Graphene oxide-bacterial cellulose (GO/BC) nanocomposite hydrogels with well-dispersed GO in the network of BC are successfully developed using a facile one-step in situ biosynthesis by adding GO suspension into the culture medium of BC. During the biosynthesis process, the crystallinity index of BC decreases and GO is partially reduced. The experimental results indicate that GO nanosheets are uniformly dispersed and well-bound to the BC matrix and that the 3D porous structure of BC is sustained. This is responsible for efficient load transfer between the GO reinforcement and BC matrix. Compared with the pure BC, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the GO/BC nanocomposite hydrogel containing 0.48 wt% GO are significantly improved by about 38 and 120%, respectively. The GO/BC nanocomposite hydrogels are promising as a new material for tissue engineering scaffolds.

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Conducting polyaniline (PANI) exhibits interesting properties, such as high conductivity, reversible convertibility between redox states, and advantageous structural feature. It therefore receives ever‐increasing attention for various applications. This Minireview evaluates recent studies on application of PANI for Li‐ion batteries (LIBs), Li–S batteries (LSBs) and supercapacitors (SCPs). The flexible PANI is crucial for cyclability, especially for buffering the volumetric changes of electrode materials, in addition to enhancing the electron/ion transport. Furthermore, PANI can be directly used as an electroactive component in electrode materials for LIBs or SCPs and can be widely applied in LSBs due to its physically and chemically strong affinity for S and polysulfides. The evaluation of studies herein reveals significant improvements of electrochemical performance by physical/chemical modification and incorporation of PANI.

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Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is becoming a promising method for fabricating highly complex ceramics owing to the arbitrary design and the infinite combination of materials. Insufficient density is one of the main problems with 3D printed ceramics, but concentrated descriptions of making dense ceramics are scarce. This review specifically introduces the principles of the four 3D printing technologies and focuses on the parameters of each technology that affect the densification of 3D printed ceramics, such as the performance of raw materials and the interaction between energy and materials. The technical challenges and suggestions about how to achieve higher ceramic density are presented subsequently. The goal of the presented work is to comprehend the roles of critical parameters in the subsequent 3D printing process to prepare dense ceramics that can meet the practical applications.

This paper reports an alternative process to prepare hollow mesoporous silica spheres (HMS) using a single cationic surfactant with a tunable wall thickness and radially oriented pore structures. Using N,N-dimethylformide (DMF) as the intermediate solvent bridging the organic and aqueous phase, hollow mesoporous silica spheres were synthesized with interfacial hydrolysis reactions at the surface of liquid droplets. These spheres have an ordered pore structure aligned along the radial direction, and the wall thickness and sphere sizes can be tuned by adjusting the experimental conditions. Transmission electron microscopy and nitrogen absorption techniques were used to characterize HMS and its formation procedure. A hypothetic formation mechanism was proposed on the basis of a morphology transformation with the correct amount of DMF and a careful observation of the early hydrolysis stages. Au and magnetic Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles have been encapsulated in the HMS hollow core for potential applications.