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Nanoporous membranes offer significant advantages in direct contact membrane distillation applications due to their high flux and strong resistance to wetting. This study employs molecular dynamics simulations to explore the performance of membrane distillation in a single nanopore, mainly focusing on wetting behavior, liquid entry pressure, and membrane flux variations across different concentrations and types of salt solutions. The findings indicate that increasing the NaCl concentration enhances the wetting of membrane pores, thereby decreasing the entry pressure of the solution. However, at the same salt concentration, the differences in wetting and liquid entry pressure among various salts, including CaCl2, KCl, NaCl, and LiCl, are minimal. The presence of hydrated ions significantly reduces membrane flux. As the concentration of NaCl solutions increases, the number of hydrated ions rises, thereby lowering the membrane flux of the salt solution. Furthermore, the type of salt has a pronounced effect on the structure of hydrated ions. Solutions with Ca2+ and Li+ exhibit the smallest first-layer radius of hydrated ions. Under the same salt concentration, KCl solutions demonstrate the highest membrane distillation flux, while CaCl2 solutions show the lowest flux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoporous membranes offer significant advantages in direct contact membrane distillation applications due to their high flux and strong resistance to wetting. This study employs molecular dynamics simulations to explore the performance of membrane distillation in a single nanopore, mainly focusing on wetting behavior, liquid entry pressure, and membrane flux variations across different concentrations and types of salt solutions. The findings indicate that increasing the NaCl concentration enhances the wetting of membrane pores, thereby decreasing the entry pressure of the solution. However, at the same salt concentration, the differences in wetting and liquid entry pressure among various salts, including CaCl2, KCl, NaCl, and LiCl, are minimal. The presence of hydrated ions significantly reduces membrane flux. As the concentration of NaCl solutions increases, the number of hydrated ions rises, thereby lowering the membrane flux of the salt solution. Furthermore, the type of salt has a pronounced effect on the structure of hydrated ions. Solutions with Ca2+ and Li+ exhibit the smallest first-layer radius of hydrated ions. Under the same salt concentration, KCl solutions demonstrate the highest membrane distillation flux, while CaCl2 solutions show the lowest flux.

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is critical for preventing disease progression, however, the diagnosis of AD remains challenging for most patients due to limitations of current sensing technologies. A common pathological feature found in AD-affected brains is the accumulation of Amyloid-β (Aβ) polypeptides, which lead to neurofibrillary tangles and neuroinflammatory plaques. Here, we developed a portable ultrasensitive FET biosensor chip based on a self-assembled nanoporous membrane for ultrasensitive detection of Aβ protein in complex environments. The microscale semiconductor channel was covered with a self-assembled organic nanoporous membrane modified by antibody molecules to pick up and amplify the Aβ protein signal. The nanoporous structure helps protect the sensitive channel from non-target proteins and improves its stability since no chemical functionalization process involved, largely reduces background noise of the sensing platform. When a bio-gated target is captured, the doping state of the polymer bulk could be tuned and amplified the strength of the weak signal, achieving ultrasensitive detecting performance (enabling the device to detect target protein less than 1 fg/ml in 1 µl sample). Moreover, the device simplifies the circuit connection by integrating all the connections on a 2 cm × 2 cm chip, avoiding expensive and complex manufacturing processes, and makes it usable for portable prognosis. We believe that this ultrasensitive, portable, low-cost Aβ sensor chip shows the great potential in the early diagnosis of AD and large-scale population screening applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compartmentalization is a ubiquitous feature of life, with a membrane interface that regulates molecular transport and exhibits bioactivities. An artificial enzyme‐integrated membrane cascade system can mimic such interactive properties across different length scales for in vitro application. Here, it is shown that a reticulated nanoporous framework membrane with nano‐caged enzymes presents the first modular macroscale platform for the compartmentalized biocatalytic system interfaced with an external medium. Catalase (CAT)‐integrated polyurea membrane scaffold is prepared by a simple pressurization procedure for a model cyclic cascade of glucose oxidase/catalase (GOx/CAT). The bicontinuous nanoporous membrane readily constructs a compartmentalized system interfacing the glucose/GOx solution and the external environment and mediates glucose oxidation by a cascade reaction under anaerobic or aerobic conditions. Furthermore, the membrane compartment exhibits multiple bioactive capabilities and barrier properties, including hydrogen peroxide detoxification, in situ oxygen generation, and protease exclusion. This work suggests a new strategy toward a robust modular biocatalytic membranous interface to mediate biochemical reaction cascades occurring in a compartment interfaced to an external environment, promising for potential applications in biohybrid devices embedded with tissues and cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Compartmentalization is a ubiquitous feature of life, with a membrane interface that regulates molecular transport and exhibits bioactivities. An artificial enzyme‐integrated membrane cascade system can mimic such interactive properties across different length scales for in vitro application. Here, it is shown that a reticulated nanoporous framework membrane with nano‐caged enzymes presents the first modular macroscale platform for the compartmentalized biocatalytic system interfaced with an external medium. Catalase (CAT)‐integrated polyurea membrane scaffold is prepared by a simple pressurization procedure for a model cyclic cascade of glucose oxidase/catalase (GOx/CAT). The bicontinuous nanoporous membrane readily constructs a compartmentalized system interfacing the glucose/GOx solution and the external environment and mediates glucose oxidation by a cascade reaction under anaerobic or aerobic conditions. Furthermore, the membrane compartment exhibits multiple bioactive capabilities and barrier properties, including hydrogen peroxide detoxification, in situ oxygen generation, and protease exclusion. This work suggests a new strategy toward a robust modular biocatalytic membranous interface to mediate biochemical reaction cascades occurring in a compartment interfaced to an external environment, promising for potential applications in biohybrid devices embedded with tissues and cells.

The energy crisis is one of the most emergency problems that humanity is facing now. To alleviate energy crisis, some new energy sources different from traditional fossil energy are developed in the past decades, for example, nuclear energy, wind energy, solar energy, et al. Among these new energy sources, an important energy existing in the ocean and river named as salinity gradient energy benefits from the features of green, safe, low cost and huge amount, and comes into the researcher's sight. In this article, we review the recent progress in harvesting salinity gradient energy with reverse electrodialysis (RED) membrane. First, the mechanism of RED was introduced, including the basic structure and working principle of RED, the ion selectivity, and the ion rectification effect. The materials which are suitable for RED were discussed in detail, such as 1D nanofluidic nanochannels, 2D materials, and composite materials. Among these materials, 2D materials are thought to be one kind of powerful material for RED because of the feasibility of producing ion-selective membranes. Besides, we dwell on the influences of solution conditions on the RED performance, like the salt gradient and species, pH value, and so on. Finally, we discussed what the RED membranes need in theory and experiment to satisfy the practical application. And the large-scale production and the anti-fouling for the long-term running of RED membranes are two key issues needed to be solved through the analysis of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exosomes are considered promising biomarkers for liquid biopsy due to their capacity to transfer disease-related biomolecules between tissues or cells. However, their size range, spanning from 50 to 200 nm, presents a challenge in achieving efficient isolation. In this study, we propose a bidirectional flow control filtration (BFF) approach for exosome isolation. We employed a nanoporous polycarbonate membrane with 200 nm pores to eliminate apoptotic bodies, whereas a membrane featuring 50 nm pores was utilized to eliminate soluble proteins and concentrate exosomes. Backflush maneuvers were implemented during each phase to prevent the clogging of membrane pores, which could hinder the separation process. The BFF was applied to isolate exosomes from residual adipose tissue samples, achieving purity ratios 26 and 19 times higher compared to ultracentrifugation and direct-flow filtration, respectively, with a recovery rate of 68 %. In addition, the BFF achieved 4.4-fold higher purity and 1.9-fold higher throughput compared to size-exclusive chromatography for the isolation of exosomes from human serum. This method is scalable and facilitates a high processing rate of 1 L per hour, rendering it an optimal solution for generating large-scale exosomes for therapeutic applications. The method's scalability, minimal physical stress, and lack of chemical additives further enhance its suitability for therapeutic purposes. [Display omitted] • 200- and 50-nm porous PC membranes were used for size-selective exosome isolation. • Bi-directional flow prevents membrane clogging. • Achieved exosome purity was 9.7×108 particles/μg, 26 times higher than UC. • Achieved 4.4-fold higher purity and 1.9-fold higher throughput compared to SEC. • High-throughput processing of 1 L/h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aptamer-based methods for detecting pesticides are more efficient than antibody-based methods by high thermal stability, low molecular weight, easy modification, and low cost. In this study, the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) process, combined with next-generation sequencing (NGS), was performed to select aptamers specific to the pesticide, diazinon, which was fixed on a sol–gel-coated nanoporous-anodized aluminum oxide membrane to overcome the immobilization effect of general method and simplify the elution step. The frequency of specific nucleotide sequences obtained after SELEX rounds was directly analyzed using NGS to eliminate the time-consuming cloning process used in the general SELEX methods. Nine sequences with the highest frequency after SELEX round 10 followed by NGS were selected and tested to derive their binding affinity with the target, diazinon, through circular dichroism (CD) spectrophotometry. The CD signal difference of the aptamer candidates ranged from 0.13 to 2.242 mdeg between diazinon-only treated and diazinon-aptamer-treated samples at a wavelength near 270 nm. Aptamer D-4, which had the highest binding affinity from CD spectrophotometry analysis, showed no cross-reactivity with non-target pesticides, such as baycarb, bifenthrin, and pyridaben, but interacted with the other pesticides, fipronil and 2-phenylphenol. Therefore, an aptamer was effectively screened by selection of high-frequency candidates after SELEX-NGS followed by CD analysis with the highest difference signal. A follow-up study is needed to confirm whether the proposed SELEX process combined with NGS for the discovery of aptamers for new targets can further shorten the SELEX cycle by reducing the number of SELEX rounds to 10 or less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the relationship between the water flux through nanoporous two-dimensional hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) and surface tension was investigated from equilibrium and pressure-driven molecular dynamics simulations by considering the most popular rigid water models. From the surface tension calculation, the contact angle was evaluated and compared with the experiment. We exhibit a correlation between the water flux through nanoporous h-BN predicted by the various water models and the surface tension as a result of the difference in the interfacial energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a plate counter-flow dew-point evaporative cooling system was designed with a nanoporous membrane covered on the surface of the wet channel for enhancement of heat and mass transfer. First, the operating principle of this device and theoretical analysis of nanoporous membrane evaporation were discussed in detail. Then, the impacts of several operating parameters on cooling performance, mainly including inlet air temperature, humidity, velocity, and the effect of utilizing the membrane, were investigated in trials. It was found that the cooling performance can be improved by using membrane significantly. In the dry channel, the maximum temperature decrease can reach 12.5 °C. At a high inlet air temperature, the product air can be dropped to a lower temperature, contributing to a more significant heat transfer process. Lower humidity, on the other hand, resulted in a reduced product air temperature and a lower cooling efficiency. Under the condition of 50% humidity, the wet-bulb efficiency and dew-point efficiency were 1.09 and 0.79, respectively. With the inlet air velocity increasing from 1.5 m/s to 2 m/s, the outlet air temperature would rise, and the wet-bulb efficiency and dew-point efficiency would decrease. To achieve better cooling performance, inlet air velocity ought to be limited to a low speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the potential adverse health and environmental effects of nanoscale pollutants have garnered significant attention, the demand for monitoring and capturing ultrafine particulate matter has been growing. With the rise in ultrafine dust emissions, this issue has become increasingly important. However, submicron particles require advanced strategies to be captured because of their limited inertial effect. For example, electrostatic air filters have been investigated for their improved performance in the fine particle regime. On the other hand, Raman spectroscopy was proposed as a promising analytical strategy for aerosol particles because it can be used to conveniently detect analytes in a label-free manner. Thus, the synergistic integration of these strategies can open new applications for addressing environment-related challenges. This study presents a multifunctional approach for achieving both air filtration and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for analyte identification. We propose a nanoporous membrane composed of a thin gold layer, copper, and copper oxide to provide the desired functions. The structures are produced by performing scalable electrodeposition and subsequent electron-beam evaporation, attaining an excellent filtration efficiency of 95.9% with an applied voltage of 5 kV for 300 nm KCl particles and a pressure drop of 121 Pa. Raman intensity measurements confirm that the nanodendritic surface of the membrane intensifies the Raman signals and allows for the detection of 10 μL of nanoplastic particle dispersion with a concentration of 50 μg/mL. Rhodamine 6G aerosol stream with an approximate particle deposition rate of 0.040 × 10 6 mm -2 ·min -1 is also identified in a minimum detectable time of 50 s. The membrane is shown to be recyclable owing to its structural robustness in organic solvents. In addition, the fatigue resistance of the structure is evaluated through 22,000 iterative loading cycles at a pressure of 177 kPa. No performance degradation is observed after the fatigue loading.

In this paper, a plate counter-flow dew-point evaporative cooling system was designed with a nanoporous membrane covered on the surface of the wet channel for enhancement of heat and mass transfer. First, the operating principle of this device and theoretical analysis of nanoporous membrane evaporation were discussed in detail. Then, the impacts of several operating parameters on cooling performance, mainly including inlet air temperature, humidity, velocity, and the effect of utilizing the membrane, were investigated in trials. It was found that the cooling performance can be improved by using membrane significantly. In the dry channel, the maximum temperature decrease can reach 12.5 °C. At a high inlet air temperature, the product air can be dropped to a lower temperature, contributing to a more significant heat transfer process. Lower humidity, on the other hand, resulted in a reduced product air temperature and a lower cooling efficiency. Under the condition of 50% humidity, the wet-bulb efficiency and dew-point efficiency were 1.09 and 0.79, respectively. With the inlet air velocity increasing from 1.5 m/s to 2 m/s, the outlet air temperature would rise, and the wet-bulb efficiency and dew-point efficiency would decrease. To achieve better cooling performance, inlet air velocity ought to be limited to a low speed.

[Display omitted] • Early diagnoses of diseases require us to detection tiny biomarkers. • Nanofluidic devices magnify signal of tiny biomarkers. • Nanofluidic devices hold a promise for in portable sensors and POC detection. Disease diagnosis, especially for early diagnosis, is the most effective method to prevent disease development and mortality. However, low abundance clinical biomarkers in samples pose a challenge to sensitivity and selectivity of early diagnosis. Nanoconfined environment provides unique effects, including ionic current rectification, steric effect, and selective transport, etc., which could be applied to magnify signal and enhance sensitivity in discrimination of biomarkers on electrochemical (EC) sensors. Therefore, nanofluidic EC sensors have experienced a speedy development in ultra-sensitive sensing. In this review, we highlight the application of nanofluidic EC sensors with different structures (nanocapillary, nanoporous membrane, nanopore, and micro/nanofluidic chip) in biomarkers detection. Different types of nanofluidic devices, mechanism of nanoconfined effect, and their applications in ultra-sensitive sensing are summarized and discussed. Finally, this review provides a respective about nanofluidic EC sensors in biomarkers detection and helps the understanding nanoconfined effect for developing new analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A scalable NIPS is developed to fabricate PEI membrane with tunable morphology. • The spongy-like pores and oxygen containing functional groups contribute to its good compatibility with electrolytes. • The PEI based batteries show good safety from thermal stability, mechanical strength, and breakage voltage aspects. • The PEI based symmetric cell and full cell show excellent electrochemical performance. The separator is critical in ensuring the safety and improving the electrochemical performance of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). However, the weak thermal stability, common mechanical strength and the poor wettability towards electrolyte of the commercial polyolefin separator severely hamper its application in high-performance LMBs. Herein, a simple phase inversion technique could be used to design and scalably fabricate porous polyetherimide (PEI) membranes, which was used as LMB separators for the first time. The final morphology of PEI membranes can be finely tuned from finger-like voids to sponge-like pores by selecting an appropriate non-solvent. Combining experiments and density functional theory (DFT) simulations, it reveals that the optimal PEI membrane shows a sponge-like pore structure, which can induce the genuine deposition of the Li metal due to the homogeneously distributed pores in high density on the membrane and its good affinity towards the electrolytes. Consequently, the PEI based LMB show better performance than the commercial polypropylene (PP) based LMB. More importantly, the optimal PEI membrane shows a better mechanical strength and thermal stability than the PP membrane at the same thickness, which can ensure a higher safety for real applications. Since the non-solvent induced phase separation technique used to prepare PEI membrane is scalable in low cost, this work provides insightful route to overcome one of the main challenges, i.e. lack of high performance and high safety separator, for practical LMB application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A regular network model is designed to describe the inner structure of nanoporous membrane. • The membrane-solution interface resistance is reduced by regulating the inner porous structure. • Matching nanopores to EDL structures benefits the SGP conversion at high salinity gradients. Nanofluidic salinity gradient power (SGP) harvesting has attracted more attention due to its abundant source and easy-to-implement nature, but its applicability is hampered by the high resistance and undesirable ion selectivity of the commercial ion-exchange membranes. The rational design and optimization of advanced membrane architectures are therefore urgently needed, which require a deep understanding of the relationship between ion transport and porous structure. Herein, a regular network model is defined to mimic the nanoporous membrane, allowing us to study the influence of porous structure on the SGP conversion using the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations. We find that the slight change of inner porous structure can substantially affect the concentration polarization at the membrane-solution interface, which is dominated by the nanopores along the direct transport direction. The SGP conversion can be effectively improved by matching the local pore structure to electric double layer (EDL) structure. The SGP generation is more sensitive to the surface charge density at high salinity gradients. Our results highlight the significance of the precision regulation of porous structure in the SGP conversion, providing theoretical guidance to the design of nanoporous membranes for highly effective SGP harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV molecular detection plays a significant role in early diagnosis and antiretroviral therapy for HIV patients. CRISPR technology has recently emerged as a powerful tool for highly sensitive and specific nucleic acid based molecular detection when used in combination with isothermal amplification. However, it remains a challenge to improve the compatibility of such a multienzyme reaction system for simple and sensitive molecular detection. Inspired by the multicompartment structures in a living cell, we present a nanoporous membrane-separated (compartmentalized), artificial, cascade reaction system to improve the compatibility of a CRISPR-mediated multienzyme reaction. We further integrated the multienzyme cascade reaction system with a microfluidic platform and glucose biosensing technology to develop a bioinspired, CRISPR-mediated cascade reaction (CRISPR-MCR) biosensor, enabling HIV molecular detection by a simple glucose meter, analogous to diabetes home testing. We applied the bioinspired CRISPR-MCR biosensor to detect HIV DNA and HIV RNA, achieving a detection sensitivity of 43 copies and 200 copies per test, respectively. Further, we successfully validated the bioinspired biosensor by testing clinical plasma samples of HIV, demonstrating its great application potential for point-of-care testing of HIV virus and other pathogens at home or in resource-limited settings.

• A modified pseudo-potential LBM restoring all thermo-physical parameters is derived and ultrathin liquid film evaporation in nanoporous membrane is numerically simulated. • The evaporation-driven replenishing flow, the self-regulation of liquid-vapor interface and the curvature difference along with the interface are captured. • The effects of intensive evaporation on apparent contact angle and replenishing ability are discussed. • A high heat flux 1.52 kW/cm2 can be achieved with superheat 7.79 K. A modified dimensionless pseudo-potential lattice Boltzmann method capable of restoring all related thermophysical properties of any working fluid and spatial/temporal scales of the computational domain is developed in this work. Direct numerical investigations of ultrathin liquid film evaporation of R143a within nanoporous membranes to its ambient pure vapor are carried out. The characteristics of evaporation-driven replenishing flow and the self-regulation of liquid-vapor interface profile under different heat fluxes are captured. In the case of intensive ultrathin liquid film evaporation within nanopore, the apparent contact angle could not reach as small as Young's contact angle θ 0 for isothermal conditions due to the self-regulation of liquid-vapor interface. As a result, the maximum capability of nanoporous membranes to replenish the liquid is limited. Under the ambient temperature T 0 = 318.19 K, before the three-phase contact line (TCL) recedes into the nanoporous membrane, a heat flux as high as q in,max = 1.52 kW/cm2 can be sustained with a superheat about T s = 7.79 K for a membrane with pore radius r p = 38.71 nm, pore depth L p = 294.96 nm, Young's contact angle θ 0 = 23° and porosity η = 0.66. The maximum heat flux q in,max increases with the increase of r p and the decrease of L p and θ 0. The present work presents a promising numerical method to optimize thermal management devices using complex micro-nano composite structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance of charged nanoporous membranes in ion separations and electrokinetic energy conversion is controlled by their surface-charge density. This (or related such as zeta-potential) parameter has often been obtained from measurements of pressure-induced electric potential typically referred to as streaming potential. However, with nanoporous membranes in dilute electrolyte solutions, determination of genuine streaming potential is non-trivial and requires time-resolved measurements. A new approach to the interpretation of such measurements developed and tested experimentally in this study makes possible parallel determination of several membrane transport properties while previously only streaming-potential coefficient was determined. In nanoporous membranes, this coefficient is a non-monotone function of surface-charge density, which makes difficult unambiguous determination of the latter. On the contrary, the other properties determined in this study are monotone functions of surface-charge density. This approach has been validated via characterization of two nanoporous track-etched membranes (with the pore sizes of 25 nm and 35 nm) in KCl solutions and revealed an excellent applicability. The transport properties "extracted" from experimental data were used as input of full (numerical) version of space-charge model. This made possible determination of surface-charge density as well as some properties of hypothetical gel layers reportedly surrounding pores of nanoporous grades of track-etched membranes. [Display omitted] • New model quantitatively describes time-dependent pressure-induced potential. • Measurements with nanoporous track-etched membranes validate the model. • Several membrane properties can be determined from a single time-resolved measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The functionalized graphenylene is more effective in water desalination. • The functionalized groups on the edge pore can improve the water permeability. • The hydrophilic chemical functions improve the desalination performance of membrane. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the performance of functionalized graphenylene membranes for seawater desalination in terms of water permeability and salt rejection. For this purpose, the functionalized graphenylene nanosheet was inserted in the simulation cell containing sodium and chloride ions. Then, molecular simulations were done for four different membrane-based systems (P1, P2, P3, and P4) under different external pressures to obtain the water permeability and salt rejection of all systems. The results demonstrated that system P1 owning fluorinated pore, shows the best performance among all systems with permeability of 11,032 L.m−2.h−1.bar−1 and 99.4% salt rejection at P = 10 MPa. Also, system P3 with combined functional fluorine and hydroxyl groups at the pore, revealed the permeability of 9293 L.m−2.h−1.bar−1 and 100% salt rejection at P = 5 MPa. Therefore, the hydrophilic chemical functions improve the desalination performance of membrane, which can be considered in design of water desalination systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nanoporous membrane functions as both liquid distributor and heating substrate. • Resistor network approach is extended to analyze the nanoporous membrane. • Active regulation schemes are proposed for nanoporous membrane. • Better manipulation and enhanced performance are achieved by regulation schemes. With the help of the micro/nano-porous membranes, synergistic flows of supply water and departing vapor can be realized, which considerably enhances boiling heat transfer. Ultrahigh heat flux of 1230 W/cm2 was reported in the thin film boiling experiments, of which the sample was fabricated by depositing nanosized platinum (Pt) layer on the surface of a nanoporous membrane. As an indispensable component, the nanoporous membrane plays an essential role by functioning as both the distributor of liquid fluid and the substrate of heating surface. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding of the impacts of the nanoporous membrane. In this work, the resistor network approach developed in our former study was extended to analyze the influence of the nanoporous membrane on the performance of the unique thin film boiling. What's more, two active regulation schemes were proposed for nanoporous membrane to achieve better manipulation and enhanced performance. It was found that for a nonuniform nanoporous membrane, the critical heat flux was lower than that of a uniform membrane, and any further increase of electric power after reaching CHF would result in river-shaped crack of melted Pt resistors. For the nonuniform AAO membrane, the both active regulation schemes would effectively cope with the voltage fluctuation that could have led to the melt of the Pt layer. Therefore, better performance could be achieved by applying the active regulation schemes. Hopefully, the explorative studies on the active regulation schemes could provide operation guidance for future application of the thin film boiling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The large-scale fabrication of aramid nanofiber membrane (ANFM) with proper porous size was proposed. • The ANFM displayed superior mechanical properties and impressively wettability for organic electrolyte. • Simultaneously suppression of lithium dendrites and remarkable improvement of cycle life were achieved for ANFM separator. • Li-ion batteries can operate stability at a high temperature (150℃) environment. Huge volume changes, uncontrolled side-reactions with electrolytes and irregular dendrite induced short-circuits have impeded practical application in rechargeable batteries based on metallic electrodes including lithium (Li), sodium (Na) and aluminum (Al). Separator with superior mechanical strength represent attractive alternatives to inhibit metal-dendrite growth while preventing capacity fading by stabilizing the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). However, the challenge of simultaneous retaining high thermal resistance and good electrolyte wettability still have been not overcome in commonly used separators. Here we show that these key properties can be acquired in a porous membrane fabricated from Kevlar microfiber-derived aramid nanofibers (ANFs) prepared in a facile and scalable vacuum filtration method. The obtained ANFs membrane (ANFM), which yields mechanically strong that are markedly effective in inhibit dendrite growth as well as provides good electrolyte wettability to ensure excellent electrochemistry performance. Benefitting from these merits, ANFM guarantee stable cycling of Li-ion or Na-ion rechargeable batteries paired with conventional intercalating cathodes (LiCoO 4 and Na 2 Ti 3 O 7) even at a high operated temperature (150 ℃ for Li-ion battery). Replacing polyolefins-based separator with an ANFM appear to offer a major step towards dendrite-free Li /Na batteries and potentially other metal-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both sweat drainage and evaporation play important roles in achieving personal moisture and thermal management during sweat-producing exercises. However, it remains a great challenge to simultaneously realize thermal management through radiative cooling for human body without perspiration. Herein, we report a bilayer nanoporous polyethylene membrane with anisotropic wettability, which possesses superior radiative cooling ability (∼2.6 °C lower than that of cotton) without perspiration. Meanwhile, it realizes efficient sweat drainage and good evaporation cooling property (∼1.0 °C lower than that of cotton) in perspiration to avoid sticky and hot sensation. In addition, it can also block water and fine particulate matter owing to the hydrophobic nanoporous structure. By virtue of the outstanding personal thermal and moisture management performance, it is expected that this study provides inspiration for designing new clothing and medical protective suits with more comfortable microclimates and reducing energy consumption for global sustainability.