This paper reports a new phase inversion spinning method for the preparation of ultrafine hollow fiber membranes through a single orifice spinneret. An oily additive is pre-added in the polymer dope ...solution as a bore-forming agent. During the rapid solvent extraction and phase separation processes, the oil is pushed by the external solution (coagulant) to the center of the fiber, and thus the hollow fiber membranes can be obtained by washing away the oil. To demonstrate this new method, ultrafine polysulfone and yttria stabilized zirconia hollow fiber membranes were fabricated using a stainless steel syringe tip as a simple orifice spinneret. The fabrication conditions, including the sizes of syringe tips, contents and types of the oily additives were investigated. Gas permeation test indicates the polysulfone hollow fiber membrane had no large defects. The potential benefits of concave surfaces arising from oil droplets in terms of mechanical properties were also discussed.
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► Ultrafine hollow fiber membranes prepared via the phase inversion spinning method through a single orifice spinneret. ► The additive oil in the polymer solution acting as the bore-forming agent to fabricate the hollow structure. ► The droplet-like hollow fiber membrane having an enhanced mechanical stability.
Mechanical exfoliation is a widely used method to isolate high quality graphene layers from bulk graphite. In our recent experiments, some ordered microstructures, consisting of a periodic ...alternation of kinks and stripes, were observed in thin graphite flakes that were mechanically peeled from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. In this paper, a theoretical model is presented to attribute the formation of such ordered structures to the alternation of two mechanical processes during the exfoliation： （1） peeling of a graphite flake and （2） mechanical buckling of the flake being sub- jected to bending. In this model, the width of the stripes L is determined by thickness h of the flakes, surface energy Y, and critical buckling strain ecr. Using some appropriate values of y and ecr that are within the ranges determined by other inde- pendent experiments and simulations, the predicted relations between the stripe width and the flake thickness agree reason- ably well with our experimental measurements. Conversely, measuring the L-h relations of the periodic microstructures in thin graphite flakes could help determine the critical mechan- ical buckling strain εcr and the interface energy γ.
Layered crystalline materials, such as graphene, boron nitride, tungsten sulfate, phosphorene, etc., have attracted enormous attentions, due to their unique crystal structures and superior ...mechanical, thermal, and physical properties. Making use of mechanical buckling is a promising route to control their structural morphology and thus tune their physical properties, giving rise to many novel applications. In this paper, we employ molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and theoretical modeling to study the compressive buckling of a column made of layered crystalline materials with the crystal layers parallel to the compressive direction. We find that the mechanical buckling of the layered crystalline materials exhibits two anomalous and counter-intuitive features as approaching the zero slenderness ratio. First, the critical buckling strain εcr has a finite value that is much lower than the material's elastic limit strain. A continuum mechanics model (by homogenizing the layered materials) is proposed for the εcr, which agrees well with the results of MD simulations. We find that the εcr solely depends on elastic constants without any structural dimension, which appears to be an intrinsic material property and thus is defined as intrinsic buckling strain (IBS), εcrIBS, in this paper. Second, below a certain nanoscale length, l0, in the compressive direction (e.g., about 20nm for graphite), the critical buckling strain εcr shows a size effect, i.e., increasing as the column length L decreases. To account for the size effect, inspired by our recently developed multi-beam shear model (Liu et al., 2011), a bending energy term of individual crystal layer is introduced in our continuum model. The theoretical model of εcr agrees well with the size effects observed in MD simulations. This study could lay a ground for engineering layered crystalline materials in various nano-materials and nano-devices via mechanical buckling.
Hexagonal layered crystalline materials, such as graphene, boron nitride, tungsten sulfate, and so on, have attracted enormous attentions, due to their unique combination of atomistic structures and ...superior thermal, mechanical, and physical properties. Making use of mechanical buckling is a promising route to control their structural morphology and thus tune their physical properties, giving rise to many novel applications. In this paper, we employ finite element analysis (FEA), molecular dynamic (MD) simulations and continuum modeling to study the mechanical buckling of a column made of layered crystalline materials with the crystal layers parallel to the longitudinal axis. It is found that the mechanical buckling exhibits a gradual transition from a bending mode to a shear mode of instability with the reduction of slenderness ratio. As the slenderness ratio approaches to zero, the critical buckling strain {\epsilon}cr converges to a finite value that is much smaller than the material's mechanical strength, indicating that it is realizable under appropriate experimental conditions. Such a mechanical buckling mode is anomalous and counter-intuitive. The critical buckling strain {\epsilon}cr predicted by our continuum mechanics model agrees very well with the results from the FEA and MD simulations for a group of typical hexagonal layered crystalline materials. MD simulations on graphite indicate the continuum mechanics model is applicable down to a scale of 20 nm. This theoretical model also reveals that a high degree of elastic anisotropy is the origin for the anomalous mechanical buckling of a column made of layered crystalline materials in the absence of structural slenderness. This study provides avenues for engineering layered crystalline materials in various nano-materials and nano-devices via mechanical buckling.
Mechanical exfoliation is a widely used method to isolate high quality graphene layers from bulk graphite. In our recent experiments, some ordered microstructures, consisting of a periodic ...alternation of kinks and stripes, were observed in thin graphite flakes that were mechanically peeled from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). A theoretical model is presented in this paper to understand the formation of such ordered microstructures, based on elastic buckling of a graphite flake being subjected to a bending moment. The width of the stripes predicted from this model agrees reasonably well with our experimental measurements.
Mitophagy, the selective removal of damaged mitochondria, plays a critical role in kidney diseases, but its involvement in hypertensive nephropathy (HTN) is not well understood. To address this gap, ...we investigated mitophagy-related genes in HTN, identifying potential biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment. Transcriptome datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus database were analyzed, resulting in the identification of seven mitophagy related differentially expressed genes (MR-DEGs), namely PINK1, ULK1, SQSTM1, ATG5, ATG12, MFN2, and UBA52. Further, we explored the correlation between MR-DEGs, immune cells, and inflammatory factors. The identified genes demonstrated a strong correlation with Mast cells, T-cells, TGFβ3, IL13, and CSF3. Machine learning techniques were employed to screen important genes, construct diagnostic models, and evaluate their accuracy. Consensus clustering divided the HTN patients into two mitophagy subgroups, with Subgroup 2 showing higher levels of immune cell infiltration and inflammatory factors. The functions of their proteins primarily involve complement, coagulation, lipids, and vascular smooth muscle contraction. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that mitophagy was most significant in proximal tubule cells (PTC) in HTN patients. Pseudotime analysis of PTC confirmed the expression changes observed in the transcriptome. Intercellular communication analysis suggested that mitophagy might regulate PTC's participation in intercellular crosstalk. Notably, specific transcription factors such as HNF4A, PPARA, and STAT3 showed strong correlations with mitophagy-related genes in PTC, indicating their potential role in modulating PTC function and influencing the onset and progression of HTN. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of mitophagy in HTN, enhancing our understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of HTN.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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