Structural energy storage systems offer both load bearing and electrochemical energy storage capabilities in a single multifunctional platform. They are emerging technologies for modern air and ground transportation vehicles, promising considerable mass and volume savings over traditional systems. To this end, carbon fibre reinforced composites have attracted interest for structural supercapacitors (SS), emanating principally from their similar laminate design. However, carbon fibre (CF) electrodes suffer from poor electrochemical storage performance. To tackle this deficiency carbon fiber electrodes were modified with a 3D network of radially grown graphene nanoflakes (GNFs) to enhance their degree of graphitization and active surface area. We show that the GNF surface morphology offers a ~9 times increase in specific capacitance (C_sp) of CF structural supercapacitor. Moreover chemical activation of the GNF/CF hybrid electrodes by urea, induces a further improvement on C_sp by ~14 times, while almost maintaining the elastic modulus of the control CF based device. It has been established that the high specific capacitance stems from the high electro-active edge-dominated nitrogen-moieties and enhanced electrical conductivity induced by urea activation. Overall, the urea-activated hybrid electrodes offer a ~12 fold increase in energy and power densities, compared to CF control structural supercapacitor devices. These findings provide important knowledge for the design of next-generation multifunctional energy storage electrodes by highlighting the importance of interfacial nanoengineering.

The development of nanoscale reinforcements, which can tailor the interfacial strength and impart multiple functionalities on carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites, remains a challenge for their large-scale adoption in diverse applications ranging from aerospace to transportation and construction industries. In this work radially aligned graphene nanoflakes (GNFs), grown directly on carbon fibers (CFs) via a simple one-step microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method, without any catalyst, were used as a novel nano-reinforcement interface. A remarkable 28% enhancement in the tensile strength of the hybrid fibers was observed via single-fiber tensile strength tests, whereas the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) increased by 101.5%. Our results demonstrate that GNFs not only improve the interfacial strength between the GNFs and the epoxy resin but also enhance the in-plane mechanical strength of the CFs—a well-known problem encountered with the direct growth of carbon nanotubes on CFs. In addition, GNFs provided embedded functionality via increased electrical conductivity (60.5% improvement for yarns and 16% for single fiber) and electrochemical capacitance (157% for yarns). This work indicates the potential of GNFs as an interphase for the simplified and cost-effective production of stronger multifunctional CFRP composite materials.

The global turn from the linear to the circular economy imposes changes in common activities such as food packaging. The use of biodegradable materials such as polyvinyl alcohol, natural raw materials such as clays, and food byproducts such as chitosan to develop novel food packaging films attracts the interest of industrial and institutional research centers. In this study, novel hybrid nanostructures were synthesized via the growth of zinc oxide nanorods on the surface of two nanoclays. The obtained nanostructures were incorporated with chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol composite either as nanoreinforcement or as an active agent to develop packaging films. The developed films were characterized via XRD, FTIR, mechanical, water-vapor diffusion, water sorption, and oxygen permeability measurements. Antimicrobial activity measurements were carried out against four different pathogen microorganisms. XRD indicated the formation of an intercalated nanocomposite structure for both types of nanoclays. Furthermore, improved tensile, water/oxygen barrier, and antimicrobial properties were recorded for all films compared to the pure chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol film. Overall, the results indicated that the use of the bio-based developed films led to an extension of food shelf life and could be used as novel active food packaging materials. Among them, the most promising film was the 6% wt. ZnO@halloysite.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has gained increasing attention for its unique ability to create geometrically complex designs, which not only can be used for mass manufacturing but also has environmental and economic benefits. Additionally, as far as the food industry is concerned, this emerging technology has the potential to personalize products in terms of shape and/or nutritional requirements creating a wide range of food items with specially made shapes, colors, textures, tastes, and even nutrition using suitable raw materials/food components. In the future, 3D food printing could make complex food models with special interior design. This review gives attention to intelligent food packaging. Point-of-use machinery for manufacturing smart packaging, with a 3D printing approach, enables the use of multifunctional smart components and is self-identifying and highly sensitive, while using biocompatible non-toxic materials is cheaper than traditional manufacturing methods. This would create smart food packaging and in turn prevent customers from purchasing unsuitable food and thus reduce food waste. Future studies can make the process more compatible and efficient with a wide variety of materials that could be used to improve the 3D printing process.

This study presents, the development of a green method to produce rich in thymol natural zeolite (TO@NZ) nanostructures. This material was used to prepare sodium-alginate/glycerol/xTO@NZ (ALG/G/TO@NZ) nanocomposite active films for the packaging of soft cheese to extend its shelf-life. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) instruments were used for the characterization of such nanostructures and films, to identify the thymol adsorbed amount, to investigate the thermal behaviour, and to confirm the dispersion of nanostructure powder into the polymer matrix. Water vapor transmission rate, oxygen permeation analyzer, tensile measurements, antioxidant measurements, and antimicrobial measurements were used to estimate the film’s water and oxygen barrier, mechanical properties, nanostructure’s nanoreinforcement activity, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. The findings from the study revealed that ALG/G/TO@NZ nanocomposite film could be used as an active packaging film for foods with enhanced, mechanical properties, oxygen and water barrier, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, and it is capable of extending food shelf-life.

With electronic devices evolving toward portable and high-performance wearables, the constraints of complex and wet processing technologies become apparent. This study presents a scalable photolithography/chemical-free method for crafting wearable all-carbon nanotube (CNT) photodetector device arrays. Laser-assisted patterning and dry deposition techniques directly assemble gas-phase CNTs into flexible devices without any lithography or lift-off processes. The resulting wafer-scale all-CNT photodetector arrays showcase excellent uniformity, wearability, environmental stability, and notable broadband photoresponse, boasting a high responsivity of 44 AW^-1 and a simultaneous detectivity of 1.9 × 10⁹ Jones. This research provides an efficient, versatile, and scalable strategy for manufacturing wearable all-CNT device arrays, allowing widespread adoption in wearable optoelectronics and multifunctional sensors.