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Funding Information: L.C., S.H. and X.T. acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 22072185, 21872176 and 12072381), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (grant 2021A1515110221), the Pearl River Talents Program (grant 2017GC010671) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (grant 2019A1515012030). R.H.A.R. acknowledges funding from the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence Program (2022–2029) in Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials (LIBER) (project number 346109) and Academy Project (project number 342169) and from the European Research Council for funding the Consolidator Grant SuperRepel (grant agreement no. 725513). | openaire: EC/H2020/725513/EU//SuperRepel Liquid-repellent surfaces, especially smooth solid surfaces with covalently grafted flexible polymer brushes or alkyl monolayers, are the focus of an expanding research area. Surface-tethered flexible species are highly mobile at room temperature, giving solid surfaces a unique liquid-like quality and unprecedented dynamical repellency towards various liquids regardless of their surface tension. Omniphobic liquid-like surfaces (LLSs) are a promising alternative to air-mediated superhydrophobic or superoleophobic surfaces and lubricant-mediated slippery surfaces, avoiding fabrication complexity and air/lubricant loss issues. More importantly, the liquid-like molecular layer controls many important interface properties, such as slip, friction and adhesion, which may enable novel functions and applications that are inaccessible with conventional solid coatings. In this Review, we introduce LLSs and their inherent dynamic omniphobic mechanisms. Particular emphasis is given to the fundamental principles of surfacedesign and the consequences of the liquid-like nature for task-specific applications. We also provide an overview of the key challenges and opportunities for omniphobic LLSs. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Grape pomace is the most important residual after wine making, and it is considered to be a very abundant source for the extraction of a wide range of polyphenols. These polyphenols exhibit a variety of bioactivities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer. They are also beneficial in alleviating metabolic syndrome and regulating intestinal flora, etc. These health effects are most likely contributed by polyphenol metabolite, which are formed by the grape pomace phenolics after a complex metabolic process in vivo. Therefore, understanding the phenolic composition of grape pomace and its metabolism is the basis for an in-depth study of the biological activity of grape pomace polyphenols. In this paper, we first summarize the composition of phenolics in grape pomace, then review the recent studies on the metabolism of grape pomace phenolics, including changes in phenolics in the gastrointestinal tract, their pharmacokinetics in the systemic circulation, the tissue distribution of phenolic metabolites, and the beneficial effects of metabolites on intestinal health, and finally summarize the effects of human health status and dietary fiber on the metabolism of grape polyphenols. It is expected to provide help for the in-depth research on the metabolism and biological activity of grape pomace polyphenol extracts, and to provide theoretical support for the development and utilization of grape pomace.

Understanding the emission characteristics in the evolution of private vehicle fleet composition has become a key issue to be addressed to develop appropriate emission mitigation strategies in transportation sector. In this study, the influence of such evolution on on-road emissions was investigated based on a comprehensive dataset encompassing vehicle fleet composition, demographic, economic, and energy features from a representative small-medium automotive city in North America. The decoupling analysis was carried out to assess the dynamic linkage between environmental pressure exerted by the transportation sector and economic growth at both city level and national level in North America. We also developed an approach that supports the long-term traffic-related air pollutant prediction and investigated the potential influence on urban air quality. A sharp upward trajectory was observed in the quantity of SUVs from 2001 to 2018, gradually replacing the dominance of the quantity of four-door cars. There was a significant shift in the GHG emissions emitted from vehicle types used for passenger transport: emissions from SUVs and trucks rose by 374.0% and 69.3%, respectively, whereas emissions from four-door cars, two-door cars, station wagons, and vans all decreased. The changes in vehicle composition, along with the steady trend in GHG emissions from private fleet and decrease in on-road air pollutant concentrations found in Regina, were a response to the establishment of federal fuel economy standards and improved fuel economy. Relative decoupling was observed in aggregate for Regina and Canada in most of the years while both experienced economic downturns and increases in environmental pressure in the form of emissions from 2014 to 2015. The predicted results also demonstrate the high capability of XGboost machine learning algorithm in predicting on-road air pollutant concentrations of CO, PM

Magnetically responsive structured surfaces enabling multifunctional droplet manipulation are of significant interest in both scientific and engineering research. To realize magnetic actuation, current strategies generally employ well‐designed microarrays of high‐aspect‐ratio structure components (e.g., microcilia, micropillars, and microplates) with incorporated magnetism to allow reversible bending deformation driven by magnets. However, such magneto‐responsive microarray surfaces suffer from highly restricted deformation range and poor control precision under magnetic field, restraining their droplet manipulation capability. Herein, a novel magneto‐responsive shutter (MRS) design composed of arrayed microblades connected to a frame is developed for on‐demand droplet manipulation. The microblades can perform two dynamical transformation operations, including reversible swing and rotation, and significantly, the transformation can be precisely controlled over a large rotation range with the highest rotation angle up to 3960°. Functionalized MRSs based on the above design, including Janus‐MRS, superhydrophobic MRS (SHP‐MRS) and lubricant infused slippery MRS (LIS‐MRS), can realize a wide range of droplet manipulations, ranging from switchable wettability, directional droplet bounce, droplet distribution, and droplet merging, to continuous droplet transport along either straight or curved paths. MRS provides a new paradigm of using swing/rotation topographic transformation to replace conventional bending deformation for highly efficient and on‐demand multimode droplet manipulation under magnetic actuation., A novel magneto‐responsive shutter (MRS) design is put forward for intelligent droplet manipulation. Different from conventional strategies relying on bending deformation of high‐aspect‐ratio microstructures, MRS employs swing/rotation transformation and realizes large deformation with high control precision, thus enabling on‐demand droplet manipulation, ranging from switchable wettability, directional droplet bounce, to continuous droplet transport along either straight or curved paths.

Scale formation is a significant problem in a wide range of industries, including water treatment, food processing, power plants, and oilfield production. While surface modification provides a promising methodology to address this challenge, it has generally been believed that surface coatings with the lowest surface energy, such as fluorocarbon coatings, are most suitable for antiscaling applications. In contrast to this general knowledge, here we show that a liquid-like coating featuring highly mobile linear poly(dimethylsiloxane) (LPDMS) brush chains can bring an even better antiscaling performance than conventional perfluoroalkylsilane coatings, despite the fact that the former has much higher surface energy than the latter. We demonstrate that the LPDMS brush coating can more effectively inhibit heterogeneous nucleation of scale on a substrate compared with common perfluoroalkylsilane or alkylsilane coatings, and the dynamic liquid-like characteristic of the LPDMS brush coating is speculated to be responsible for its excellent nucleation inhibiting ability by reducing the affinity and effective interface interaction between the substrate and the scale nucleus. Our findings reveal the great prospect of using liquid-like coating to replace environmentally hazardous fluorine-containing organic ones as a green and cost-effective solution to address the scale problem with enhanced antiscaling performance.

Low-pressure membrane filtrations are considered as effective technologies for sustainable oil/water separation. However, conventional membranes usually suffer from severe pore clogging and surface fouling, and thus, novel membranes with superior wettability and antifouling features are urgently required. Herein, we report a facile green approach for the development of an underwater superoleophobic microfiltration membrane via one-step oxidant-induced ultrafast co-deposition of naturally available catechol/chitosan on a porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) substrate. Membrane morphology and surface chemistry were studied using a series of characterization techniques. The as-prepared membrane retained the original pore structure due to the ultrathin and uniform catechol/chitosan coating. It exhibited ultrahigh pure water permeability and robust chemical stability under harsh pH conditions. Moreover, the catechol/chitosan hydrophilic coating on the membrane surface acting as an energetic barrier for oil droplets could minimize oil adhesion on the surface, which endowed the membrane with remarkable antifouling property and reusability in a cyclic oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion separation. The modified membrane exhibited a competitive flux of ~428 L/(m2·h·bar) after three filtration cycles, which was 70% higher than that of the pristine PVDF membrane. These results suggest that the novel underwatersuperoleophobic membrane can potentially be used for sustainable O/W emulsions separation, and the proposed green facile modification approach can also be applied to other water-remediation materials considering its low cost and simplicity.

Antifogging coatings have tremendous application potential as they can prevent undesired fogging and blurring on transparent substrates when exposed to humid environment. However, most antifogging surfaces suffer from poor durability and tend to lose the antifogging property in the short term caused by airborne pollutant adsorption or environment weathering (e.g., UV irradiation). To address this issue, a series of zwitterionic and hydroxylated superhydrophilic coatings were prepared and their long-term antifogging properties under harsh conditions were systematically studied, including in a normal laboratory environment, under accelerated pollution test by exposing surfaces to acetic acid steam, and under UV irradiation. The prepared zwitterionic coatings showed significantly improved durability than the hydroxylated surfaces in all the test conditions, attributed to the chemical inertness and stability of the zwitterionic moieties. By incorporating zwitterionic coating and nanoscale roughness together, the longevity of antifogging surfaces can be further greatly improved, and eyeglasses treated with such nanostructured zwitterionic coating kept decent antifogging property even after storage for up to 210 days. The present nanostructured zwitterionic coatings are promising for real-world antifogging applications that can survive practical environmental fouling and weathering.

Surface-washing agents are an option to enhance the removal of oil spilled or stranded on shorelines. The use of nanocellulose-based nanofluid as a surface-washing agent was studied by investigating its reactivity and effectiveness. Salinity was found to be the most influencial factor to facilitate oil removal with the nanofluids. Cations from salt can promote the adsorption of nanocellulose on the oil/water interface by reducing the surface charges. The experimental results revealed the nanocellulose could be effective at low concentrations but an excess of nanocellulose hindered oil removal due to an increase in fluid viscosity. A miscibility model was applied to verify this finding in a thermodynamics context. The biotoxicity tests showed that nanocellulose-based nanofluid did not have negative effects on algae growth and introducing nanocellulose into an oiled culture medium can actually mitigate the toxicity of the oil on algae. A comparison in removal efficiency with other surfactants demonstrated the potential value for shoreline cleanup due to the superior effectiveness of nanocellulose-based nanofluids. Overall, a nanocellulose has a high potential for application as a surface-washing agent for shoreline cleanup due to the low cost, low toxicity, and high efficiency.

Alberta has over 70% of total irrigated land in Canada and 13 irrigation districts are mainly located along the rivers in southern Alberta. The runoff and irrigation return flow can carry excess nutrients , pesticides, and sediments, which adversely affect the river water quality. In the present study, the comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of land use pattern and stream water quality in southern Alberta was conducted. The water quality monitoring on the South Saskatchewan River watershed within Alberta showed that most water quality indicators did not significantly change between 2003 and 2017. Land use maps demonstrated significant urban expansion and cropland decline in the study area from 2005 to 2015, while the irrigation area increased. Correlation analysis and redundancy analysis revealed that cropland, built-up land, and native grassland were three land use types that were positively correlated with water quality indicators. Stronger correlations between nitrogen concentration and built-up land were found in dry seasons compared with wet seasons. According to the results of cluster analysis, higher water quality indicator concentrations could be observed in groups with a higher proportion of cropland and built-up land. Significant relationships between land use patterns and water quality were found in this study, which demonstrated that further investigation is needed to identify the sources of water pollutants at a smaller scale.

Two donor–acceptor conjugated polymers with azaisoindigo as acceptor units and bithiophene and terthiophene as donor units have been synthesized by Stille polymerization. These two polymers have been successfully applied in field-effect transistors and polymer solar cells. By changing the donor component of the conjugated polymer backbone from bithiophene to terthiophene, the density of thiophene in the backbone is increased, manifesting as a decrease in both ionization potential and in electron affinity. Therefore, the charge transport in field-effect transistors switches from ambipolar to predominantly hole transport behavior. PAIIDTT exhibits hole mobility up to 0.40 cm2/Vs and electron mobility of 0.02 cm2/Vs, whereas PAIIDTTT exhibits hole mobility of 0.62 cm2/Vs. Polymer solar cells were fabricated based on these two polymers as donors with PC61BM and PC71BM as acceptor where PAIIDTT shows a modest efficiency of 2.57% with a very low energy loss of 0.55 eV, while PAIIDTTT shows a higher efficiency of 6.16% with a higher energy loss of 0.74 eV. Our results suggest that azaisoindgo is a useful building block for the development of efficient polymer solar cells with further improvement possibility by tuning the alternative units on the polymer backbone. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017, 55, 2691–2699.

Urban growth is associated with a number of environmental issues. One of the most serious environmental concerns is the air pollutants and increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study presents a comprehensive review of the impact of urban form on the GHG emissions from household vehicles. A comparative study encompassing the methods used for identifying the relationship between urban form and vehicle GHG emissions was conducted. Household vehicle GHG emissions in different urban forms were investigated, drawing upon various existing studies. The internal variables that define urban form, such as density, connectivity, land use mix, and accessibility, were further discussed with respect to their degree of influence on household vehicle GHG emissions. Finally, a discussion of opportunities in urban form which may be conducive to household vehicle GHG emission mitigation in the long term was presented.

Surfaces enabling directional drop self-transport have exceptional applications in digital microfluidics, chemical analysis, bioassay, and microreactor technology. While such properties have been obtained by engineering a surface with anisotropic microstructures, a microscopic liquid residue-though it might be invisible macroscopically-is generally left behind the transported drop, resulting in undesired transport loss and severely limiting practical applications of the surface. Here, the origin of microscopic liquid residue is studied by investigating directional drop self-transport on anisotropic surfaces made of radially arranged omniphobic microstripes. It is revealed that the occurrence of a liquid residue is governed by a transport-velocity-dependent dynamic wetting mechanism involving the formation of entrained thin liquid films at high capillary numbers while the local dynamic receding contact angle vanishes. Rayleigh-like breakup of the liquid films leads to the microscopic liquid residue. It is further shown that a liquid-like coating featuring highly flexible molecular chains can effectively suppress the formation of entrained liquid films at high transport velocities, thereby facilitating lossless and fast drop self-transport on anisotropic omniphobic surfaces.

The oily waste generated from the cleanup operations during shoreline spill response can result in challenging environmental and socioeconomic problems. In this study, an inexact inventory-theory-based optimization model (ITOM) for oily waste management during shoreline spill response was developed to support the spill management team. The most appropriate facilities and optimal waste allocation scheme under uncertainty can be selected to achieve minimum total system cost. To satisfy the demand of oily waste treatment, these oily waste management facilities can be selectively opened depending on the situation. In the combination with the economic order quantity model of inventory theory, the developed model can provide the optimal solutions of batch size and order cycle for treatment facilities to minimize the inventory cost. A case study was used to demonstrate the application of ITOM. The obtained solutions include the facilities selection and waste allocation for waste collection and destocking stages under different risk levels. These solutions can provide a good guideline with managers to analyze the trade-offs between system cost and constraint-violation risks. The developed model has high application potential as a job-aid tool to manage the oily waste generated from oiled shoreline cleanup operations.

The global outbreak and spread of COVID-19 had a significant impact on the environment of urban areas. This study aimed to provide a new insight into the urban transportation and air pollutant emission of representative Canadian cities impacted by this pandemic. The consumption of urban transportation fuel was analyzed and the corresponding CO2 emissions was evaluated. The changes in urban traffic volume and air pollutant concentrations before and after the outbreak of this pandemic was investigated. Due to the lockdown after the outbreak of COVID-19, the domestic consumption of motor gasoline and estimated CO2 emissions from urban vehicles in Canada has continuously decreased with a lowest level in April 2020, and rebounded in May 2020. It will still take a long time to recover to pre-pandemic levels because of the upcoming second wave of pandemic and further change. The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), level of urban congestion and concentration level of NO2 and CO had strong relevance with the COVID-19 period while SO2 did not show significant relation. The comprehensive analysis of changing fuel consumptions, traffic volume and emission levels can help the government assess the impact and make corresponding strategy for such a pandemic in the future.

Conventional hydrophobic membranes are susceptible to membrane fouling and pore wetting, impeding the applications of membrane distillation (MD) processes for water recovery from complex wastewater. To address these challenges, we herein developed a novel Janus membrane by a hybrid plant-derived polyphenols coating and polyelectrolytes layer-by-layer assembly strategy. Through alternative deposition of catechol/chitosan and polyethylenimine (PEI) on top of a hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) substrate, a Janus membrane with a superhydrophilic and defect-free top layer was achieved. The synergistic effects of covalent bonding, non-covalent interactions, and electrostatic interactions between neighboring coatings endowed the membrane with robust chemical stability in the pH range of 2–12. In comparison with the pristine PVDF membrane, the Janus membrane exhibited remarkably stable water vapor flux and high quality of effluent during long-term treatments of non-ionic/cationic surfactants and Tween® 20-stabilized oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion in the bench-scale direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) experiments. The excellent anti-fouling and anti-wetting properties of the Janus membrane were attributed to its hierarchical structured superhydrophilic surface, in which a strong hydration layer was formed and served as an energetic barrier to prevent adsorption of surfactants and oil droplets. Moreover, the electrostatic repulsion between the protonated amino groups on the membrane surface and cationic surfactant molecules also contributed to the robust long-term performance (nearly one-week operation) of the Janus membrane in the treatment of saline water containing cationic surfactant. Our findings reveal the significant role of surface functionality in fouling and wetting resistance of MD membranes and the as-developed Janus membrane shows great potential for water recovery from saline wastewater containing challenging contaminants via DCMD.

While membrane technology has shown promising separation applications, efficient separation of viscous organic liquids remains a great challenge as they can readily adhere to and foul membranes, leading to severely declined permeation flux and even failure of the membranes. Herein, a unique grafted-liquid lubrication strategy is introduced for the first time by covalently grafting highly flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) brushes onto membranes to tackle the above challenge. The PDMS polymer brush featuring extremely low glass transition temperature (Tg: 127 °C) is rotationally dynamic at room temperature and acts as a liquid-like lubrication layer, which can both reduce the foulant adhesion and promote liquid slippage at the membrane-liquid interface. As a result, a remarkably improved permeation flux and superior antifouling ability towards highly viscous organic liquids (i.e., crude oil) are achieved for the PDMS-brush lubricated membrane compared with conventional solid membranes of similar surface structure and wettability. It is believed that the grafted-liquid lubrication strategy will open a promising avenue for developing high-performance membranes dealing with viscous liquids.

While an increasing number of superhydrophobic surfaces have been developed in the past two decades due to their tremendous application potential, they generally suffer from low durability as their liquid repellency could be easily damaged by chemical or mechanical erosion. A promising route to address this issue is to design self-healable superhydrophobic surfaces that can restore the liquid repellency upon external damage. Although several types of self-healable superhydrophobic surfaces have been prepared by introducing healable polymers or migratable low-surface-energy materials, these surfaces are limited by the requisite of external energy input to drive the healing process or long self-healing time. Inspired by the self-healing mechanism of wax secretion in natural plant leaves, herein we report a unique self-healing superhydrophobic poly(dimethylsiloxane)/n-nonadecane wax composite surface that can spontaneously recover its superhydrophobicity after severe plasma etching via surface wax regeneration. Significantly, the prepared poly(dimethylsiloxane)/n-nonadecane composite surface exhibits a remarkably fast self-healing dynamics, which can spontaneously recover its superhydrophobicity upon damage in only 20 min without external stimuli. The healing time, to our best knowledge, is much shorter than that of previously reported self-healing superhydrophobic surfaces (generally from hours to days in the absence of external stimuli). The fast self-healing ability of the prepared surface is attributed to the relatively low melting point of n-nonadecane and the high mobility of poly(dimethylsiloxane) molecular chains, which ensure fast migration of n-nonadecane molecules in the poly(dimethylsiloxane) matrix. We believe that the present biomimetic strategy could motivate the development of high-performance self-healing superhydrophobic materials with quick healing dynamics.

A reverse agglomeration of sintered large Au particles into small ones with size controlled Au nanoparticles has been successfully developed., Downsizing large Au particles into small particles with controllable size remains challenging. In this study, we redispersed large sintered Au particles on activated carbon (Au/C) to highly dispersed nanoparticles with uniform distribution and controllable size after treatment with iodohydrocarbons. The Au/C catalyst was conducted for a number of deactivation/regeneration cycles with negligible deterioration in catalytic performance for acetylene hydrochlorination. The redispersion behavior reveals a reverse agglomeration process in the presence of iodohydrocarbons under mild conditions. This behavior is significantly related to the C–I bond dissociation energy (BDE) and adsorption of iodic species on Au particles. A novel protocol for controlling the size and predicting the redispersion efficiency of Au particles is established by correlating with the C–I BDEs of iodohydrocarbons. The molecular-level interpretation of redispersion provides a thorough mechanism based on experimental results. This study presents an efficient method for the easy regeneration of sintered Au-based catalysts for practical applications.

Oily wastewater is an extensive source of pollution to soil and water, and its harmless treatment is of great importance for the protection of our aquatic ecosystems. Membrane filtration is highly desirable for removing oil from oily water because it has the advantages of energy efficiency, easy processing and low maintenance cost. However, membrane fouling during filtration leads to severe flux decline and impedes long-term operation of membranes in practical wastewater treatment. Membrane fouling includes reversible fouling and irreversible fouling. The fouling mechanisms have been explored based on classical fouling models, and on oil droplet behaviors (such as droplet deposition, accumulation, coalescence and wetting) on the membranes. Membrane fouling is dominated by droplet-membrane interaction, which is influenced by the properties of the membrane (e.g., surface chemistry, structure and charge) and the wastewater (e.g., compositions and concentrations) as well as the operation conditions. Typical membrane antifouling strategies, such as surface hydrophilization, zwitterionic polymer coating, photocatalytic decomposition and electrically enhanced antifouling are reviewed, and their cons and pros for practical applications are discussed.

Superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning require a combination of surface topography and low-energy surfaces, where mechanical damage of the topography or contamination with oils lead to loss of the nonwetting properties. We show that such vulnerability can be solved by superamphiphobic (i.e., both superhydrophobic and superoleophobic) surfactant-coated aerogel surfaces. Using silica aerogels as model materials, the self-similar network structure allows fresh re-entrant surface topographies even after removal of the uppermost layer upon mechanical abrasion, and superoleophobicity suppresses oil contamination. Given the recent progress toward mechanically strong aerogels, we foresee that the concept can open routes for robust self-cleaning coating technologies.

Graphical abstract: The structure of Pb{sub 3}OBO{sub 3}F consists of two distortional Pb-centered tetrahedra and BO{sub 3} triangles which are all symmetrical with each other respectively in the gestalt structure to the extent that the Pb{sub 3}OBO{sub 3}F compound crystallizes in the symmetrical space group. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Pb{sub 3}OBO{sub 3}F has been grown from PbO-PbF{sub 2}-B{sub 2}O{sub 3} system for the first time. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer It crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Pbcm. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Pb{sub 3}OBO{sub 3}F consists of Pb(1)O{sub 3}F tetrahedra, Pb(2)O{sub 4} tetrahedra and BO{sub 3} triangles. -- Abstract: A new compound, Pb{sub 3}OBO{sub 3}F, has been grown by the high temperature solution method from the PbO-PbF{sub 2}-B{sub 2}O{sub 3} system. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic system, space group Pbcm with unit-cell parameters a = 7.6313(14) Angstrom-Sign , b = 6.5229(12) Angstrom-Sign , c = 11.906(2) Angstrom-Sign , Z = 4, volume = 592.66(19) Angstrom-Sign {sup 3}. The structure of the compound is solved by the direct methods and refined to R{sub 1} = 0.0528 and wR{sub 2} = 0.1400. Pb{sub 3}OBO{sub 3}F consists of Pb(1)O{sub 3}F tetrahedra, Pb(2)O{sub 4} tetrahedra and BO{sub 3} triangles which build up the symmetrical chains extended along the c-axis. The powder X-raymore » diffraction pattern of the Pb{sub 3}OBO{sub 3}F has been measured. Functional groups presented in the sample were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectrum.« less

Geometrically engineered thin fibers that feature introduced hump structures similar to wetted spider capture silk greatly improve the adhesive ability to drops than uniform ones, which is attributed to an unusual three-phase contact line that extends axially along the fibers. The hump structures improve the stability of the contact line through a combination of "slope" and "curvature" effects, which creates sufficient capillary adhesion to pin drops. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Single crystals of Pb 2 Bi 2 AlB 3 O 11 were grown from a PbO/Bi 2 O 3 /Al 2 O 3 /H 3 BO 3 /PbF 2 flux. The single-crystal X-ray structural analysis showed that Pb 2 Bi 2 AlB 3 O 11 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C 2/ c (No. 15) with a = 17.263(2) A, b = 8.7322(11) A, c = 6.8081(9) A, α = 90°, β = 90.566(2)°, γ = 90°, Z = 4 and R 1 = 0.0393, wR 2 = 0.1013. Its structure may be described as three-dimensional frameworks formed of (1 0 0) [Pb 6 Bi 6 Al 3 O 6 ]∞ layers stacked along a -axis. The layers are interconnected via BO 3 groups. The IR spectrum further confirmed the presence of BO 3 groups in the structure. The thermal analysis suggests that Pb 2 Bi 2 AlB 3 O 11 is a congruently melting compound.

A novel boratotungstate, Pb6B2WO12, has been prepared by solid–state reaction. The single-crystal X-ray structural analysis showed that Pb6B2WO12 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Cmcm (No. 63) with a = 18.4904(5) A, b = 6.35980(10) A, c = 11.6789(2) A, Z = 4 and R1 = 0.0253, wR2 = 0.0557. The compound is characterized by one-dimensional ( Pb 3 O ) ∞ 1 chains formed by corner-sharing OPb4 tetrahedra. BO3 and WO4 groups are located around the chains to hold them together via Pb–O bonds. The IR spectra further confirmed the presence of BO3 groups in the structure. The thermal analysis suggests that Pb6B2WO12 is a congruently melting compound.

Inspired by the geometric structure of ecribellate spider capture silk and its spinning characteristics, we propose a one-step electrohydrodynamic method to fabricate bead-on-string heterostructured fibers (BSHFs). By combining electrospinning and electrospraying strategies using a sprayable outer fluid with low viscosity and a spinnable inner fluid with high viscosity in a coaxial jetting process, hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) beads are successfully imprinted on a hydrophobic polystyrene string. It is demonstrated that the BSHFs are capable of intelligently responding to environmental change. With a change in relative humidity, the fibers show a segmented swelling and shrinking behavior in the “bead” parts whereas the “string” parts remain the same. The elastic BSHFs with alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface characteristics represent a type of mesoscale analogues that block copolymers and may bring about new properties and applications. Moreover, the combined electrohydrodynamic approach developed herein should open new routes to multifunctional one-dimensional heterostructured materials.

The version of this Protocol originally published contained typographical errors that affected the accuracy/readability of the text. In Fig. 4e, the line “Contact angle remainsstable” should have read “Contact angle remains stable.” In Table 1, in the “Advantages” column, the second instance of “Simple” was incorrectly associated with the “Sessile-drop goniometry” method; it should have corresponded to the “Tilting plate” method. In Table 2, in the “Issues” column, the entry “Difficult to place baseline when the RCA is ~90°” was broken incorrectly in a way that might have suggested that “the RCA is ~90°” was a separate issue. These errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the paper.