Biomimetic Mechanically Robust Chiroptical Hydrogel Enabled by Hierarchical Bouligand Structure Engineering.

Natural bouligand structures enable crustacean exoskeletons and fruits to strike a combination of exceptional mechanical robustness and brilliant chiroptical properties owing to multiscale structural hierarchy. However, integrating such a high strength-stiffness-toughness combination and photonic functionalities into synthetic hydrogels still remains a grand challenge. In this work, we report a simple yet general biomimetic strategy to construct an ultrarobust chiroptical hydrogel by closely mimicking the natural bouligand structure at multilength scale. The hierarchical structural engineering of long-range ordered cellulose nanocrystals' bouligand structure, well-defined poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocrystalline domains, and dynamic interfacial interaction synergistically contributes to the integration of high strength (23.3 MPa), superior modulus (264 MPa), and high toughness (54.7 MJ m-3), as well as extraordinary impact resistance, which far exceed their natural counterparts and synthetic photonic hydrogels. More importantly, seamless chiroptical and solvent-responsive patterns with high resolution can also be scalably integrated into the hydrogel by localized manipulation of the photonic band, while maintaining good ionic conductivity. Such exceptional mechanical-photonic combination holds tremendous potential for applications in wearable sensors, encryption, displays, and soft robotics.

Structural, Optical, and Mechanical Insights into Cellulose Nanocrystal Chiral Nematic Film Engineering by Two Assembly Techniques.

Iridescent cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) films with chiral nematic nanostructures exhibit great potential in optical devices, sensors, painting, and anticounterfeiting applications. CNCs can assemble into a chiral nematic liquid crystal structure by evaporation-assisted self-assembly (EISA) and vacuum-assisted self-assembly (VASA) techniques. However, there is a lack of comprehensive examinations of their structure-property correlations, which are essential for fabricating materials with unique properties. In this work, we gained insights into the optical, mechanical, and structural differences of CNC films engineered using the two techniques. In contrast to the random self-assembly at the liquid-air interface in EISA, the continuous external pressure in the VASA process forces CNCs to assemble at the filter-liquid interface. This results in fewer defects in the interfaces between tactoids and highly ordered cholesteric phases. Owing to the distinct CNC assembly behaviors, the films prepared by these two methods show great differences in the nanostructure, microstructure, and macroscopic morphology. Consequently, the highly ordered cholesteric structure gives VASA-CNC films a more uniform structural color and enhanced mechanical performance. These fundamental understandings of the relationship of structure-property nanoengineering through various assembly techniques are essential for designing and constructing high-performance chiral iridescent CNC materials.

Sandwich-Structured Mxene/Waste Polyurethane Foam Composites For Highly Efficient Electromagnetic Interference, Infrared Shielding and Joule Heating.

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and infrared (IR) stealth materials have attracted increasing attention owing to the rapid development of modern communication and military surveillance technologies. However, to realize excellent EMI shielding and IR stealth performance simultaneously remains a great challenge. Herein, a facile strategy is demonstrated to prepare high-efficiency EMI shielding and IR stealth materials of sandwich-structured MXene-based thin foam composites (M-W-M) via filtration and hot-pressing. In this composite, the conductive Ti3C2Tx MXene/cellulose nanofiber (MXene/CNF) film serves as the outer layer, which reflects electromagnetic waves and reduces the IR emissivity. Meanwhile, the middle layer is composed of a porous waste polyurethane foam (WPUF), which not only improves thermal insulation capacity but also extends electromagnetic wave propagation paths. Owing to the unique sandwich structure of "film-foam-film", the M-W-M composite exhibits a high EMI shielding effectiveness of 83.37 dB, and in the meantime extremely low emissivity (22.17%) in the wavelength range of 7-14 µm and thermal conductivity (0.19 W m-1 K-1), giving rise to impressive IR stealth performance at various surrounding temperatures. Remarkably, the M-W-M composite also shows excellent Joule heating properties, capable of maintaining the IR stealth function during Joule heating.

Facile fabrication of 3D Janus foams of electrospun cellulose nanofibers/rGO for high efficiency solar interface evaporation.

Solar-powered interfacial evaporation is one of the most efficient state-of-the-art technologies for producing clean water via desalination. Herein, we report a novel bio-based nanofibrous foam for high efficiency solar interface evaporation. To this end, a hybrid membrane of cellulose nanofibers/graphene oxide (GO) is first fabricated by electrospinning coupled with in situ layer-by-layer self-assembly technique. After that, the membrane is subjected to a foaming process in an aqueous NaBH4, which effectively transforms the 2D membrane into a 3D foam. This structure can improve the photothermal conversion efficiency and also facilitate the water transport at the gas-water interface. In the meantime, the GO is converted to the reduced GO (rGO) with a higher light absorption efficiency. Finally, one side of the foam is hydrophobically modified via spray-coating with a fluorocarbon resin (FR) to obtain the Janus type 3D foam, namely FR@EC/rGO. The resultant 3D foam combines the functions of solar energy absorption in the upper layer and water pumping capability in the lower layer. It exhibits an extraordinary solar vapor conversion efficiency of 94.2 % and a fast evaporation rate of 1.83 kg m-2 h-1, showing high potential in future seawater desalination.

Diverse immune responses in vaccinated individuals with and without symptoms after omicron exposure during the recent outbreak in Guangzhou, China.

Objectives: During the recent wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections in China, most individuals have been vaccinated and exposed to the omicron variant. In the present study, two cohorts were observed in the vaccinated population: vaccinated individuals with symptoms (VIWS) and those without symptoms (VIWOS). Our study aimed to characterize the antibody response in two cohorts: VIWS and VIWOS. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted in the community. Blood and saliva samples were collected from 124 individuals in the VIWS and VIWOS cohorts. Capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) specific antibodies. Results: The questionnaire survey revealed that 30.0 % (302/1005) of individuals in the older adult group (≥65 years) experienced no symptoms, whereas the rate of individuals without symptoms in the younger group (<65 years) was 17.8 % (166/932). Nucleocapsid (N)-specific IgM (N-IgM) was detected in the blood samples at a rate of 69.2 % (54/78) in the VIWS cohort. The positivity rate for N-specific IgA (N-IgA) was 93.6 % (73/78). In addition, the positivity rates of spike (S)-specific IgA (S-IgA) and N-IgA detected in saliva samples were 42 % (21/50) and 54 % (27/50), respectively. Both N-IgA positivity and negativity were observed in the VIWOS cohort. The detection rate of N-IgM positivity was 57.1 % (12/21) in the N-IgA-positive group. In addition, 54.3 % (25/46) of the vaccinated individuals without symptoms were IgA-negative. Conclusions: Our study indicates that substantial N-specific antibodies were induced during omicron infection and that testing for N-IgA in both blood and saliva may aid in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in vaccinated populations.

Chiroptical Nanocellulose Bio-Labels for Independent Multi-Channel Optical Encryption.

Advanced multiplexing optical labels with multiple information channels provide a powerful strategy for large-capacity and high-security information encryption. However, current optical labels face challenges of difficulty to realize independent multi-channel encryption, cumbersome design, and environmental pollution. Herein, multiplexing chiroptical bio-labels integrating with multiple optical elements, including structural color, photoluminescence (PL), circular polarized light activity, humidity-responsible color, and micro/nano physical patterns, are constructed in complex design based on host-guest self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals and bio-gold nanoclusters. The thin nanocellulose labels exhibit tunable circular polarized structural color crossover the entire visible wavelength and circularly polarized PL with the highest-recorded dissymmetry factor up to 1.05 due to the well-ordered chiral organization of templated gold nanoclusters. Most importantly, these elements can independently encode customized anti-counterfeiting information to achieve five independent channels of high-level anti-counterfeiting, which are rarely achieved in traditional materials and design counterparts. Considering the exceptional seamless integration of five independent encryption channels and the recyclable features of labels, the bio-labels have great potential for the next generation anti-counterfeiting materials technology.

Sustainable Starch/Lignin Nanoparticle Composites Biofilms for Food Packaging Applications.

Construction of sustainable composite biofilms from natural biopolymers are greatly promising for advanced packaging applications due to their biodegradable, biocompatible, and renewable properties. In this work, sustainable advanced food packaging films are developed by incorporating lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) as green nanofillers to starch films. This seamless combination of bio-nanofiller with biopolymer matrix is enabled by the uniform size of nanofillers and the strong interfacial hydrogen bonding. As a result, the as-prepared biocomposites exhibit enhanced mechanical properties, thermal stability, and antioxidant activity. Moreover, they also present outstanding ultraviolet (UV) irradiation shielding performance. As a proof of concept in the application of food packaging, we evaluate the effect of composite films on delaying oxidative deterioration of soybean oil. The results indicate our composite film could significantly decrease peroxide value (POV), saponification value (SV), and acid value (AV) to delay oxidation of soybean oil during storage. Overall, this work provides a simple and effective method for the preparation of starch-based films with enhanced antioxidant and barrier properties for advanced food packaging applications.

Bioinspired Stabilization of Amorphous Calcium Carbonate by Carboxylated Nanocellulose Enables Mechanically Robust, Healable, and Sensing Biocomposites.

Nature builds numerous structurally complex composites with fascinating mechanical robustness and functionalities by harnessing biopolymers and amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC). The key to successfully mimicking these natural designs is efficiently stabilizing ACC, but developing highly efficient, biodegradable, biocompatible, and sustainable stabilizing agents remains a grand challenge since anhydrous ACC is inherently unstable toward crystallization in the wet state. Inspired by the stabilized ACC in crustacean cuticles, we report the efficient stabilization ability of the most abundant biopolymer-cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) for ACC. Through the cooperative stabilizing effect of surface carboxyl groups and a rigid segregated network, the CNFs exhibit long-term stability (more than one month) and achieved a stabilization efficiency of 3.6 and 4.4 times that of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and alginate, respectively, even higher than poly(acrylic acid). The resulting CNF/ACC dispersions can be constructed into transparent composite films with the high strength of 286 MPa and toughness up to 28.5 MJ/m3, which surpass those of the so far reported synthetic biopolymer-calcium carbonate/phosphate composites. The dynamic interfacial interaction between nanocomponents also provides the composite films with good self-healing properties. Owing to their good wet stability, the composite films present high humidity sensitivity for monitoring respiration and finger contact.

Acidic deep eutectic solvent assisted mechanochemical delignification of lignocellulosic biomass at room temperature.

Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant natural polymer on Earth, but the efficient fractionation and refinery of all its components remain challenging. Acidic deep eutectic solvents refining is a promising method, while it is likely to cause lignin condensation and carbohydrates degradation, especially at server operation conditions. Here we propose the use of acidic deep eutectic solvent (DES), choline chloride/p-toluenesulfonic acid assisted mechanochemical pretreatment (DM) for efficient lignocellulose fractionation at mild condition. Four representative lignocellulose, wheat straw, moso bamboo, poplar wood and pine wood were selected at varied milling time (3, 6 h) to assess the fractionation ability of this strategy. This DM pretreatment demonstrated a rather high cellulose retentions (∼90 %) and extent of delignification for wheat straw and bamboo biomass, which corresponds to a high extent of enzymatic hydrolysis (∼75.5 %) for sugar platform pursuing. The extracted lignin showed rather high content of ß-O-4' leakages due to the swelling effect of deep eutectic solvent and mild operation conditions. This work provided a promising strategy to fractionate lignocellulose using deep eutectic solvents with the goal of simultaneous cellulose hydrolysis and reactive lignin obtaining that is usually difficult to realize using traditional chemical fractionation approach.

Interfacial Electrostatic Self-Assembly of Amyloid Fibrils into Multifunctional Protein Films.

Amyloid fibrils have generated steadily increasing traction in the development of natural and artificial materials. However, it remains a challenge to construct bulk amyloid films directly from amyloid fibrils due to their intrinsic brittleness. Here, a facile and general methodology to fabricate macroscopic and tunable amyloid films via fast electrostatic self-assembly of amyloid fibrils at the air-water interface is introduced. Benefiting from the excellent templating properties of amyloid fibrils for nanoparticles (such as conductive carbon nanotubes or magnetic Fe3 O4 nanoparticles), multifunctional amyloid films with tunable properties are constructed. As proof-of-concept demonstrations, a magnetically oriented soft robotic swimmer with well-confined movement trajectory is prepared. In addition, a smart magnetic sensor with high sensitivity to external magnetic fields is fabricated via the combination of the conductive and magnetic amyloid films. This strategy provides a convenient, efficient, and controllable approach for the preparation of amyloid-based multifunctional films and related smart devices.

Facile fabrication of three-dimensional nanofibrous foams of cellulose@g-C3N4@Cu2O with superior visible-light photocatalytic performance.

In this work, a unique three-dimensional nanofibrous foam of cellulose@g-C3N4@Cu2O was prepared via electrospinning followed by a foaming process. A cellulose solution in DMAc/LiCl containing g-C3N4 and CuSO4 was applied for electrospinning, while aqueous alkali was used as the coagulation bath. The solidification of electrospun cellulose/g-C3N4 nanofibers would be accompanied with in-situ formation of Cu(OH)2 nanoparticles. Interestingly, the hydrogen gas (H2) generated from NaBH4 could transform the two-dimensional membrane into a three-dimensional foam, leading to the increased specific surface area and porosity of the material. Meanwhile, the Cu(OH)2 nanoparticles attached on the electrospun nanofibers were reduced to Cu2O to form a p-n heterostructure between Cu2O and g-C3N4. The as-prepared cellulose@g-C3N4@Cu2O foam exhibited a high degradation efficiency (99.5 %) for the dye of Congo Red under visible light radiation. And ·O2- was discovered to be the dominant reactive species responsive for dye degradation. Moreover, the cellulose@g-C3N4@Cu2O could maintain its initial degradation efficiency even after seven cycles of reuse, suggesting the excellent stability and cycling performance.

Mechanically Strong and Electrically Conductive Polyethylene Oxide/Few-Layer Graphene/Cellulose Nanofibrils Nanocomposite Films.

In this work, a cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs)/few-layer graphene (FLG) hybrid is mechanically stripped from bamboo pulp and expanded graphene (EG) using a grinder. This strategy is scalable and environmentally friendly for high-efficiency exfoliation and dispersion of graphene in an aqueous medium. The in situ-generated CNFs play a key role in this process, acting as a "green" dispersant. Next, the obtained CNFs-FLG is used as a functional filler in a polyoxyethylene (PEO) matrix. When the composition of CNFs-FLG is 50 wt.%, the resultant PEO/CNFs-FLG nanocomposite film exhibits a Young's modulus of 1.8 GPa and a tensile strength of 25.7 MPa, showing 480% and 260% enhancement as compared to those of the pure PEO film, respectively. Remarkably, the incorporation of CNFs-FLG also provides the nanocomposite films with a stunning electrical conductivity (72.6 S/m). These attractive features make PEO/CNFs-FLG nanocomposite films a promising candidate for future electronic devices.

Bioinspired Chiral Template Guided Mineralization for Biophotonic Structural Materials.

Nature provides numerous biomineral design inspirations for constructing structural materials with desired functionalities. However, large-scale production of damage-tolerant Bouligand structural materials with biologically comparable photonics remains a longstanding challenge. Here, an efficient and scalable artificial molting strategy, based on self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals and subsequent mineralization of amorphous calcium carbonate, is developed to produce biomimetic materials with an exceptional combination of mechanical and photonic properties that are usually mutually exclusive in synthetic materials. These biomimetic composites exhibit tunable mechanics from "strong and flexible", which exceeds the benchmark of natural chiral materials, to "stiff and hard", which is comparable to natural and synthetic counterparts. Especially, the biomimetic composites possess ultrahigh stiffness of 2 GPa in their fully water-swollen state-a value well beyond hydrated crab exoskeleton, cartilage, tendon, and stiffest synthetic hydrogels, combined with exceptional strength and resilience. Additionally, these composites are distinguished by the tunable chiral structural color and water-triggered switchable photonics that are absent in most artificial mineralized materials, as well as unique hydroplastic properties. This study opens the door for a scalable synthesis of resilient biophotonic structural materials in practical bulk form.

Rheology-Guided Assembly of a Highly Aligned MXene/Cellulose Nanofiber Composite Film for High-Performance Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Infrared Stealth.

Delicately aligned structures of two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets have demonstrated positive effects on applications, especially in electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and infrared (IR) stealth. However, precise regulation of structural assembly by theory-guided solution processing is still a great challenge. Herein, one-dimensional (1D) cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) with a high aspect ratio are applied as a reinforcing agent and a rheological modifier for MXene/CNF colloids to fabricate aligned MXene-based materials for EMI shielding and IR stealth. Notably, a systematical rheological study of the MXene/CNF colloids is proposed to determine the optimal solution-processing conditions for finely oriented component arrangement requirements and provides in-depth information on the interactions between the components. The delicately regulated orientation structure assembled by shear inducement is convincingly demonstrated through micro-CT and wide-angle X-ray diffraction/small-angle X-ray scattering (WAXD/SAXS), which endows the MXene/CNF film with a significantly enhanced electrical conductivity of 46 685 S m-1, a tensile strength of 281.7 MPa, and Young's modulus of 14.8 GPa. Furthermore, the highly aligned structure of the ultrathin film possesses a great enhancement in EMI shielding effectiveness (50.2 dB) and IR stealth (0.562 emissivity). These findings provide a fruitful understanding of the optimized fabrication in solution processing of high-performance MXene-based functional composite films and open up a great opportunity for the development of multifunctional stealth materials.

Polyethylenimine-Functionalized Nanofiber Nonwovens Electrospun from Cotton Cellulose for Wound Dressing with High Drug Loading and Sustained Release Properties.

Electrospun cellulose nanofiber nonwovens have shown promise in wound dressing owing to the highly interconnected pore structure, high hydrophilicity coupled with other coveted characteristics of biodegradability, biocompatibility and renewability. However, electrospun cellulose wound dressings with loaded drugs for better wound healing have been rarely reported. In this study, a novel wound dressing with a high drug loading capacity and sustained drug release properties was successfully fabricated via electropinning of cellulose followed by polyethylenimine (PEI)-functionalization. Remarkably, the grafted PEI chains on the surface of electrospun cellulose nanofibers provided numerous active amino groups, while the highly porous structure of nonwovens could be well retained after modification, which resulted in enhanced adsorption performance against the anionic drug of sodium salicylate (NaSA). More specifically, when immersed in 100 mg/L NaSA solution for 24 h, the as-prepared cellulose-PEI nonwoven displayed a multilayer adsorption behavior. And at the optimal pH of 3, a high drug loading capacity of 78 mg/g could be achieved, which was 20 times higher than that of pristine electrospun cellulose nonwoven. Furthermore, it was discovered that the NaSA-loaded cellulose-PEI could continuously release the drug for 12 h in simulated body fluid (SBF), indicating the versatility of cellulose-PEI as an advanced wound dressing with drug carrier functionalities.

One-pot superhydrophilic surface modification of waste polyurethane foams for high-efficiency oil/water separation.

Despite of the fact that polymers have brought tremendous convenience to human life, they have also inevitably caused considerable environmental pollution after their service life. Therefore, a feasible strategy that can effectively recycle waste polymers and endow them with high added value is much desired. Superwetting materials have shown great promise in oily wastewater treatment because of their high oil/water separation efficiency. However, most of these materials present some limitations, such as complex preparation procedures and poor salt tolerance, which hamper their practical applications. In this study, an iron hydroxide@polydopamine@waste polyurethane foam (Fe(OH)3@PDA@WPU) was synthesized via a facile and mild "one-pot" reaction. During this process, polymerization of dopamine and in situ growth of Fe(OH)3 were simultaneously realized, and the resultant PDA and Fe(OH)3 nanoparticles were firmly attached to the surface of WPU. Due to the abundant hydrophilic groups from PDA and Fe(OH)3 coupled with the surface roughness created by Fe(OH)3 nanoparticles, the surface properties of the foam could be changed from hydrophobic to superhydrophilic. Remarkably, the Fe(OH)3@PDA@WPU was capable of separating various oil/water mixtures even under some severe conditions (e.g. erosion in a saturated sodium chloride solution and longtime sonication), demonstrating high potential in marine oily sewage treatment. Moreover, this work also paved a new path for reducing the negative impact of waste polymer foams on our environment, and in the meantime realizing their high value utilization.

Iron-Loaded Carbon Aerogels Derived from Bamboo Cellulose Fibers as Efficient Adsorbents for Cr(VI) Removal.

A unique iron/carbon aerogel (Fe/CA) was prepared via pyrolysis using ferric nitrate and bamboo cellulose fibers as the precursors, which could be used for high-efficiency removal of toxic Cr(VI) from wastewaters. Its composition and crystalline structures were characterized by FTIR, XPS, and XRD. In SEM images, the aerogel was highly porous with abundant interconnected pores, and its carbon-fiber skeleton was evenly covered by iron particles. Such structures greatly promoted both adsorption and redox reaction of Cr(VI) and endowed Fe/CA with a superb adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) (182 mg/g) with a fast adsorption rate (only 8 min to reach adsorption equilibrium), which outperformed many other adsorbents. Furthermore, the adsorption kinetics and isotherms were also investigated. The experiment data could be much better fitted by the pseudo-second-order kinetics model with a high correlating coefficient, suggesting that the Cr(VI) adsorption of Fe/CA was a chemical adsorption process. Meanwhile, the Langmuir model was found to better describe the isotherm curves, which implied the possible monolayer adsorption mechanism. It is noteworthy that the aerogel adsorbent as a bulk material could be easily separated from the water after adsorption, showing high potential in real-world water treatment.

Facile Fabrication of Densely Packed Ti3C2 MXene/Nanocellulose Composite Films for Enhancing Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Electro-/Photothermal Performance.

The development of modern electronics has raised great demand for multifunctional materials to protect electronic instruments against electromagnetic interference (EMI) radiation and ice accretion in cold weather. However, it is still a great challenge to prepare high-performance multifunctional films with excellent flexibilty, mechanical strength, and durability. Here, we propose a layer-by-layer assembly of cellulose nanofiber (CNF)/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposites (TM) on a bacterial cellulose (BC) substrate via repeated spray coating. CNFs are hybridized with Ti3C2Tx nanoflakes to improve the mechanical properties of the functional coating layer and its adhesion with the BC substrate. The densely packed hierarchical structure and strong interfacial interactions endows the TM/BC films with good flexibility, ultrahigh mechanical strength (>250 MPa), and desirable toughness (>20 MJ cm-3). Furthermore, benefiting from the densely packed hierarchical structure, the resultant TM/BC films present outstanding EMI shielding effictiveness of 60 dB and efficient electro-/photothermal heating performance. Silicone encapsulation further imparts high hydrophobicity and exceptional durability against solutions and deformations to the multifunctional films. Impressively, the silicone-coated TM/BC film (Si-TM/BC) exhibits desirable low voltage-driven Joule heating and excellent photoresponsive heating performance, which demonstrates great feasibility for efficient thermal deicing under actual conditions. Therefore, we believe that the Si-TM/BC film with excellent mechanical properties and durability holds great promise for the practical applications of EMI shielding and ice accretion elimination.

A TiO2 Coated Carbon Aerogel Derived from Bamboo Pulp Fibers for Enhanced Visible Light Photo-Catalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue.

Carbon aerogels (CA) derived from bamboo cellulose fibers were coupled with TiO2 to form CA/TiO2 hybrids, which exhibited extraordinary performance on the photo-catalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). The structure and morphology of CA/TiO2 were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectrum. The CA displayed a highly porous and interconnected three-dimensional framework structure, while introducing the catalytic active sites of TiO2 onto the aerogel scaffold could remarkably enhance its photo-catalytic activity. The adsorption and photo-catalytic degradation of MB by the CA/TiO2 hybrid were investigated. The maximum adsorption capacity of CA/TiO2 for MB was 18.5 mg/g, which outperformed many similar materials reported in the literature. In addition, compared with other photo-catalysts, the present CA/TiO2 demonstrated superior photo-catalytic performance. Almost 85% of MB in 50 mL solution with a MB concentration of 10 mg/L could be effectively degraded by 15 mg CA/TiO2 in 300 min.

3D printing of robust and biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate/nano-hydroxyapatite composites via continuous liquid interface production.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology with satisfactory speed and accuracy has been a powerful force in biomaterial processing. Early studies on 3D printing of biomaterials mainly focused on their biocompatibility and cellular viability while rarely attempted to produce robust specimens. Nonetheless, the biomedical applications of polymers can be severely limited by their inherently weak mechanical properties particularly in bone tissue engineering. In this study, continuous liquid interface production (CLIP) is applied to construct 3D objects of nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HA) filled polymeric biomaterials with complex architectures. Notably, the bioactive and osteoconductive n-HA endows the 3D prints of poly(ethyleneglycol)diacrylate (PEGDA) composites with a high compression strength of 6.5 ± 1.4 MPa, about 342% improvement over neat PEGDA. This work demonstrates the first successful attempt on CLIP 3D printing of n-HA nanocomposites, providing a feasible, cost-effective and patient-specific solution to various fields in the biomedical industry.