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In the face of the current energy and environmental problems, the full use of biomass resources instead of fossil energy to produce a series of high-value chemicals has great application prospects. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which can be synthesized from lignocellulose as a raw material, is an important biological platform molecule. Its preparation and the catalytic oxidation of subsequent products have important research significance and practical value. In the actual production process, porous organic polymer (POP) catalysts are highly suitable for biomass catalytic conversion due to their high efficiency, low cost, good designability, and environmentally friendly features. Here, we briefly describe the application of various types of POPs (including COFs, PAFs, HCPs, and CMPs) in the preparation and catalytic conversion of HMF from lignocellulosic biomass and analyze the influence of the structural properties of catalysts on the catalytic performance. Finally, we summarize some challenges that POPs catalysts face in biomass catalytic conversion and prospect the important research directions in the future. This review provides valuable references for the efficient conversion of biomass resources into high-value chemicals in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to resource shortage and carbon dioxide emissions, an innovative type of sustainable concrete containing LC3, seawater, sea sand, and surface-treated recycled aggregates is proposed in this study to replace traditional concrete. To understand the bond properties between the sustainable concrete and CFRP bars, an investigation was conducted on the bond behavior between sand-coated CFRP bars and advanced sustainable concrete. Pull-out tests were carried out to reveal the failure mechanisms and performance of this bond behavior. The results showed that the slip increased monotonically along with the increase in confinement. The bond strength increased up to approximately 15 MPa, and the critical ratio of C/D was reached. The critical ratio approached 3.5 for the Portland cement groups, while the ratio was determined as approximately 4.5 when LC3 was introduced. When the proportion of LC3 reached 50%, there was a reduction in bond strength. A multisegmented modified bond–slip model was developed to describe the four-stage bond behavior. In terms of bond strength and slip, the proposed advanced concrete exhibited almost identical bond behavior to other types of concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuing efforts to develop novel smart materials are anticipated to upgrade the quality of life of humans. Thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and glucose-responsive phenylboronic acid--typical representatives--are often integrated as multi-stimuli-sensitive materials, but few are available for side-by-side comparisons with their properties. In this study, both copolymers bearing N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), with or without 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (AAPBA), were synthesized by free radical polymerization, and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance hydrogen spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. Dynamic light scattering was used to analyze and compare the responsive behaviors of the copolymers in different aqueous solutions. Atomic force microscopy was also employed to investigate the apparent morphology changes with particle sizes. The results demonstrated that the introduction of NIPAAm endowed the composite materials with thermosensitivity, whereas the addition of AAPBA lowered the molecular weight of the copolymers, intensified the intermolecular aggregation of the nanoparticles, reduced the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the composites, and accordingly allowed the copolymers to respond to glucose. It was also concluded that the responding of smart copolymers to operating parameters can be activated only under special conditions, and copolymer dimension and conformation were affected by inter/intramolecular interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a versatile and facile method for creating pores and tuning the porous structure in the polymer latex films by selectively etching the added functional polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) molecules. The pore formed in the latex films had a similar morphology to that of PVP aggregation before etching. This observation promotes us to regulate the pore morphology that determines the film's property, such as air permeability through varying the PVP molecule weight and dosage. To this end, the effects of PVP molecule weight and dosage on the pore formation were systematically studied. The results showed that the average pore size of porous film decreased from >10 μm to sub-micron (about 0.4 μm) as the molecular weight or the dosage of PVP increased. This was ascribed to the strong adsorption affinity of PVP molecule onto the latex particle surface, which further hindered the diffusion and self-assembly of PVP molecule. In addition, this interaction became much stronger when the higher molecule weight of PVP or the higher dosage of PVP was employed, leading to the decreased size of PVP aggregation, as well as the formed pores in the latex films. Furthermore, the addition of PVP had little effect on the color of coated fabric based on the results of CIE L*a*b* measurement. The proposed facile method can be used to improve the air permeability of coated fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) is a typical thermoresponsive polymer used widely and studied deeply in smart materials, which is attractive and valuable owing to its reversible and remote "on–off" behavior adjusted by temperature variation. PNIPAAm usually exhibits opposite solubility or wettability across lower critical solution temperature (LCST), and it is readily functionalized making it available in extensive applications. Cell culture is one of the most prospective and representative applications. Active attachment and spontaneous detachment of targeted cells are easily tunable by surface wettability changes and volume phase transitions of PNIPAAm modified substrates with respect to ambient temperature. The thermoresponsive culture platforms and matching thermal-liftoff method can effectively substitute for the traditional cell harvesting ways like enzymatic hydrolysis and mechanical scraping, and will improve the stable and high quality of recovered cells. Therefore, the establishment and detection on PNIPAAm based culture systems are of particular importance. This review covers the important developments and recommendations for future work of the preparation and characterization of temperature-responsive substrates based on PNIPAAm and analogues for cell culture applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, glass fiber (GF)/phenol formaldehyde resin (PF)/epoxy resin (EP) three-phase electrical insulating composites were fabricated by selective laser sintering (SLS) additive manufacturing technology and subsequent infiltration. In the three-phase composites, glass fibers modified by a silane coupling agent (KH-550) were used as reinforcements, phenol formaldehyde resin acted as the binder and matrix, and infiltrated epoxy resin was the filler. Mechanical and electrical properties such as tensile strength, bending strength, dielectric constant, electrical conductivity, and electric breakdown strength of the GF/PF/EP three-phase composite parts were investigated. The results indicated that after being infiltrated with EP, the bending strength and tensile strength of the GF/PF/EP composites increased by 30% and 42.8%, respectively. Moreover, the flexural strength and tensile strength of the GF/PF/EP composite increased with the increase of the glass fiber content. More importantly, the three-phase composites showed high electrical properties. Significant improvement in the dielectric constant, electric breakdown strength, and resistivity with the increase in the content of glass fiber was observed. This enables the prepared GF/PF/EP composites to form complex structural electrical insulation devices by SLS, which expands the materials and applications of additive manufacturing technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]