Abstract The development of flexible conductors with high electrical conductivity, flexibility, and electromechanical stability is important for reliable signal transmission in wearable electronics. Here, we report a patternable liquid metal (LM) fabric with strain-insensitive performance, fabricated using a highly elastic knitted fabric (KF) as the substrate and a gallium-based liquid metal as the conductive coating. A patterned poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) intermediate layer was introduced to enhance the interfacial adhesion and facilitate the selective deposition of LM on the textile substrate. In addition, pre‑oxidation of the LM followed by a prepressing treatment further promotes the permeation of liquid metal into the knitted fabric, thereby improving the stability of electrical conductivity. Benefiting from the pore structure of the fabric and the strong interfacial combination of liquid metal and PEDOT:PSS, this composite fabric achieves a strain capacity of 200% with low resistance variations, and the resistance change rates are 18.6% for longitudinal stretching, 20.4% for 45° diagonal stretching, and 24.8% for transverse stretching. When stretched by 100% along three distinct directions (transverse, longitudinal, and 45°), the resistance change rate remains below 5% in all cases, demonstrating excellent multidirectional strain-insensitive conductivity. Moreover, after 1000 cyclic stretching cycles under a 30% strain, the resistance fluctuation still stays within 3%. The resulting fabric exhibited excellent conductivity stability when applied to conductors, Joule heating, electrocardiogram (ECG), and near field communication (NFC), demonstrating its potential for next‑generation wearable electronics.
Abstract Designing polymeric nanocarriers for hydrophobic therapeutics requires an understanding of polymer–drug interactions and their dependence on polymer molecular weight. Herein, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) oligomers (αPBS) with tunable molecular weights were prepared via controlled microwave-assisted alcoholysis to investigate the relationships among molecular weight, solubility behavior, and curcumin encapsulation. Experimental solubility mapping revealed substantial deviations between experimentally determined and conventionally predicted Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) in the oligomeric regime, highlighting the limitations of group-contribution methods for low-molecular-weight polyesters. The PBS oligomer with a M̅n of approximately 2,000 g/mol (αPBS6) exhibited experimental HSP values of δD = 17.0, δP = 7.3, and δH = 7.1 MPa½. Despite borderline-to-unfavorable HSP-derived compatibility with curcumin (RED ≈ 1.04 and χ ≈ 1.21), αPBS6 exhibited high curcumin encapsulation, demonstrating that HSP-derived parameters alone do not directly predict encapsulation efficiency. Curcumin-loaded αPBS nanoparticles (Cur@PBS6) had an average diameter of 232 ± 1.5 nm, a high loading capacity (8.54–9.10%), and good colloidal stability. Their loading capacity exceeded those of commercial PBS (6.36%), PBSA (6.64%), and PLA (2.75%) systems, indicating that molecular-weight modification and nanoparticle formation conditions contribute to curcumin incorporation. Spectroscopic analyses suggested reduced curcumin aggregation following encapsulation, which preserved its photoactivity and promoted reactive oxygen species generation under blue-light irradiation. Moreover, Cur@PBS6-incorporated electrospun poly(lactic acid) fibers exhibited photodynamic antibacterial activity under blue-light irradiation (450 nm, 0.3 W/cm2, 60 min), achieving bacterial killing efficiencies of 94.2% against Escherichia coli and 98.1% against Staphylococcus aureus. These findings demonstrate that experimentally determined HSPs provide a complementary framework for evaluating molecular-weight-dependent polymer–drug interactions, while nanocarrier performance is collectively governed by molecular weight, crystallinity, formulation condition, and other physicochemical factors.
Abstract The booming development of flexible wearable electronics requires safe, deformable, and sustainable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). Liquid electrolytes suffer leakage, zinc corrosion, and dendrite growth, while the recently reported hydrogel electrolytes fail to balance biodegradability and mechanical stretchability. Herein, we developed a fully biodegradable biomass dual-network hydrogel electrolyte fabricated via free-radical copolymerization of starch, gelatin, and acrylamide (AM) with ZnSO4 salts. Benefiting from abundant hydrogen-bond networks formed by renewable biomass skeletons, the tailored hydrogel effectively immobilizes free water to construct a water-poor interfacial microenvironment, simultaneously suppressing dendrite proliferation and electrolyte leakage. The hydrogel delivers an outstanding low-temperature tolerance and favorable ionic conductivity of 23.76 mS cm–1 (–20 °C) and contributes to accelerating redox reaction kinetics and improving the reversibility of the Zn plating/stripping process. Therefore, the assembled Zn||sodium vanadate battery delivers a high capacity of 350 mAh g–1 at 1.0 A g–1 with 100% Coulombic efficiency and 83% capacity retention over 700 cycles. Impressively, within a broad temperature window of 0–55 °C, the pouch cell could work under repeated bending states, and the hydrogel is fundamentally degraded within 20 days in natural soil. It provides a facile strategy for flexible and sustainable AZIBs with high performance.
Abstract Dynamic transport across solid–liquid nanointerfaces is commonly interpreted through equilibrium wettability, although increasing evidence suggests that interfacial hydration rather than contact angle governs nanoscale liquid motion. However, how hydration reorganizes under ionic and hydrodynamic perturbations at strongly hydrophilic nanostructured interfaces remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that dendritic silica nanostructures create a hydration-rich interphase whose dynamic mechanical state can be programmed by electrolyte concentration, flow, and biomolecular adsorption. Contact-angle measurements, density functional theory calculations, and overtone-resolved quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring reveal that intermediate ionic strengths maximize near-surface acoustic loading without a proportional increase in dissipation, while increasing flow induces a flow-dependent enhancement in model-derived apparent mobility. The response is strongest at higher overtones and persists after bovine serum albumin adsorption, demonstrating that the adaptive hydration state survives the formation of a complex protein–water interphase. Rather than reflecting the classical hydrophobic slip, the observations identify a dynamically reconfigurable hydration layer that decouples equilibrium wettability from interfacial mechanics. These findings establish hydration-layer reconfigurability as a general mechanism governing liquid mobility at hydrophilic nanostructured interfaces and provide a design framework for nanofluidic transport, antifouling materials, separation membranes, and interfacial biosensing technologies.
Abstract Refractory chronic diabetic wounds severely impair quality of life. Their delayed healing is mainly driven by impaired angiogenesis and persistent inflammation caused by infection and excessive ROS. Resveratrol (RES) has anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic effects, but its clinical use is limited by poor solubility and low bioavailability. Here, we developed a dual-mechanism sustained-release system for RES to promote diabetic wound healing. RES was converted into nanoparticles (RES NPs) to improve cellular uptake and bioavailability, then encapsulated in GelMA cryogel microspheres (CMS) for injectable, sustained release. This system downregulated NF-κB signaling, reduced ROS, and suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines and COX2, thereby inhibiting arachidonic acid metabolism and promoting macrophage polarization from M1 to M2. Meanwhile, AMPK activation restored endothelial cell function, enhanced angiogenesis, and supported new vessel formation. Overall, this strategy accelerated high-quality wound repair in diabetic conditions.
