Editorial for Forum on Applied Supramolecular Materials

Design and Fabrication of Nanocellulose-Chitosan Composite Hydrogels with Enhanced Mechanical and Antibacterial Properties

Due to its outstanding mechanical properties and biocompatibility, nanocellulose (NCC) has gained significant attention as a promising new material in the biomedical field. In this study, a high-performance nanocellulose-chitosan (NCC-CS) composite hydrogel was prepared, incorporating silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to enhance its antibacterial functionality. The inclusion of NCC substantially improved the physical and functional properties of the hydrogel, as evidenced by a 64.9% increase in tensile strength, an 83.6% enhancement in swelling ratio, and an approximately 91.1-fold reduction in pore size. Meanwhile, the incorporation of NCC particles also played a pivotal role during material modification: they not only provided additional structural support, resulting in superior mechanical performance of the composite hydrogel, but also ensured a more uniform dispersion within the hydrogel matrix, further improving overall stability and processability. Compared with conventional hydrogels, the NCC-CS hydrogel exhibited accelerated degradation rates and remarkable antibacterial activity. These findings highlight the potential of NCC-CS composite hydrogels as multifunctional biomedical materials for applications such as skin injury repair, burn treatment, and chronic wound healing. Moreover, this study offers valuable insights into the structure-property relationships of nanocellulose composite hydrogels, laying a solid foundation for their broader use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Fabrication strategies for chiral self-assembly surface

Chiral self-assembly is the spontaneous organization of individual building blocks from chiral (bio)molecules to macroscopic objects into ordered superstructures. Chiral self-assembly is ubiquitous in nature, such as DNA and proteins, which formed the foundation of biological structures. In addition to chiral (bio) molecules, chiral ordered superstructures constructed by self-assembly have also attracted much attention. Chiral self-assembly usually refers to the process of forming chiral aggregates in an ordered arrangement under various non-covalent bonding such as H-bond, π-π interactions, van der Waals forces (dipole-dipole, electrostatic effects, etc.), and hydrophobic interactions. Chiral assembly involves the spontaneous process, which followed the minimum energy rule. It is essentially an intermolecular interaction force. Self-assembled chiral materials based on chiral recognition in electrochemistry, chiral catalysis, optical sensing, chiral separation, etc. have a broad application potential with the research development of chiral materials in recent years.

Adsorption of methyl orange by porous membranes prepared from deep eutectic supramolecular polymer-modified chitosan

The fabrication of an adsorbent with excellent performance has been a focus of attention because of the toxicity, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of methyl orange (MO)-containing wastewater discharged from the textile, tannery and pharmaceutical industries. In this study, chitosan (CS) membranes were modified with a deep eutectic supramolecular polymer (DESP), and adsorbent membranes with porous structures were prepared with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Microstructural characterization of the CS-DESP-PEG composite membranes with FT-IR, XRD and SEM showed that the membranes had amorphous crystalline structures and that hydrogen bonding interactions weakened the crystallinity and formed loose porous structures. Optimization of the chitosan to β-cyclodextrin ratio, pH, PEG proportion, MO concentration and adsorbent dose significantly improved the adsorption efficiencies of the membranes. The adsorption behaviours of the membranes were fit with pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetics and the Freundlich adsorption isotherm model. Regeneration experiments showed that the membranes were reusable multiple times and maintained good adsorption capacities.