Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310027, China.
Qiushi Academy for Advanced Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310027, China.
Adv Mater. 2022 Mar;34(9):e2107523. doi: 10.1002/adma.202107523. Epub 2022 Jan 24.
The development of environmentally friendly plastics is critical to ensure sustainable development. In contrast to polymer plastics derived from petrochemicals, inorganic minerals, which are the most abundant matter in Earth's crust, are environmentally friendly. However, the brittleness of these minerals limits their applications as plastics. Here, because of the advantages of both biomineralization and inorganic ionic polymerization, the calcium phosphate (CaP, a typical geological and biological mineral) oligomers are used for biomimetic mineralization under the regulation of polyvinyl alcohol and sodium alginate, resulting in flexible CaP nanofibers with periodic structural defects. The assembly of CaP nanofibers produces a hierarchically structured bulk hybrid mineral (HM), which overcomes the intrinsic brittleness of minerals and exhibits plasticity characteristics. HM exhibits better hardness and thermostability than classical polymer plastics due to its dominant mineral composition. Notably, HM is environmentally friendly and degradable in nature, as it can potentially participate in geological cycles, indicating that this material is an optimal plastic substitute. The construction of periodic structural defects within flexible minerals expands the current understanding of materials science.
发展环保型塑料对于确保可持续发展至关重要。与源自石化产品的聚合物塑料相比，无机矿物是地壳中最丰富的物质，具有环保性。然而，这些矿物的脆性限制了它们作为塑料的应用。在这里，由于生物矿化和无机离子聚合的优势，在聚乙烯醇和海藻酸钠的调节下，使用磷酸钙（CaP，一种典型的地质和生物矿物）低聚物进行仿生矿化，从而产生具有周期性结构缺陷的柔性 CaP 纳米纤维。CaP 纳米纤维的组装产生了具有层次结构的块状杂化矿物（HM），克服了矿物的固有脆性并表现出塑性特征。由于其主要的矿物成分，HM 表现出比经典聚合物塑料更好的硬度和热稳定性。值得注意的是，HM 本质上是环保且可降解的，因为它有可能参与地质循环，这表明这种材料是一种理想的塑料替代品。在柔性矿物中构建周期性结构缺陷扩展了人们对材料科学的现有理解。
