocal identification of sample types, and additionally, they resulted in time-consuming procedures and specimen destruction. The spectral modifications have been investigated to understand the main signals that are more likely to affect the discrimination process. The proposed hybrid methodology represents a potential support for quality control activities within the production sector, especially when the spectra of compounds with the same nominal composition show almost identical signals.

Facile conversion of water to functional molecules and cross-linked polymeric films with efficient clusteroluminescence

Exploring approaches to utilize abundant water to synthesize functional molecules and polymers with efficient clusteroluminescence properties is highly significant but has yet to be reported. Herein, a chemistry of water and alkyne is developed. The synthesized products are proven as nonaromatic clusteroluminogens that could emit visible light. Their emission colors and luminescent efficiency could be adjusted by manipulating through-space interaction using different starting materials. Besides, the free-standing polymeric films with much high photoluminescence quantum yields (up to 45.7%) are in situ generated via a water-involved interfacial polymerization. The interfacial polymerization-enhanced emission of the polymeric films is observed, where the emission red-shifts and efficiency increases when the polymerization time is prolonged. The synthesized polymeric film is also verified as a Janus film. It exhibits a vapor-triggered reversible mechanical response which could be applied as a smart actuator. Thus, this work develops a method to synthesize clusteroluminogens using water, builds a clear structure-property relationship of clusteroluminogens, and provides a strategy to in situ construct functional water-based polymeric films.

Chemically Recyclable Polyethylene-like Sulfur-Containing Plastics from Sustainable Feedstocks

The green revolution in plastics should be accelerated due to growing sustainability concerns. Here, we develop a series of chemically recyclable polymers from the first reported cascade polymerization of H₂ O, COS, and diacrylates. In addition to abundant feedstocks, the method is efficient and air-tolerant, uses common organic bases as catalysts, and yields polymers with high molecular weights under mild conditions. Such polymers, structurally like polyethylene with low-density in-chain polar groups, manifest impressive toughness and ductility comparable to high-density polyethylene. The in-chain ester group acts as a breaking point, enabling these polymers to undergo chemical recycling through two loops. The structures and properties of these polymers also have an immeasurably expanded range owing to the versatility of our method. The readily available raw materials, facile synthesis, and high performance make these polymers promising prospects as sustainable materials in practice.

Binary solvent-exchange-induced self-assembly of silk fibroin birefringent fibers for optical applications

To generate birefringence in artificial materials has attracted increasing attention in terms of their potential for applications in sensor, tissue engineering and optical devices. Silk materials with patterned structures presented unique optical features, however, effectively fabricating of structural anisotropy in silk materials to directly tailor their birefringence is still challenging. Silk fibroin birefringent fibers (SBFs) with tunable birefringence were obtained in this study via a strategy that combined injection technique and binary solvent-exchange-induced self-assembly (BSEISA). The structural deformation of these SBFs that introduced by external stimulus such as tensile and solvent swelling was critical to their birefringence. As a result, pink, yellow, green, cyan, and purple were successfully achieved in the interference color of the SBFs with an exchanging solvent of 25, 55, 75, 90 wt% ethanol aqueous solution, and methanol respectively. Moreover, we respectively exchanged these SBFs against with Congo red (SBF-CR), methyl orange (SBF-MO), methylene blue (SBF-MB) and rhodamine B (SBF-RhB) solutions to produce fibers with diversity in their birefringent performance. Two types of patterns were designed and thereafter constructed by (1) SBF\SBF-CR\SBF-RhB, and (2) SBF\SBF-MB\SBF-CR. Interestingly, the patterns both displayed a letter of "A" in natural light, while displayed different letters of (1) "H" and (2) "U" in polarized light. This study demonstrated that these SBFs with unique optical and birefringent performances are anticipated to act as sensors and code labels for optical applications.

Intrinsically Stretchable Electroluminescent Elastomers with Self-Confinement Effect for Highly Efficient Non-Blended Stretchable OLEDs

Ultra-flexible stretchable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are emerging as a basic component of flexible electronics and human-machine interfaces. However, the brightness and efficiency of stretchable OLEDs remain still far inferior to their rigid counterparts, owing to the scarcity of satisfactory stretchable electroluminescent materials. Herein, we explore a general concept based on the self-confinement effect to dramatically improve the stretchability of elastomers, without affecting electroluminescent properties. The balanced rigid/flexible chain dynamics under self-confinement significantly reduces the modulus of the elastomers, resulting in the maximum strain reaching 806 %. Ultra-flexible stretchable OLEDs have been constructed based on the resulting ISEEs, achieving unprecedented high-performance non-blended stretchable OLEDs. The results suggest an effective molecular design strategy for highly deformable stretchable displays and flexible electronics.

Bio-based monomers for amide-containing sustainable polymers

The field of sustainable polymers from renewable feedstocks is a fast-reviving field after the decades-long domination of petroleum-based polymers. Amide-containing polymers exhibit a wide range of properties depending on the type of amide (primary, secondary, and tertiary), amide density, and other molecular structural parameters (co-existing groups, molecular weight, and topology). Engineering amide groups into sustainable polymers via the "monomer approach" is an industrially proven strategy, while bio-based monomers are of enormous importance to bridge the gap between renewable sources and amide-containing sustainable polymers (AmSPs). This feature article aims at conceptualizing the monomer-design philosophy behind most of the reported AmSPs and is organized by discussing di-functional monomers for step-growth polymerization, cyclic monomers for ring-opening polymerization and amide-containing monomers for chain-growth polymerization. We also give a perspective on AmSPs with respect to monomer design and performance enhancement.

Nanoenabled Trainable Systems: From Biointerfaces to Biomimetics

In the dynamic biological system, cells and tissues adapt to diverse environmental conditions and form memories, an essential aspect of training for survival and evolution. An understanding of the biological training principles will inform the design of biomimetic materials whose properties evolve with the environment and offer routes to programmable soft materials, neuromorphic computing, living materials, and biohybrid robotics. In this perspective, we examine the mechanisms by which cells are trained by environmental cues. We outline the artificial platforms that enable biological training and examine the relationship between biological training and biomimetic materials design. We place emphasis on nanoscale material platforms which, given their applicability to chemical, mechanical and electrical stimulation, are critical to bridging natural and synthetic systems.

Mesoporous multi-shelled hollow resin nanospheres with ultralow thermal conductivity

Hollow nanostructures exhibit enclosed or semi-enclosed spaces inside and the consequent features of restricting molecular motion, which is crucial for intrinsic physicochemical properties. Herein, we developed a new configuration of hollow nanostructures with more than three layers of shells and simultaneously integrated mesopores on every shell. The novel interior configuration expresses the characteristics of periodic interfaces and abundant mesopores. Benefiting from the suppression of gas molecule convection by boundary scattering, the thermal conductivity of mesoporous multi-shelled hollow resin nanospheres reaches 0.013 W m-1 K-1 at 298 K. The designed interior mesostructural configuration of hollow nanostructures provides an ideal platform to clarify the influence of nanostructure design on intrinsic physicochemical properties and propels the development of hollow nanostructures.

Scalable Production of Self-Toughening Plant Oil-Based Polyurethane Elastomers with Multistimuli-Responsive Functionalities

Plant oils are becoming of high industrial importance due to the persisting challenges befalling with the utilization of fossil fuels. Thus, developing methodologies to produce multifunctional materials by taking advantage of the unique structure of plant oil is highly desired. In this study, castor oil served as a cross-linker and soft segments, by incorporating scalable rhodamine 6G derivatives, to systematically synthesize a series of smart polymers that possess self-toughening and multistimuli-responsive capabilities. The polyurethane elastomers showed 10 times and 60 times increases in tensile strength and toughness, respectively, in comparison with the unmodified polyurethane due to the existence of large amounts of hydrogen bonding, dynamic C-N spiro bonds, rigid benzene ring, and high cross-link densities. The novel polyurethane elastomers exhibited excellent reversible multichromic behaviors in response to light, pH, and mechanics. Notably, the resulting polyurethane elastomers exhibited ultrasensitive sustained photochromism with tunable white emission and rapid reversibility. This study provides a simple and effective strategy to utilize plant oil for multifunctional material preparation and paves the way to open access for application of plant oil-based products in a variety of industry applications, such as sensors, self-fitting tissue scaffolds, and switchable devices.

Intestine-derived α-synuclein initiates and aggravates pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease in Drosophila

Background

Aberrant aggregation of α-synuclein (α-syn) is a key pathological feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD), but the precise role of intestinal α-syn in the progression of PD is unclear. In a number of genetic Drosophila models of PD, α-syn was frequently ectopically expressed in the neural system to investigate the pathobiology.

Method

We investigated the potential role of intestinal α-syn in PD pathogenesis using a Drosophila model. Human α-syn was overexpressed in Drosophila guts, and life span, survival, immunofluorescence and climbing were evaluated. Immunofluorescence, Western blotting and reactive oxygen species (ROS) staining were performed to assess the effects of intestinal α-syn on intestinal dysplasia. High‐throughput RNA and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, quantitative RT‐PCR, immunofluorescence, and ROS staining were performed to determine the underlying molecular mechanism.

Results

We found that the intestinal α-syn alone recapitulated many phenotypic and pathological features of PD, including impaired life span, loss of dopaminergic neurons, and progressive motor defects. The intestine-derived α-syn disrupted intestinal homeostasis and accelerated the onset of intestinal ageing. Moreover, intestinal expression of α-syn induced dysbiosis, while microbiome depletion was efficient to restore intestinal homeostasis and ameliorate the progression of PD. Intestinal α-syn triggered ROS, and eventually led to the activation of the dual oxidase (DUOX)–ROS–Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) pathway. In addition, α-syn from both the gut and the brain synergized to accelerate the progression of PD.

Conclusions

The intestinal expression of α-syn recapitulates many phenotypic and pathologic features of PD, and induces dysbiosis that aggravates the pathology through the DUOX–ROS–JNK pathway in Drosophila. Our findings provide new insights into the role of intestinal α-syn in PD pathophysiology.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40035-022-00318-w.

Reorganization of Hydrogen Bonding in Biobased Polyamide 5,13 under the Thermo-Mechanical Field: Hierarchical Microstructure Evolution and Achieving Excellent Mechanical Performance

The hierarchical microstructure evolution of an emerging biobased odd-odd polyamide 5,13 (PA5,13) films under the thermo-mechanical field, stepping from hydrogen bond (H-bond) arrangement to the crystalline morphology, has been investigated systematically. It is found that the reorganization of H-bonds under the thermo-mechanical field plays a crucial role in the crystallization of PA5,13. Especially, it is revealed that the crystallization process under the thermo-mechanical field develops along the chain axis direction, while lamellar fragmentation occurs perpendicular to the chain axis. Consequently, a stable and well-organized H-bond arrangement and lengthened lamellae with significant orientation have been constructed. Laudably, an impressive tensile strength of about 500 MPa and modulus of about 4.7 GPa are thus achieved. The present study could provide important guidance for the industrial-scale manufacture of high-performance biobased odd-odd PAs with long polymethylene segment in the dicarboxylic unit combined with a large difference between the polymethylene segments in the dicarboxylic and diamine units.

Inherent Flame-Retardant, Humid Environment Stable and Blue Luminescent Polyamide Elastomer Regulated by Siloxane Moiety

The rapid development of the polymeric materials market has created an urgent demand for the thermoplastic polyamide elastomer (TPAE) owing to its greater functionality, and ability to be synthesized via a facile and industrial route. In this work, a series of novel silicone-containing polyamides (PA1212/Si12) were successfully synthesized from 1,12-dodecarboxylic acid (LA), 1,12-dodecarbondiamine (DMDA), and 1,3-bis (amino-propyl) tetramethyldisiloxane (BATS), via a one-pot melt polycondensation method in the absence of a catalyst. FTIR, ¹H-NMR, GPC and inherent viscosity results cohesively prove that the polymerization of monomers was well conducted, and the chemical structure was in high accordance with the design. As expected, the Si12 unit-content of the copolymers regulate the properties of the series. As the feeding ratio of BATS in the diamines increases from 5 mol% to 40 mol%, the thermal transition temperatures, T_g and T_m, decline steadily before finally stabilizing at ~6 °C and 160 °C, respectively, indicating that the co-polyamides possess improved chain flexibility but restricted crystallization ability. The conspicuous evolution in crystalline morphology of the series was observed by XRD and AFM. The increased PA Si12 phase induces the crystallized PA 1212 phase to transit from a thermally-favorable large and rigid crystal structure (α phase) to a kinetically-favorable small and ductile crystal structure (γ phase). Reflected in their stress–strain behavior, PA1212/Si12 copolymers are successfully tailored from rigid plastic to ductile elastomer. The tensile strength mildly drops from above 40 MPa to ~30 MPa while the reversible elongation increases from ~50% to approximately 350%. Accordingly, the moderate surface tension differences in the monomers facilitate the efficient conduction of the co-polymerization process, and the distributed short siloxane unit in the backbone fulfills the copolymer with desirable elasticity. Interestingly, the novel silicone-containing polyamides also display Si12 unit-content dependent flame retardancy, humidity stability, and unconventional solid-state fluorescence properties. The elastomers exhibit a low bibulous rate and anti-fouling characteristics to dye droplets and mud contamination, pass the V–1 rating (UL 94) with a constantly declining PHRR value, and emit blue luminescence under a 365 nm light source. Herein, we propose a new facile strategy for developing a high-performance and multifunctional silicone-modified polyamide, which bears promising industrialization potential. In addition, this first reported silicone-containing thermoplastic polyamide elastomer, which is self-extinguishing, anti-fouling and blue-luminescent, will further broaden the application potential of thermoplastic polyamide elastomers.

Biobased Composites with High Lignin Content and Excellent Mechanical Properties toward the Ingenious Photoresponsive Actuator

The fabrication of biobased smart materials from renewable biomasses is of great importance for sustainable development. Although lignin possesses photothermal conversion potential, the development of lignin-based actuators with large contraction and fast photoresponse has various hurdles. Herein, simply by blending with castor oil-derived polyamide elastomers, a lignin-based photoresponsive actuator can be obtained, which accomplishes up to 18% light-driven contraction under loading within 3 s. The crystals in polymer matrix serve as switch segments, firmly locking the stress-induced strain energy, which is swiftly released due to photothermal processes and induced a huge contraction. The composite, LP₄-50, can contract and induce dynamic bending in multiple directions when irradiated locally with a near-infrared 808 nm laser. Furthermore, at standard 1 sun irradiation (100 mW/cm²), LP₄-50 was successfully employed to power a thermoelectric generator. This strategy establishes the groundwork for further research into the photothermal characteristics of lignin and encourages new applications in stimulus-responsive actuators.

Highly flexible elastomer microfluidic chip for single cell manipulation

New materials and fabrication technologies have significantly boosted the development of lab-on-a-chip technologies and functionalities. In this work, we developed a highly flexible elastomer microfluidic chip with a microchannel with a minimum width of ∼5 μm manufactured by imprinting onto an SU-8 template. We found that the deformation induced in the microstructures by manual stretching of the chip is higher than that for the chip itself, which we attribute to the stress concentration of microstructures. Here, we demonstrate that the elastomer enables the manipulation of single cells, such as dynamic trapping-releasing operations, by simply stretching and releasing the elastomer chip.

Ultrastretchable, Adhesive, Fast Self-Healable, and Three-Dimensional Printable Photoluminescent Ionic Skin Based on Hybrid Network Ionogels

Developing multifunctional stretchable ionic skin (I-Skin) to mimic the sensations of the human skin is of great interest and shows promising potential in wearable sensors and human-machine interfaces (HMIs). However, common ionogels prepared with small-molecule cross-linkers and single networks can hardly satisfy the requirements of adjustable mechanical properties, strong adhesion, fast self-healability, and good stability in extreme environments. Herein, an ultrastretchable (>10,000%), ultrastrong adhesive (>6.8 MPa), ultrafast self-healable (10 s), high thermally stable (-60 to 250 °C), and three-dimensional (3D)-printable photoluminescent ionogel with shape memory properties has been designed. The ionogel consists of hyperbranched polymer covalent-cross-linked poly(zwitterionic ionic liquid)-co-poly(acrylic acid) and multiple dynamic bonding cross-linked networks. The excellent performance of the ionogel-based high-stretchable strain sensor and the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG)-based self-powered touch sensor is further demonstrated over a wide temperature range (-40 to 150 °C). More importantly, ionogel-based I-Skin can work as an HMI for human gesture recognition and real-time wireless control of robots under extreme vacuum conditions and can also self-heal immediately along with function recovery after mechanical damage.

Fluorescent, electrically responsive and ultratough self-healing hydrogels via bioinspired all-in-one hierarchical micelles

Intelligent hydrogels that simultaneously exhibit excellent toughness, self-healing ability and photoelectronic responsiveness are in high demand but are greatly challenging to prepare. Inspired by the hierarchical structure of fluorescent proteins in jellyfish and biomembranes in nature, herein, a facile and universal all-in-one strategy is demonstrated to construct fluorescent, electrically responsive and ultratough self-healing hydrogels via aqueous self-assembly of polyelectrolyte-surfactant micelles with hierarchical structures and functionality. The self-assembled 2-ureido-4-[1H]-pyrimidone (UPy) hydrophobic core containing reversible physical crosslinks embedded in micelles leads to a durable network structure with excellent toughness and self-healing ability. Moreover, dramatically enhanced fluorescence emission is obtained due to the formation of nanoclusters with electron-rich moieties that show restricted intramolecular motion induced by hydrogen bonding networks from UPy dimer aggregation. The micelle-incorporated sulfonic acid groups mimic the function of biological membrane proteins that deftly control the micelle size, leading to electro-responsiveness, enhanced toughness and fluorescence emission.

Mechanically Robust Elastomers Enabled by a Facile Interfacial Interactions-Driven Sacrificial Network

Strength and toughness are usually mutually exclusive for materials. The sacrificial bond strategy is used to address the trade-off between strength and toughness. However, the complex construction process of sacrificial network limits the application of sacrificial network. This work develops a facile strategy to construct an interfacial interactions-driven sacrificial network. The authors' group finds that there are the interfacial interactions between arginines (A) aggregates and molecular chains. Such interfacial interactions result in the mechanical properties of samples having a strong dependence on extension rates, which shows that A aggregates construct a network structure by interfacial interactions. The interfacial interactions between A aggregates and chains improve the strength of samples; while the A aggregate network driven by interfacial interactions preferentially ruptures to dissipate large energy for the improvement of fracture toughness, which can be considered as a sacrificial network. Therefore, their designed elastomers have both high strength and high toughness. This work provides an easier strategy for the construction of sacrificial networks, which can promote the industrial application of sacrificial networks in elastomer materials.

Dramatically Enhanced and Red-shifted Photoluminescence Achieved by Introducing an Electron-withdrawing Group into a Non-traditional Luminescent Small Organic Compound

Small organic compounds without any traditional fluorescent chromophores are generally non-emissive, and only very few are reported to emit weak blue fluorescence. Here we synthesized a non-traditional luminescent small organic compound N-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)acrylamide (TFAM) with dramatically enhanced and red-shifted photoluminescence by introducing a strong electron-withdrawing group into acrylamide (AM). Very impressively, TFAM emits cyan (472 nm) and yellow-green (560 nm) fluorescence in solutions and solid state, respectively. TFAM also shows aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) and excitation-dependent fluorescence (EDF) characteristics, as well as temperature and metal cations-responsive fluorescence. Theoretical calculations show that the introduction of electron-withdrawing group leads to a lower energy gap between the HOMO-LUMO energy levels in TFAM than in AM. And strong cooperative hydrogen bonds are formed in TFAM molecules, resulting in rigidification of molecular conformations. The study provides a strategy for preparing non-traditional luminescent compounds with enhanced and red-shifted photoluminescence.

Ultra-strong hydroxypropyl cellulose/polyvinyl alcohol composite hydrogel by combination of triple-network and mechanical training

To develop the hydrogels with high mechanical strength and excellent conductivity is always a challenging topic. In this study, the ultra-strong hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composite hydrogels were prepared by combination of the triple-network and mechanical training. The proposed composite hydrogels were achieved by physically crosslinking HPC with PVA to form the first crosslinking network, in which the HPC fibers could decrease the crosslinking density of PVA matrix and generate a lot of water-rich porous area. Then, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), acrylamide (AM) and aluminium chloride diffused into the first network to fabricate the chemical crosslinking network and ionically cross-linked domains. The formation of triple-network enhanced the mechanical strength and toughness to 1.87 MPa and 339.09 kJ/m³, respectively. Especially, the crystalline domains of PVA chains could improve the hydrogel's fatigue resistance, and the orderly arrangement of the crystalline domains achieved through mechanical training process could further enhance the mechanical strength. The mechanical strength of pre-stretched composite hydrogel was increased up to 2.8 MPa. The composite hydrogels exhibit great applications in sensors, human-machine interactions, and wearable devices.

Biomimetic high performance artificial muscle built on sacrificial coordination network and mechanical training process

Artificial muscle materials promise incredible applications in actuators, robotics and medical apparatus, yet the ability to mimic the full characteristics of skeletal muscles into synthetic materials remains a huge challenge. Herein, inspired by the dynamic sacrificial bonds in biomaterials and the self-strengthening of skeletal muscles by physical exercise, high performance artificial muscle material is prepared by rearrangement of sacrificial coordination bonds in the polyolefin elastomer via a repetitive mechanical training process. Biomass lignin is incorporated as a green reinforcer for the construction of interfacial coordination bonds. The prepared artificial muscle material exhibits high actuation strain (>40%), high actuation stress (1.5 MPa) which can lift more than 10,000 times its own weight with 30% strain, characteristics of excellent self-strengthening by mechanical training, strain-adaptive stiffening, and heat/electric programmable actuation performance. In this work, we show a facile strategy for the fabrication of intelligent materials using easily available raw materials.

Wholly Biobased, Highly Stretchable, Hydrophobic, and Self-healing Thermoplastic Elastomer

Renewable polymers with excellent stretchability and self-healing ability are interesting for a wide range of applications. A novel type of wholly biobased, self-healing, polyamide-based thermoplastic elastomer was synthesized using a fatty dimer acid and a fatty dimer amine, both containing multiple alkyl chains, through facile one-pot condensation polymerization under different polymerization times. The resulting elastomer shows superior stretchability (up to 2286%), high toughness, and excellent shape recovery after being stretched to different strains. This elastomer also displays high room-temperature autonomous self-healing efficiency after fracture and zero water uptake during water immersion. The highly entangled main chain, the multiple dangling chains, the abundant reversible physical bonds, the intermolecular diffusion, and the low ratio of amide to methylene group within the elastomer are responsible for these extraordinary properties. The polymerization time influences the properties of the elastomer. The use of the optimal self-healing thermoplastic elastomer in anticorrosion coating, piezoresistive sensing, and highly stretchable fibers is also demonstrated. The elastomer coating prevents stainless-steel products from corrosion in a salty environment due to its superhydrophobicity. The elastomer serves as a robust flexible substrate for creating self-healing piezoresistive sensors with excellent repeatability and self-healing efficiency. The elastomer fiber yarn can be stretched to 950% of its original length confirming its outstanding stretchability.

Multi-Stimuli-Triggered Shape Transformation of Polymeric Filaments Derived from Dynamic Covalent Block Copolymers

Using dynamic polymers to achieve the morphology transformation of polymeric assemblies under different conditions is challenging. Herein, we reported diversiform shape transformation of multi-responsive polymer filaments, which were self-assembled by a new kind of amphiphilic block copolymer (PVEG-PVEA) possessing dynamic and reversible acylhydrazone bonds through reacting benzaldehyde-containing block copolymers poly(vinylbenzaldehyde)-b-poly(N-(4-vinylbenzyl)-N,N-diethylamine) (PVBA-PVEA) with acylhydrazine-modified oligoethylene glycol. It was found that the resulting amphiphilic and dynamic PVEG-PVEA was capable of hierarchically self-assembling into intriguing core-branched filaments in aqueous solution. Notably, the features of acylhydrazone bonds and PVEA block endow the filaments with multi-responsiveness including acid, base, and temperature, leading to the multiple morphological transformations under such stimuli. Moreover, the core-branched filaments would further transform into polymeric braided bundles driven by hydrogen-bonding interactions of amide bonds. It is noteworthy that both core-branched filaments and braided bundles made from polymers are quite rare. These diversiform polymeric assemblies and their morphological evolution were characterized by TEM, Cryo-TEM, SEM, and DLS. Finally, we used PVBA-PVEA as a platform to facilely prepare functional polymers, such as glycopolymers via the reaction of amino-containing sugars and aldehyde groups. The obtained glycopolymers self-assembled into glycofibers for the biomimicry of glycans via binding with lectins. These findings not only are conducive to understanding of the stimulated shape change process of dynamic polymeric assemblies in water but also provide a new method for the facile fabrication of smart and functional polymeric assemblies for different potential applications, such as biomimicry and targeted drug nanocarriers or delivery vehicles.