Organic luminescent materials with tunable luminescent properties have attracted considerable interest and demonstrated promising application potential. Molecular conformation is a crucial consideration in regulating luminescence, as it significantly impacts photophysical properties, including emission color, lifetime, and efficiency. Conformational changes are influenced by molecular intrinsic structures, demonstrating high designability. Moreover, the process of conformational changes is sensitive to external factors, which allows for the real-time regulation of luminescent properties via macroscopic methods. Therefore, molecules with tunable conformations are ideal candidates for constructing multifunctional luminescent materials and have witnessed remarkable progress over recent decades. In an attempt to highlight this type of molecule, this review focuses on the recent advances in conformation-tunable organic luminescent molecules, including their design, mechanism, properties, and applications. Representative molecules and structures are summarized and classified into two categories, including rotatable and bendable, according to the structural features of their conformational changes. Moreover, the challenges facing this field and future directions are also discussed.

Polymer matrix composites with high dielectric constants and low dielectric losses are in high demand for flexible electronics. However, simultaneously satisfying these requirements poses a significant scientific challenge owing to the intrinsic trade-off relationship. Herein, we utilized the in situ controllable reduction of graphene oxide (GO) within a poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE-CFE)) matrix to regulate the dielectric properties. The as-obtained composite exhibited a high relative dielectric constant of 1415 coupled with a low loss tangent of 0.380 at 100 Hz. Experimental and theoretical studies indicate that the increased degree of electron conjugation and conductivity of the reduced GO (RGO) are responsible for the high-k. The constrained reduction degree of GO, combined with its homogeneous dispersion in the polymer matrix, effectively suppresses long-range charge carrier migration, thereby minimizing dielectric loss. This novel strategy could be successfully applied to both organic and aqueous systems. Furthermore, a high-performance flexible capacitive proximity sensor was exemplified by the optimization of both the dielectric layer and electrode pattern, exhibiting excellent sensitivity and stability. The fundamental mechanisms elucidated in this study provide crucial design principles for developing dielectric PMCs with tailored properties, thereby opening new avenues for advanced flexible electronic applications.

IntroductionThe prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections remain a significant challenge worldwide, as textiles used in hospital wards are highly involved in transmission processes. Herein, we report a new antibacterial medical fabric used to prepare hospital pillowcases, bottom sheets, and quilt covers for controlling and reducing hospital-acquired infections.MethodThe medical fabric was composed of blended yarns of staple polyester and degradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate co-3-hydroxyvalerate)/polylactide fibres, which were then coated with polylactide oligomers, an environmentally friendly and safe antimicrobial agent with excellent thermal stability in high-temperature laundry. A clinical trial was conducted with emphasis on the bacterial species that were closely related to the infection cases in the trial hospital.ResultAfter 7 days of usage, 94% of PET/PHBV/PLA-PLAO fabric could keep less than 20 CFU/100 cm2 of total bacterial amount, meeting hygiene and cleanliness standards.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the potential of fabrics containing polyhydroxyalkanoate oligomers as highly effective, safe, and long-lasting antimicrobial medical textiles that can effectively reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections.

Flexible electroadhesive clutches with high shear stress and fast response working at low voltage are much desired in wearable electronics and robotic systems. Dielectric materials with opposite charge characteristics could maximize the clutch performance by taking advantages of the boosted electroadhesion between the two contact pads in an asymmetrically structured clutch. In this paper, asymmetrically structured electroadhesive clutches are proposed and reported for the first time. The asymmetric structured clutch exhibits a two-fold increment in the shear force but similar response time by simply reversing the electrode polarity. This work provides a new dimension to realize high-performance electroadhesive clutches based on an asymmetric strategy.

Compared with the deposition of thin films on a solid substrate, using a liquid substrate provides an atomic level roughness and extra degree of freedom in manipulating the system conditions such as interfacial tension, which can be preferred for the fabrication of high-performance films. Herein, we develop a liquid-substrate-based spontaneous spreading (LSBS) technology that applies miscible liquids of high surface tension as the substrate and spreads the polymer solution under capillary forces for thin-film processing. We demonstrate the LSBS technology using a conductive polymer, poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/ PSS), and the spread thin films were then transferred to various untreated substrates. LSBS technology uses a miscible liquid substrate for the first time and mediates the spreading, solvent removal, and ion exchange process between the liquid substrate and PEDOT/PSS, increasing the crystallinity of the PEDOT/PSS, thereby significantly improving its electrical conductivity. The LSBS mechanism is investigated through the time-space relationship between spreading and solvent removal, from which we confirm the operating window. Our LSBS technology exhibits a spontaneous, scalable, and versatile process for forming polymer thin films with thicknesses from nano to micron scales on liquid substrates, providing an easy route to control the geometry and presenting universally applicable to different materials.

To assess the clinical effect of astragalus polysaccharide in preventing cardiotoxicity induced by chemotherapy of epirubicin. Two hundred forty-eight patients with breast cancer or malignant lymphoma were randomly divided into the experimental group (EG) (n = 124) and the control group (CG) (n = 124). The EG received chemotherapy regimen containing anthracycline epirubicin and astragalus injection, while CG received only chemotherapy regimen containing anthracycline epirubicin. We detected myocardial function (cardiac troponin I [cTnI], creatine kinase isoenzyme [CK-MB], left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF], and the ratio of mitral annular diastolic peak velocity to atrial systolic velocity [E/A]) and incidences of cardiotoxicity to assess cardiac function, they were compared at before the first treatment course (T1), end of the second course (T2) and 6-month follow-up. We also detected proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α), reactive oxygen species and antioxidant enzymes, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) aimed to discover potential mechanism. There were no statistical significances in differences of LVEF and E/A between 2 groups (P > .05) at T1 and T2, while levels of LVEF and E/A of EG were significant higher than those of the CG at 6 month follow-up, with statistically significant differences (P < .05). At T1, there were no statistical significances in differences of cTnI and CK-MB between 2 groups (P > .05); at T2 and 6 months follow-up, the cTnI, and CK-MB levels of EG was significantly lower than those of the CG, with statistically significant differences (P < .05). The incidence of cardiotoxicity of EG was 15% (17/113), which was significant lower than that of the CG (60%, 66/110), with statistically significant difference (P < .05). Moreover, the level of TNF-α, GPx, and SOD did not show significant difference (P > .05). The data in this pilot study suggested that astragalus polysaccharide may be an effective therapy for preventing cardiotoxicity induced by chemotherapy of epirubicin. Furthermore, larger, placebocontrolled, perspective studies are needed to assess the efficacy of astragalus injection treatment for preventing cardiotoxicity induced by chemotherapy of epirubicin.

SummaryFlexible electroadhesive clutches with high shear stress working at low voltage and fast response are much desired in wearable electronics and robotic systems. Dielectric materials of opposite electron affinity may enhance the clutch performance by boosting the electrostatic attraction between the two surfaces in an asymmetric clutch. In this paper, the first batch of asymmetric electroadhesive clutches is proposed, fabricated and evaluated. The effect of the charge characteristics of the dielectric materials on the clutch performance is investigated. A shear stress of 197.30 ± 15.44 kPa is generated at 300 V in around 20 ms by the asymmetric clutch made from polyurethane and polyimide active dielectric pads. The shear stress is more than eight times of other reported symmetrical clutches working at a similar voltage range. In addition, the hydrogen bonds at the interface are found to contribute to the high electroadhesive stress. This work demonstrates an effective asymmetric and multi-mechanism strategy to develop high performance electroadhesive clutches with diverse materials selection.

Flexible stimuli-responsive materials are deformable, stretchable, light-weight, and desirable for smart personal protective equipment (PPE), and as the primarily functional components in the wearable system which spontaneously respond to surrounding variations. These materials enable the traditional PPE who provide passive protection to be smart with the abilities of sensing, actuating, surface changing and self-healing, which enhances the protection and reduces the unintentional occupation injuries. This article presents a critical review of the structure, properties, fundamental mechanisms and current development of flexible stimuli-responsive materials and their potential/present applications to smart PPE, covering strain, pressure, temperature, and gas sensors, biopotential electrodes, exosystems, switchable wetting surfaces and biosafety masks. Scientific and practical challenges along with critical issues and opportunities are also discussed.

Soft actuators driven by pneumatic or electric means are heavy and clumsy with physical connections, which hinders their applications in human–machine interactive, wearable, and biomedical fields. Herewith, a light fabric bimorph actuator is reported that is driven wirelessly by optical, thermal, and magnetic energy sources. Being fabricated by laminating electrically conductive fabric and biaxially oriented polypropylene film, the actuators show a large bending curvature of 0.75 cm −1 with optical stimulus and 0.55 cm −1 with magnetic stimulus, a response time of 0.27 s with a bending angle of 100° to magnetic stimulus, more than twice faster than previously reported bimorph actuators. Their remarkable performance is attributed to the optimal structural design based on a verified Timoshenko model, electrothermal and optical properties of the conductive fabric coated by copper/nickel. It is greatly enhanced by the large difference of thermal expansion coefficients between the film and fabric. Various wireless controlled prototypes are demonstrated, including a soft gripper, soft kickers, and artificial blooming flowers, illustrating a new way to mass produce cost‐effective bimorph actuators via a simple, green, and fast approach for applications in robots, wearable, and functional textiles.

Two soft salts (S1 and S2) based on platinum(ii) complexes with a near-infrared emission have been designed and synthesized. It has been demonstrated that S2 has a high photostability and a low cytotoxicity, and it has been successfully applied to in vivo imaging for the first time.

Extended from our previous finding that poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) oligomer is an effective antimicrobial agent against gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, fungi and multi-drug resistant bacteria, this work investigates the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the antimicrobial effect of PHB oligomer. To investigate and explain this promoting phenomenon, three hypothetic mechanisms were proposed, that is, generation of new antimicrobial components, degradation of PHB macromolecules and dissolution/dispersion of PHB oligomer by PEG. With a series of systematic experiments and characterizations of high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS), it was deducted that PEG promotes the antimicrobial effect of PHB oligomer synergistically through dissolution/dispersion, owing to its amphipathy, which improves the hydrophilicity of PHB oligomer.

Synthetic materials and biomaterials with elastic moduli lower than 10 MPa are generally considered as soft materials. Research studies on soft materials have been boosted due to their intriguing features such as light-weight, low modulus, stretchability, and a diverse range of functions including sensing, actuating, insulating and transporting. They are ideal materials for applications in smart textiles, flexible devices and wearable electronics. On the other hand, benefiting from the advances in materials science and chemistry, novel soft materials with tailored properties and functions could be prepared to fulfil the specific requirements. In this review, the current progress of soft materials, ranging from materials design, preparation and application are critically summarized based on three categories, namely gels, foams and elastomers. The chemical, physical and electrical properties and the applications are elaborated. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of soft materials to researchers in different disciplines.

In this work, it is first reported that the poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid) (PHB) oligomer with a few degrees of polymerization possesses effective antibacterial and antifungal properties. Two preparation methods for the PHB oligomer are described, namely, one-step ring-opening polymerization of β-butyrolactone and extraction from the fermented PHB polymer. An appropriate amount of the synthesized PHB oligomer shows no physiological toxicity to the skin and major organs of mice. Topological application of the synthesized PHB oligomer imparts antimicrobial ability to non-antibacterial fabrics with washing resistance. The synthesized PHB oligomer offers effective sterilization and promotes wound healing in infected nude mice. Most importantly, the PHB oligomer is also reactive to drug-resistant bacteria. These results suggest that the PHB oligomer is not only a great candidate for antimicrobial modification but also a promising one for biomedical applications. Finally, the antimicrobial mechanisms of the PHB oligomer are revealed, and these include disruption of biofilm and the bacterial wall/membrane, leakage of the intracellular content, inhibition of protein activity, and change in the transmembrane potential.

Despite of the rapid development and demonstrations of wearable energy harvesting devices, their industrial applications are limited by the lack of highly flexible, scalable, and facile fabrication methods. Especially, few studies have combined theoretical analysis with the relevant experimental verification. To this end, a highly flexible and large‐area textile‐based hybrid nanogenerator integrated a net‐shaped nanofiber reinforced piezoelectric unit and a triboelectric unit with a microstructured surface configuration is demonstrated. Electrospinning is used to fabricate an optimized Polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF)‐carbon nanotube (CNT)‐BaTiO 3 nanofiber/particle nonwoven fabric of 18 cm × 27 cm for the piezoelectric unit without further polarization. Then a large‐area freestanding Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)‐multiwall CNT‐graphite flexible composite film of 20 cm × 25 cm, optimized for the triboelectric unit is prepared by the doctor‐blading method. The resultant hybrid nanogenerator, 4.5 cm × 5 cm in size, generates a rectified average peak output voltage of 161.66 V, along with the highest peak power output of 2.22 W m −2 , directly driving 150 light‐emitting diodes (LEDs). Importantly, an explicit theoretical model for the hybrid nanogenerator is proposed and good agreements are obtained between the theoretical and the corresponding experimental results, which shed new light on the mechanism and predict ways to optimize such hybrid nanogenerators.

3-羟基丙酸作为最有价值的平台化合物之一,其自身及诸多衍生化合物被广泛应用于材料、纺织、食品工业及生物医药领域.利用Acetobacter sp.生物催化1,3-丙二醇(1,3-PDO)合成3-羟基丙酸(3-hydroxypropionic acid,3-HP)的性能,通过梯度增加培养基中1,3-PDO浓度驯化选育Acetobacter sp.,有效提高了该菌对底物的耐受性;同时利用固定化细胞的方法提高菌株对底物的耐受性和3-HP转化率,当包埋材料为30 g/L海藻酸钠和聚乙烯醇混合物、颗粒粒径2 mm,添加0.1 mmol/L Fe2+时,固定化细胞表现出最大的催化活性.10 g/L(CDW)固定化细胞可催化70 g/L 1,3-PDO为66.95 g/L 3-HP,催化水平是静息细胞的1.32倍,且固定化细胞经50 g/L底物循环利用5次后,3-HP摩尔转化率仍保持80.65％.固定化的醋酸菌类生物催化剂为工业上3-HP的实际生产提供了一种新可能.

A novel white-light-emitting organic molecule, which consists of carbazolyl- and phenothiazinyl-substituted benzophenone (OPC) and exhibits aggregation-induced emission-delayed fluorescence (AIE-DF) and mechanofluorochromic properties was synthesized. The CIE color coordinates of OPC were directly measured with a non-doped powder, which presented white-emission coordinates (0.33, 0.33) at 244 K to 252 K and (0.35, 0.35) at 298 K. The asymmetric donor-acceptor-donor' (D-A-D') type of OPC exhibits an accurate inherited relationship from dicarbazolyl-substituted benzophenone (O2C, D-A-D) and diphenothiazinyl-substituted benzophenone (O2P, D'-A-D'). By purposefully selecting the two parent molecules, that is, O2C (blue) and O2P (yellow), the white-light emission of OPC can be achieved in a single molecule. This finding provides a feasible molecular strategy to design new AIE-DF white-light-emitting organic molecules.

An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

Three tetraphenylvinyl-capped ethane derivatives with 0, 1, and 2 cyano groups at the ethane moiety, namely, biTPE, biTPE-CN, and TPE-CN, respectively, were synthesized and characterized via photoluminescence, ultraviolet-visible absorption, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, fluorescence lifetime, and other techniques. The results indicate that the compounds possess piezofluorochromic properties and exhibit aggregation-induced emission enhancement. The distinct piezofluorochromic properties of all three compounds were reversible upon grinding and fuming. The introduction of cyano groups to the molecular structures of the derivatives significantly enhanced their piezofluorochromic activity. The relationship between structure and property was studied in detail. The results obtained will be of great help in understanding the piezofluorochromic mechanism and designing new piezofluorochromic materials.