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Advances in engineering hydrogels Open
Wet, soft, squishy, and tunable Hydrogels are highly cross-linked polymer networks that are heavily swollen with water. Hydrogels have been used as dynamic, tunable, degradable materials for growing cells and tissues. Zhang and Khademhosse…
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New Insights into Perfluorinated Sulfonic-Acid Ionomers Open
In this comprehensive review, recent progress and developments on perfluorinated sulfonic-acid (PFSA) membranes have been summarized on many key topics. Although quite well investigated for decades, PFSA ionomers' complex behavior, along w…
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Bright Side of Lignin Depolymerization: Toward New Platform Chemicals Open
Lignin, a major component of lignocellulose, is the largest source of aromatic building blocks on the planet and harbors great potential to serve as starting material for the production of biobased products. Despite the initial challenges …
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Polydopamine Surface Chemistry: A Decade of Discovery Open
Polydopamine is one of the simplest and most versatile approaches to functionalizing material surfaces, having been inspired by the adhesive nature of catechols and amines in mussel adhesive proteins. Since its first report in 2007, a deca…
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A review on polymeric hydrogel membranes for wound dressing applications: PVA-based hydrogel dressings Open
This review presents the past and current efforts with a brief description on the featured properties of hydrogel membranes fabricated from biopolymers and synthetic ones for wound dressing applications. Many endeavors have been exerted du…
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Plastics of the Future? The Impact of Biodegradable Polymers on the Environment and on Society Open
In recent years the littering of plastics and the problems related to their persistence in the environment have become a major focus in both research and the news. Biodegradable polymers like poly(lactic acid) are seen as a suitable altern…
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A highly stretchable, transparent, and conductive polymer Open
A polymer is described that is conductive and stretchable, which can lead to electronics that can conform to the human body.
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<i>50th Anniversary Perspective</i>: RAFT Polymerization—A User Guide Open
This Perspective summarizes the features and limitations of reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, as our understanding of the process, from both a mechanistic and…
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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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Nanocellulose: From Fundamentals to Advanced Applications Open
Over the past few years, nanocellulose (NC), cellulose in the form of nanostructures, has been proved to be one of the most prominent green materials of modern times. NC materials have gained growing interests owing to their attractive and…
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Conducting polymers: a comprehensive review on recent advances in synthesis, properties and applications Open
Conducting polymers are extensively studied due to their outstanding properties, including tunable electrical property, optical and high mechanical properties, easy synthesis and effortless fabrication and high environmental stability over…
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The Collagen Suprafamily: From Biosynthesis to Advanced Biomaterial Development Open
Collagen is the oldest and most abundant extracellular matrix protein that has found many applications in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industries. First, an overview of the family of collagens and their respective structu…
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Cellulose and its derivatives: towards biomedical applications Open
Cellulose is the most abundant polysaccharide on Earth. It can be obtained from a vast number of sources, e.g. cell walls of wood and plants, some species of bacteria, and algae, as well as tunicates, which are the only known cellulose-con…
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Recent advances in biodegradable polymers for sustainable applications Open
The interest in producing biodegradable polymers by chemical treatment, microorganisms and enzymes has increased to make it easier to dispose after the end of its use without harming the environment. Biodegradable polymers reported a set o…
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Natural Fibers as Sustainable and Renewable Resource for Development of Eco-Friendly Composites: A Comprehensive Review Open
The increase in awareness of the damage caused by synthetic materials on the environment has led to the development of eco-friendly materials. The researchers have shown a lot of interest in developing such materials which can replace the …
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<i>50th Anniversary Perspective</i>: Polymers and Mixed Matrix Membranes for Gas and Vapor Separation: A Review and Prospective Opportunities Open
Membrane gas separation is a mature and expanding technology. However, the availability of better membrane materials would promote faster growth. In this Perspective we analyze the state of the art of membrane materials, including polymers…
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MoS<sub>2</sub>/Celgard Separator as Efficient Polysulfide Barrier for Long‐Life Lithium–Sulfur Batteries Open
A high lithium conductive MoS 2 /Celgard composite separator is reported as efficient polysulfides barrier in Li–S batteries. Significantly, thanks to the high density of lithium ions on MoS 2 surface, this composite separator shows high l…
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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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A Critical Appraisal of RAFT-Mediated Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly Open
Recently, polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) has become widely recognized as a robust and efficient route to produce block copolymer nanoparticles of controlled size, morphology, and surface chemistry. Several reviews of this fiel…
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Review of recent advances in the biodegradability of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastics and their composites Open
Poly(hydroxyalkanoate)s (PHAs) represent a promising solution to allay climate change and plastic waste pollution. Being both completely bio-based and biodegradable, PHAs can approach a carbon neutral platform whereas petroleum-based plast…
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MOF-Polymer Hybrid Materials: From Simple Composites to Tailored Architectures Open
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are inherently crystalline, brittle porous solids. Conversely, polymers are flexible, malleable, and processable solids that are used for a broad range of commonly used technologies. The stark differences be…
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Recent trends in bioinks for 3D printing Open
Background The worldwide demand for the organ replacement or tissue regeneration is increasing steadily. The advancements in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have made it possible to regenerate such damaged organs or tissues in…
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Recent Studies of Pickering Emulsions: Particles Make the Difference Open
In recent years, emulsions stabilized by micro‐ or nanoparticles (known as Pickering emulsions) have attracted much attention. Micro‐ or nanoparticles, as the main components of the emulsion, play a key role in the preparation and applicat…
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Sensitive electromechanical sensors using viscoelastic graphene-polymer nanocomposites Open
Super sensitive, not so silly, putty Many composites blend stiff materials, such as glass or carbon fibers, into a softer elastic polymer matrix to generate a material with better overall mechanical toughness. Boland et al. added graphene …
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The Chemistry behind Catechol‐Based Adhesion Open
The adhesion of some marine organisms to almost any kind of surface in wet conditions has aroused increasing interest in recent decades. Numerous fundamental studies have been performed to understand the scientific basis of this behaviour,…
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Nature-Inspired Structural Materials for Flexible Electronic Devices Open
Exciting advancements have been made in the field of flexible electronic devices in the last two decades and will certainly lead to a revolution in peoples' lives in the future. However, because of the poor sustainability of the active mat…
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The Biomedical Use of Silk: Past, Present, Future Open
Humans have long appreciated silk for its lustrous appeal and remarkable physical properties, yet as the mysteries of silk are unraveled, it becomes clear that this outstanding biopolymer is more than a high‐tech fiber. This progress repor…
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Hydrogels: Properties and Applications in Biomedicine Open
Hydrogels are crosslinked polymer chains with three-dimensional (3D) network structures, which can absorb relatively large amounts of fluid. Because of the high water content, soft structure, and porosity of hydrogels, they closely resembl…
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Supramolecular Polymers in Aqueous Media Open
This review discusses one-dimensional supramolecular polymers that form in aqueous media. First, naturally occurring supramolecular polymers are described, in particular, amyloid fibrils, actin filaments, and microtubules. Their structural…
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Toughening elastomers using mussel-inspired iron-catechol complexes Open
Combining stiffness and stretchiness There is usually a trade-off between making a material stretchy, so that it can absorb energy on deformation, and making a material stiff, so that it does not extend very much when stretched. Mussels ha…