Inspired by a cactus spine and trichomes integrated fog collection system, a strategy is presented to design a micro/nanostructured conical spine and Janus membrane integrative system (MNCS+JM). In this strategy, the surface of conical spine can be covered with rough micro and nanostructure (MNCS), so that the tiny fog-droplets can be captured, coalesced, and transported. Janus membrane (JM) with inside hydrophobic surface and outside hydrophilic surface is further used to control the water collection in process of droplet transport when the Janus membrane is vertically placed with different positions on the MNCS, thus MNCS+JM propel the droplet continuously for transport-coalescence-transport in a circle of droplet transport and collection. It is demonstrated that a higher fog collection rate can be achieved effectively, which is attributed to a cooperation effect between the Laplace pressure in difference and the released surface energy in droplet coalescence, in addition to wettability force of superhydrophobic-hydrophilic difference in the Janus membrane. This strategy of MNCS+JM offers an insight into the surface of materials to control the droplet transport for water collection in efficiency, which is significant to be extended into the realms of applications such as high-efficiency water collection systems, microfluidics devices, and others.

The Drosophila Homothorax (HTH) and Extradenticle (EXD) are two homeoproteins required in a number of developmental processes. EXD can function as a cofactor to Hox proteins. Its nuclear localization is dependent on HTH. In this study we present evidence of in vivo physical interaction between HTH and EXD, mediated primarily through an evolutionarily conserved MH domain in HTH. This interaction is essential for the mutual stabilization of both proteins, for EXD nuclear localization, and for the cooperative DNA binding of the EXD-HTH heterodimer. Some in vivo functions require both EXD and HTH in the nucleus, suggesting that the EXD-HTH complex may function as a transcriptional regulator.

Developing bio-based flame retardants according to a green and simple strategy has drawn extensive attention recently. Hence, a biomass-derived, flame-retardant, latent curing agent (IMPA) was synthesized via the neutralization between imidazole and phytic acid in water at room temperature and was applied for single-component epoxy resin (EP). The results indicate that the shelf life of the resultant EP (EP/IMPA) increases from <1 day of the control single-component EP to 10 days at room temperature. Meanwhile, EP/IMPA features a fast curing rate at modest temperature (80–150 °C), and its gel time at 100 °C is only 14 min. Notably, EP/IMPA achieves superior flame retardancy with a limiting oxygen index of 34.7% and UL-94 V-0 rating. The peak heat release rate (PHRR), total heat release (THR), and total smoke production (TSP) of EP/IMPA are reduced by 43.0%, 31.9%, and 31.5% compared with the control sample. The enhanced fire safety is ascribed to the flame-retardant function of IMPA in both gaseous and condensed phases. Hence, this work provides a green and feasible method to create bio-based, flame-retardant, latent curing agents for one-component epoxy systems.

By applying the asymmetric magnetic field to a discharge, the dc self-bias and asymmetric plasma response can be generated even in a geometrically and electrically symmetric system. This is called magnetical asymmetric effect (MAE), which can be a new method to control the ion energy and flux independently (Yang et al 2017 Plasma Process. Polym. 14 1700087). In the present work, the effects of magnetic field gradient, gas pressure and gap length on MAE are investigated by using a one-dimensional implicit particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulation. It found that by appropriately increasing the magnetic field gradient and the gap length, the range of the self-bias voltage will be enlarged, which can be used as the effective approach to control the ion bombarding energy at the electrodes since the ion energy is determined by the voltage drop across the sheath. It also found that the ion flux asymmetry will disappear at high pressure when the magnetic field gradient is relative low, due to the frequent electron-neutral collisions can disrupt electron gyromotion and thus the MAE is greatly reduced.