Morphogenesis of Floating Bone Segments: A Legacy of Serial Tensile Cross-Strut Microdamage in Trabecular Disconnection “Crumple Zones”?

Trabecular bone disconnection “hotspots” of real termini (ReTm) previously mapped as loci of weakness in the female aging spine and hip may be a source of free-floating cancellous segments found in the medullary space using a bespoke, thick slice histological method for identifying ReTm. A factor in their origin is apparently microdamage proliferation (differentiated by en bloc silver staining) with occasional callus moderation. Validation of similar “floating segments” (FS) in the ex-breeder rat suggested a pilot model for a potentially common phenomenon. Following marrow elution and density fractionation of the isolated floating segments from the whole proximal rat femora, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental microanalysis (EDS) was performed. The eluent contained numbers of vertically truncated, laterally branched floating segments (acute severance of sequential tensile cross-struts, causing chronic compression overload of axial-struts, with ii) inadequate stabilising callus, facilitating ReTm stacking into predetermined, substructural “crumple zones” of force containment, spheroidal attrition and particulate dissociation. As a catabolic outcome of altered tensile and hormonal influence, FS number may add a novel variable to cancellous bone kinetics particularly in women of relevance to fracture predisposition.

Self-Assembly 3D Porous Crumpled MXene Spheres as Efficient Gas and Pressure Sensing Material for Transient All-MXene Sensors

Environmentally friendly degradable sensors with both hazardous gases and pressure efficient sensing capabilities are highly desired for various promising applications,including environmental pollution monitoring/prevention,wisdom medical,wearable smart devices,and artificial intelligence.However,the transient gas and pressure sensors based on only identical sensing material that concurrently meets the above detection needs have not been reported.Here,we present transient all-MXene NO_(2) and pressure sensors employing three-dimensional porous crumpled MXene spheres prepared by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technology as the sensing layer,accompanied with water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol substrates embedded with patterned MXene electrodes.The gas sensor achieves a ppb-level of highly selective NO_(2) sensing,with a response of up to 12.11%at 5 ppm NO_(2) and a detection range of 50 ppb-5 ppm,while the pressure sensor has an extremely wide linear pressure detection range of 0.14-22.22 kPa and fast response time of 34 ms.In parallel,all-MXene NO_(2) and pressure sensors can be rapidly degraded in medical H_(2)O_(2) within 6 h.This work provides a new avenue toward environmental monitoring,human physiological signal monitoring,and recyclable transient electronics.

K2Ti6O13 Nanoparticle-Loaded Porous rGO Crumples for Supercapacitors

One-dimensional alkali metal titanates containing potassium,sodium,and lithium are of great concern owing to their high ion mobility and high specific surface area.When those titanates are combined with conductive materials such as graphene,carbon nanotube,and carbon nanofiber,they are able to be employed as efficient electrode materials for supercapacitors.Potassium hexa-titanate(K2Ti6O13,KTO),in particular,has shown superior electrochemical properties compared to other alkali metal titanates because of their large lattice parameters induced by the large radius of potassium ions.Here,we present porous rGO crumples(PGC)decorated with KTO nanoparticles(NPs)for application to supercapacitors.The KTO NP/PGC composites were synthesized by aerosol spray pyrolysis and post-heat treatment.KTO NPs less than 10 nm in diameter were loaded onto PGCs ranging from 3 to 5μm.Enhanced porous structure of the composites was obtained by the activation of rGO by adding an excessive amount of KOH to the composites.The KTO NP/PGC composite electrodes fabricated at the GO/KOH/TiO2 ratio of 1:3:0.25 showed the highest performance(275 F g−1)in capacitance with different KOH concentrations and cycling stability(83%)after 2000 cycles at a current density of 1 A g−1.

Self-dispersed molybdenum disulfide quantum dot/graphene crumpled ball as efficient high temperature lubricant additive

Inorganic nanoparticles have been proved as powerful lubricant additives at elevated temperature.However,the tribological properties are inevitably impaired due to poor dispersion and insufficient high temperature resistance of organic matter modified nanoparticles.Here,we prepare a self-dispersed molybdenum disulfide quantum dot/graphene crumpled ball(MGCB)comprising molybdenum disulfide quantum dot uniformly interspersed on the wrinkled graphene ball.The crumpled ball composite possesses excellent dispersity in polyalkylene glycol base oil without depending on surface modifiers.Compared with the conventional phosphate esters lubricant,our results indicate MGCB could vastly improve the lubrication performance of polyalkylene glycol with an extremely low concentration(0.05 wt%)at elevated temperature(150°C),showing a friction reduction of 47%and a wear reduction of 30%compared with the conventional phosphate esters lubricant(tricresyl phosphate,TCP).This is because crumpled ball potentiates synergistic lubrication effect within the boundary lubrication.Overall,we envision our designed self-dispersed MGCB has significant potential in tribological application at elevated temperature.

N-doped crumpled graphene: bottom-up synthesis and its superior oxygen reduction performance

The crumpled graphene(CrG) was fabricated by applying defluorination of polyvinylidenefluoride(PVDF)on highly curved surface of CaC_2 particle through bottom-up synthetic strategy. The limited reaction depth between PVDF and CaC_2 leads to the formation of CrG with thin layer(3.6 layer graphene) and reasonable high specific surface area(~324.8 m^2 g^(-1)). CrG with N incorporation(N-CrG)was applied as electrode material for reducing oxygen(i.e.,oxygen reduction reaction, ORR) in alkaline, showing close onset potential to that of Pt/C and better mass-diffusion behavior. Surprisingly, with increased mass loading of catalysts,N-CrG exhibits steady current increase while Pt/C shows clear current plateau. Meanwhile, the N-CrG sample reveals high cycling stability and tolerance to contaminant,demonstrating its high potential for practical applications.Additionally, the bottom-up synthetic pathway to CrG via polymer dehalogenation on solid alkaline may find more applications which require controlled morphology and thickness of deposited thin graphitic carbon layers.

Enhanced Flexoelectric Response from Functionally Gradient Electrets Undergoing Crumpling Deformation

Non-uniform deformation of the dielectric subjected to external forces can induce the flexoelectric effect, a phenomenon that couples electrical polarization to strain gradients. However, limited by the size effects, flexoelectricity is not significant at the macroscale and only becomes catchable at the microscale and nanoscale. In recent work, we obtained a considerable flexoelectric-like response by crumpling the dielectric embedded with charges, i.e., the electret, which significantly improved the flexoelectric effect at the macroscale. In this work, we further optimize the macroscopic performance of the flexoelectric response by applying gradient treatment to the electret films. Specifically, we analytically derive the electromechanical coupling of crumpled electret films with gradients of different thicknesses, charge densities, and Young’s moduli as key design variables. It is shown that the gradient-oriented electret film can be tuned to nearly five times that of a uniform electret film.

High-performance polyamide nanofiltration membrane with arch-bridge structure on a highly hydrated cellulose nanofiber support

Nanofiltration(NF)membranes with outstanding performance are highly demanded for more efficient desalination and wastewater treatment.However,improving water permeance while maintaining high solute rejection by using the current membrane fabrication techniques remains a challenge.Herein,polyamide(PA)NF membrane with archbridge structure is successfully prepared via interfacial polymerization(IP)on a composite support membrane of saltreinforced hydrophilic bacterial cellulose nanofibers(BCNs)nanofilm/polytetrafluoroethylene(BCNs/PTFE).The strong hydration of BCNs promotes Marangoni convection along water/organic solvent interface during the IP process,which creates extra area for interfacial reaction and produces a thin PA active layer with arch-bridge structures.These arch-bridge structures endow the resulting PA active layer with substantial larger active area for water permeation.Consequently,the PA NF membrane exhibits exceptional desalination performance with a permeance up to 42.5 L m^-2h^-1bar^-1 and a rejection of Na2SO4as high as 99.1%,yielding an overall desalination performance better than almost all of the state-of-the-art NF membranes reported so far in terms of perm-selectivity.

Morphology mediation of MoS_(2) nanosheets with organic cations for fast sodium ion storage

Ion diffusion kinetics,depending on the size,tortuosity,connectivity of the channels,greatly affects the rate performance of the electrodes.Two-dimensional materials(2DMs) has emerged as promising electrode materials in the past decades.Howeve r,the applications of 2DMs electrodes are limited by the strong restacking problem,which leads to a poor rate capability.In this work,we for the first time mediated the mo rphology of molybdenum disulfide(MoS_(2)) nanosheets via a facile coagulation method;abundant sheet crumples were induced,which greatly enhance their surface accessibility and thus benefit the ion diffusion kinetics.Consequently,the crumpled-MoS_(2) electrodes follow a capacitive Na-ion charge-storage mechanism to a large extent.Importantly,we demonstrate the special role of organic cations in the inter-sheet assembly configuration,in sharp contrast with that of alkali/alkaline-earth ones.We propose that organic cations cause edge/face contact of the sheets,instead of the face/face contact,thus affording a house-of-cards structure.