Aerogels hold promises as lightweight replacements in various applications but are plagued by their fabrication equipment, such as supercritical dryers or lyophilizers that need to work under extreme conditions. This study presents a covalent chemistry approach to strengthen cellulose nanofibers (CNF) with carboxymethylated chitosan (CMCs) to produce aerogels by ambient drying. The cross-linking and gelation of the CNF and CMCs solutions are triggered by a triazine derivative, 4-(4,6-Dimethoxy[1.3.5]triazin-2-yl)-4-methylmorpholinium chloride hydrate, to form an amide bond. This approach leads to robust hydrogels that can resist capillary force during the ambient volatilization process and are turned into aerogels by freezing, solvent thawing and exchange, and ambient drying. The lightweight aerogels exhibit desirable qualities, including superior mechanical performance, a low density of 12.0 mg cm −3 , and low shrinkage of 10.1%. The presented CMCs/ CNF aerogels can also serve as a helpful carrier for conductive polymer, poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):tosylate, through in situ polymerization to demonstrate their applications. These conductive aerogels are used for highperformance supercapacitors and moisture-enabled electrical generators. This study provides inspiration and a reliable approach for the elaborately structural design of aerogels at ambient conditions and endows application prospects in energy storage and generation opportunities.
We report a photolithographic process for micropatterning of two-component biomolecules on a transparent organic film via lateral functional polymer brushes of poly(sodium acrylate) (P(AA)) and poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (P(GMA)). The pattern of binary polymer brushes were prepared via consecutive UV-initiated grafting processes, under the assistance of the in situ formed poly (4,4'-bi[N-(4-vinylbenzyl) pyridinium]) (P(BVV)) photomask. The epoxy groups of the P(GMA) microdomains can be aminated for covalently coupling biotin, while the P(AA) microdomains were used for immobilizing immunoglobulin (IgG). The resulting biotin- and IgG-coupled microdomains interact specifically with their corresponding target proteins, avidin and anti-IgG, respectively.
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