Xuejie Yue

Ag nanoparticles coated cellulose membrane with high infrared reflection, breathability and antibacterial property for human thermal insulation

To maintain personal thermal comfort in cold weather, indoor heating consumes large amount of energy and is a primary source of greenhouse gas emission. Traditional clothes are too thick for thermal comfort in cold outdoor environment, resulting the lower wearing comfort. In this work, a multifunctional Ag nanoparticles/cellulose fibers thermal insulation membrane starting from waste paper cellulose fibers was prepared via simple silver mirror reaction and subsequent vacuum filtration process to improve the infrared reflection properties of membranes for human thermal insulation. The sphere-like Ag nanoparticles were tightly anchored on surface of waste paper cellulose fibers, forming an Ag nanoparticles infrared radiation reflection coating with high infrared reflectance, resulting in high thermal insulation capacity of the thermal insulation membrane. In addition, Ag nanoparticles endow the thermo insulation membrane with excellent antibacterial activity, and the thermo insulation membranes can effectively inhibit the growth of both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In this thermal insulation system, the thermo insulation membranes show superhydrophilicity and porosity, which allow the membranes to be breathable for comfortable wearing feeling. These promising results including high infrared reflection for high thermal insolating, high breathability for wearing comfort, and excellent antibacterial activity make the Ag/cellulose thermo insulation membranes promising candidates for applications in human thermal management, energy regulation and other facilities.

Hierarchical Porous BiOCl/LDHs Composites Templated from Cotton Fibers for Efficient Removal of Dyes from Aqueous Solution

Hierarchically structured BiOCl/LDHs composites with well-developed porosity and high surface area have been prepared by an in situ growth of BiOCl on the surfaces LDHs fibers, and their adsorption capacities and photocatalytic activities are investigated by using methylene blue (MB) as model pollutants. The results indicate that the BiOCl/LDHs composites possess high surface area up to 126.2 m2/g. The as-prepared BiOCl/LDHs composites exhibited higher adsorptive ability and improved photocatalytic activity compared to bare BiOCl particles and LDHs fibers based on the removal of MB in aqueous solution, showing that BiOCl/LDHs composites can be used as efficient environmentally friendly materials for dye wastewater treatment.