Xungai Wang

Silk fibroin biomaterials for tissue regenerations

Regeneration of tissues using cells, scaffolds and appropriate growth factors is a key approach in the treatments of tissue or organ failure. Silk protein fibroin can be effectively used as a scaffolding material in these treatments. Silk fibers are obtained from diverse sources such as spiders, silkworms, scorpions, mites and flies. Among them, silk of silkworms is a good source for the development of biomedical device. It possesses good biocompatibility, suitable mechanical properties and is produced in bulk in the textile sector. The unique combination of elasticity and strength along with mammalian cell compatibility makes silk fibroin an attractive material for tissue engineering. The present article discusses the processing of silk fibroin into different forms of biomaterials followed by their uses in regeneration of different tissues. Applications of silk for engineering of bone, vascular, neural, skin, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, cardiac, ocular, and bladder tissues are discussed. The advantages and limitations of silk systems as scaffolding materials in the context of biocompatibility, biodegradability and tissue specific requirements are also critically reviewed.

Durable, Self-Healing Superhydrophobic and Superoleophobic Surfaces from Fluorinated-Decyl Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane and Hydrolyzed Fluorinated Alkyl Silane†

Super-liquid-repellent surfaces have attracted much attention in both scientific and industrial areas. They are often deemed superhydrophobic or superoleophobic depending on the liquid to be repelled. Superhydrophobic surfaces have a water contact angle greater than 1508. They have interesting nonsticking, self-cleaning, and anti-contamination functions. The emerging applications include separation of oil from water, energy conversion, protection of electronic devices, adjusting cell/substrate adhesion in the biomedical area, and reducing fluid resistance for aquaculture and microfluidic devices. In contrast, superoleophobic surfaces can be rather complicated, but they have great potential applications in antifouling from hazard chemicals and biological contaminants. Although any solid surface can be characterized as superoleophobic as long as its contact angle with an oily fluid is greater than 1508, the surface properties revealed from the contact angle measurement using different contacting oils could be considerably different. For example, a surface that is superoleophobic to certain oily fluids may have lower repellency or even be wettable by other oily fluids of a lower surface tension. It is normally easy to make a surface super-repellent to oils of a high surface tension, but difficult to prepare superoleophobic surfaces against oily fluids that have a surface tension below 35 mNm . Most super-liquid-repellent surfaces have poor durability. Chemical oxidation from exposure to air, a special chemical environment, strong light, or physical rubbing could cause the surfaces to lose their super-repellency permanently. It is imperative to improve the durability for practical applications. Recently, great progress has been made to develop mechanically robust superhydrophobic surfaces and laundering-durable superhydrophobic fabrics. On the other hand, the bioinspired self-healing ability has been proposed to be a promising solution to improve the durability of synthetic superhydrophobic surfaces. Recently, Li et al. reported a self-healing superhydrophobic coating that was prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of a fluoroalkyl silane on a layer-by-layer assembled porous surface, and self-healing was derived from the reacted fluoroalkyl silane embedded in the rigidly flexible coating layer. Wang et al. also reported the formation of a self-healing superamphiphobic surface on anodized alumina by filling the intrinsic pores with a lowsurface energy liquid. In the recent study, we have also found that fabrics coated with a hydrolysis product from fluorinated-decyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (FD–POSS) and a fluorinated alkyl silane (FAS) have a self-healing superhydrophobic and superoleophobic surface and the coating shows excellent durability to acid, UV light, machine wash, and abrasion. Herein, we first report on its novel multiple self-healing ability and durable performance. The chemical structures of FD-POSS and FAS are shown in Figure 1 a. The coating solution was prepared by dissolving FD-POSS in five times its weight of FAS, and the resulting viscous solution was then dispersed in ethanol. After ultrasonication for 30 min, a homogeneous dispersion was obtained. Figure 1b shows the appearance of an FD–POSS/ FAS dispersion in ethanol. Such a suspension was stable at

Fluoroalkyl Silane Modified Silicone Rubber/Nanoparticle Composite: A Super Durable, Robust Superhydrophobic Fabric Coating

A superhydrophobic fabric coating made of a crosslinked polydimethylsiloxane elastomer, containing well-dispersed hydrophobic silica nanoparticles and fluorinated alkyl silane, shows remarkable durability against repeated machine washes, severe abrasion, strong acid or base, boiling water or beverages and excellent stain resistance.

The charge effect of cationic surfactants on the elimination of fibre beads in the electrospinning of polystyrene

Polystyrene nanofibres were electrospun with the inclusion of cationic surfactants, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) or tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC), in the polymer solution. A small amount of cationic surfactant effectively stopped the formation of beaded fibres during the electrospinning. The cationic surfactants were also found to improve the solution conductivity, but had no effect on the viscosity. Only DTAB had an effect on the surface tension of the polymer solution, the surface tension decreasing slightly with an increase in the concentration of DTAB. The formation of beaded fibres was attributed to an insufficient stretch of the filaments during the whipping of the jet, due to a low charge density. Adding the cationic surfactants improved the net charge density that enhanced the whipping instability. The jet was stretched under stronger charge repulsion and at a higher speed, resulting in an exhaustion of the bead structure. In addition, a polymer/surfactant interaction was found in the polystyrene–DTAB solution system, while this interaction was not found in the polystyrene–TBAC system. The polymer/surfactant interaction led to the formation of thinner fibres than those formed in the absence of the interaction. The effects of a non-ionic surfactant, Triton X-405, on the electrospun fibres were also studied. The addition of Triton X-405 did not eliminate the fibre beads, but reduced the bead numbers and changed the morphology. Triton X-405 slightly improved the solution conductivity, and had a minor effect on the surface tension, but no effect on the viscosity.

Magnetic liquid marbles: manipulation of liquid droplets using highly hydrophobic Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

Magnetic liquid marbles exhibit a remarkable ability to be opened and closed reversibly under the action of a magnetic field. Liquid can be either extracted from or added to the opened liquid marble simply with a capillary needle. Two opened liquid marbles can also be coalesced into a larger one. The magnetic liquid marbles can be maneuvered two- and three-dimensionally.

Needleless electrospinning of uniform nanofibers using spiral coil spinnerets

Polyvinyl alcohol nanofibers were prepared by a needleless electrospinning technique using a rotating spiral wire coil as spinneret. The influences of coil dimension (e.g., coil length, coil diameter, spiral distance, and wire diameter) and operating parameters (e.g., applied voltage and spinning distance) on electrospinning process, nanofiber diameter, and fiber productivity were examined. It was found that the coil dimension had a considerable influence on the nanofiber production rate, but minor effect on the fiber diameter. The fiber production rate increased with the increased coil length or coil diameter, or the reduced spiral distance or wire diameter. Higher applied voltage or shorter collecting distance also improved the fiber production rate but had little influence on the fiber diameter. Compared with the conventional needle electrospinning, the coil electrospinning produced finer fibers with a narrower diameter distribution. A finite element method was used to analyze the electric field on the coil surface and in electrospinning zone. It was revealed that the high electric field intensity was concentrated on the coil surface, and the intensity was highly dependent on the coil dimension, which can be used to explain the electrospinning performances of coils. In addition, PAN nanofibers were prepared using the same needleless electrospinning technique to verify the improvement in productivity.

Reduced graphene oxide/ZnO composite: reusable adsorbent for pollutant management.

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) coated with ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) was synthesized by a self-assembly and in situ photoreduction method, and then their application for removing organic pollutant from water was investigated. The RGO@ZnO composite nanomaterial has unique structural features including well-dispersed NPs on the surface and dense NPs loading. This composite exhibited a greatly improved Rhodamine B (RhB) adsorption capacity and an improved photocatalytic activity for degrading RhB compared to neat ZnO NPs. These properties made RGO@ZnO reusable for pollutant adsorbent. The composite showed an excellent cycling performance for organic pollutant removal up to 99% recovery over several cycles via simulated sunlight irradiation.

Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles as a Nonbleaching Optical Probe for Two-Photon Luminescence Imaging and Cell Therapy†

Lasting glow: Under femtosecond laser irradiation, graphene oxide nanoparticles (GONs) give strong two-photon luminescence (TPL; see picture). The presence of GONs also induces microbubbling, which causes cell death at an order of magnitude lower laser power than when cells are not labeled. The results show that GONs can be used for TPL-based imaging and photothermal cancer therapy.

A Superamphiphobic Coating with an Ammonia‐Triggered Transition to Superhydrophilic and Superoleophobic for Oil–Water Separation

Superhydrophilic and superoleophobic materials are very attractive for efficient and cost-effective oil-water separation, but also very challenging to prepare. Reported herein is a new superamphiphobic coating that turns superhydrophilic and superoleophobic upon ammonia exposure. The coating is prepared from a mixture of silica nanoparticles and heptadecafluorononanoic acid-modified TiO2 sol by a facile dip-coating method. Commonly used materials, including polyester fabric and polyurethane sponge, modified with this coating show unusual capabilities for controllable filtration of an oil-water mixture and selective removal of water from bulk oil. We anticipate that this novel coating may lead to the development of advanced oil-water separation techniques.

Photoreactive Azido-Containing Silica Nanoparticle/Polycation Multilayers: Durable Superhydrophobic Coating on Cotton Fabrics

In this study, we report the functionalization of silica nanoparticles with highly photoreactive phenyl azido groups and their utility as a negatively charged building block for layer-by-layer (LbL) electrostatic assembly to produce a stable silica nanoparticle coating. Azido-terminated silica nanoparticles were prepared by the functionalization of bare silica nanoparticles with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane followed by the reaction with 4-azidobenzoic acid. The azido functionalization was confirmed by FTIR and XPS. Poly(allylamine hydrochloride) was also grafted with phenyl azido groups and used as photoreactive polycations for LbL assembly. For the photoreactive silica nanoparticle/polycation multilayers, UV irradiation can induce the covalent cross-linking within the multilayers as well as the anchoring of the multilayer film onto the organic substrate, through azido photochemical reactions including C-H insertion/abstraction reactions with surrounding molecules and dimerization of azido groups. Our results show that the stability of the silica nanoparticle/polycation multilayer film was greatly improved after UV irradiation. Combined with a fluoroalkylsilane post-treatment, the photoreactive LbL multilayers were used as a coating for superhydrophobic modification of cotton fabrics. Herein the LbL assembly method enables us to tailor the number of the coated silica nanoparticles through the assembly cycles. The superhydrophobicity of cotton fabrics was durable against acids, bases, and organic solvents, as well as repeated machine wash. Because of the unique azido photochemistry, the approach used here to anchor silica nanoparticles is applicable to almost any organic substrate.