A key challenge for the fabrication of flexible electrochemical capacitors is to prepare robust electrode materials with excellent integration of high specific capacitances and superior mechanical properties. Aramid nanofibers (ANFs) are emerging candidates for constructing flexible electrode materials due to their superior mechanical properties. However, the present ANF based electrode materials are generally designed by mixing ANFs with electrochemically active components, which results in an unfavorable trade-off in mechanical and electrochemical properties. In this work, we reported flexible, mechanically strong, and free-standing supercapacitor electrodes based on polyaniline (PANI) nanostructure functionalized ANF films for the first time. The flexible PANI@ANF film electrodes achieved an efficient combination of mechanical and electrochemical performance in a single platform with a specific capacitance of 441.0 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹ and a tensile strength of 233.3 MPa, respectively. This kind of free-standing electrode material may have great potential in the development of flexible energy-storage devices. Furthermore, we anticipate that this study may provide insight into the functionalization of aramid nanofiber-based materials for structural energy and power systems with high mechanical performance.

In this study, Phellinus linteus polysaccharides (PLPS) and proteins were simultaneously separated from P. linteus mycelia by using an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) based on choline chloride ([Chol]Cl)/K₂HPO₄, and the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of PLPS after ATPS extraction were evaluated. Results demonstrated that the maximal extraction efficiencies of 68.53% ± 0.29% PLPS and 82.37% ± 0.41% proteins were obtained when the cholinium-based ATPS contained 68.9% K₂HPO₄, 20% [Chol]Cl, 10.0 mg mL⁻¹ crude water extract (1.0 mL), and distilled water (4.0 mL) at shaking time and temperature of 30 min and 21.2 °C, respectively. Compared with C-PLPS obtained using traditional ethanol precipitation and isolation protocols, PLPS had higher carbohydrate content (63.58% ± 1.12%), lower molecular weight (15.2 kDa, 80%), different monosaccharide compositions, and showed similar preliminary structural characterizations. Moreover, PLPS exhibited more evident scavenging effects on free radicals and in vitro antioxidant activities than C-PLPS. Therefore, the method of [Chol]Cl/K₂HPO₄ ATPS can be developed as an effective strategy for the separation/purification of highly bioactive polysaccharides.

The rapid development of DNA nanotechnology over the past decade has enabled the self-assembly of conducting building blocks towards the construction of conductive nanowires with potential applications in electronic nanodevices. To date, however, construction of nanostructures with novel electrical properties via DNA templating remains poorly explored. Here, we show that DNA can be used as a guiding template for the fabrication of polyaniline nanowires and gold nanoparticle (AuNP)–polyaniline-alternated hybrid nanowires, both of which exhibit novel electrical properties as characterized by point-contact current imaging atomic force microscopy (PCI-AFM). Specifically, the DNA-templated polyaniline nanowires exhibit Schottky emission-dominated conduction as well as a rectification effect, while the current–voltage (I–V) behaviours of the DNA-templated AuNP–polyaniline hybrid nanowires were found to be attributable to Coulomb blockade effects, probably due to the fact that the configuration of the hybrid nanowires resembles that of a one-dimensional array of multiple tunnel junctions. Given the facile and low-cost self-assembly technique, the present work is of fundamental and technological importance to the fabrication of one-dimensional nanodevices capable of novel charge transport.