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Chitosan: An Overview of Its Properties and Applications Open
Chitosan has garnered much interest due to its properties and possible applications. Every year the number of publications and patents based on this polymer increase. Chitosan exhibits poor solubility in neutral and basic media, limiting i…
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Formaldehyde stabilization facilitates lignin monomer production during biomass depolymerization Open
Formaldehyde protects and serves The lignin found in plants is a desirable renewable feedstock for fuels and other useful compounds. Breaking down such a strong, energy-dense polymer, however, requires pretreatment of plant biomass under h…
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Fundamental Concepts of Hydrogels: Synthesis, Properties, and Their Applications Open
In the present review, we focused on the fundamental concepts of hydrogels—classification, the polymers involved, synthesis methods, types of hydrogels, properties, and applications of the hydrogel. Hydrogels can be synthesized from natura…
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Catalysis as an Enabling Science for Sustainable Polymers Open
The replacement of current petroleum-based plastics with sustainable alternatives is a crucial but formidable challenge for the modern society. Catalysis presents an enabling tool to facilitate the development of sustainable polymers. This…
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Atomic Resolution Structure of Monomorphic Aβ<sub>42</sub> Amyloid Fibrils Open
Amyloid-β (Aβ) is a 39-42 residue protein produced by the cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which subsequently aggregates to form cross-β amyloid fibrils that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The most prominent fo…
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Polyamide nanofiltration membrane with highly uniform sub-nanometre pores for sub-1 Å precision separation Open
Separating molecules or ions with sub-Angstrom scale precision is important but technically challenging. Achieving such a precise separation using membranes requires Angstrom scale pores with a high level of pore size uniformity. Herein, w…
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Nanoparticle-templated nanofiltration membranes for ultrahigh performance desalination Open
Nanofiltration (NF) membranes with ultrahigh permeance and high rejection are highly beneficial for efficient desalination and wastewater treatment. Improving water permeance while maintaining the high rejection of state-of-the-art thin fi…
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Functional Microgels and Microgel Systems Open
Microgels are macromolecular networks swollen by the solvent in which they are dissolved. They are unique systems that are distinctly different from common colloids, such as, e.g., rigid nanoparticles, flexible macromolecules, micelles, or…
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Emerging Trends in Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly Open
In this Perspective, we summarize recent progress in polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) for the rational synthesis of block copolymer nanoparticles with various morphologies. Much of the PISA literature has been based on thermally…
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Poly(lactic Acid): A Versatile Biobased Polymer for the Future with Multifunctional Properties—From Monomer Synthesis, Polymerization Techniques and Molecular Weight Increase to PLA Applications Open
Environmental problems, such as global warming and plastic pollution have forced researchers to investigate alternatives for conventional plastics. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), one of the well-known eco-friendly biodegradables and biobased pol…
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Structures, Properties and Applications of Alginates Open
Alginate is a hydrocolloid from algae, specifically brown algae, which is a group that includes many of the seaweeds, like kelps and an extracellular polymer of some bacteria. Sodium alginate is one of the best-known members of the hydroge…
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Ceramic Stereolithography: Additive Manufacturing for Ceramics by Photopolymerization Open
Ceramic stereolithography and related additive manufacturing methods involving photopolymerization of ceramic powder suspensions are reviewed in terms of the capabilities of current devices. The practical fundamentals of the cure depth, cu…
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Characterization and engineering of a two-enzyme system for plastics depolymerization Open
Significance Deconstruction of recalcitrant polymers, such as cellulose or chitin, is accomplished in nature by synergistic enzyme cocktails that evolved over millions of years. In these systems, soluble dimeric or oligomeric intermediates…
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Machine-learning-assisted discovery of polymers with high thermal conductivity using a molecular design algorithm Open
The use of machine learning in computational molecular design has great potential to accelerate the discovery of innovative materials. However, its practical benefits still remain unproven in real-world applications, particularly in polyme…
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Secondary nucleation in amyloid formation Open
Nucleation of new peptide and protein aggregates on the surfaces of amyloid fibrils of the same peptide or protein has emerged in the past two decades as a major pathway for both the generation of molecular species responsible for cellular…
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Chemically recyclable thermoplastics from reversible-deactivation polymerization of cyclic acetals Open
Tough recyclable polyacetals Cyclic acetals such as dioxolane are appealing building blocks for recyclable plastics but have proven to be difficult to polymerize controllably. Abel et al . show that optimal pairing of a bromomethyl ether a…
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Fluorescent J-aggregates of cyanine dyes: basic research and applications review Open
J-aggregates are fascinating fluorescent nanomaterials formed by highly ordered assembly of organic dyes with the spectroscopic properties dramatically different from that of single or disorderly assembled dye molecules. They demonstrate v…
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Radical Ring-Opening Polymerization: Scope, Limitations, and Application to (Bio)Degradable Materials Open
Cyclic monomers bearing either vinyl or exomethylene groups have the ability to be polymerized through a radical pathway via a ring-opening mechanism (addition-fragmentation process), leading to the introduction of functionalities in the p…
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Toward biomass-derived renewable plastics: Production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid from fructose Open
A process for converting fructose to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, a monomer used in the production of a renewable plastics.
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Tailoring the Grain Boundary Chemistry of Polymeric Carbon Nitride for Enhanced Solar Hydrogen Production and CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction Open
Photocatalytic water splitting is a promising and clean way to mimic plant photosynthesis in a sustainable manner. Improvements of the quantum efficiency and optical absorption in the relevant range are necessary steps to approach practica…
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Emulsion Templating: Porous Polymers and Beyond Open
Emulsion templating presently extends far beyond the original hydrophobic porous polymers that were synthesized within surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) by using free radical polymerization. This Pers…
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Lecanemab, Aducanumab, and Gantenerumab — Binding Profiles to Different Forms of Amyloid-Beta Might Explain Efficacy and Side Effects in Clinical Trials for Alzheimer's Disease Open
Immunotherapy against amyloid-beta (A ss) is a promising option for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease ( AD). A ss exists as various species, including monomers, oligomers, protofibrils, and insoluble fibrils in plaques. Oligomers and pr…
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Reprocessable Acid-Degradable Polycarbonate Vitrimers Open
Vitrimers are cross-linked polymer networks containing linkages that undergo thermally activated, associative exchange reactions, such that the cross-link density and overall network connectivity are preserved. Polycarbonates are industria…
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Assembling a Natural Small Molecule into a Supramolecular Network with High Structural Order and Dynamic Functions Open
Programming the hierarchical self-assembly of small molecules has been a fundamental topic of great significance in biological systems and artificial supramolecular systems. Precise and highly programmed self-assembly can produce supramole…
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Recent Advances in the Catalytic Depolymerization of Lignin towards Phenolic Chemicals: A Review Open
The efficient valorization of lignin could dictate the success of the 2 nd generation biorefinery. Lignin, accounting for on average a third of the lignocellulosic biomass, is the most promising candidate for sustainable production of valu…
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Covalent Organic Frameworks as a Platform for Multidimensional Polymerization Open
The simultaneous polymerization and crystallization of monomers featuring directional bonding designs provides covalent organic frameworks (COFs), which are periodic polymer networks with robust covalent bonds arranged in two- or three-dim…
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A continuing legend: the Brookhart-type α-diimine nickel and palladium catalysts Open
Here we will summarize some of the recent advances in α-diimine ligand developments, as well as some new and challenging monomers that this class of catalysts can address through these ligand improvements.
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Polyamide-based membranes with structural homogeneity for ultrafast molecular sieving Open
Thin-film composite membranes formed by conventional interfacial polymerization generally suffer from the depth heterogeneity of the polyamide layer, i.e., nonuniformly distributed free volume pores, leading to the inefficient permselectiv…
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Polymeric vanadyl species determine the low-temperature activity of V-based catalysts for the SCR of NO <sub> <i>x</i> </sub> with NH <sub>3</sub> Open
The coupling effect of polymeric vanadyl species greatly promotes the NH 3 -SCR de-NO x process over vanadia-based catalysts.
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Reductive Catalytic Fractionation of Corn Stover Lignin Open
Reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) has emerged as an effective biomass pretreatment strategy to depolymerize lignin into tractable fragments in high yields. We investigate the RCF of corn stover, a highly abundant herbaceous feedstock…