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The quest for a good life, urbanization, and industrialization have led to the widespread distribution of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in water bodies through anthropogenic activities. This poses an imminent threat to both human and environmental health. In recent years, the utilization of advance materials for the removal of EDCs from wastewater has attracted a lot of attention. Metal-oxide nanocatalysts have emerged as promising candidates due to their high surface area, reactivity, and tunable properties, as well as enhanced surface properties such as mesoporous structures and hierarchical morphologies that allow for increased adsorption capacity, improved photocatalytic activity, and enhanced selectivity towards specific EDCs. As a result, they have shown extraordinary efficacy in removing a wide range of EDCs from aqueous solutions, including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, personal care items, and industrial chemicals. This study give insight into the unique physicochemical characteristics of metal-oxide nanocatalysts to effectively and efficiently remove harmful EDCs from wastewater. It also discussed the advances in the synthesis, and properties of metal-oxide nanocatalysts, and insight into understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying the adsorption and degradation of EDCs on metal-oxide nanocatalysts using advanced characterization techniques such as spectroscopic analysis and electron microscopy. The findings of the study present metal-oxide nanocatalysts as a good candidate for the spontaneous sequestration of EDCs from wastewater is an intriguing approach to mitigating water pollution and safeguarding public health and the environment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Food safety and wastage caused by fruit deterioration is a serious global problem. Effective packaging systems for extending the freshness period of fruit play a key role in food safety. In this work, we constructed an eco-friendly and flexible polysaccharide-based packaging film based on hydroxypropyl guar (HPG), cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), deep eutectic solvents (DES) and anthocyanin (Anth). DES could endow polysaccharide films with multiple hydrogen bond numbers and good stability. Hydroxypropyl guar/cellulose nanocrystals/anthocyanin with 0.2 g deep eutectic solvents (HCA-DES 0.2 ) had good tensile properties, oxygen barrier properties (3.01 cm 3 /m 2 ·day·Pa), water resistance (WCA 111.97°), antibacterial (CFU ˂ 10 3 ), and transparency (55.4 %). The preservation tests of grape and blueberry showed that the shelf life of these two fruits was 12-20 days, and the polysaccharide film had great application potential in fruit preservation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In a quest to find eco-friendly materials from renewable resources, researchers have focused on cellulose materials, which is the primary reinforcing component of plant cell walls. Nanocellulose is at the forefront of research due to its wide range of sources, biocompatibility, large surface area and tunable surface chemistry. It has gained considerable attention in various industries as a nano-reinforcement for polymer matrices due to its hierarchical structure (medical and healthcare, oil and gas, packaging, paper, board, composites, printed and flexible electronics, 3D printing, aerogels). In this paper, we have reviewed the recent advances in nanocellulose production, physical properties, structural characterization, surface modification strategies, pretreatment methods, applications, limitations and future directions. This review emphasizes the quantification of nanocellulose extraction and applications of the most prevalent areas of nanocellulose research. In view of its increasing and broader applications, the demand for nanocellulose is expected to increase in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This research introduces a novel upcycling method for transforming cigarette filters-an abundant and persistent environmental waste-into high-performance epoxy composites reinforced with cellulose nanofibers. The innovation lies in extracting cellulose acetate nanofibers from used cigarette butts via a multi-step purification and electrospinning process, followed by their conversion into regenerated cellulose nanofibers through alkaline hydrolysis. This dual-fiber approach allows us to fabricate four distinct epoxy composites, each reinforced by different nanofiber types: recycled cellulose acetate nanofibers, regenerated cellulose nanofibers from recycled cigarette filters, and their commercial counterparts. Notably, this is the first time regenerated nanofibers derived from waste cigarette filters have been utilized for epoxy composite reinforcement, demonstrating a sustainable, high-value use for a major pollutant. Comprehensive characterizations, including FTIR, XRD, SEM, and contact angle measurements, confirmed the successful regeneration of cellulose nanofibers, showing improved hydrophilicity, reduced crystallinity, and uniform nanofiber morphology with diameters between 200 and 300 nm. The innovation further extends to the mechanical performance of these composites: tensile tests revealed that those reinforced with regenerated cellulose nanofibers exhibited superior tensile strength (49.5-53.8 MPa), significantly outperforming both cellulose acetate nanofiber composites (40.1-42.6 MPa) and neat epoxy resin (31.4 MPa). This marked improvement is attributed to enhanced nanofiber dispersion and interfacial adhesion within the epoxy matrix, an essential advancement over traditional composites. In addition, thermal analysis showed that all composites maintained thermal stability in the 300-400 °C range, comparable to commercial alternatives. The regenerated nanofiber-reinforced composites also displayed enhanced optical transparency due to reduced light scattering, making them ideal candidates for applications requiring both mechanical strength and optical clarity. By pioneering the use of cigarette filter waste for fabricating advanced cellulose nanofiber composites, this study presents an eco-friendly approach to addressing environmental pollution while creating sustainable materials with superior mechanical, thermal, and optical properties., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The increasing interest in lignin, a complex and abundant biopolymer, stems from its ability to produce environmentally beneficial biobased products. β-Etherases play a crucial role by breaking down the β-aryl ether bonds in lignin. This comprehensive review covers the latest advancements in β-etherase-mediated lignin valorization, focusing on substrate selectivity, enzymatic oxidative activity, and engineering methods. Research on the microbial origin, protein modification, and molecular structure determination of β-etherases has improved our understanding of their effectiveness. Furthermore, the use of these enzymes in biorefinery processes is promising for enhancing lignin breakdown and creating more valuable products. The review also discusses the challenges and future potential of β-etherases in advancing lignin valorization for biorefinery applications that are economically viable and environmentally sustainable., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lignocellulosic papers (LCP) are favored for electrical insulating applications due to their environmental friendliness, ease of processing, and cost-effectiveness. However, the loose structure and numerous pores inside LCP result in the poor mechanical and electrical insulating properties, posing challenges in meeting the requirements for the rapid upgrading of high-voltage electrical equipment. Herein, a 3D interconnective structure composed of 3D aramid nanofibers (ANF) and 2D carbonylated basalt nanosheets (CBSNs) is introduced to enhance the structure and the chemical bonding interactions of LCP. This is achieved by impregnating LCP into an ANF-CBSNs suspension, where the 3D interconnective ANF framework hosts numerous CBSNs. The resultant LCP/ANF-CBSNs (LCP/A-C) composite papers exhibit multilayered structure and multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions, demonstrating excellent mechanical and electrical insulating properties. Notably, the optimized LCP/A-C5 composite papers exhibit remarkable tensile strength (23.15 MPa) and dielectric breakdown strength (20.14 kV·mm -1 ), respectively, representing 229 % and 145 % increase compared to those of the control LCP. These impressive properties are integrated with excellent bending ability, outstanding high temperature resistance, exceptional volume resistivity, and low dielectric constant and loss, demonstrating their potential as highly promising electrical insulating papers for advanced high-power electrical equipment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This work aims to apply carbon quantum dots (CQDs) from agriculture cellulosic waste (agro wastes), produced via an economically and eco-friendly single-step method, to be used into cellulose acetate composite microfibrous membranes as an innovative solution specifically designed to adsorb methylene blue (MB) and other cationic dyes that are present in various water effluents. Batch adsorption tests were conducted, with variations in contact time (1-24 h), initial MB concentration (25-300 ppm), and adsorbent doses (1-20 g/L). The maximum adsorption capacity of the membrane was 198 mg/g with an initial concentration of 300 ppm at 298 K. Thermodynamic parameters showed that the process is endothermic. Equilibrium experimental data for MB adsorption onto electrospun adsorbent were fitted using different isothermal models, with the Freundlich model showing the best fit. The pseudo-second-order model accurately described the kinetic data with high reliability (R 2  > 0.99), and the calculated adsorption capacity was very close to the experimental data. N-CQDs loaded membranes were also tested for removing methyl violet and rhodamine B, demonstrating remarkably high dye removal efficiency. The underlying adsorption mechanism was also reported. Finally, it is worth mentioning that composite adsorbents can be efficiently applied to actual industrial cases because of the possibility of reusing them, opening the route to the fabrication of novel and highly performant adsorbents. These findings underscore N-CQDs' effectiveness in enhancing pollutant removal efficiency from wastewater, highlighting their environmental benefits and promoting a more sustainable approach to water treatment. Therefore, the prepared adsorbent, showing excellent adsorption performance, places them among adsorbents for practical applications in wastewater purification., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Wheat straw, as a non-wood fiber waste, is available worldwide and can be used in cellulosic matric production, promoting the application of sustainable materials. However, poor fiber properties and water drainage are the primary obstacles to its utilization. In this study, wheat straw pulp fibers were chemically crosslinked by citric acid (CA) in an environmentally friendly process. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectra confirmed that the chemical treatment introduced carboxylic groups to cellulose fibers. Meanwhile, X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the crystallinity of cellulose was reduced. The average fiber length and water retention value of the pulp decreased with increasing CA dosage under the conditions of 3 mL/g CA 4 (4 wt% CA), and the drainage performance of the cellulose pulp improved by 21 %. Also, the crosslinking of fibers contributed to the mechanical properties of the cellulosic matrix, increasing the dry and wet strength by 21 % and 282 %, respectively. These results demonstrated that citric acid could be a sustainable method for improving the properties of wheat straw fibers, thereby promoting its application in fabricating sustainable materials., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hypochlorous acid (HClO/ClO - ) is a key reactive oxidative species (ROS) in the body. The HClO/ClO - concentrations are imbalanced during cancer formation due to the ROS stress response. This paper introduces a novel chitosan-based self-calibration fluorescent nanoprobe (ChCyNil) constructed by molecular assembly for the ratiometric detection of HClO/ClO - . Two chromophores with different fluorescence characteristics and HClO/ClO - sensitivity were labeled on chitosan, and nanoparticles were prepared by a self-assembly strategy for HClO/ClO - detection. ChCyNil exhibits several advantages, such as dual near-infrared emissions at 670 nm and 845 nm, tunable fluorescence intensity, self-calibration fluorescence, and good biocompatibility, improving its accuracy in HClO/ClO - detection. Our study confirmed that ChCyNil exhibits a well-assembled spheroidal nanostructure and good photophysical properties in solution. The fluorescence imaging properties were further proved by detecting endogenous HClO/ClO - produced by LPS/PMA stimuli in cells and zebrafish. In addition, ChCyNil was used to detect the fluorescence behavior of HClO/ClO - in tumors of live mice. The successful design and fabrication of ChCyNil have presented a new strategy for constructing detection tools with improved fluorescence properties for HClO/ClO - in live animals., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hydrogels with remarkable flexibility have gained popularity as materials for current research. However, the unfavorable properties of short-term adhesion, susceptibility to damage, and freezing in low-temperature presented by conventional hydrogels have become bottlenecks for further applications. In this work, an anti-freezing hydrogel with excellent mechanical, adhesion, and self-healing properties were developed by constructing a persistent semiquinone/quinone-catechol redox equilibrium environment. The introduction of lignin-modified cellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) significantly improved the overall mechanical properties of the material, driven by strong hydrogen bond interactions. This enhancement was evident in the tensile properties (97.74 ± 1.72 kPa, 783 %) and compression properties (> 90 %). Within the internal network of the gel, the synergistic action of lignin and ammonium persulfate resulted in the production of catechol, which imparted the gel with excellent adhesion properties (28.26 ± 2.13 KPa) and broad adhesion applicability. In addition, the incorporation of ethylene glycol (EG) positively contributed to the strengthening of the gel while endowed with tunable anti-freezing properties. Given the exceptional advantages of the prepared hydrogels, they were used to assemble flexible strain sensors with outstanding sensitivity for monitoring human motions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

CO 2 is the main pollutant in biogas, reducing its calorific value. Among various technological methods to eliminate carbon dioxide from biogas, membrane separation technology stands out for large-scale industrial biogas purification due to its advantages. The selection of membrane material and preparation process are key factors in membrane separation technology. In this study, a premixing process was initially used to blend different masses of packed molecular sieves TS-1 (or ZSM-5) and cellulose derivatives (ethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate) separately. These mixtures were then coated onto porous PVDF substrates using a coating process to create various bilayer hybrid composite membranes. Among these, PVDF/EC-ZSM-5 (containing 15 % ZSM-5) bilayer hybrid composite membrane is the most fitting. For CO 2 /CH 4 gas mixtures, the gas selectivity of this membrane surpassed Robeson's 1991 standard line (the CO 2 permeability was 597.48 Barrer, and the CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity was 9.14). Overall, this composite membrane, made for the first time from PVDF, ZSM-5, and EC, is expected to be a promising CO 2 selective separation membrane material for biogas purification in large-scale industrial processes due to its simple production process., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report no declarations of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Development of green packaging materials is essential to replace traditional plastics in fresh agricultural products preservation. Herein, a coated paper was designed by applying chitosan-based composite coating on paper substrate through a facile automatic coating method. The hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan (HACC) was obtained by direct quaternization via the introduction of hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride into the amino group of chitosan, then mixed with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to prepare the HACC/PVA coating. Accordingly, the key performance of coated paper were improved ascribed to the synergy effect of HACC/PVA coating and paper substrate. In particular, the minimum oxygen permeability of the coated paper could reach to 0.87 × 10 -13  cm 3 ·cm/cm 2 ·s·Pa, and the optimum water vapor permeability and tensile strength of HACC/PVA coated paper was 0.75 × 10 -12  g·cm/cm 2 ·s·Pa and 6.88 kN/m, respectively. The coated paper used as packaging material not only reduced weight loss ratio of strawberry and greengrocery, but also exhibited lower chromatic aberration and better sensory evaluation, indicating a favorable effect on fruit and vegetable storage. Taken together, the designed eco-friendly coated paper has shown tremendous potential for green and biodegradable packaging material in agricultural products preservation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Novel eco-friendly strength agent has inspired much attention of researchers. Herein, the PEI-KH560 prepared by PEI (polyethyleneimine) and KH560 (γ-glycidyl ether propyl trimethoxysilane) was added in the pulp suspension to enhance the paper performance. The results showed that the m(PEI):m(KH560) ratio and PEI's molecular weight were closely related with the paper strength and hydrophobicity. The SEM morphology of paper surface showed that the fiber-fiber crosslinking reached the tightest, at the optimal m(PEI):m(KH560) ratio and PEI's molecular weight. The results showed that when the M w (molecular weight) of PEI was 10,000 and the m(PEI):m(KH560) ratio was 1:2, the PEI-KH560 presented the best strengthening performance on the paper strength and hydrophobicity. Dry tensile index and wet tensile index could reach 29.9 N·m/g and 1.37 N·m/g after adding the PEI 10000 -KH560 in pulp suspension before the paper formation. Further, the effect of process conditions (temperature, time, the addition amount, and pulp concentration) on the strength and hydrophobicity of paper network structure was investigated, after adding PEI-KH560 into the pulp suspension. It was of great significance for studying the mechanism between the chemical structures of PEI-KH560 and paper performance, which provided valuable theoretical practice on the preparation of novel strength agent., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Good dispersion of carbon fibers is important for the carbon paper production, which is usually achieved using low carbon fiber concentrations and disposable dispersants. In this study, we developed carbomer as a recyclable and high-efficiency dispersant for carbon fibers. When the carbon fiber concentration was 0.1 wt%, carbon fiber suspension showed improved dispersion performance as increasing the carbomer dosage. It exhibited low Turbiscan Stability Index (TSI) of 0.41 and small change of delta backscattering between -0.5 to 0.8 % when using 0.5 wt% carbomer. However, the good dispersibility fade away when increasing the concentration of carbon fibers. Subsequently, the pH of the carbon fiber suspension was adjusted to 7.0 to improve the dispersibility by increasing the viscosity, but causing a worse flowability. Then the pH was further adjusted to 13.0 to ensure good flowability in the wet-forming process and good dispersibility at carbon fiber concentration of 0.5 wt%. More importantly, the dispersant was successfully recycled and still exhibited excellent dispersion effects for carbon fibers after 5 cycles. Notably, the high-efficiency dispersion of carbon fibers and the recyclability of dispersant were achieved simultaneously for the first time, which is suitable for the eco-friendly and sustainable production of carbon paper., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influences our work. There is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In recent years, flexible sensors constructed mainly from hydrogels have received increasing attention. However, conventional hydrogels need to be prepared by high-temperature or radiation-induced polymerization reactions, which limits their practical applications due to their suboptimal electrical conductivity and weak mechanical properties. In this paper, using sodium lignosulfonate as the raw material, a dynamic catechol-quinone redox system formed by lignin‑zinc ions was constructed to initiate rapid free radical polymerization of acrylamide (AM) monomer at room temperature. In addition, Deep eutectic solvent (DES) can form a strong hydrogen bonding network within the molecules and between the molecules of the hydrogel, resulting in a hydrogel with good tensile properties (hydrogel elongation at break of 727.19 %, breaking strength of 84.09 kPa), and provides the hydrogel with high electrical conductivity, anti-dehydration, anti-freezing, and anti-bacterial properties. Meanwhile, the addition of lignin also improved the adhesion and UV resistance of the hydrogel. This hydrogel assembled into a flexible sensor can sense various small and large amplitude movements such as nodding, smiling, frowning, etc., and has a wide range of applications in flexible sensors., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Castor stalk from hemp plants is an attractive lignocellulosic feedstock for biomass refining valorization due to its similar chemical composition to hardwoods. In this study, the castor stalk fibers were pretreated with efficient dual-functional ethanolamine to achieve delignification and swelling of the cellulosic fibers, followed by cellulase enzymatic digestion for biomass conversion. Experimental results showed that ethanolamine pretreatment at 160 °C for 1 h effectively removed 69.20 % of lignin and 43.18 % of hemicellulose. In addition to efficient delignification and removal of hemicellulose, the study also revealed that supramolecular structure of cellulose was another major factor affecting enzymatic hydrolysis performance. The lowered crystallinity (60-70 %) and swelled crystal sizes (2.95-3.04 nm) promoted enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency during the heterogeneous reaction process. Under optimal conditions (160 °C, 1 h; enzyme loading: 15 FPU/g substrate), promoted yields of 100 % glucose and over 90 % xylose were achieved, which were significantly higher than those obtained from untreated castor stalk. These findings highlighted the effectiveness of the dual-functional ethanolamine pretreatment strategy for efficient bioconversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the development of new strategies for the efficient utilization of biomass resources, which is essential for the sustainable development of our society., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Thermosets are well known for their advantages such as high stability and chemical resistance. However, developing sustainable thermosets with degradability and recyclability faces several principal challenges, including reconciling the desired characteristics during service with the recycling and reprocessing properties required at the end of life, establishing efficient methods for large-scale synthesis, and aligning with current manufacturing process. Here a general strategy is presented for the on-demand degradation and recycling of thermosets under mild conditions utilizing dynamic precursors with dual-factor-controlled reversibility. Specifically, dynamic triazine crosslinkers are introduced through dynamic nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S N Ar) into the precursor polyols used in polyurethane (PU) synthesis. Upon removal of the catalyst and alcohol, the reversibility of S N Ar is deactivated, allowing for the use of standard PU polymerization techniques such as injection molding, casting, and foaming. The resulting cyanurate-crosslinked PUs maintain high stability and diverse mechanical properties of traditional crosslinked PUs, yet offer the advantage of easy on-demand depolymerization for recycling by activating the reversibility of S N Ar under specific but mild conditions-a combination of base, alcohol, and mild heat. It is envisioned that this approach, involving the pre-installation of dual-factor-controlled dynamic crosslinkers, can be broadly applied to current thermosetting plastic manufacturing processes, introducing enhanced sustainability., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Recently, hydrogel sensors have been widely applied in wearable and portable electronics, but the low mechanical property, intolerance of fatigue, and low sensitivity and adhesion limit their further applications. In this study, sulfonated nanocellulose (SCNF) with dual functionality was blended into polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogel matrix to reinforce the mechanical strength and facilitate the homogeneous dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The SCNF-CNT/PAM hydrogel was designed through free radical polymerization to achieve commendable mechanical, electrical, and multifunctional properties. The environmental-friendly SCNF serves as bio-templates to facilitate the assembling of CNT into integrated SCNF-CNT structures with good dispersity, thus enabling the establishment of an integrated conducting and reinforcing network. The fabricated SCNF-CNT/PAM hydrogel exhibited outstanding compressive strength (∼0.45 MPa at 50 % strain), tensile strength (∼169.12 kPa), and antifatigue capacity under cyclic stretching and pressing. Furthermore, the multifunctional sensors assembled using this hydrogel demonstrated high strain sensitivity (gauge factor ~ 3.7 at 100-400 % strain) and effectively detected human motions. This design principle provides promising prospects for constructing next-generation multifunctional flexible sensors, and the integration of these distinctive properties enables the prepared composite hydrogels to find potential applications in various areas, such as implantable soft electronic devices, electronic skin, and human movement monitoring., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study focuses on optimizing the pulping by-product to produce effective hydrogels for controlling the release of salicylic acid (SA). In this regard, two routes are achieved: the first involves preparing black liquor (BL) composite hydrogels with various polymer macromolecules [polyacrylamide (PAM), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and chitosan (Cs), and the second involves carboxymethylation of BL and grafting with acrylamide. Hydrogels are evaluated using spectral analysis (ATR-FTIR), thermal analysis (TGA and DTG), and swelling measures. Encapsulation, release profile, SA release kinetics, as well as ATR-FTIR and SEM measurements, were used to evaluate the behavior of loaded hydrogels. According to the results, grafted carboxymethylated BL-gel had the maximum SA release (98.7 %), followed by PAM-BL (51.7 %) and PAM/PVA-BL (43.1 %). Over a 48-hour period, the hydrogels demonstrated a prolonged SA release pattern. The Ritger-Peppas and Higuchi models fitted to all examined hydrogels showed that SA release followed both Fickian and non-Fickian diffusion pathways., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Authors declare that there is no conflict among the contributing author related to the financial or non-financial interests that are directly or indirectly related to the work submitted for publication., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The hybrid composite sample based on Prosopis Juliflora (PJ) bark and ramie fibre with different length, weight percentage, and curing temperature were created for the first time in this work. Totally, 120 hybrid composite samples were tested in this study. There were five different fibre lengths: 10 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm, 25 mm, and 30 mm, weight percentages 10 %, 20 %, 30 %, 40 %, and 50 %, and different curing temperatures 80 °C, 90 °C, 100 °C, 110 °C, and 120 °C used to produce the hybrid composite samples. Due to the cross-linking ability with the epoxy matrix, the hybrid composite specimen shows high resistance up to 98 Shore D hardness. The high polarity of the epoxy matrix and the hydrogen bond strengthening effect, increased the composite sample flexural strength by 12 %. The curing temperature of 100 °C, 20 mm fibre length, and 30 % of the hybrid composite sample achieved the highest tensile strength (28.76 MPa), flexural strength (46.54 MPa), impact strength (4.5 J), and hardness strength properties (98 shore D). Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed the composite samples initial decomposition temperature (T i ) at 98 °C, maximum decomposition temperature (T max ) at 320 °C, and the final decomposition temperature (T f ) at 466 °C., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Polysulfide shuttle and sluggish sulfur redox kinetics remain key challenges in lithium-sulfur batteries. Previous researches have shown that introducing oxygen into transition metal sulfides helps to capture polysulfides and enhance their conversion kinetics. Based on this, further investigations are conducted to explore the impact of oxygen doping levels on the physical-chemical properties and electrocatalytic performance of MoS 2 . The findings reveal that MoS 2 doped with high-content oxygen exhibits enhanced conductivity and polysulfides conversion kinetics compared to MoS 2 with low-content oxygen doping, which can be attributed to the alteration of crystal structure from 2H-phase to the 1T-phase, the introduction of increased Li-O interactions, and the effect of defects resulting from high-oxygen doping. Consequently, the lithium-sulfur batteries using high-oxygen doped MoS 2 as a catalyst deliver a high discharge capacity of 1015 mAh g -1 at 0.25C and maintain 78.5% capacity after 300 more cycles. Specifically, lithium-sulfur batteries employing paper-based electrodedemonstrate an areal capacity of 3.91 mAh cm -2 at 0.15C, even with sulfur loading of 4.1 mg cm -2 and electrolyte of 6.7 µL mg -1 . These results indicate that oxygen doping levels can modify the properties of MoS 2 , and high-oxygen doped MoS 2 shows promise as an efficient catalyst for lithium-sulfur batteries., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Anthocyanins have attracted a lot of attention in the fields of natural pigments, food packaging, and functional foods due to their color, antioxidant, and nutraceutical properties. However, the poor chemical stability and low bioavailability of anthocyanins currently limit their application in the food industry. Various methods can be used to modify the structure of anthocyanins and thus improve their stability and bioavailability characteristics under food processing, storage, and gastrointestinal conditions. This paper aims to review in vitro modification methods for altering the molecular structure of anthocyanins, as well as their resulting improved properties such as color, stability, solubility, and antioxidant properties, and functional applications as pigments, sensors and functional foods. In industrial production, by mixing co-pigments with anthocyanins in food systems, the color and stability of anthocyanins can be improved by using non-covalent co-pigmentation. By acylation of fatty acids and aromatic acids with anthocyanins before incorporation into food systems, the surface activity of anthocyanins can be activated and their antioxidant and bioactivity can be improved. Various other chemical modification methods, such as methylation, glycosylation, and the formation of pyranoanthocyanins, can also be utilized to tailor the molecular properties of anthocyanins expanding their range of applications in the food industry.

The complexity of plant cell walls on different hierarchical levels still impedes the detailed understanding of biosynthetic pathways, interferes with processing in industry and finally limits applicability of cellulose materials. While there exist many challenges to readily accessing these hierarchies at (sub-) angström resolution, the development of advanced computational methods has the potential to unravel important questions in this field. Here, we summarize the contributions of molecular dynamics simulations in advancing the understanding of the physico-chemical properties of natural fibres. We aim to present a comprehensive view of the advancements and insights gained from molecular dynamics simulations in the field of carbohydrate polymers research. The review holds immense value as a vital reference for researchers seeking to undertake atomistic simulations of plant cell wall constituents. Its significance extends beyond the realm of molecular modeling and chemistry, as it offers a pathway to develop a more profound comprehension of plant cell wall chemistry, interactions, and behavior. By delving into these fundamental aspects, the review provides invaluable insights into future perspectives for exploration. Researchers within the molecular modeling and carbohydrates community can greatly benefit from this resource, enabling them to make significant strides in unraveling the intricacies of plant cell wall dynamics., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Polyphenols have a variety of physiological activities, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. However, their applications are often limited because due to the instability of polyphenols. Encapsulation technologies can be employed to overcome these problems and increase the utilization of polyphenols. In this article, the utilization of protein-based nanoparticles for encapsulating polyphenols is reviewed due to their good biocompatibility, biodegradability, and functional attributes. Initially, the various kinds of animal and plant proteins available for forming protein nanoparticles are discussed, as well as the fabrication methods that can be used to assemble these nanoparticles. The molecular interaction mechanisms between proteins and polyphenols are then summarized. Applications of protein-based nanoparticles for encapsulating polyphenols are then discussed, including as nutrient delivery systems, in food packaging materials, and in the creation of functional foods. Finally, areas where further research is need on the development, characterization, and application of protein-based polyphenol-loaded nanoparticles are highlighted.

In the quest for greener and more efficient energy storage solutions, the exploration and utilization of renewable raw materials is essential. In this context, cellulose-derived separators play a central role in enhancing the performance of green energy storage devices. However, these often exhibit disadvantageous porosity and limited wet strength. Here, we demonstrate a facile approach to tailor thickness (ca. 40 μm), air permeability (0.1-200 cm 3 s -1 ), and mechanical properties of separators by integration of up to 50 wt% microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) into paper sheets. While the MFC enhanced the formation of dense networks, these separators show a poor dimensional stability (folding and creasing) concomitant with a low strength under wet conditions, crucial for assembly and operation. Crosslinking with 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) however, led to an increase in wet strength by up to 6700 % while ensuring dimensional stability. The electrochemical performance, evaluated by impedance spectroscopy and galvanostatic cycling (7500 repetitions) showed comparable results as commercially available glass and polypropylene separators in terms of ion diffusion, charge-discharge rate performance, Ohmic loss and capacitance retention %. The approach demonstrates that disadvantages of paper-based separators in terms of dimensional stability and wet strength can be overcome by a paper technological approach using crosslinking strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Ti-based Metal-organic frameworks (Ti-MOF) have been extensively investigated for producing hydrogen via solar water splitting, while their intrinsic activities are still retarded by the poor performance of photocarriers separation and utilization. Herein, a donor-acceptor (D-A) supramolecular photocatalyst is successfully constructed via encapsulating fullerene (C 60 ) into MIL-125-NH 2 and meanwhile depositing individual Pt atoms as cocatalyst. The as-prepared C 60 @MIL-125-NH 2 -Pt exhibits remarkable activity in photocatalytic water splitting, with a H 2 formation rate of 1180 μmol g -1 h -1 , which is ∼ 12 times higher than that of the pristine MIL-125-NH 2 . Further investigations indicate that the host-guest interactions between C 60 and MIL-125-NH 2 strengthen the built-in electric field, which greatly facilitates the separation and migration of photogenerated charge carriers. In addition, the cocatalyst of individual Pt atoms not only further promotes the separation and transport of carriers but also enhances the contact between water and the catalyst. All of these factors directly contribute to the superior activity of C 60 @MIL-125-NH 2 -Pt. This work provides a new perspective for constructing D-A supramolecular photocatalysts for enhanced charge separation and making full use of photoelectrons to realize efficient hydrogen production., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Boosting the biomimetic catalytic activity of nanozyme is important for its potential application. One common strategy to achieve this goal mainly focused on manipulating the electronic state of metal site through the first coordination shell to modulate the adsorption/desorption strength of related reactant, intermediate and/or product, but remained challenging. Taking Cu-based catecholase-mimicking nanozyme for example, this work herein reports a different strategy involving amino-induced modulation of electronic state through the second shell to raise the electron density of Cu site, which further triggers the repulsion effect between neighboring geminal Cu centers to increase the Cu─Cu distance. The resulting nanozyme with electron-rich Cu site (DT-Cu) presents a lower work function and an upshifted d-band center in comparison with its counterpart (i.e., relatively electron-deficient TA-Cu), which promotes the electron transfer and enhances the adsorption strengths of Cu site for O 2 , catechol and H 2 O 2 intermediate. The longer Cu─Cu distance of DT-Cu accelerated the O─O bond dissociation of H 2 O 2 intermediate. This expedites the oxygen reduction process during catecholase-like catalysis, which together with the enhanced O 2 /H 2 O 2 /catechol adsorption corporately boosts the catecholase-like activity of DT-Cu., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The study examined the beneficial effects of the synergistic deinking and delignification process on the quality of recycled pulp. By utilizing a mixture of neutral sodium sulfite, sodium carbonate, and fungal hemicellulase enzyme, the research demonstrated that the paper achieved enhancements in brightness, whiteness, tensile and burst indices, while also exhibiting reduced yellowness and ERIC in comparison to paper derived from chemically deinked pulp. The high-resolution ESCA analysis demonstrated a reduction in lignin surface coverage, and enhancement in the O/C atomic ratios. FTIR spectra indicated notable alterations in the structure of fibers and the functional groups of deinked pulp fibers. XRD spectra confirmed a higher cellulose crystallinity index and FESEM micrographs illustrated a rougher surface with the emergence of new fibrils. Additionally, UV analysis of the pulp effluents indicated significant lignin absorbance, while post-bleaching with H 2 O 2 further enhanced the reactivity of the pulp and the overall quality of the paper., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Iman Akbarpour reports financial support was provided by Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Iman Akbarpour reports a relationship with Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources that includes: board membership and employment. This work was funded by the Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (GUASNR) under Project Grant AGRI/4081/2023, Research Plan ID number 01-474-93. The author extends thanks to GUASNR, Golestan University, Mazandaran University, and Tehran University for providing laboratory facilities and valuable cooperationthat contributed to the successful completion of this research. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The fractionation of lignocellulose utilizing green solvents is essential for the effective operation of biorefineries. In this study, a deep eutectic solvent (DES) system composed of benzoic acid (BA, hydrogen bond donor) and choline chloride (ChCl, hydrogen bond acceptor) was fabricated and successfully applied to the lignocellulose fractionation. The DES has low toxicity and little pollution. In this system, 67.8 % of lignin and 91.2 % of hemicellulose in poplar were removed, leaving 95.8 % of cellulose intact as solid residue. Due to the removal of the amorphous components, crystallinity of cellulose-rich water-insoluble solid (CIS) substantially increased from 55.6 % to 68.6 %, and CIS was used as feedstock for nanocrystalline cellulose preparation with excellent properties. The results showed that the obtained lignin had similar properties to CEL by GPC, FT-IR, 2D-NMR and TGA. A high-purity lignin rich in G units was recovered with a well-preserved structure, which has β-O-4 linkage content up to 53.01 %, low molecular weight, low polydispersity (1.99). Finally, the hydrolyzate can be used for fermentation. This study demonstrated that BA is suitable for DES design with excellent properties on lignin extraction, and this promising DES enable efficient pretreatment for economically feasible biomass conversion. This ChCl-BA DES facilitates environmentally friendly production of functional materials derived from cellulose and lignin under mild conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The current study focuses on finding an ecological method to dispose of black liquors (BLs), containing lignin macromolecules, which are produced as byproducts of rice straw-based paper production. In addition to maximizing their value as precursors in the preparation of novel formaldehyde scavengers to avoid the environmental risks associated with using urea formaldehyde in agro-wood composites. To optimize the route, various black liquors are prepared from pulping of rice straw by different pulping agents (alkali, neutral, acidic and kraft reagents) used as additions or precursors for carbon compounds. Elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis [TGA], Fourier transform infrared [FTIR] and scanning electron microscope (SEM), are the techniques used to characterize the BLs; while the gel time, bond strength, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) methodologies are applied to determine the impact of black liquor (BL) and black liquor‑carbon nanostructures (BL-CNSs) on performance of urea formaldehyde (UF) adhesive. The behavior of the investigated BL-CNSs as HCHO-scavengers is assessed from their affinity to capture the HCHO, and reduction of free-HCHO in UF-palm fibers agro-composites. BL-CNSs, as novel scavengers, exhibit promising properties where the bonding strength of BL-CNSs-UF adhesives increased to 19.7 MPa even though the UF was only 8.4 MPa. Moreover, the formaldehyde adsorption capacity ranges from 35.4 to 63.6 mg/g as well as lowering the gel time. It is interesting to note that the investigated scavengers not only reduced the free-HCHO of composites by about 40-91 %, but also enhancement in their mechanical and water resistance properties; where the modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bond (IB) and reduction in thickness swelling improved to about 50 % and 83.3 %, and 38.8 %, respectively. According to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard these new scavengers, especially from BL of neutral pulping, permit the production of an eco-board (E1) with static bending exceeding the H-3 class., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mercury is highly toxic, and appropriate amounts of the mercury-selenium complex can protect plasma. However, when excessive mercury (II) ions (Hg 2+ ) are exposed to human skin or ingested directly, it can lead to irreversible accumulation in the body. Therefore, detecting the presence of Hg 2+ in cells is important. A novel fluorescent probe BTD-Hg-Lyso was designed and constructed based on the intramolecular charge transfer mechanism. Thiotaldehyde could specifically recognize Hg 2+ so that the probe could produce a fluorescence enhancement effect. In addition, the fluorescent probe BTD-Hg-Lyso exhibited the advantages of large Stokes shift (210 nm) and good selectivity. More importantly, the probe BTD-Hg-Lyso could be used for the determination of Hg 2+ in cellular lysosomes. BTD-Hg-Lyso was able to image Hg 2+ in HeLa cells, zebrafish, and tobacco seedlings (rhizome and stem) successfully., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

New asphalt mixtures have been improved by using fibers (polypropylene, polyester, asbestos, carbon, glass, nylon, lignin, coconut, sisal, recycled rubber, PET, wood, bamboo, and cellulose), reducing the temperature and compaction energy for their collocation, minimizing the impact on the environment, increasing the tenacity and resistance to cracking of hot mix asphalt (HMA), preventing asphalt drainage in a Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA). Hence, this paper aims to evaluate the influence of the chemical (lignin content, ash, viscosity, degree of polymerization, and elemental analysis), morphological (SEM), spectroscopic (FTIR-ATR and XRD), and calorimetric (ATG and DSC) properties of celluloses from bagasse Agave tequilana Weber var. Azul (ABP), corrugated paperboard (CPB) and commercial cellulose fiber (CC) as Schellenberg drainage (D) inhibitors of the SMA. The ABP was obtained through a chemical process by alkaline cooking, while CPB by a mechanical refining process. The chemical, morphological, spectroscopic, and calorimetric properties were similar among the analyzed celluloses, but CPB and ABP cellulose are excellent alternatives to CC cellulose for inhibiting drainage. However, CPB is the most effective at low concentrations. This is attributed to its morphology, which includes roughness, waviness, filament length, orientation, and diameter, as well as its lignin content and crystallinity.

Current therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) do not delay its progression, therefore, novel disease-modifying strategies are urgently needed. Recently, an increasing number of compounds from natural origin with protective properties against AD have been identified. Mixtures or extracts obtained from natural products containing several bioactive compounds have multifunctional properties and have drawn the attention because multiple AD pathways can be simultaneously modulated. This study evaluated the in vitro and in vivo effect of the essential oil (EO) obtained from the hydrodistillation of Eucalyptus globulus leaves, and an extract obtained from the hydrodistillation residual water (HRW). It was observed that EO and HRW have anti-inflammatory effect in brain immune cells modeling AD, namely lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- and amyloid-beta (Aβ)-stimulated microglia. In cell models that mimic AD-related neuronal dysfunction, HRW attenuated Aβ secretion and Aβ-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. Since the HRW's major components did not cross the blood-brain barrier, both EO and HRW were administered to the APP/PS1 transgenic AD mouse model by an intranasal route, which reduced cortical and hippocampal Aβ levels, and to rescue memory deficits and anxiety-like behaviors. Finally, HRW and EO were found to regulate cholesterol levels in aged mice after intranasal administration, suggesting that these extracts can reduce hypercholesterolemia and avoid risk for AD development. Overall, findings support a protective role of E. globulus extracts against AD‑like pathology and cognitive impairment highlighting the underlying mechanisms. These extracts obtained from underused forest biomass could be useful to develop nutraceutical supplements helpful to avoid AD risk and to prevent its progression., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Modulation of coordination configuration is crucial for boosting the biomimetic catalytic activity of nanozymes, but remains challenging. Here, we found that the non-first-shell amino group in the ligand was capable of steering the N/S coordination number through remote induction to enable the formation of a low-coordinated CuN 2 S 1 configuration. This endowed the resulting nanozyme (ATT-Cu) with an upshifted d-band center compared with a control nanozyme (TT-Cu) with CuN 1 S 3 configuration, enhancing the adsorption capabilities of ATT-Cu for O 2 and H 2 O 2 intermediates as well as its affinity for catechol. Additionally, the low-coordinated CuN 2 S 1 configuration caused more charges to accumulate at the atomic Cu site, which improved the capabilities of ATT-Cu for both donating electrons to oxygen-related species and accepting electrons from catechol. As a result, this ATT-Cu nanozyme with a low-coordinated CuN 2 S 1 moiety presented a faster initial oxygen reduction step, which in turn accelerated catechol oxidation, thus greatly boosting the catecholase-like activity of ATT-Cu that exceeded those of many catecholase-mimicking artificial enzymes/nanozymes with Cu-N x O y sites as well as those of Ce-based, Zr-based and Pt-based nanozymes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Lignin has attracted wide attention in sustainable environment remediation, especially the polyphenol-metal-network (PMN) based on lignin that shows unique applicability. In this work, by self-assembly of double PMN formed by lignin, plant tannins (TA) and Fe ions, a universal gravel-like lignin catalysts were reported for cost-efficient water purification. A controllable self-assembly technique dependent in pH was developed, achieving the controllable synthesis of materials with highly uniformity. Driven by strong multiple intermolecular interactions and PMN mediated TA-Fe Fenton system, this bio-based material exhibited efficient interfacial capture (65.70 mg·g -1 ) and in-situ degradation performance (95.40 %), and removed ubiquitous dye contaminants through static and flowing operation. Benefiting from this, effective flowing purify platform that continuously purify large-scale dye-containing wastewater through flowthrough strategy was profiled, confirming the potential in real industrial system. The theoretical calculations including molecular dynamics simulation contributed to providing insightful comprehension for co-assembly of system and their intermolecular interaction with dye molecules. Additionally, this material also showed magnetic response ability, stable reusability performance, and extended preparation advantages. This work provided a facile strategy to develop advanced lignin-based double PMN derived materials to support water purification by utilizing solid-waste to repair liquid-waste., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence this work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Compared with traditional petroleum-based foam materials, cellulosic foam materials have significant advantages in terms of economy and environmental protection. However, the traditional cellulose-based foams have some problems such as high energy consumption in the preparation process. In this study, the recycled pulp foam (RPF) with ultra-light density (12.69 kg/m 3  ~ 13.83 kg/m 3 ) and high porosity (99.07 % ~ 99.15 %) was prepared by mechanical stirring using waste corrugated cardboard as the main raw material and further hydrophobically modified using rosin. The prepared r-RPF foam has excellent hydrophobicity with the water contact angle remaining 132.9° after 20 s. In addition, the rosin coating enhances the mechanical properties of r-RPF, and the stress of r-RPF at 50 % strain is increased by 97 %. It should be noted that after rosin treatment, the compressive strength and elasticity of r-RPF were improved. The r-RPF was stable in water and had a high oil adsorption capacity (7.8 to 28.13 g/g), which had the potential to treat current oily wastewater., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cellulose is a kind of green and renewable materials, but its flammability limits its wide application. In order to enhance the flame retardancy of cellulose materials, herein, melamine cyanurate, decabromodiphenyl ethane, 1,2-Bis(2-oxo-5,5-dimethyl-1,3,2-dioxyphosphacyclohexyl-2-imino)ethane(BODIE) and montmorillonite were used as four typical flame retardants. These flame retardants were used alone or in combination to prepare several flame retardant lyocell fibres by physical blending method. Furthermore, the flame retardancy mechanism of phosphorus, nitrogen, halogen and inorganic flame retardant was studied through TG-IR and Raman test, and the synergistic flame retardant between four flame retardants were studied for the first time. The results showed that the nitrogen and halogen-containing flame retardants played the gas-phase flame retardant action by inert gas dilution and chemical quenching of active radicals, respectively. The inorganic flame retardant exerted condensed-phase flame retardant mechanism. The phosphorus flame retardant played both gas and condensed-phase flame retardant effect by chemical quenching of active radicals and cellulose carbonization. Furthermore, the synergism index of phosphorus‑nitrogen and phosphorus-halogen in cellulose materials were 2.1 and 1.7, respectively. There was no obvious synergistic effect between inorganic flame retardant with other flame retardants. In addition, the use of any flame retardant alone tailored the fibre's Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) lower than 28 %. In contrast, the fibres achieved a LOI of 31 % and a tensile strength of 3.0 cN/dtex when the content of phosphorous flame retardant, nitrogen flame retardant and halogen flame retardant were 45-75 %, 12-55 %, 0-25 %, respectively. This study prepared a method for preparing flame retardant cellulose materials with extremely low-cost and large-scale application potential, and provided a theoretical basis that the selection of flame retardants helped to improve the flame retardant performance of cellulose materials., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest to this work., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

This paper investigates the effects of phenolic-formaldehyde resin microplastics (PF-MPs) with different particle sizes on anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS) and reveals the complex interaction mechanisms between extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and PF-MPs through the combination of molecular dynamics simulations and spectroscopy. PF-MPs provide a new ecological niche for microorganisms. Microorganisms and EPS can adhere and accumulate on the surface of PF-MPs, producing highly active floc sludge inside the reactor, thereby increasing the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rate and methane production of the reactor. However, the high metabolic activity of floc sludge consumes the biodegradable components in EPS, resulting in loose rupture of the sludge particles and reduced particle size. In addition, small particle size S-PF can adhere to the sludge surface，which caused mass transfer barriers and reduced the expression of genes and enzyme activities for the sludge acidification process and the main methanogenic processes. Insufficient internal nutrients lead to endogenous metabolism within the granules, causing internal hollowing, which affects the density and settling performance of the sludge. Monolayer physical adsorption plays a major role in the adsorption of EPS on PF-MPs. 2D-COS and FTIR spectroscopy were used to elucidate the preferential binding of polysaccharides to PF-MPs. This paper explores the fate of PF-MPs in anaerobic systems and demonstrates the important role of EPS in the capture of microplastics by granular sludge, providing a theoretical basis for understanding the migration of microplastics in wastewater treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The growing demand for electronic devices has led to excessive stress on Earth's resources, necessitating effective waste management and the search for renewable materials with minimal environmental impact. Bioelectronics, designed to interface with the human body, have traditionally been made from inorganic materials, such as metals, which, while having suitable electrical conductivity, differ significantly in chemical and mechanical properties from biological tissues. This can cause issues such as unreliable signal collection and inflammatory responses. Recently, natural biopolymers such as cellulose, chitosan, and silk have been explored for flexible devices, given their chemical uniqueness, shape flexibility, ease of processing, mechanical strength, and biodegradability. Cellulose is the most abundant natural biopolymer, has been widely used across industries, and can be transformed into electronically conductive carbon materials. This review focuses on the advancements in cellulose-based conductive materials for bioelectronics, detailing their chemical properties, methods to enhance conductivity, and forms used in bioelectronic applications. It highlights the compatibility of cellulose with biological tissues, emphasizing its potential in developing wearable sensors, supercapacitors, and other healthcare-related devices. The review also addresses current challenges in this field and suggests future research directions to overcome these obstacles and fully realize the potential of cellulose-based bioelectronics., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

In this study, polydopamine (PDA) was used to modify functional groups on the surface of carbon fiber (CF), and the effects of different dopamine hydrochloride (DPH) concentrations on the surface morphology, functional groups, contact angle and dispersion stability of CF were studied. Subsequently, the raw carbon paper (RCP), hot-pressed carbon paper (HPCP) and carbon paper (CP) were prepared successively using the modified CF through wet forming, impregnation/hot-pressing, and carbonization methods. The surface morphology, tensile strength, flexural strength, electrical resistivity, air permeability and pore size distribution were analyzed for these materials. It was observed that the introduction of -OH and - NH 2 groups improved the hydrophilicity and dispersion of PDA modified CFs, resulting in an increase in formation index (FI) from 39.2 to 48.1 for RCP samples. With increasing DPH concentration, the tensile strength of CP initially increased but then decreased while its electrical resistivity showed an opposite trend. Finally, PDA modified CP was assembled into proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The PEMFC assembled from DPH-CP-2.5 achieved a maximum limiting current density of 1440.0 mA/cm 2 and power density of 458.25 mW/cm 2 . Meanwhile, the lower material transmission impedance for DPH-CP-2.5 as well as excellent water management ability and gas transmission performance., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The drawbacks and adverse reactions of conventional breast cancer (BC) medications have prompted researchers to seek novel therapeutic approaches. This study aimed to study the impact of biosynthesized selenium nanoparticles by yeast on breast cancer (MCF-7) cells and to find potential underlying mechanisms. Therefore, marine yeast isolates were screened for their ability to biosynthesis selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs). The most potent isolate was identified as Candida pseudojiufengensis based on 18 S rRNA gene sequencing. Incubation of cell-free extract with 0.8 mM of SeO 2 for 48 h at 40°C in pH of 7.0 were optimal conditions for the biosynthesis of SeNPs. The biosynthesized SeNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements including average particle size distribution and average zeta potential. The results showed that the biosynthesized SeNPs displayed a maximum absorbance peak in the UV-Vis spectrum at 560 nm due to surface plasmon resonance. TEM image elevated spherical shape particles with an average size of 12 nm. SRB assay, flow cytometry, and other biochemical methods were employed to assess SeNPs anti-proliferative effects on MCF-7 cells. SeNPs showed superior anticancer efficacy against MCF-7 cells compared to colon (HCT-116) and liver (HepG2) cancer cells, as evidenced by lower IC50 values (19.59 µg/ml) against 36.36 µg/ml and 27.81 ±1.4 µg/ml, respectively. However, SeNPs demonstrated no cytotoxic effects against HSF cells. Moreover, treatment with SeNPs induces G2/M arrest along with triggering apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, MCF-7 cells treated with SeNPs showed increased oxidative stress, as indicated by observable rises in LPO and 8-OHDG, accompanied by considerable exhaustion in antioxidant enzyme activity. These findings demonstrated that Se nanoparticles synthesized from yeast have therapeutic promise in BC treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Starch-based plastics offer a potential solution to environmental pollution and can reduce the dependence on petroleum-based plastics. However, effectively preparing starch-based plastics with moisture resistance and high strength remains challenging. Herein, dialdehyde starch (DAS) with different degrees of oxidation was first synthesised. The molecular weight and crystallinity of DAS decreased depending on the aldehyde content, as determined through scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and molecular weight analyses. Subsequently, a sustainable starch plastic (DAS-DA) was prepared via the dynamic imine crosslinking of DAS with diamines. The influence of the degree of oxidation of DAS on the structure and properties of DAS-DA was systematically investigated. No linear relationship was observed between the tensile strength of DAS-DA and the aldehyde content of DAS. When the aldehyde content was 41.1 %, the resulting DAS41-DA exhibited optimal mechanical strength (27.8 MPa), exceeding that of most reported starch-based plastics. In addition, owing to the presence of imine crosslinking networks, DAS41-DA exhibited excellent water and solvent resistance (>60 days), good thermal stability (456 °C-462 °C) and excellent reprocessability and biodegradability. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the preparation of high-performance bioplastics from aldehyde-containing polysaccharides., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Controlling the hydrophobic behaviors of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) is crucial and advantageous for their application as film Nano Fillers, yet it poses a significant challenge. Herein, we successfully developed a novel method for the preparation of LNPs with highly hydrophobic behaviors using ternary deep eutectic solution (DES)-H 2 O systems. The resulting LNPs exhibit a significantly reduced content of hydrophilic groups on their outer surface, leading to a zeta potential value of only -4.9 mV, and up to 140.0° of water contact angle (WCA). Afterwards, a "Dissolution-Restructuration" mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of the prepared LNPs. Firstly, DES demonstrates superior H-bonding capabilities, facilitating the complete disruption of inter- and intramolecular H-bonding in lignin, and resulting in the formation of a highly homogenized lignin network. Subsequently, the DES system undergoes compromise after adding water, triggering the reformation of both inter- and intramolecular H-bonding and π-π interactions. Consequently, lignin orderly self-assembles into LNPs with highly hydrophobic characteristics. Especially, using the as-prepared LNPs as Nano fillers, a series of LNPs-containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films were successfully fabricated, exhibiting exceptional hydrophobic behaviors (with contact angles reaching up to 124.0°). Furthermore, the mechanical strength, UV-shielding capabilities, and biodegradability of the PVA films are significantly enhanced. This study introduces a sustainable and efficient approach for the synthesis of hydrophobic LNPs, thereby facilitating the broadening of applications for lignin-based functional composite film materials., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Integrating the dual functionalities of a photodetector and photonic synapse into a single device is challenging due to their conflicting requirements for photocurrent decay rates. This study addresses this issue by seamlessly depositing transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes onto self-oriented copper hexadecafluoro-phthalocyanine (F 16 CuPc) nanowires growing horizontally along hot-stamped periodic nanogrooves on a transparent flexible polyimide plastic film. This in-situ-fabricated device achieves bending-stable dual functionalities through wavelength regulation while maintaining high transparency and flexibility. Upon exposure to 450-850 nm light, the device exhibits a rapid and sensitive photoresponse with excellent bending stability, making it ideal for optical sensing in both visible and near-infrared spectra. More importantly, the device exhibits a bending-stable excitation postsynaptic current when exposed to light spikes below 405 nm. This enables the successful emulation of various biological synaptic functionalities, including paired-pulse facilitation, spike-number-dependent plasticity, spike-duration-dependent plasticity, spike-rating-dependent plasticity, configurable plasticity between short-term plasticity and long-term plasticity, and memory learning capabilities. Utilizing this device in an artificial neural network achieves a recognition rate of 95% after 57 training epochs. Its ability to switch between photodetection and synaptic modes by adjusting the light wavelength marks a significant advancement in the field of multifunctional flexible electronics based on nanowire arrays.

The rapid advancement of modern power equipment and high-power devices has imposed increasingly stringent demands upon the mechanical and dielectric properties of electrical insulation materials. Herein, we report a poly( m -phenylene isophthalamide) (PMIA) composite insulating paper with excellent dielectric breakdown strength, reliable mechanical properties, and high thermal stability. Enhanced surface activity of PMIA is achieved through surface modification, facilitating the synergistic integration of modified PMIA (MPMIA), bovine serum albumin (BSA)/silica (SiO 2 ), and cellulose nanofiber (CNF) into composite paper using dynamic covalent bonds and hydrogen bonding. The prepared MPMIA-BSA/SiO 2 -CNF composite paper exhibits a laminated stacked structure with high tensile strength (32.68 MPa) and strain at break (9.57%). Meanwhile, MPMIA-BSA/SiO 2 -CNF composites have excellent dielectric breakdown strength (24.75 kV/mm) and good temperature resistance. Therefore, the MPMIA-BSA/SiO 2 -CNF composite paper has a broad application prospect in the field of high-voltage and high-power electrical equipment insulation.

Ammonia (NH 3 ) is a hazardous gas that pollutes the environment and causes irritation. Its harmful effects on chickens, including its impact on their immune system, have previously been observed. However, the mechanism by which NH 3 exposure causes immune system disorders in chickens remains unclear. The bursa of Fabricius (BF) and thymus are the two main lymphoid organs responsible for the proliferation, differentiation, and selection of B- and T-lymphocytes, both critical for the innate immune response of the host. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of NH 3 -induced immune dysregulation in broiler chickens. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed swollen mitochondria and breakage of the large crista lining, membrane deformation, chromatin condensation, increased vacuolation, and blood vessel spasms in the NH3-exposed BF and thymus tissues. Immunofluorescent analysis showed clustering of CD4 + and CD8 + cells, indicating an active immune response to NH3 exposure. Furthermore, NH 3 exposure enhanced the mRNA expressions of Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR-7), myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MYD88), and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), along with their proteins, and led to activation of the TLR-7/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome in chicken thymus tissues. Both mRNA and protein levels of key inflammation-related genes and proteins were upregulated in the NH 3 -treated group, highlighting a robust inflammatory response due to NH 3 exposure. The specific findings of significant structural damage to key lymphoid organs and activation of inflammatory pathways in broiler chickens upon NH 3 exposure can provide guidance for future, targeted therapies to improve poultry health.

Fabrication of traditional 3D cell culturing scaffolds requires synthetic polymers or additives, posing a risk of poor biocompatibility and low biodegradability. Pickering emulsions stabilized by biobased nanomaterials can be used as templates to produce scaffolds with facile tunable porous structure, excellent cytocompatibility, and biodegradability. In this study, very stable high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPPE) with an oil content of 80% were successfully prepared by xylan hydrate nanocrystals (XNC). The HIPPE can exist stably for more than 30 days, exhibiting a high viscosity. By adding cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and removing the oil phase, scaffolds with a tuned porous structure and enhanced cell culturing ability were successfully fabricated. In the HIPPE templated scaffolds with XNC/CNF, XNC plays a major role in stabilizing the emulsions, while CNF improves the mechanical properties of the scaffolds, both of which are vital to the successful fabrication of the scaffolds. Compared with non-HIPPE templated scaffolds, the HIPPE templated scaffold had a higher porosity and a higher median pore size. The HIPPE templated scaffold was able to maintain 80% cell activity and showed an excellent cytocompatibility. The HIPPE templated scaffolds consisting of XNC and CNF demonstrate great potential in 3D cell culturing for medical purpose.

Keloids represent pathologic conditions characterized by the presence of hyalinized collagen bundles and chronic inflammatory reactions. Recently, increased ROS production and disrupted apoptosis mechanisms in keloids have been reported, although the detailed mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, we developed a specific fluorescence probe, Pro-NBS , to investigate ClO - levels in keloids. The probe demonstrated high specificity for ClO - over other ROS and exhibited a strong linear detection relationship. Based on its performance, we focused on the TGF-β pathway in the development of keloids. ROS upregulation was observed in keloid-derived fibroblasts. Using ClO - as an intrinsic overexpression marker, our probe effectively distinguished between normal fibroblasts and keloid-derived fibroblasts both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, Pro-NBS showed potential for monitoring the progression and evaluating the systematic therapy of abnormal scarring or keloids.

Seaweed polysaccharides show tremendous research and application value because of their significant and unique biological activities. However, reports on seaweed polysaccharides usually focus on in-depth studies of a specific biological activity, which severely limits their further development. Herein, three seaweed polysaccharides were isolated from Undaria pinnatifida (UPPS), Sargassum pallidum (SPPS), and Ulva lactuca (ULPS), respectively. The physicochemical properties, structure, rheological properties, antioxidant activities, antibacterial activities, and anti-glycation activities of UPPS, ULPS, and SPPS were comprehensively studied. It was first demonstrated that SPPS and UPPS had triple prominent biological activities. SPPS exhibited the best biological activities in antioxidation (IC 50 in the ABTS test: 0.4616 ± 0.0134 mg/mL), antibacterial effect, and anti-glycation activity (inhibitory rate: 84.74 ± 0.07 %). Additionally, UPPS films (UPPSF) demonstrated superior ultraviolet shielding performance, lower water vapor permeability (1.78 ± 0.01 g/m·s·Pa × 10 -11 ), higher hydrophobicity (water contact angle: 96.91 ± 2.52°), and higher antioxidant activity compared to ULPS films (ULPSF). UPPSF and ULPSF effectively prolonged the shelf life of strawberries to six days, and UPPSF showed better preservation properties. This work provides novel theoretical insights into the use of polysaccharides as medicinal nutraceuticals, bioactive agents, and food packaging films., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

A novel Ir-Mn dual-atom electrocatalyst is synthesized by a facile ion-exchange method by incorporating Ir in SrMnO 3 , which yields an extremely high activity and stability for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The ion exchange process occurs in a self-limitation way, which favors the formation of Ir-Mn dual-atom in the IrMnO 9 unit. The incorporation of Ir modulates the electronic structure of both Ir and Mn, thereby resulting in a shorter distance of the Ir-Mn dual-atom (2.41 Å) than the Mn-Mn dual-atom (2.49 Å). The modulated Ir-Mn dual-atom enables the same spin direction O (↑) of the adsorbed *O intermediates, thus facilitating the direct coupling of the two adsorbed *O intermediates to release O 2 via the oxygen-oxygen radical coupling mechanism. Electrochemical tests reveal that the Ir-SrMnO 3 exhibits a superior OER's activity with a low overpotential of 207 mV at 10 mA cm -2 and achieves a mass specific activity of 1100 A g Ir -1 at 1.5 V. The proton-exchange-membrane water electrolyzer with the Ir-SrMnO 3 catalyst exhibits a low electrolysis voltage of 1.63 V at 1.0 A cm -2 and a stable 2000-h operation with a decay of only 15 μV h -1 at 0.5 A cm -2 ., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)