National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology

Single-Water Microsolvation Promotes Proton Sharing in a Neutral Formic Acid–Ammonia Complex

Abstract Can single-water microsolvation promote proton sharing in a neutral acid–base complex? We address this question for formic acid–ammonia by isolating its monohydrated complex with broadband rotational spectroscopy and interpreting the resolved 14N hyperfine structure with...

Development of Sustainable Thermoplastic Zein by Partial Substitution of Glycerol with Olive Oil or Oleic Acid: a New Route for Injection-Molded Biopolymers

Thermoplastic zein formulations containing 25 wt% total modifier were processed by extrusion and injection molding. Glycerol was progressively replaced with oleic acid (OA) or olive oil (OO) at substitution levels ranging from 2.5 to 10 wt%, while maintaining the zein and total m...

Wax-treated hemp fabrics to reduce water absorption in PLA/PBSA laminated composites

Biocomposites with natural fibres have generated considerable interest thanks to their environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, their use in humid environments remains limited. This study investigates a blend of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBSA) reinf...

Pore-engineered mesoporous silica nanocarriers for sustainable, stimuli-responsive corrosion-inhibitor release

Corrosion of metallic materials, particularly in heritage structures and concrete-based infrastructures, remains a persistent challenge, necessitating protection strategies that are effective, long-lasting, environmentally sustainable, and compatible with heterogeneous substrates...

From Selective Adsorption to Photocatalytic Removal: Complementary Cobalt Oxides for Pollutant-Oriented Treatment of Dye Mixtures

The development of photocatalysts for water treatment generally focuses on maximizing removal efficiency, whereas the role of material–pollutant interactions in determining pollutant-dependent removal behaviour remains comparatively underexplored. Herein, pristine Co3O4 and a CuC...

Hybrid microfibrillar green fluff for efficient capture of realistic micro/nanoplastics and post-use valorization

Micro/nanoplastics (MNPs) represent an emerging environmental challenge due to their widespread occurrence, persistence, and potential impacts on ecosystems. Despite increasing efforts toward their mitigation, the development of advanced materials capable of efficiently capturing...

Additive manufacturing of PHBH and PBAT biopolymers via fused filament fabrication: a comparison between thermal and thermo-mechanical properties

Abstract This study aims to investigate the thermal and thermo-mechanical properties of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBH) and poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) as sustainable alternatives for fused filament fabrication (FFF). Starting from commerc...

From straw waste to circular composites: A systematic comparison of untreated fillers in PBS, PBAT and their blends through performance, morphology and sustainability assessment

In this study, wheat straw (WS) and rice straw (RS) were added up to 30 wt% in maleic anhydride grafted polybutylene succinate (PBS) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) using a co-rotating twin-screw extruder. Injection molded samples were analyzed using tensile, f...

Evidence-based evaluation of berberine in neurodegenerative diseases: targeting multiple signaling pathways and modulating neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), are characterized by progressive neuronal loss, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroinflammation. Novel neuroprotective drugs are urgently required since existing tr...

A Continuous Transferable Core–Valence Geometry Correction

Abstract Core–valence (CV) correlation causes systematic milliangstrom-scale bond contractions in main-group molecules. We develop an analytic radial model for the structural all-electron–frozen-core (AE–FC) correction otherwise obtained from explicit second-order Møller–Plesset...

Integrating Local and Normal Modes for Multilevel Vibrational Spectroscopy

Abstract We present a multilevel strategy for harmonic vibrational spectroscopy in which a lower cost calculation supplies the complete coupled force field and higher level energy calculations refine selected curvatures. Symmetry-oriented non-redundant internal coordinates retain...

Robust Yet Conductive Blend Anion Exchange Membranes for Hydrogen Production via PPO Reinforcement of Highly Functionalized Styrene–Butadiene-Based Ionomers

Herein, vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC)-grafted styrene-butadiene (SB) copolymers, with high contents of VBC (22–32 mol%), were synthesized and blended with low amounts (n = 3–10 wt%) of unfunctionalized poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO). Being well-known for its great chemical compatibilit...

Role of Weathering on the Disintegration of Compatibilized Polymer Blends and Their Release of Microplastics

ABSTRACT The increasing environmental presence of microplastics and nanoplastics constitutes a critical concern for environmental integrity and public health, with notable repercussions across aquatic systems, terrestrial ecosystems, and both human and animal health. These partic...

Ligand binding free energy landscapes at the tubulin colchicine site from coarse-grained metadynamics

Accessing deeply buried binding sites remains a major challenge in structure-based drug discovery, where accurate description of both protein dynamics and ligand binding pathways is required. All-atom funnel metadynamics (AA-FMD) enables simulation of complete binding processes b...

An overview of the uses of polymers with intrinsic microporosity as binders for electrocatalysis

This comprehensive review provides a detailed analysis of the potential of polymers with intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) as specialized binders for electrochemical applications. The quest for improved fuel cell and electrolyzer performance has driven extensive research on binders....

Comparative cytoarchitectural and proteomic analysis of the primary motor cortex in pigs and wild boars reveals domestication associated changes

Background Domestication appears to modify the morphology and physiology of the central nervous system. Owing to the limited availability of proteomic and cytoarchitectural data for comparisons between wild and domesticated species, we conducted a comparative analysis of the cyto...

Development and Research of Different Perovskitic Electrocatalysts Synthesized via Co-Precipitation

Reversible solid oxide cells (ReSOCs) represent one of the most promising electrochemical technologies for sustainable energy conversion and storage, yet their large-scale deployment remains constrained by electrode materials capable of sustaining stable performance under alterna...