Your browser does not fully support modern features. Please upgrade for a smoother experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
This review summarizes the current status, operating principles, and recent advances in high-temperature polymer electrolyte membranes (HT-PEMs), with a particular focus on the recent developments, technical challenges and commercial prospects of the HT-PEM fuel cells. A detailed review of the most recent research activities has been covered by this work, with a major focus on the state-of-the-art concepts describing the proton conductivity and degradation mechanisms of HT-PEMs. Also, the fuel cell performance and the lifetime of HT-PEM fuel cells as a function of operating conditions have been discussed. In addition, the review will highlight the important outcomes found in recent literature about the HT-PEM fuel cell. The main objectives of this review paper will be as follows: (1) the latest development of the HT-PEMs, primarily based on polybenzimidazole membranes, (2) the latest development of the fuel cell performance and the lifetime of the HT-PEMs.
  • 1.8K
  • 28 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Interaction-Induced Structural Transformations in Polysaccharide and Protein-Polysaccharide Gels
Polysaccharides are biocompatible nontoxic natural polymer compounds. They are widely used as functional soft-matter for exploration in the food industry, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and other biomedical research and applications. The tunable macroscopic properties of gels should meet case-dependent requirements. The admixture of proteins to polysaccharides and their coupling in more sophisticated structures opens an avenue for gel property tuning via physical cross-linking of components and the modification of gel network structure.
  • 1.8K
  • 24 May 2022
Topic Review
Non-Fullerene Acceptors of IDIC/ITIC Families
IDIC/ITIC families of non-fullerene acceptors has boosted the photovoltaic performances of bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells. The fine tuning of the photophysical, morphological and processability properties with the aim of reaching higher and higher photocurrent efficiencies has prompted uninterrupted worldwide research on these peculiar families of organic compounds.
  • 1.8K
  • 17 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Natural-Drugs-Based Low-Molecular-Weight Supramolecular Gels
The utilization of paclitaxel, camptothecin, rhein, curcumin, and other natural small molecular drugs with unique rigid backbone structures and modifiable multiple sites as building blocks to form gels by self-assembly has attracted widespread attention. The obtained low-molecular-weight supramolecular gel not only retains the general characteristics of the gel but also overcomes the shortcomings of natural drugs, such as poor water solubility and low bioavailability.
  • 1.7K
  • 12 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Recycling of Multilayer Waste Films
In a circular economy context with the dual problems of depletion of natural resources and the environmental impact of a growing volume of wastes, it is of great importance to focus on the recycling process of multilayered plastic films. First to the general concepts and summary of plastic waste management in general, making emphasis on the multilayer films recycling process. Then, in the second part, the focus is dealing with multilayer films manufacturing process, including the most common materials used for agricultural applications, their processing, and the challenges of their recycling, recyclability, and reuse. Hitherto, some prospects are discussed from eco-design to mechanical or chemical recycling approaches.
  • 1.7K
  • 20 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Aggregation-Induced Emission Properties in Polymers
Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) is a phenomenon that consists of the appearance of fluorescence in solid state or aggregation greater than that of molecules in solution and has recently attracted the attention of the scientific community because of their potential applications in different fields. Compared to small molecules, little attention has been paid to polymers and oligomers that exhibit AIE, despite having excellent properties such as high emission efficiency in aggregate and solid states, signal amplification effect, good processability and the availability of multiple functionalization sites. In addition to these features, if the molecular structure is fully conjugated, intramolecular electronic interactions between the composing chromophores may appear, thus giving rise to a wealth of new photophysical properties. In this review, we focus on selected fully conjugated oligomers, dendrimers and polymers, and briefly summarize their synthetic routes, fluorescence properties and potential applications. An exhaustive comparison between spectroscopic results in solution and aggregates or in solid state has been collected in almost all examples, and an opinion on the future direction of the field is briefly stated.
  • 1.7K
  • 02 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Hydrogels in Hand Sanitizers
Hand hygiene can be considered a strategic key useful in the containment of infections such as COVID-19 both at home and in communities because it can dramatically reduce the widespread outbreak of infections. 
  • 1.7K
  • 08 May 2021
Topic Review
Quinoxaline-Based Photoinitiators of Polymerization
Photopolymerization offers a unique opportunity to convert liquid monomers to polymers using light as the activation source. Major efforts have been devoted to developing visible light photo-initiating systems, and the search for new dyes that can be incorporated into photocurable resins and polymerize a resin within a few seconds is still ongoing.
  • 1.7K
  • 24 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Printed Electronics
Printed electronics are manufactured in a process of registering thin functional material (ink) layer combinations on a low-cost substrate that may be recycled and/or naturally degraded in nature. Correspondingly, the manufacturing process is composed of three complementary stages: material selection, printing and post-printing. The materials for the printed electronics are principally inks of conducting, semiconducting or dielectric characteristics and substrates, which are derived from synthetic or natural polymers.  The inks are transferred with a master through direct contact to the substrate in case of contact printing, while they are deposited onto the substrate typically through nozzles in case of non-contact printing. Posterior to the printing process, it is often necessary to conduct sintering/curing in order to reach the desired functional ink and substrate characteristics. The inks, substrate and the printing technology along with the post printing requirements must be carefully evaluated for quality, repeatability and life-time aspects of the yield.
  • 1.7K
  • 23 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Design and Synthesis of Sidechain Phosphorus-Containing Polyacids
Macromolecules containing acidic fragments in side-groups—polyacids—occupy a special place among synthetic polymers. Properties and applications of polyacids are directly related to the chemical structure of macromolecules: the nature of the acidic groups, polymer backbone, and spacers between the main chain and acidic groups. The chemical nature of the phosphorus results in the diversity of acidic >P(O)OH fragments in sidechain phosphorus-containing polyacids (PCPAs) that can be derivatives of phosphoric or phosphinic acids.
  • 1.7K
  • 13 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Eco-Friendly Emergent Structural Adhesives
Using adhesives for connection technology has many benefits. It is cost-efficient, fast, and allows homogeneous stress distribution between the bonded surfaces. 
  • 1.7K
  • 22 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Crosslinking of Electrospun Gelatin Nanofibers
Electrospinning can be used to prepare nanofiber mats from diverse polymers, polymer blends, or polymers doped with other materials. Amongst this broad range of usable materials, biopolymers play an important role in biotechnological, biomedical, and other applications. Biopolymers like gelatin, however, need to be crosslinked for most applications.
  • 1.7K
  • 24 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Natural Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites
As one of the fastest-growing additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, fused deposition modelling (FDM) shows great potential in printing natural fibre-reinforced composites (NFRC). However, several challenges, such as low mechanical properties and difficulty in printing, need to be overcome. Therefore, the effort to improve the NFRC for use in AM has been accelerating in recent years.
  • 1.7K
  • 23 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Material Reactions, Degradation and Applications of Polyvinylidene Fluoride
Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), the chemical formula is (C2H2F2)n. Its basic building blocks are therefore carbon, hydrogen, and fluorine. These three elements can form several crystalline chain conformations. Conformations are defined by polar and nonpolar phases. Four phases are most commonly found in the literature: α-, β-, γ-, and δ-. 
  • 1.7K
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Solid-State Polymer Electrolytes for Lithium Batteries
In all-solid-state rechargeable lithium batteries, the solid-state electrolyte is located between the cathode and the anode, acting as an electrolyte and a separator, so the performance of the solid-state electrolyte is crucial to the performance of the entire battery.
  • 1.7K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Nanotechnology in Enhanced Oil Recovery
Nanotechnology is defined as a new technology for making applicable matters, systems and devices using nanosized materials, as well as new phenomena and properties at the nanoscale (1–100 nanometers) [1]. Adding certain Nanoparticles (NPs) to injection solutions can significantly benefit enhanced oil recovery (EOR), with advantages such as wettability alternation, changes in fluid properties, improving the trapped oil mobility, enhancing the consolidation of sands and decreasing the interfacial tension (IFT) 
  • 1.7K
  • 09 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Graphene-Based Nanocomposites
Graphene is an allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of atoms arranged in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. Carbon atoms are bonded with a covalent sp2bond with a single free electron, which accounts for the conductivity of graphene. Graphene is attracting great interests from the physical, chemical, and biomedical fields as a novel nanomaterial with exceptional physical properties, including extremely high thermal conductivity, excellent electrical conductivity, high surface-to-volume ratio, remarkable mechanical strength, and biocompatibility.
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Jan 2022
Topic Review
MIP Application for the Detection of Cancer Biomarkers
Biomarkers can provide critical information about cancer and many other diseases; therefore, developing analytical systems for recognising biomarkers is an essential direction in bioanalytical chemistry. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been applied in analytical systems to determine biomarkers. The most attractive way to replace natural biological recognition systems is based on applying molecularly imprinted polymers.
  • 1.7K
  • 24 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Bioplastics in the Circular Economy
The European Union is working towards the 2050 net-zero emissions goal and tackling the ever-growing environmental and sustainability crisis by implementing the European Green Deal. The shift towards a more sustainable society is intertwined with the production, use, and disposal of plastic in the European economy. Emissions generated by plastic production, plastic waste, littering and leakage in nature, insufficient recycling, are some of the issues addressed by the European Commission. Adoption of bioplastics–plastics that are biodegradable, bio-based, or both–is under assessment as one way to decouple society from the use of fossil resources, and to mitigate specific environmental risks related to plastic waste. 
  • 1.7K
  • 22 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Ultrasonic dynamic mechanical analysis (UDMA) for polymer characterization
Ultrasonic wave propagation has been used for the high frequency dynamic mechanical analysis of polymers with the aim to monitor the changes of viscoelastic properties in polymers associated with glass transition, crystallization, physical or chemical gelation, crosslinking, and curing reactions.
  • 1.7K
  • 11 Jun 2020
  • Page
  • of
  • 23
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Reprints

>>
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Medieval Royal Iconography
Academic Video Service
Feedback

Quick Survey

Encyclopedia MDPI is conducting a targeted survey to identify the specific barriers hindering efficient research. We invite you to spend 3 minutes defining the priorities for our next generation of structured knowledge tools.
Take Survey