Search

Metal-organic frameworks(MOFs) materials, as third generation porous materials, have attracted much attention due to their functional properties such as high specific surface area, high stability and chemical modifiability, especially, the application of loading on various lightweight and flexible substrates is a rapidly growing field. The progress of loading MOFs on textile materials as substrate carriers was reviewed, and an introduction to the construction of fabric-based MOFs composites by solvothermal method, layer by layer method and spray printing method was given, and the application scenarios of different preparation methods were pointed out according to the differences of preparation methods. The composite mechanism of this type of material was summarized. The methods for enhancing the bonding and firmness of MOFs with substrate materials for the durability of composite materials were described. The latest research results on the application of such composites in the fields of superhydrophobic self-cleaning and self-sterilizing textiles were presented. Finally, it was pointed out that the mass production methods of fabric-based MOFs composites and their durability under real environmental conditions are the key step towards a wide range of applications, and their more integrated functions are the key direction for future research.

Hydrogel is a cross-linked three-dimensional network hydrophilic polymer material, which can absorb and retain a large amount of water and maintain a certain shape. In recent years, with the depletion of petroleum resources and the increasing attention of human beings to environmental issues, natural or modified polymer synthetic polymer hydrogels have become a research hotspot. Cellulose and its derivatives are a large class of renewable natural polymer materials, which have the characteristics of rich resources, wide variety, non-toxic and renewable, etc. The synthesized cellulose-based hydrogel has good water absorption, water retention, biocompatibility and biodegradability, etc., which can be used in medical, environment, agriculture and other fields. The research progress of the construction and application of cellulose-based hydrogels in recent years was reviewed in this paper. The microscopic network structure is combined with the macroscopic properties of the hydrogel. The mechanical properties, swelling properties and adsorption properties of the single network, interpenetrating network and semi-interpenetrating network cellulose-based hydrogels were summarized, and their applications in medical, environmental, agricultural and electronic fields were introduced. The development of cellulose-based hydrogels with both mechanical properties and biocompatibility, and the development of more green economic methods for the synthesis of cellulose-based hydrogels for industrial applications were proposed.

Microneedles (MN) as a minimally invasive device consisting of a micro-raised array, can penetrate the cuticle to the epidermis and dermis, and which has the advantages of safety, painless, minimally invasive, self-administration and convenience. As a new kind of microneedles, hydrogel microneedles have attracted more attentions in the medical field due to its excellent performance. Hydrogel microneedles have good biocompatibility and mechanical properties, and can be completely removed after skin action without residual polymer in the body. Its unique swelling property can realize minimally invasive extraction of human detection substance and slow release of drugs, which can play a huge role in the field of personal health monitoring and drug controlled release in the future. The mechanism of action, design, preparation and application of hydrogel microneedles were reviewed in this paper, focusing on the current design parameters of hydrogel microneedles and their applications in drug delivery, extraction monitoring and wound healing, and the problems of hydrogel microneedles in skin infection risk, pharmacokinetics and wearing comfort were pointed out. In the future, the key research direction is to combine with intelligent devices to realize both human body monitoring and intelligent drug controlled release on the microneedle patch.

Wearable microfluidic devices have become a popular method in real-time health monitoring, especially for the non-invasive harvest and detection of human sweat, which is closely related to physiological and metabolic status of human body. In this study, a yarn/fabric sweat sensor patch was fabricated based on colorimetric analysis and quantitative analysis of sweat sensing assisted by a smartphone. The microfluidic pattern was composed by the hydrophilic yarn and fabric as the microfluidic channel and reservoir constructed upon the hydrophobic patch. The colorimetric assay of the sensor comprises two aspects, including assessing the content of target analyte through comparison with the reference markers as well as through mobile phone app assistance. The correlation between RGB and content of the biomarkers in human sweat can be established for fast reading of wellness status with high accuracy and effectivity. These sensing patches were deployed on 6 healthy volunteers aged from 20 to 23 to follow the physiological parameter changes during exercise process. After 20 min running, pH, Cl− concentration and glucose concentration was recorded respectively as 5.18–6.92, 56.8–70.0 mM, and 44.9–87.6 µM, which consistent with the normal range of human body. The patch with the yarn/fabric patterned microfluidic analysis system has proposed a simple and feasible approach for non-invasive testing of human wellness assessment, exhibiting great potential in point-of-care diagnosis and healthcare issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is an important basic polymer, which was used widely in variety of fields. Due to its high crystallinity, compact structure and strong surface hydrophobicity, PET has prominent resistance to biodegradation. In recent years, microplastics, especially polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics, was considered as serious threaten to ecosystems. In this study, alkali-resistant bacteria were used as whole-cell catalysts to try to improve the biodegradation of PET microplastics by increasing the bio-interfacial activity of the polymer substrate. Surfactants were applicated to enhance interfacial activation of enzyme and PET interactions. And an integrated strategy was constructed based on alkali resistant bacteria to catalysis the hydrolysis of PET. The results showed that Tween 20 had the most obvious promoting effect among the four interfacial biocatalysts on biological-chemical combined hydrolysis of PET microplastics with whole-cell biocatalysts in alkaline environment. Obvious etching and fracture were observed on the PET fibre surface after biodegradation in presence of surfactant. The weight loss rate of PET substrate can reach 11.04% after 5 days of biodegradation. Thus, this research provides a promising method for efficient degradation of PET microplastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noise reduction with materials of finite thickness has been a hot research topic. In this study, multi‐layer gradient fiber‐based composites integrating porous, resonant and damping structures were prepared for efficient sound absorption. Here, the effects of composite structure, fiber‐based thickness and micro‐perforated membrane fabric (MPMF) structure on the sound absorption of the composites were investigated. From the results, the sound absorption band of the composite can be effectively tuned by adjusting the structure of the MPMF or the thickness of the fiber‐based. In addition, the established acoustic model can accurately predict the sound absorption performance of the structure. It is worth mentioning that the gradient structure optimized by the algorithm exhibits broadband sound absorption (noise reduction coefficient of 0.42) and thin feature (thickness of 0.9 cm). Moreover, the medium and low frequency sound waves can be propagated and absorbed more easily by optimizing the structure of the composite. This work provides a reference for the preparation of multi‐layer gradient sound‐absorbing structures and the design of acoustic products in a specific frequency range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]