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Industrial production and domestic discharge produce a large amount of oily wastewater, which seriously affects the stability of the ecological environment. Membrane separation technology provides another path to treating oily wastewater. And appropriate surface modification of the membrane helps to achieve high efficiency of treating oily wastewater. With green, economy and stability been more concerned. The focal research reports a completely biodegradable all cellulose composite filter paper (ACCFP) composed of I-cellulose macrofibers and II-cellulose matrix. It is a simple one-step impregnation method to adjust the surface microstructure of the pristine filter paper (PFP), and it does not involve with chemical reaction. The pre-wetted ACCFP consist of II-cellulose hydrogel and I-cellulose reinforcement in the process of oil-water separation. This layer of hydrogel is the fundamental to underwater superoleophobicity, which determines their eligibility for applications of efficient oil-water mixture or oil-in-water (oil/water) emulsion separation. The separation efficiency of oil-water mixture and oil/water emulsion exceed 95% and 99.9%, respectively. In addition, excellent mechanical properties of ACCFP in dry and wet conditions ensure its stability in service and prolong service life in applications. The focal study provides a new method for high-performance oil-water separation and it is more in line with sustainable chemistry.

Low-cost, flexible and safe battery technology is the key to the widespread usage of wearable electronics, among which the aqueous Al ion battery with water-in-salt electrolyte is a promising candidate. In this work, a flexible aqueous Al ion battery is developed using cellulose paper as substrate. The water-in-salt electrolyte is stored inside the paper, while the electrodes are either printed or attached on the paper surface, leading to a lightweight and thin-film battery prototype. Currently, this battery can tolerate a charge and discharge rate as high as 4 A g−1 without losing its storage capacity. The charge voltage is around 2.2 V, while the discharge plateau of 1.6–1.8 V is among the highest in reported aqueous Al ion batteries, together with a high discharge specific capacity of ∼140 mAh g−1. However, due to the water electrolysis side reaction, the faradaic efficiency can only reach 85% with a cycle life of 250 due to the dry out of electrolyte. Benefited from using flexible materials and aqueous electrolyte, this paper-based Al ion battery can tolerate various deformations such as bending, rolling and even puncturing without losing its performance. When two single cells are connected in series, the battery pack can provide a charge voltage of 4.3 V and a discharge plateau as high as 3–3.6 V, which are very close to commercial Li ion batteries. Such a cheap, flexible and safe battery technology may be widely applied in low-cost and large-quantity applications, such as RFID tags, smart packages and wearable biosensors in the future.

Environmentally friendly and energy saving treatment of black liquor (BL), a massively produced waste in Kraft papermaking process, still remains a big challenge. Here, by adopting a NiCaOCa12Al14O33 bifunctional catalyst derived from hydrotalcite-like materials, we demonstrate the feasibility of producing high-purity H2 (∼96%) with 0.9 mol H2 mol−1 C yield via the sorption enhanced steam reforming (SESR) of BL. The SESRBL performance in terms of H2 production maintained stable for 5 cycles, but declined from the 6th cycle. XRD, Raman spectroscopy, elemental analysis and energy dispersive techniques were employed to rationalize the deactivation of the catalyst. It was revealed that gradual sintering and agglomeration of Ni and CaO and associated coking played important roles in catalyst deactivation and performance degradation of SESRBL, while deposition of Na and K from the BL might also be responsible for the declined performance. On the other hand, it was demonstrated that the SESRBL process could effectively reduce the emission of sulfur species by storing it as CaSO3. Our results highlight a promising alternative for BL treatment and H2 production, thereby being beneficial for pollution control and environment governance in the context of mitigation of climate change.

The effectiveness of ClO2 bleaching as a replacement for conventional Cl2 bleaching, which is intensively practiced in developing countries, to reduce polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in non-wood pulp and paper mills has not been field tested. The first field study was performed to investigate PCDD/F variations when ClO2 bleaching was used as a substitute for conventional Cl2 bleaching in a non-wood pulp and paper mill. It was found that the PCDD/F toxic equivalents (TEQs) in solid and effluent samples were approximately 1.3–14.9 times lower when ClO2 bleaching was used instead of the conventional Cl2 bleaching. 2,3,7,8-Substituted tetrachlorinated dibenzofurans (2,3,7,8-TCDF) were the dominant contributors to total PCDD/F TEQs in samples from the investigated mill when using conventional Cl2 bleaching. The formation amounts of 2,3,7,8-TCDF were reduced from 1.56–2.76 pg TEQ/g to 0.02–0.32 pg TEQ/g in solid samples when ClO2 bleaching was used instead of the conventional Cl2 bleaching. The replacement of Cl2 with ClO2 might decrease the chlorination reactions of dibenzofuran as potential precursors, and thus reduce the formation amounts of 2,3,7,8-TCDF. The results could provide important knowledge for suggesting the best available technique for PCDD/F reduction for non-wood pulp and paper mills in developing countries. Keywords: PCDD/Fs, Pulp and paper mill, ClO2 bleaching, Cl2 bleaching, Persistent organic pollutants

Aqueous zinc (Zn) batteries with Zn metal anodes are promising clean energy storage devices with intrinsic safety and low cost. However, Zn dendrite growth severely restricts the use of Zn anodes. To effectively suppress Zn dendrite growth, we propose a bilayer separator consisting of commercial butter paper and glass fiber membrane. The dense cellulose-based butter paper (BP) with low zincophilicity and high mechanical properties prevents the pore-filling behavior of deposited Zn and related separator piercing, effectively suppressing the Zn dendrite growth. As a result, the bilayer separators endow the Zn||Zn symmetrical batteries with a superlong cycling life of Zn anodes (over 5000 h) at 0.5 mA cm−2 and the full batteries enhanced capacity retention, demonstrating the advancement of the bilayer separator to afford excellent cyclability of aqueous metal batteries.

Non-degradable polymers cause serious environmental pollution problem, such as the widely-used while unrecyclable coatings which significantly affect the overall degradation performance of products. It is imperative and attractive to develop biodegradable functional coatings. Herein, we proposed a novel strategy to successfully prepare biodegradable, thermoplastic and hydrophobic coatings with high transparence and biosafety by weakening the interchain interactions between cellulose chain. The natural cellulose and cinnamic acid were as raw materials. Via reducing the degree of polymerization (DP) of cellulose and regulating the degree of substitution (DS) of cinnamate moiety, the obtained cellulose cinnamate (CC) exhibited not only the thermal flow behavior but also good biodegradability, which solves the conflict between the thermoplasticity and biodegradability in cellulose-based materials. The glass transition temperature (Tg) and thermal flow temperature (Tf) of the CC could be adjusted in a range of 150-200 °C and 180-210 °C, respectively. The CC with DS < 1.2 and DP ≤ 100 degraded more than 60% after an enzyme treatment for 7 days, and degraded more than 80% after a composting treatment for 42 days. Furthermore, CC had no toxicity to human epidermal cells even at a high concentration (0.5 mg mL-1). In addition, CC could be easily fabricated into multifunctional coating with high hydrophobicity, thermal adhesion and high transparence. Therefore, after combining with cellophane and paperboard, CC coating with low DP and DS could be used to prepare fully-biodegradable heat-sealing packaging, art paper, paper cups, paper straws and food packaging boxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop emerging electrode materials and improve the performances of batteries, the machine learning techniques can provide insights to discover, design and develop battery new materials in high-throughput way. In this paper, two deep learning models are developed and trained with two feature groups extracted from the Materials Project datasets to predict the battery electrochemical performances including average voltage, specific capacity and specific energy. The deep learning models are trained with the multilayer perceptron as the core. The Bayesian optimization and Monte Carlo methods are applied to improve the prediction accuracy of models. Based on 10 types of ion batteries, the correlation coefficients are maintained above 0.9 compared to DFT calculation results and the mean absolute error of the prediction results for voltages of two models can reach 0.41 Vand 0.20 V, respectively. The electrochemical performance prediction times for the two trained models on thousands of batteries are only 72.9 ms and 75.7 ms. Besides, the two deep learning models are applied to approach the screening of emerging electrode materials for sodium-ion and potassium-ion batteries. This work can contribute to a high-throughput computational method to accelerate the rational and fast materials discovery and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging contaminants (ECs) are widely present in aquatic environments, posing potential risks to both ecosystems and human health. The ultrasound-assisted persulfate oxidation process has attracted considerable attention in the degradation of ECs due to its ability to generate both sulfate radicals and cavitation effects, enhancing degradation effects. In this paper, the principle of ultrasonic synergistic Fenton-like oxidation system for degrading organic pollutants was reviewed, divided into homogeneous system, non-homogeneous system, and single-atom system to explore the synergistic effect of ultrasound-enhanced persulfate technology in three aspects, and the effects of environmental factors such as ultrasonic frequency and power, system pH, temperature, and initial oxidant concentration on the system's decontamination performance were discussed. Finally, future research on ultrasonically activated persulfate technology is summarized and prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous organic redox flow batteries (AORFBs) have pioneered new routes for large-scale energy storage. The tunable nature of redox-active organic molecules provides a robust foundation for creating innovative AORFBs with exceptional performance. Molecular engineering endows various organic molecules with considerable advantages in solubility, stability, and redox potential. Advanced characterizations have enabled a comprehensive understanding of the redox reaction and degradation mechanisms of these organic molecules. Computational chemistry and machine learning have guided the development of new organic molecules. The practical application of AORFBs will depend on the complementary efforts of multiple parties. This paper consolidates the current design principles of molecular engineering, degradation mechanisms, characterization techniques, and the utilization of computational chemistry. It also offers perspectives and forecasts the necessary attributes and strategic efforts for the next-generation AORFBs, aiming to provide the research community with a deeper understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good crystallinity can reduce the charge recombination centers caused by defects, whilst structures with strong polycondensation have high charge mobility, leading to more charge transfer to the material surface for reaction. Much effort has been put into the preparation of a highly efficient g-C3N4 with defects to improve its application potential under the premise in high crystallinity. Hence, this review paper emphasizes the importance to balance the defect and crystallinity of g-C3N4. In addition, detailed discussion on the relationship between defects and activity of g-C3N4 was carried out based on its applications in environmental purification (e.g., VOCs oxidation, NOx oxidation, H2O2 evolution, sterilization, pesticide oxidation) and energy conversion (H2 evolution, N2 fixation and CO2 reduction). Lastly, the challenge in developing more efficient defective g-C3N4 photocatalytic materials is summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Increasing the greenness of an organic acid through deep eutectic solvation and further polymerisation" published in the journal Green Energy & Environment. The authors apologize for omitting the name of the ethic committee and reference number in the original paper. They state that all animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and were approved by the Animal Welfare and Ethical Committee of Hebei University. The original article can be accessed online with the provided DOI. [Extracted from the article]

A two-stage catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) that couples CO2 splitting with methane oxidation reactions was constructed based on an oxygen-permeable perovskite asymmetric membrane. The asymmetric membrane comprises a dense SrFe0.9Ta0.1O3-d (SFT) separation layer and a porous Sr0.9(Fe0.9Ta0.1)0.9Cu0.1O3-d (SFTC) catalytic layer. In the first stage reactor, a CO2 splitting reaction (CDS: 2CO2/2CO þ O2) occurs at the SFTC catalytic layer. Subsequently, the O2 product is selectively extracted through the SFT separation layer to the permeated side for the methane combustion reaction (MCR), which provides an extremely low oxygen partial pressure to enhance the oxygen extraction. In the second stage, a Sr0.9(Fe0.9Ta0.1)0.9Ni0.1O3-d (SFTN) catalyst is employed to reform the products derived from MCR. The two-stage CMR design results in a remarkable 35.4% CO2 conversion for CDS at 900 °C. The two-stage CMR was extended to a hollow fiber configuration combining with solar irradiation. The solar-assisted two-stage CMR can operate stably for over 50 h with a high hydrogen yield of 18.1 mL min-1 cm-2. These results provide a novel strategy for reducing CO2 emissions, suggesting potential avenues for the design of the high-performance CMRs and catalysts based on perovskite oxides in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer flooding is an effective method widely applied for enhancing oil recovery (EOR) by reducing the mobility ratio between the injected water and crude oil. However, traditional polymers encounter challenges in high salinity reservoirs due to their salt sensitivity. To overcome this challenge, we synthesized a zwitterion polymer (PAMNS) with salt-induced tackifying property through copolymerization of acrylamide and a zwitterion monomer, methylacrylamide propyl-N, N-dimethylbutylsulfonate (NS). NS monomer is obtained from the reaction between 1,4-butanesultone and dimethylamino propyl methylacrylamide. In this study, the rheological properties, salt responsiveness, and EOR efficiency of PAMNS were evaluated. Results demonstrate that PAMNS exhibits desirable salt-induced tackifying characteristics, with viscosity increasing up to 2.4 times as the NaCl concentration reaches a salinity of 30 × 104 mg L-1. Furthermore, high valence ions possess a much stronger effect on enhancing viscosity, manifested as Mg2þ > Ca2þ > Naþ. Molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and fluid dynamics experiment results demonstrate that PAMNS molecules exhibit a more stretched state and enhanced intermolecular associations in high-salinity environments. It is because of the salt-induced tackifying, PAMNS demonstrates superior performance in polymer flooding experiments under salinity ranges from 5 × 104 mg L-1 to 20 × 104 mg L-1, leading to 10.38-19.83% higher EOR than traditional polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineral carbonation is a promising CO2 sequestration strategy that can utilize industrial wastes to convert CO2 into high-value CaCO3. This review summarizes the advancements in CO2 mineralization using typical industrial wastes to prepare ultrafine CaCO3. This work surveys the mechanisms of CO2 mineralization using these wastes and its capacities to synthesize CaCO3, evaluates the effects of carbonation pathways and operating parameters on the preparation of CaCO3, analyzes the current industrial application status and economics of this technology. Due to the large amount of impurities in solid wastes, the purity of CaCO3 prepared by indirect methods is greater than that prepared by direct methods. Crystalline CaCO3 includes three polymorphs. The polymorph of CaCO3 synthesized by carbonation process is determined the combined effects of various factors. These parameters essentially impact the nucleation and growth of CaCO3 by altering the CO2 supersaturation in the reaction system and the surface energy of CaCO3 grains. Increasing the initial pH of the solution and the CO2 flow rate favors the formation of vaterite, but calcite is formed under excessively high pH. Vaterite formation is favored at lower temperatures and residence time. With increased temperature and prolonged residence time, it passes through aragonite metastable phase and eventually transforms into calcite. Moreover, polymorph modifiers can decrease the surface energy of CaCO3 grains, facilitating the synthesis of vaterite. However, the large-scale application of this technology still faces many problems, including high costs, high energy consumption, low calcium leaching rate, low carbonation efficiency, and low product yield. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate ways to accelerate carbonation, optimize operating parameters, develop cost-effective agents, and understand the kinetics of CaCO3 nucleation and crystallization to obtain products with specific crystal forms. Furthermore, more studies on life cycle assessment (LCA) should be conducted to fully confirm the feasibility of the developed technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KFeSO4F (KFSF) is considered a potential cathode due to the large capacity and low cost. However, the inferior electronic conductivity leads to poor electrochemical performance. Defect engineering can facilitate the electron/ion transfer by tuning electronic structure, thus providing favorable electrochemical performance. Herein, through the regulation of surface defect engineering in reduced graphene oxide (rGO), the Fe-C bonds were formed between KFSF and rGO. The Fe-C bonds formed work in regulating the Fe-3d orbital as well as promoting the migration ability of K ions and increasing the electronic conductivity of KFSF. Thus, the KFSF@rGO delivers a high capacity of 119.6 mAh g-1. When matched with a graphite@pitch-derived S-doped carbon anode, the full cell delivers an energy density of 250.5 Wh kg-1 and a capacity retention of 81.5% after 400 cycles. This work offers a simple and valid method to develop high-performance cathodes by tuning defect sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance proton exchange membranes are of great importance for fuel cells. Here, we have synthesized polycarboxylate plasticizer modified MIL-101-Cr-NH2 (PCP-MCN), a kind of hybrid metal-organic framework, which exhibits a superior proton conductivity. PCP-MCN nanoparticles are used as additives to fabricate PCP-MCN/Nafion composite membranes. Microstructures and characteristics of PCP-MCN and these membranes have been extensively investigated. Significant enhancement in proton conduction for PCP-MCN around 55 °C is interestingly found due to the thermal motion of the PCP molecular chains. Robust mechanical properties and higher thermal decomposition temperature of the composite membranes are directly ascribed to strong intermolecular interactions between PCP-MCN and Nafion side chains, i.e., the formation of substantial acid-base pairs (-SO-<3 ···+H-NH-), which further improves compatibility between additive and Nafion matrix. At the same humidity and temperature condition, the water uptake of composite membranes significantly increases due to the incorporation of porous additives with abundant functional groups and thus less crystallinity degree in comparison to pristine Nafion. Proton conductivity (s) over wide ranges of humidities (30 - 100% RH at 25 °C) and temperatures (30 - 98 °C at 100% RH) for prepared membranes is measured. The s in PCPMCN/ Nafion composite membranes is remarkably enhanced, i.e. 0.245 S/cm for PCP-MCN-3wt.%/Nafion is twice that of Nafion membrane at 98 °C and 100% RH, because of the establishment of well-interconnected proton transport ionic water channels and perhaps faster protonation-deprotonation processes. The composite membranes possess weak humidity-dependence of proton transport and higher water uptake due to excellent water retention ability of PCP-MCN. In particular, when 3 wt.% PCP-MCN was added to Nafion, the power density of a single-cell fabricated with this composite membrane reaches impressively 0.480, 1.098 W/cm² under 40% RH, 100% RH at 60 °C, respectively, guaranteeing it to be a promising proton exchange membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water stability is one of the most important factors restricting the practical application of metal organic frameworks (MOFs). In this work, we fabricate a highly defective HKUST-1 framework with a mixed valence of CuI/CuII by mechanical ball milling method. This defective HKUST-1 is embellished by functionalized ionic liquids as hydrophobic armor, making the hybrid HIL1@HKUST-1 exhibits outstanding water stability, remarkable SO2 adsorption (up to 5.71 mmol g-1), and record-breaking selectivity (1070 for SO2/CO2 and 31,515 for SO2/N2) at 25 °C and 0.1 bar, even in wet conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfacial solar-driven evaporation technology shows great potential in the field of industrial seawater desalination, and the development of efficient and low-cost evaporation materials is key to achieving large-scale applications. Hydrogels are considered to be promising candidates; however, conventional hydrogel-based interfacial solar evaporators have difficulty in simultaneously meeting multiple requirements, including a high evaporation rate, salt resistance, and good mechanical properties. In this study, a Janus sponge-like hydrogel solar evaporator (CPAS) with excellent comprehensive performance was successfully constructed. The introduction of biomass agar (AG) into the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel backbone reduced the enthalpy of water evaporation, optimized the pore structure, and improved the mechanical properties. Meanwhile, by introducing hydrophobic fumed nano-silica aerogel (SA) and a synergistic foaming-crosslinking process, the hydrogel spontaneously formed a Janus structure with a hydrophobic surface and hydrophilic bottom properties. Based on the reduction of the evaporation enthalpy and the modulation of the pore structure, the CPAS evaporation rate reached 3.56 kg m-2 h-1 under one sun illumination. Most importantly, owing to the hydrophobic top surface and 3D-interconnected porous channels, the evaporator could work stably in high concentrations of salt-water (25 wt% NaCl), showing strong salt resistance. Efficient water evaporation, excellent salt resistance, scalable preparation processes, and low-cost raw materials make CPAS extremely promising for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as one of non-degradable wastes has become a huge threat to the environment and human health. Chemical Recycle of PET is a sustainable way to release 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (BDC) the monomer of PET as common used organic linker for synthesis of functional Metal-organic-frameworks (PET-derived MOFs) such as UiO-66, MIL-101, etc. This sustainable and costeffective "Waste-to-MOFs" model is of great significant to be intensively investigated in the past years. Attributes of substantial porosity, specific surface area, exposed metal centers, uniform structure, and flexible morphology render PET-derived MOFs are well-suited for applications in adsorption, energy storage, catalysis, among others. Herein, in the present work, we have summarized recent advances in synthesis of PETderived MOFs using ex-situ and in-situ methods for typical applications of adsorption, catalysis and energy storage. Despite those improvements in synthesis methods and potential applications, challenges still remain in development of green and economical routes to fully utilize waste PET for massive manufacture of valuable MOF materials and chemicals. This review provides insights into the conversion of non-degradable PET waste to value-added MOF materials, and further suggests promising perspectives to develop the sustainable "Waste-to-MOFs" model in addressing environmental pollution and energy crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of passive NOx adsorbers with cost-benefit and high NOx storage capacity remains an on-going challenge to after-treatment technologies at lower temperatures associated with cold-start NOx emissions. Herein, Cs1Mg3Al catalyst prepared by sol--gel method was cyclic tested in NOx storage under 5 vol% water. At 100 °C, the NOx storage capacity (1219 mmol g-1) was much higher than that of Pt/BaO/Al2O3 (610 mmol g-1). This provided new insights for non-noble metal catalysts in low-temperature passive NOx adsorption. The addition of Cs improved the mobility of oxygen species and thus improved the NOx storage capacity. The XRD, XPS, IR spectra and in situ DRIFTs with NH3 probe showed an interaction between CsOx and AlOx sites via oxygen species formed on Cs1Mg3Al catalyst. The improved mobility of oxygen species inferred from O2-TPD was consistent with high NOx storage capacity related to enhanced formation of nitrate and additional nitrite species by NOx oxidation. Moreover, the addition of Mg might improve the stability of Cs1Mg3Al by stabilizing surface active oxygen species in cyclic experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate crisis necessitates the development of non-fossil energy sources. Harnessing solar energy for fuel production shows promise and offers the potential to utilize existing energy infrastructure. However, solar fuel production is in its early stages of development, constrained by low conversion efficiency and challenges in scaling up production. Concentrated solar energy (CSE) technology has matured alongside the rapid growth of solar thermal power plants. This review provides an overview of current CSE methods and solar fuel production, analyzes their integration compatibility, and delves into the theoretical mechanisms by which CSE impacts solar energy conversion efficiency and product selectivity in the context of photo-electrochemistry, thermochemistry, and photo-thermal co-catalysis for solar fuel production. The review also summarizes approaches to studying the photoelectric and photothermal effects of CSE. Lastly, it explores emerging novel CSE technology methods in the field of solar fuel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, porous organic catalysts have been developed and become research hotspots in photo/electrocatalysis due to their inherent pores, high specific surface area, chemical and thermal stability, and diverse functional building blocks. Phenazine-linked organic catalysts, exhibited excellent conjugation, electrical conductivity, chemical, and thermal stability, could bring in N atoms with specific numbers and positions to regulate electron levels, anchor metals, and absorb near-infrared light, which expands solar energy utilization. These advantages of the phenazine-linked catalysts attracted our group and numerous researchers to conduct experimental and computational work on photo/electrocatalytic applications and mechanisms. This review summarizes the recent significant research progress, synthesis methods, photo/electrocatalytic performance, and applications of relative phenazine-linked catalysts. Furthermore, the photo/electrocatalytic mechanism was systematized and summarized by combining experiments and density functional theory calculations simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic waste is an underutilized resource that has the potential to be transformed into value-added materials. However, its chemical diversity leads to cost-intensive sorting techniques, limiting recycling and upcycling opportunities. Herein, we report an open-loop recycling method to produce graded feedstock from mixed polyolefins waste, which makes up 60% of total plastic waste. The method uses heat flow scanning to quantify the composition of plastic waste and resolves its compatibility through controlled dissolution. The resulting feedstock is then used to synthesize blended pellets, porous sorbents, and superhydrophobic coatings via thermally induced phase separation and spin-casting. The hybrid approach broadens the opportunities for reusing plastic waste, which is a step towards creating a more circular economy and better waste management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), the most commonly used lithium battery electrolyte salt, is vulnerable to heat and humidity. Quantitative and qualitative determination the variation of LiPF6 have always relied on advanced equipment. Herein, we develop a fast, convenient, high-selective fluorescence detection method based on metal--organic cages (MOC), whose emission is enhanced by nearly 20 times in the presence of LiPF6 with good stability and photobleaching resistance. The fluorescent probe can also detect moisture in battery electrolyte. We propose and verify that the luminescence enhancement is due to the presence of hydrogen bond-induced enhanced emission effect in cages. Fluorescent excitation-emission matrix spectra and variable-temperature nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are employed to clarify the role of hydrogen bonds in guest-loaded cages. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation is applied to simulate the structure of host-guest complexes and estimate the adsorption energy involved in the system. The precisely matched lock-and-key model paves a new way for designing and fabricating novel host structures, enabling specific recognition of other target compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The serious environmental threat caused by petroleum-based plastics has spurred more researches in developing substitutes from renewable sources. Starch is desirable for fabricating bioplastic due to its abundance and renewable nature. However, limitations such as brittleness, hydrophilicity, and thermal properties restrict its widespread application. To overcome these issues, covalent adaptable network was constructed to fabricate a fully bio-based starch plastic with multiple advantages via Schiff base reactions. This strategy endowed starch plastic with excellent thermal processability, as evidenced by a low glass transition temperature (Tg = 20.15 °C). Through introducing Priamine with long carbon chains, the starch plastic demonstrated superior flexibility (elongation at break = 45.2%) and waterproof capability (water contact angle = 109.2°). Besides, it possessed a good thermal stability and self-adaptability, as well as solvent resistance and chemical degradability. This work provides a promising method to fabricate fully bio-based plastics as alternative to petroleum-based plastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]