Materials Horizons Blog

Scientists in China have developed a polymer scaffold for functional nanoparticles that can be folded and mangled but will reform into its original shape if it is placed in water.

Materials often exhibit very different properties when shrunk down to the nanoscale. Exciting new devices can be designed when nanoscale characteristics are brought together in synergy with macroscale materials, but bespoke production processes are often needed for each new nano-composite material.

Shu-Hong Yu and colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of China have developed a simple shape memory polymer scaffold from chitosan that can be used as a host for a wide range of different functional nanoparticles, combining benefits from the macro- and nanoscale.

Conducting polymer nanoparticles enhance membrane permeability and but repel protein molecules

There is usually a trade-off between selectivity and liquid permeability when making an ultrafiltration membrane but new research from scientists in the US suggests this doesn’t have to be the case.

When designing a membrane to filter proteins from a liquid the aim is to increase the permeability of the membrane and to reduce the energy and time needed to achieve separation without forfeiting the selectivity of the membrane. Another goal is to eliminate the need to clean or replace the membrane by finding a way to prevent proteins from blocking the membrane’s pores and hindering its permeability.