The use of light to mediate controlled radical polymerization has emerged as a powerful strategy for rational polymer synthesis and advanced materials fabrication. This review provides a ...comprehensive survey of photocontrolled, living radical polymerizations (photo-CRPs). From the perspective of mechanism, all known photo-CRPs are divided into either (1) intramolecular photochemical processes or (2) photoredox processes. Within these mechanistic regimes, a large number of methods are summarized and further classified into subcategories based on the specific reagents, catalysts, etc., involved. To provide a clear understanding of each subcategory, reaction mechanisms are discussed. In addition, applications of photo-CRP reported so far, which include surface fabrication, particle preparation, photoresponsive gel design, and continuous flow technology, are summarized. We hope this review will not only provide informative knowledge to researchers in this field but also stimulate new ideas and applications to further advance photocontrolled reactions.
During the last few decades, many scientific research areas have experienced remarkable progress in nanoscience and nanotechnology. In an even rather wider field, complex and smart materials are also ...often isolated as small crystallites, and they present serious difficulties in terms of being synthesized without fluctuations of their compositions or crystalline orientations. This particular interest in material characterization at rather small scales has considerably affected the design, manufacturing, and performance of advanced scientific instruments. In fact, when characterizing advanced materials, progress frequently refers to a new area of knowledge, to the need of seeing, measuring, and understanding objects at the nano- and mesoscopic scale.
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•The state-of-art of lightweight materials for automobiles is reviewed.•Representative materials are introduced with potential automotive applications, particularly on electric ...vehicles.•Given the recent advances in manufacturing, modeling, and characterization, both pros and cons of materials are summarized.•Solutions for future challenges are highlighted by developing advanced materials and/or improving the manufacturing.
The growing challenges on fuel economy improvement and greenhouse gas emission control have become the driving force for automakers to produce lightweight automobiles. Also, the weight reduction may contribute to superior recyclability and/or vehicle performance (e.g., improved driving economy, braking behaviors, and crashworthiness). One effective strategy is to develop and implement lightweight yet high-performance materials as alternative solutions for conventional automotive materials such as cast iron and steel. Herein, a systematic review of available lightweight materials to produce next-generation automobiles is provided, including light alloys, high-strength steels, composites, and advanced materials in the ongoing research. By investigating the entire life cycle of automotive materials, physical/mechanical properties, characterization, manufacturing techniques, and potential applications of specific lightweight materials are discussed. Both the advantages and drawbacks of the reviewed materials are summarized, yielding the appropriate application scenarios for different lightweight materials. Given the future challenges, on expectations, the development of versatile advanced materials or improvement of the manufacturing/treatment techniques can be rather promising to resolve the possible bottlenecks and, in turn, enables more capable, safer, durable, and environmental-friendly vehicles.
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Membrane separation has enjoyed tremendous advances in relevant material and engineering sciences, making it the fastest growing technology in water treatment. Although membranes as a ...broad-spectrum physical barrier have great advantages over conventional treatment processes in a myriad of applications, the need for higher selectivity and specificity in membrane separation is rising as we move to target contaminants at trace concentrations and to recover valuable chemicals from wastewater with low energy consumption. In this review, we discuss the drivers, fundamental science, and potential enabling materials for high selectivity membranes, as well as their applications in different water treatment processes. Membrane materials and processes that show promise to achieve high selectivity for water, ions, and small molecules—as well as the mechanisms involved—are highlighted. We further identify practical needs, knowledge gaps, and technological barriers in both material development and process design for high selectivity membrane processes. Finally, we discuss research priorities in the context of existing and future water supply paradigms.
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•A summary of key recent advances in photocatalytic removal of antibiotics in water.•Special emphasis on the strategies for improving the photodegradation efficiency.•Major challenges ...and critical perspectives on photocatalysis of antibiotics.
Antibiotics are widely present in the environment due to their extensive and long-term use in modern medicine. The presence and dispersal of these compounds in the environment lead to the dissemination of antibiotic residues, thereby seriously threatening human and ecosystem health. Thus, the effective management of antibiotic residues in water and the practical applications of the management methods are long-term matters of contention among academics. Particularly, photocatalysis has attracted extensive interest as it enables the treatment of antibiotic residues in an eco-friendly manner. Considerable progress has been achieved in the implementation of photocatalytic treatment of antibiotic residues in the past few years. Therefore, this review provides a comprehensive overview of the recent developments on this important topic. This review primarily focuses on the application of photocatalysis as a promising solution for the efficient decomposition of antibiotic residues in water. Particular emphasis was laid on improvement and modification strategies, such as augmented light harvesting, improved charge separation, and strengthened interface interaction, all of which enable the design of powerful photocatalysts to enhance the photocatalytic removal of antibiotics.
Stir-bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) is a popular solvent-less sample preparation method, which is widely applied for the sampling and preconcentration of a wide range of non-polar solutes. A typical ...stir-bar for SBSE is composed of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film, coated onto a glass jacket with an incorporated magnet core. Sampling is carried out by direct immersion or by exposing the stir-bar to the headspace of the sample. To-date the majority of reported SBSE devices have used PDMS as the sorbent, with a few alternative commercially SBSE coatings available (such as polyethylene glycol and polyacrylate), which limits the applicability of SBSE to more polar and hydrophilic solutes. The interest in more selective extraction has been the driving force behind the recent development of novel SBSE coatings, particularly those exhibiting selectivity towards more polar solutes. During the last decade, a significant number of novel SBSE coatings were introduced utilising different fabrication approaches, including surface adhesion, molecular imprinting, sol-gel technology, immobilised monoliths, and solvent exchange processes. A range of nano- and micro-carbon-based materials, functional polymers, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), and inorganic nanoparticles have been employed for this purpose. Some of these SBSE coatings have exhibited higher thermal and chemical stability and delivered wider selectivity profiles. This review aims to summarise these significant developments, reported over the past six years, with specific attention to novel materials and selectivity for extending the potential applications of SBSE.
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•Critical evaluation of advances in SBSE coatings over the past six years.•Discussion of latest techniques for production of SBSE coatings.•Evaluation of stabilities, selectivity, and applications of novel SBSE coatings.
Compared to conventional machining (CM), ultrasonic vibration-assisted machining (UVAM) with high-frequency and small-amplitude has exhibited good cutting performances for advanced materials. In ...recent years, advances in ultrasonic generator, ultrasonic transducer, and horn structures have led to the rapid progress in the development of UVAM. Following this trend, numerous new design requirements and theoretical concepts have been proposed and studied successively, however, very few studies have been conducted from a comprehensive perspective. To address this gap in the literature and understanding the development trend of UVAM, a critical overview of UVAM is presented in this study, covering different vibration-assisted machining styles, device architectures, and theoretical analysis. This overview covers the evolution of typical hardware systems used to achieve vibratory motions from the one-dimensional UVAM to three-dimensional UVAM, the discussion of cutting characteristics with periodic separation between the tools and workpiece and the analysis of processing properties. Challenges for UVAM include ultrasonic vibration systems with high power, large amplitude, and high efficiency, as well as theoretical research on the dynamics and cutting characteristics of UVAM. Consequently, based on the current limitations and challenges, device improvement and theoretical breakthrough play a significant role in future research on UVAM.
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•The evolution of UVAM systems are comprehensively discussed in the paper.•Kinematics are analysed in view of cutting type, including Con-UVAM and R-UVAM.•Cutting characteristics (contact rate, force, surface integrity) are summarized.•Based on advantages and interdisciplinary, directions of development are concluded.
Forward osmosis (FO) is an osmotically driven process widely studied for water desalination, wastewater treatment, and water reuse, as well as dilution and concentration of aqueous streams. However, ...its application is still hampered by the lack of ideal draw solutes, high-performance membranes, and fouling/biofouling. Biofouling is particularly challenging when FO is applied for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment. Over the last decade, many attempts have been made to exploit advances in materials science to obtain membranes with anti-biofouling properties to prevent or to reduce the detrimental effects of this phenomenon. In this review, we address the various approaches of membrane surface functionalization for biofouling control and mitigation. Recent developments in surface modification of thin-film composite and asymmetric membranes using surface coating, surface functionalization, and incorporation of tailored materials for biofouling control in FO are critically discussed. The future perspectives of anti-biofouling materials and FO membranes are reviewed to shed light on the future research directions for developing the true potential surface modification approach for the FO process.
•Mechanism of biofouling in FO membranes and the current control strategies are presented.•Recent advances in the science of materials and their exploitation in engineering FO are discussed.•Methods for functionalization of FO membranes to mitigate the biofouling are reviewed.•Directions for future research in functionalized FO membrane development to biofouling control are proposed.
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