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A multifunctional separator coating material (FeS2@MMT) has been synthesized using cheap and abundant resources, which can efficiently suppress the shuttle effect in high-energy-density Li–S batteries via the absorption-catalysis synergistic effect.

With the combination of absorption capability and catalytic activity, the CoS2@MMT exhibited the potential as the AOP catalyst to degrade ofloxacin rapidly and effectively.

Compounds 5 and 7 exhibited nitric oxide release inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 7.5 and 10.6 μM, respectively, and compounds 9 and 14 at the sub-MIC level significantly decreased the MIC of oxacillin against MRSA from 32.0 to 1.0 and 0.5 μg mL−1, respectively.

The CoS2-intercalated/coated-montmorillonite separator coating layer can efficiently suppress the shuttle effect in Li–S batteries via an effective absorption–catalysis synergistic effect.

With an effective ion path structure and sufficient N-doping in the carbon skeleton, the MOF-derived Fe3O4@NC exhibited potential as the cathode in high-rate lithium–sulfur batteries.

Copper selenide is widely considered to be a promising candidate for high-performance flexible thermoelectrics; however, most of the reported ZT values of copper selenides are unsatisfactory at a relatively low temperature range. Herein, we utilized some wet chemical methods to synthesize a series of copper selenides. XRD, SEM and TEM characterizations revealed that CuSe, Cu3Se2 and Cu2−xSe were prepared successfully and possessed different morphologies and sizes. Based on the analysis of their thermoelectric properties, Cu2−xSe exhibited the highest Seebeck coefficient and lowest thermal conductivity among the three samples owing to its unique crystal structure. After being sintered at 400 °C under N2 atmosphere, the electrical conductivity of Cu2−xSe enhanced considerable, resulting in a significant improvement of its ZT values from 0.096 to 0.458 at 30 to 150 °C. This result is remarkable for copper selenide-based thermoelectric materials at a relatively low temperature range, indicating its brilliant potential in the field of flexible thermoelectric devices.

A novel method to prepare crosslinked acrylate self-matting coatings is introduced in this study. Pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PET4A) was used as a cross-linker to synthesize a series of self-matting crosslinked acrylate coatings (PETs). The gloss value of the PET films was found to decrease as the amount of the cross-linker increased at the three typical incident angles of 20°, 60°, and 85°. Furthermore, the factors that affect glossiness including phase separation, cross linking density, the film-forming temperature, and the film-forming thickness were investigated. PET films provided a transparency of 84% with only 5 wt% of PET4A addition and exhibited a gloss of 5.0 (60°), which illustrates the advantage of using PETs in low-gloss aqueous coatings. In addition, the results of thermogravimetric analysis showed that the PET films exhibit excellent thermal stability. Furthermore, the PET emulsions exhibited a narrow particle size distribution, with a zeta potential of approximately −30.0 mV, revealing their excellent storage stability.

In this study, by incorporating imide-fused benzothiadiazole (BIBT) as the electron-withdrawing core unit, for the first time we designed and synthesized a novel A1–D–A2–D–A1 type small molecule acceptor denoted BIBT-NI for organic solar cell (OSC) applications. Its thermal, optical and electrochemical properties were thoroughly investigated. Density functional theory was also applied to shed light on the molecular configuration and energy level distribution of the acceptor. This molecule exhibited a strong absorption spectrum in the range of 420–550 nm together with an optical bandgap of 2.04 eV. The inverted OSC devices based on BIBT-NI as an electron-acceptor combined with the classical polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an electron-donor afforded an optimal power conversion efficiency of 2.11% with a comparatively high open-circuit voltage of 0.78 V. These results underscore the promising potential of BIBT as an electron-deficient building block in constructing nonfullerene acceptors for OSCs.

This work aims to explore the feasibility of self-matting coatings based on soybean oil. A novel reactive waterborne polyurethane (RWPU) dispersion containing unsaturated CC double bonds was synthesized from epoxidized soybean oil (ESO). Subsequently, the RWPU dispersion was copolymerized with hard/soft monomers at different weight ratios to prepare polyurethane/acrylate (MPU) hybrid emulsions. The results reveal the gloss levels of MPUs to be as low as 3.3 gloss units at 60°. A scanning electron microscope and three-dimensional surface profilometer were employed to observe the morphology of the MPU-based films, and the relation between the surface roughness and gloss was determined. Further, thermal gravimetric analysis was conducted to determine the thermal stability of the MPU-based films, and the results denoted that these MPU-based films exhibited excellent thermal stability. Tensile tests indicated that the RWPU dispersion, which was copolymerized at a hard monomer weight of 30%, exhibited a good tensile strength of 13.2 MPa and a high elongation percentage of 578%. Furthermore, after one year, the MPU emulsions exhibited a narrow particle size distribution and their zeta potential values were approximately −30.0 mV, revealing the excellent storage stabilities (>one year) of all the MPU emulsions.

We prepared poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-4-tert-butylcalix[8]arene) (PNIPAM-TBCX) hydrogels by copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) with 4-tert-butylcalix[8]arene (TBCX) to capture hazardous pentachlorophenol (PCP) from aqueous solution. Adsorption experiments showed that the adsorption capacities of PNIPAM-TBCX hydrogels reached 1.96, 2.08 and 2.02 mg PCP per 1 g of hydrogel, while the molar percentage ratio of TBCX in the hydrogels was as low as 0.5%, 0.7% and 1%. The equilibrium adsorption of PCP on the hydrogels was studied using different adsorption models. In addition, the PNIPAM-TBCX hydrogel still retained its performance when regenerated several times by immersing in water at 323 K.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are regarded as promising materials in building biocompatible nanodevices. This paper puts forward a protocol to fabricate amine functionalized graphene quantum dots (afGQDs) by tailoring and exfoliating multilayered ammonia reduced graphene oxide (NH2-G) into afGQDs through a Hofmann rearrangement. The principle on how a Hofmann rearrangement assists in tailoring and exfoliating of NH2-G sheets into afGQDs was posited. The size distribution of afGQDs was tuned by a simple but efficient method based on the adjustment of sodium hypobromite dosage, accompanied by hydrolysis and filtration. The afGQDs emitted broad spectral wavelengths photoluminescence (PL) with two peaks centered at 430 and 510 nm, attributed to unmodified graphene oxide quantum dots and the amine group respectively.

Two new flexible cardanol-based epoxy curing agents with cross-linkable thiourea groups ([2-(2-amino-ethylamino)-ethyl]-thiourea of modified cardanol and [2-(2-amino-ethylamino)-ethyl]-thiourea of modified cardanol 2,3-dihydroxy propyl ether, ETC and TCP for short, respectively) were synthesized using a Mannich reaction. The structure of the prepared curing agents was analyzed by a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The curing kinetics of ETC (or TCP) cured diglycidyl ether of biphenyl A (DGEBA) epoxy resins was investigated using the Kissinger, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa and Crane methods by non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Thermal properties of the cured epoxy resins were evaluated with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and DSC. The morphology and mechanical properties of the cured epoxy resins were also studied. The results showed that the epoxy curing agents had a high-reactivity and a low-viscosity, especially at low temperatures. The activation energy of ETC/DGEBA and TCP/DGEBA calculated by the Kissinger method were 53.6 and 60.5 kJ mol−1, respectively. The toughness of the cured epoxy resin was noticeably improved by the introduction of two new flexible curing agents. The glass transition temperature (Tg) decreased with the introduction of cardanol-based curing agents in an epoxy resin system. In addition, the cured epoxy materials exhibited good mechanical properties.

Simultaneously using sulfonic and carboxylic acid as hydrophilic chain-extending agents, a new type of solvent-free and chemical matt waterborne polyurethane resin was prepared and investigated. The chemical structure containing urethane and urea groups in this novel carboxylate/sulfonate type of waterborne polyurethane (CSWPU) resin was confirmed by FTIR, 1H and 13C NMR spectra. An obvious advantage for the environment is that, unlike the traditional synthetic method for waterborne polyurethane, the reactive system doesn't need any organic solvent to reduce the viscosity of the prepolymer in the process of prepolymerization. In addition, the gloss extinction was generated by the drying process of the resin itself, without the requirement of any matting agents. 3D-AFM images indicate that the surface of the matt CSWPU films was extremely rough and was comprised of many spherical particles with diameters in the range of 0.8–3.0 μm arranged on the films' surface. The matt CSWPU resin tended to have a relatively higher molecular weight and lower swelling ratio. Moreover, an increase of sulfonic hydrophilic chain-extending agent content or the initial molecular weight of the soft segment facilitated the improvement of thermal stability.

The high-yielding synthesis of diphenolic acid (DPA) using Bronsted acidic ionic liquids (BAILs) has been demonstrated in this study. Importantly, p,p′-DPA was obtained as the preferential product over o,p′-DPA with an isomer ratio over 100. Moreover, diphenolic esters were also prepared in high yield through a one-pot method.