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Skin trauma is a matter of great concern for public health, emphasizing the importance of reconstructing the microenvironment at the trauma site to facilitate tissue regeneration. Therefore, the investigation of innovative wound dressings has significant research and clinical implications. In this study, we prepared a thermosensitive hydrogel based on a hydrophilic-hydrophobic-hydrophilic triblock polycarbonate polymer (PTP), and created a composite hydrogel, PTPH-AZP, by incorporating amorphous zinc phosphate (AZP) nanoclusters. We evaluated the effects of PTPH-AZP on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and the ability to promote skin wound healing. According to the results, PTPH-AZP was found to promote the proliferation, migration, and tube formation of HUVECs through the sustained release of Zn2+ at appropriate concentrations. In vivo experiments demonstrated that in the early-mid stages of wound healing, PTPH-AZP promotes increases in Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (CD31) and α-Smooth Muscle Actin (α-SMA) content within the wound area, facilitating accelerated re-epithelialization and enhanced collagen deposition. In later healing stages, epidermal thickness in the PTPH-AZP treated group was significantly improved, aligning with surrounding intact skin with no instances of attenuated or hypertrophic scarring observed. The findings from the in vivo study suggested that PTPH-AZP may have a positive impact on vascularization and wound healing. In conclusion, this study presents a promising strategy for skin wound healing, highlighting the potential of PTPH-AZP as an effective therapeutic approach.

In nature, biological systems can sense environmental changes and alter their performance parameters in real time to adapt to environmental changes. Inspired by these, scientists have developed a range of novel shape-morphing materials. Shape-morphing materials are a kind of “intelligent” materials that exhibit responses to external stimuli in a predetermined way and then display a preset function. Liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) is a typical representative example of shape-morphing materials. The emergence of 4D printing technology can effectively simplify the preparation process of shape-morphing LCEs, by changing the printing material compositions and printing conditions, enabling precise control and macroscopic design of the shape-morphing modes. At the same time, the layer-by-layer stacking method can also endow the shape-morphing LCEs with complex, hierarchical orientation structures, which gives researchers a great degree of design freedom. 4D printing has greatly expanded the application scope of shape-morphing LCEs as soft intelligent materials. This review systematically reports the recent progress of 3D/4D printing of shape-morphing LCEs, discusses various 4D printing technologies, synthesis methods and actuation modes of 3D/4D printed LCEs, and summarizes the opportunities and challenges of 3D/4D printing technologies in preparing shape-morphing LCEs.

To mitigate the environmental hazards of boron mud waste accumulation, we prepared environmental-friendly SiO2 aerogels by extracting them through alkaline leaching treatment and optimized the experimental conditions. The optimum process parameters for alkaline leaching solution NaOH concentration, leaching temperature, solid-to-liquid ratio, and leaching time were 2 mol/L, 95 °C, 1:4, and 3 h, respectively. In this work, cheap and non-toxic hydroxy silicone oil (PDMS–OH) and hydrogen-containing silicone oil (PMHS) were used as surface modifiers instead of toxic and expensive trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) in the SiO2 aerogel modification process. The best performance under the optimum conditions was achieved with 60% PDMS–OH-modified SiO2 aerogel. Organic liquid spills, represented by toluene, pose a great danger to the environment and water bodies. We treated free toluene on the water surface with the aerogel mentioned above and its adsorption capacity was up to 2,655 mg/g. After the adsorption of toluene, the aerogels coalesced into agglomerates for subsequent collection and handling. Furthermore, after five repeated applications, the adsorption capacity remained at 91.43% of the initial application. Overall, this research provided an inexpensive and simple solution for the treatment of organic liquids in wastewater. HIGHLIGHTS Recovery of the high content of silicon from waste boron mud for making SiO2 aerogel.; Surface modification with environmental-friendly and inexpensive silicone oil.; The aerogel shows good adsorption ability to toluene leaking from the water surface.; The aerogel has excellent reusability.; Efficient adsorption material for toluene leakage at the wastewater surface.;

Introduction: Smart elastomers, which possess self-healing and shape memory capabilities, have immense potential in the field of biomedical applications. Polycarbonates and polyesters have gained widespread interest due to their remarkable biocompatibility over the last century. Nevertheless, the lack of functional versatility in conventional polyesters and polycarbonates means that they fall short of meeting the ever-evolving demands of the future.Methods: This paper introduced a new smart elastomer, named mPEG43-b-(PMBC-co-PCL)n, developed from polyester and polycarbonate blends, that possessed shape memory and self-heal capabilities via a physical crosslinking system.Results: The material demonstrated a significant tensile strength of 0.38 MPa and a tensile ratio of 1155.6%, highlighting its favorable mechanical properties. In addition, a conspicuous shape retrieval rate of 93% was showcased within 32.5 seconds at 37°C. Remarkably, the affected area could be repaired proficiently with no irritation experienced during 6h at room temperature, which was indicative of an admirable repair percentage of 87.6%. Furthermore, these features could be precisely modified by altering the proportion of MBC and ε-CL to suit individual constraints.Discussion: This innovative elastomer with exceptional shape memory and self-heal capabilities provides a solid basis and promising potential for the development of self-contracting intelligent surgical sutures in the biomedical field.

Microporous organic polymers (MOPs) possessing large specific surface area with high stability are suitable adsorbent to remove contaminants from water, such as organic pollutant and heavy metal contaminants. Herein, a phenanthroline-based microporous organic polymer (Phen-MOP) has been synthesized through the coupling between benzene and 1,10-phenanthroline. The adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics were investigated. This Phen-MOP exhibited good adsorption efficiency for removal of Cu(II) from water with high structural stability and reusability. The maximum removal efficiency could reach to 98.47% at a Cu(II) concentration of 20 mg/L, pH = 7, 25 °C. It was found by investigating the adsorption isotherms that the maximum adsorption capacity Qm was 128.53 mg/g. Interestingly, after the adsorption of Cu(II), the resulting Phen-MOP-Cu can serve as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the Ullmann-type reaction. The structure and composition of the Phen-MOP-Cu were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that this catalyst possessed immense specific surface area, large pore volume and high stability. The catalyst was easily recyclable and did not significantly lose catalytic activity after being reused six times. HIGHLIGHTS A phenanthroline-based microporous organic polymer (Phen-MOP) has been synthesized.; The fabricated Phen-MOP possessed large pore volume and high stability.; The Phen-MOP exhibited good adsorption capacity and high removal rate for Cu(II).; After adsorption, the resulting Phen-MOP-Cu could be used as recyclable catalyst for organic synthesis.;

A new effective magnetic composite material was prepared successfully for adsorption Hg(II) ions by introducing β-cyclodextrin/ethylene imine polymer to the mesoporous silica. The morphology and structure of EIP-β-CD magnetic adsorbents were characterized by FT-IR, XR, DTG, XPS and SEM technologies. The effect of many factors were discussed detailedly such as adsorption time, initial concentration, pH, different composition of adsorbent and adsorption temperature. It was found that EIP-β-CD showed excellent adsorption capacity, high selectivity, good reutilization and fast adsorption rate. The maximum adsorption capacity was 248.72 mg/g and the best removal rate was 99.49 % under the optimized experimental conditions. The kinetic and thermodynamic study showed typical characteristic of chemical adsorption, exothermic and spontaneous. The best mass proportion of β-cyclodextrin, ethylene imine polymer and glutaraldehyde was 1.0:0.4:0.2, and proper β-cyclodextrin can develop the adsorption capacity for Hg(II) ions in this adsorbent. The possible adsorption mechanism was investigated in detail. After the fifth cycle experiment, this new adsorbent still showed excellent adsorption capacity which indicated that it has great potential for Hg(II) ions cleanup in water solution.

A novel functional hybrid mesoporous composite material (CMP) based on chitosan and MCM-41-PAA was reported and its application as an excellent adsorbent for Hg(II) ions was also investigated. Innovatively, MCM-41-PAA was prepared by using diatomite and polyacrylic acid (PAA) with integrated polymer–silica hybrid frameworks, and then CMP was fabricated by introducing MCM-41-PAA to chitosan using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent. The structure and morphology of CMP were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements. The results showed that the CMP possessed multifunctional groups such as –OH, –COOH and –NH2 with large specific surface area. Adsorption behaviour of Hg(II) ions onto CMP was fitted better by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir model when the initial Hg(II) concentration, pH, adsorption temperature and time were 200 mg l−1, 4, 298 K and 120 min, respectively, as the optimum conditions. The corresponding maximum adsorption capacity could reach 164 mg g−1. According to the thermodynamic parameters determined such as free energy, enthalpy and entropy, the adsorption process of Hg(II) ions was spontaneous endothermic adsorption.

The phthalate ester compounds in industrial wastewater, as kinds of environmental toxic organic pollutants, may interfere with the body's endocrine system, resulting in great harm to humans. In this work, the photocatalytic degradation properties of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were investigated using α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles and H2O2 in aqueous solution system. The optimal parameters and mechanism of degradation were discussed by changing the morphology and usage amount of catalysts, the dosage of H2O2, pH value and the initial concentration of DBP. Hollow α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles showed the highest degradation efficiency when 30 mg of catalyst and 50 µl of H2O2 were used in the DBP solution with the initial concentration of 13 mg l−1 at pH = 6.5. When the reaction time was 90 min, DBP was degraded 93% for the above optimal parameters. The photocatalytic degradation mechanism of DBP was studied by the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry technique. The result showed that the main degradation intermediates of DBP were ortho-phthalate monobutyl ester, methyl benzoic acid, benzoic acid, benzaldehyde, and heptyl aldehyde when the reaction time was 2 h. DBP and its intermediates were almost completely degraded to CO2 and H2O in 12 h in the α-Fe2O3/ H2O2/UV system.

A new composite absorbent with multifunctional and environmental-friendly structures was prepared using chitosan, diatomite and polyvinyl alcohol as the raw materials, and glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent. The structure and morphology of the composite absorbent, and its adsorption properties of Hg(II) in water were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) measurements and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectra. The effect of the pH value and contact time on the removal rate and absorbance of Hg(II) was discussed. The adsorption kinetic model and static adsorption isotherm and regeneration of the obtained composite absorbent were investigated. The results indicated that the removal of Hg(II) on the composite absorbent followed a rapid adsorption for 50 min, and was close to the adsorption saturation after 1 h, which is in accord with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. When the pH value, contact time and the mass of the composite absorbent was 3, 1 h and 100 mg, respectively, the removal rate of Hg(II) on the composite absorbent reached 77%, and the maximum adsorption capacity of Hg(II) reached 195.7 mg g−1.

An efficient and practical approach towards bifunctional phosphorus phenols has been developed through a reaction of diphenylphosphine oxide and the o-quinone methides in situ generated from 2-tosylalkyl phenols under basic conditions. This protocol features simple experimental procedures under mild conditions and is easily scaled up. With this method, a variety of diarylmethyl phosphine oxides can be produced with up to 92% yield.

New amphiphilic liquid crystal (LC) polycarbonate block copolymers containing side-chain cholesteryl units were synthesized. Their structure, thermal stability, and LC phase behavior were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum, 1H NMR, gel permeation chromatographic (GPC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscope (POM), and XRD methods. The results demonstrated that the LC copolymers showed a double molecular arrangement of a smectic A phase at room temperature. With the elevating of LC unit content in such LC copolymers, the corresponding properties including decomposition temperature (Td), glass temperature (Tg), and isotropic temperature (Ti) increased. The LC copolymers showed pH-responsive self-assembly behavior under the weakly acidic condition, and with more side-chain LC units, the self-assembly process was faster, and the formed particle size was smaller. It indicated that the self-assembly driving force was derived from the orientational ability of LC. The particle size and morphologies of self-assembled microspheres loaded with doxorubicin (DOX), together with drug release tracking, were evaluated by dynamic light scattering (DLS), SEM, and UV–vis spectroscopy. The results showed that DOX could be quickly released in a weakly acidic environment due to the pH response of the self-assembled microspheres. This would offer a new strategy for drug delivery in clinic applications.