Sai Gong^1,2,#, Shanglin Xiang^1,#, Tingwei Wang^1,*, Dongyu Cai^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.3, pp. 1063-1076, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.023011

Abstract Waterborne polymers are vital for coating industry to reduce carbon emissions. However, formation of robust and self-healable films at ambient temperature remains a challenge owing to high energy cost of film formation process. This work reports a solar-driven film formation of waterborne polyurethanes (WPUs) containing disulfide bonds via in-situ incorporation of 2D titanium carbide (MXene) with ability to convert light to heat. Instead of directly mixed with WPUs, MXene is added to join the reaction with isocyanate-terminated pre-polymer before emulsification process. This approach not only prevents aggregation of MXene in water but stabilizes MXene against thermal degradation which is the… More > Graphic Abstract

Jianjun Guo^1,2, Lingling Jia³, Sandra Senyo Fometu⁴, Qiang Ma⁵, Jinjin Wang¹, Hang Li¹, Lei Jiang⁵, Guohua Wu^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.12, pp. 3373-3389, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.021087

Abstract Traditionally, silkworm silk has been used to make high-quality textiles. Nevertheless, various wastes from silkworm silk textiles that are no longer used are increasing, which is also causing considerable waste and contamination. This issue is causing widespread concern in countries that use more silk. Regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) fibers have been shown to be fragile and tender, which prohibits RSF from being widely used as a structural component. Therefore, enriching the function of silk and enhancing the RSF mechanical properties are important directions to expand the comprehensive utilization of silk products. In the present research, wet spinning was used to… More >