This work introduces a feasible method for the preparation of catalyst-free vegetable oil based vitrimer elastomers with excellent mechanical and recycling properties.

As one of the promising alternatives of lithium-ion batteries, zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have received growing interest from researchers due to their good safety, eco-friendliness, and low cost. Nevertheless, aqueous ZIBs are still a step away from practical applications due to the nonuniform deposition of Zn and parasitic side reactions, which cause capacity fading and even short circuit. To tackle these problems, here we introduce a single-Zn-ion conducting hydrogel electrolyte (SIHE), P­(ICZn-AAm), synthesized with iota carrageenan (IC) and acrylamide (AAm). The SIHE manifests single Zn2+ conductivity via the abundant sulfates fixed on the IC polymer backbone, delivering a high Zn2+ transference number of 0.93. It also exhibits outstanding ionic conductivity of 2.15 × 10–3 S cm–1 at room temperature. The enhanced compatibility at the electrode–electrolyte interface was verified by the stable Zn striping/plating performance along with a homogenous and smooth Zn deposition layer. It is also found that the passivation of the Zn anode can be effectively prohibited due to the lack of free anions in the electrolyte. The practical performance of the SIHE is further investigated with Zn–V2O5 batteries, which showed a stable capacity of 271.6 mA h g–1 over 150 cycles at 2 C and 127.5 mA h g–1 over 500 cycles at 5 C.

Waterproof and breathable membranes (WBMs) have drawn broad attention due to their widespread applications in various scientific and industry fields. However, creating WBMs with environment-friendliness and high performance is still a critical and challenging task. Herein, an environmentally friendly fluorine-free WBM with high performance was prepared through electrospinning and one-step dip-coating technology. The fluorine-free waterborne hydroxyl acrylic resin (HAR) emulsion containing long hydrocarbon chains endowed the electrospun polyacrylonitrile/blocked isocyanate prepolymer (PAN/BIP) fibrous membranes with superior hydrophobicity; meanwhile, crosslinking agent BIP ensured strong chemical binding between hydrocarbon segments and fiber substrate. The as-prepared PAN/BIP@HAR fibrous membranes achieve ideal properties with waterproofness of 112.5 kPa and moisture permeability of 12.7 kg m −2 d −1 , which are comparable to the existing high-performance fluorinated WBMs. Besides, the PAN/BIP@HAR membranes also display impressive tensile strength and durability. Significantly, the proposed technology was also applicable to other hydrophilic fiber substrates, such as cellulose acetate and polyamide 6. The successful synthesis of environmentally friendly, durably waterproof, and highly breathable PAN/BIP@HAR membranes not only opens a new avenue to materials design, but also provides promising candidates with tremendous potential in various areas.

Effectively guiding and accurately controlling cell adhesion and growth on the surface of specific morphological materials are key issues and hot research directions for optimizing biomaterials. Herein, novel polymorphic alginate...