Xuejun Lai

• PhD
• Professor at South China University of Technology

Due to the increasingly stringent environmental regulations and the great demand for sustainable materials, fluorine‐free water‐ and oil‐resistant coatings for paper have attracted considerable attention in the field of packaging and decoration. In this study, acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) and pentaerythritol tetrakis(mercaptoacetate) (PE...

The preparation of high‐performance and fire‐safe electrolytes for flexible quasi‐solid‐state supercapacitors is challenging. In this work, a novel fire‐safe and multifunctional deep eutectic solvent gel (DESG) is fabricated using acrylic acid and urea as hydrogen bond donors and choline chloride as a hydrogen bond acceptor. DESG shows a high ionic...

The tracking-resistant silicone rubber with superior water resistance is very essential for outdoor high-voltage transmission field. In this work, aminepropyltriethoxysilane-immobilized silica (APTES-SiO2) was prepared through dehydration condensation between the ethoxy groups of aminepropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and hydroxyl groups on the SiO2 su...

A high-efficiency and high-safety wood-based self-protection electrolyte (DW@SPE) was fabricated via vacuum soaking.

This work highlights the synergistic integration of mechanical flexibility, thermoelectric performance, and fire safety in the development of next-generation intelligent materials for fire protection.

The exfoliation and uniform dispersion of two-dimensional nanofillers are significantly important to improve the comprehensive properties of silicone rubber including the tracking resistance and mechanical properties. Herein, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide-intercalated zirconium phosphate (M-ZrP) and urethane-containing silane (US) were incorporated...

In this work, zinc methylmercaptobenzimidazole (MMBZ) was introduced into hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) matrix with zinc dimethacrylate (ZDMA) as a reinforcing filler to prepare HNBR/ZDMA composites. The effects of MMBZ on the crosslinking network, high‐temperature mechanical properties, and interfacial interaction between HNBR and p...

Phosphorus‐nitrogen intumescent flame retardant (IFR) is one of the most promising halogen‐free flame retardants in enhancing the fire safety of polypropylene (PP), but its efficiency needs to be further improved. Herein, a novel single‐component polyphosphazene IFR containing pentaerythritol caged phosphate (PEPA) functionalized titanium carbide n...

It is of great importance but full of challenge to construct intelligent materials with self-powered, durable and high fire-safety to meet the requirements of the intelligent fire protection towards Internet of Things (IoT). In this work, phosphorous-containing ionic liquid (PIL)-based ionogels (PILGs) were fabricated with acrylamide, low melting p...

With the increasing deterioration of environmental and ecology caused by industrial wastewater pollution and petroleum spill accidents, superhydrophobic materials for oil–water separation have attracted considerable attention. Herein, we propose a facile approach to fabricate fluorine‐free superhydrophobic cotton fabric (CF) for oil–water separatio...

Multifunctional biomass-based aerogels with mechanically robust and high fire safety are urgently needed for the development of environmentally-friendly intelligent fire fighting but challenging. Herein, a novel polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ)/cellulose/MXene composite aerogel (PCM) with superior comprehensive performance was fabricated by ice-indu...

Titanium carbide (MXene) nanosheet is one of the most promising early fire-warning materials but limited by its relatively low thermopower. Doping modification is an effective method to improve its thermoelectric efficiency. Herein, a novel enhanced thermopower flame-retardant cotton fabric ([email protected]) was fabricated by dip-coating of MXene...

In this work, a novel ceramifiable silicone rubber (CSR) with high ceramization efficiency was prepared by introducing boron oxide (BO), platinum catalyst (Pt) and nitrogenous silanes (NS) into SR. The effect of BO and Pt-NS on the thermal degradation behavior of CSR and the structure of the obtained ceramic was investigated. The mechanism of ceram...

With the rapid development of flexible electronics and the increasing deterioration of the natural environment, functional and environmentally friendly flexible strain sensors have become one of the frontier research hotspots. Here, we propose a novel strategy to synthesize a functional epoxy elastomer integrating self-healing capability and degrad...

The rapid development of intelligent fire protection technology puts forward higher requirements for the versatility and fire safety of aerogels. Herein, a multifunctional fire-retardant polyimide/MXene/Ag2Se nanowires (PMA) composite aerogel was fabricated via freeze-drying and dip-coating. The PMA aerogel demonstrated good strength and flexibilit...

Efficient surface ceramization during the arc discharge is proposed as an efficient strategy to improve the tracking resistance of silicone rubber (SR). Herein, a tracking resistant silicone rubber (FPNs/Pt-NS/SR) with efficient ceramization was fabricated by introducing a small amount of fluorophlogopite nanosheets (FPNs), Karstedt's catalyst (Pt)...

Ingenious microstructure design is crucial for piezoresistive pressure sensor to achieve excellent sensing performances and water repellency. Herein, we propose a new strategy to prepare high-performance polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponge-based piezoresistive pressure sensor with superhydrophobicity. The silver nanoparticles and reduced graphene ox...

Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors have great application potential in many emerging fields such as electronic skin, artificial intelligence and human healthcare. However, most of the sensors are flammable, which will easily initiate fire hazard in case of short circuit. Herein, a flame‐retardant and conductive cotton fabric (CF) was fabricat...

Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors may exhibit excellent sensing performances to be applied in wearable electronics, medical diagnosis, and electronic skin. Herein, we report a multi-layer and phased-responsive reduced graphene oxide/MXene-based piezoresistive pressure sensor with hierarchical microspines constructed by sandpaper as the templ...

Grafting polar polysiloxanes to addition-cure liquid silicone rubber (ALSR) is a promising method to improve its adhesion performance. Herein, we synthesized a novel silicone adhesion promoter containing phenolic hydroxyl and acrylate groups via hydrosilylation reaction, denoted as PMHS-g-(EE/TD). It was found that PMHS-g-(EE/TD) effectively enhanc...

In recent years, flexible strain sensors have attracted considerable attention for the great application potential in the emerging fields of wearable devices, electronic skin and health monitoring. However, most of flexible strain sensors are nondegradable, and the produced numerous electronic wastes after uselessness will seriously threaten enviro...

The development of flame-retardant coating with sensitive fire warning is imperative but highly challenging in the “Internet of Everything Era”. In this study, a multifunctional fire protection nanocoating (MFNC) was fabricated on the surface of flammable materials by dip-coating Ti3C2TX (MXene), montmorillonite (MMT) nanosheet, and 2-ureido-4[1H]-...

In recent years, piezoresistive pressure sensors with superhydrophobicity have aroused considerable attention. In addition, to comply with “sustainable development” strategy, the sensors fabricated with eco‐friendly materials is of great theoretical and practical significance. Herein, tannic acid (TA) was first absorbed on the surface of poly(lacti...

In recent years, flexible high-performance piezoresistive sensors have attracted considerable attention for the important application potential in the emerging fields of smart robots, wearable electronics and electronic skin. Herein, inspired by human skin, a new strategy was proposed for the fabrication of a double-layer piezoresistive sensor with...

With the increasing environmental pollution by frequent spill accidents and industrial wastewater emissions, superhydrophobic materials for oil-water separation have attracted considerable attention. Herein, we propose a facile method to prepare superhydrophobic, flame-retardant and magnetic polyurethane sponge (SFRM-PUS) for oil-water separation....

Solar desalination via interfacial evaporation is an effective, green and convenient method to solve the shortage of fresh water. It remains challenging to develop high quality light absorber materials that can both reduce the heat loss and avoid salt accumulation during the seawater evaporation and be also used in different harsh conditions. Here,...

Multifunctional smart fire-protection aerogels are urgently needed to meet the requirement of the Internet of Everything era. Herein, we fabricated a mechanically robust and high fire-safe polyimide/MXene composite aerogel (denoted as [email protected]) with sensitive temperature-sensing and fire-warning capability. Thanks to the unique thermoelect...

High fire-safety and sensitive temperature-response materials are urgently needed for the development of intelligent fire protection. Herein, a multifunctional flame-retardant ionic hydrogel (HTIG) with high thermopower was fabricated via free-radical...

Flexible and wearable pressure sensors have attracted considerable attention for the wide application prospect in robot sensing, intelligent electronic skin and healthcare monitoring. Herein, a superhydrophobic MXene-coated carboxylated carbon nanotubes (C-CNTs)/carboxymethyl chitosan (CCS) aerogel with honeycomb-like porous microstructure was prop...

With the increasing importance of electronic devices in modern industry, considerable efforts have been devoted to solving the problem that the electronic devices fail to work normally in a cold environment. Herein, we designed and fabricated a graphene wrapped wood-based phase change composite with electro-thermal conversion and energy storage cap...

The inherent hydrophilicity, flammability and electrical insulation of pristine cotton fabric (CF) severely restrict their applications in many traditional fields including tents, umbrellas and outdoor jackets and some emerging fields such as wearable electronics. Herein, we report a facile approach to fabricate multifunctional CF with superhydroph...

In recent years, various functions including electrical conductivity, superhydrophobicity, magnetism, flame retardancy and antibacterial activity have been considered to allow cotton fabric (CF) a wider the application range. A new strategy for the preparation of superhydrophobic and flame-retardant CF is described here. Phytic acid (PA) and 1-[3-(...

The fabrication of piezoresistive pressure sensor with self-healing function has attracted worldwide attention for its great prospects in intelligent robots, remote health monitoring and electronic skin. In this work, a conductive and self-healable elastomer (CSE) film with ridge-like microstructure was designed for flexible piezoresistive pressure...

With the increasing environmental pollution caused by oily wastewater and oil spill accidents, many superwettable materials have been prepared and applied for the separation of oil-water mixtures. However, the fabrication of superwettable materials for multifunctional water purification including oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsion separation, d...

In recent years, eco-friendly superhydrophobic materials have aroused much attention. Herein, biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) was selected as basic material to fabricate superhydrophobic foam with electrothermal effect by dip-coating graphene oxide (GO) on the surface of PLA foam constructed through freeze-drying process and the subsequent re...

Superhydrophobic materials with special functions of electrical conductivity, magnetism, photothermal conversion and others have been paid considerable attention in the emerging fields including wearable electronics, long-distance manipulation and seawater desalination. Herein, we report a facile approach to fabricate superhydrophobic and conductiv...

Temperature sensing enables flammable materials to respond intelligently at high temperature, which is conducive to further improving their fire safety. However, it is still challenging to develop a smart nanocoating with sensitive temperature-sensing and efficient flame retardancy. Inspired by human skin, a thermoelectric flame retardant (TE-FR) n...

To promote the sustainable development of modern society, the functional wood-based materials have been one of the most promising candidates to alleviate the deterioration of environment by partially replacing the polymer materials derived from petroleum. However, the hydrophilicity of natural wood greatly limited its practical applications. Herein...

High‐efficiency macromolecular intumescent flame retardant (MIFR) is urgently demanded but of great challenge. In this work, a novel N‐alkoxyamine‐containing MIFR‐decorated zirconium phosphate (ZrP) nanosheet (denoted as RQMIFR‐ZrP) was synthesized and combined with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) to endowed polypropylene (PP) with excellent flame ret...

How to effectively improve the fire safety of silicone rubber (SR) has attracted great attention due to its wide application in our daily life. In this work, ceramifiable silicone rubber (CSR) with outstanding fire safety was prepared by incorporating fluorophlogopite (FP), Karstedt's catalyst (Pt) and γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (AS) into SR. It...

Endowing intumescent flame retardant (IFR) with free‐radical quenching capability is a promising method to improve its efficiency. Herein, a novel N‐alkoxyamine containing macromolecular intumescent flame retardant (RQMIFR) was synthesized via nucleophilic substitution reaction and combined with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) to improve the thermosta...

It is urgent and significant to prepare silicone rubber with excellent tracking resistance in a harsh environment. In this work, alkyl-disubstituted ureido siloxane immobilized on silica (U-SiO2) was prepared by the dehydration condensation of hydrolysates of alkoxy groups in alkyl-disubstituted ureido siloxanes (US) and hydroxyl groups on the sili...

Smart textile devices have now received increasing attention for potential application in wearable human motion monitoring, healthcare and personal thermal management. MXene (Ti3C2Tx), which is a new two-dimensional material with remarkable properties, has been widely applied in wearable electronics. However, it remains a challenge to prepare MXene...

Polydopamine (PDA) from the in-situ polymerization of dopamine and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) were used to construct a PDA/RGO composite coating with micro-nano roughness on the surface of polyurethane sponge (PUS) skeleton. Then, perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (PFOTES) was grafted onto the surface of PDA/RGO composite coating via the hydrolysis-c...

Enormous attention has recently been focused on wearable strain sensors because of their promising applications in the rising areas of human motion detection, health monitoring, and smart human-machine interaction. However, the design and fabrication of self-healable strain sensors with superior overall properties including stretchability, sensitiv...

Flexible electronics with superhydrophobic and stretchable properties have attracted considerable attention. Herein, a multiwalled carbon nanotubes covered polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-polystyrene ([email protected]) elastomeric strip was fabricated by a simple spraying method. The [email protected] strip possessed conductivity, stret...

With the increasing occurrences of industrial oily wastewater emissions and oil spills, considerable efforts have been made to develop superhydrophobic materials for oil–water separation. Herein, we report a facile dipping-UV curing approach to fabricate superhydrophobic organosilicon/silica hybrid coating with crosslinked network structure on cott...

High fire-safe aerogel with multi-functionality is urgently desirable due to the frequent fire disasters. However, it is still a challenge to afford both excellent flame retardancy and sensitive fire-warning in combustible aerogels. Herein, we fabricated an ultrasensitive fire-warning and high fire-resistance chitosan/montmorillonite/carbon nanotub...

Enhancing the anti-fouling and tracking resistance of silicone rubber is important to expand its application in outdoor high voltage insulation field. In this work, fluorosilicone resin (FSR) was synthesized by the sol-gel reaction of perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane and ethyl silicate. The effect of FSR on the tracking resistance of addition-cure liq...

The fabrication of eco-friendly superhydrophobic material for oil-water separation is of important theoretical and practical significance. Herein, we proposed a facile method to fabricate a superhydrophobic and magnetic poly (lactic acid) (SMPLA) non-woven fabric. Firstly, polydopamine (PDA) was formed by polymerization of dopamine on the fabric su...

Fabrication of functional superhydrophobic materials with stimuli-responsive driving ability for the growing fields such as electric switch and liquid manipulation still remains mysterious and challenging. In this work, a stimuli-responsive superhydrophobic film (SSF) is fabricated by integrating a bottom porous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) lay...

Novel platinum–thiol catalytic system was constructed by the combination of platinum (Pt) catalysts (Karstedt's catalyst (KC) and chloroplatinic acid hexahydrate (CPA)) and thiol-containing compounds ((3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (SM), (3-mercaptopropyl)triethoxysilane (SE), 1,6-hexanedithiol (HDT) and 1-octadecanethiol (OT)). It was found th...

It is of great significance and challenge to efficiently improve the tracking and erosion resistance of silicone rubber along with the growing requirements in the field of outdoor high voltage insulation. In this work, we herein proposed an effective way to address this issue by incorporating vinyltriethoxysilane (ViTES) and layered Mg–Al double hy...

Flexible strain or pressure sensors have potential applications in electronic skin, healthcare, etc. It remains a challenge to explore multifunctional strain or pressure sensors that possess excellent water repellent and heating performance and hence can be used in harsh environments such as high moisture and low-temperature conditions. Here, a sel...

Thermochromic films with intriguing functionalities have great potential in soft actuators, heat storage devices, and interactive interface sensors. Inspired by the unique features of bird feathers (such as Nicobar pigeon, Anna hummingbird, mandarin duck, etc.), a superhydrophobic thermochromic film (STF) with robust healability is proposed for the...

Highly stretchable and self-healable elastomers are attractive for a variety of applications in the fields of electrical skin and wearable devices. Herein, we proposed a simple one-pot two-step approach to synthesize room-temperature self-healable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers. Excess aminopropyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane was firstly...

With the increasing occurrences of industrial oily wastewater emissions and crude oil spills, the deteriorated global environment and ecosystems have attracted a great deal of attention worldwide. Herein we report a highly hydrophobic balsa wood sponge wrapped with fluoroalkyl silane modified reduced graphene oxide ([email protected]) for efficient...

Piezoresistive pressure sensors with high sensitivity, fast response, and simplified signal collection play an important role in a wide variety of fields. However, most of them are water-sensitive and easily attacked by water, leading to serious signal distortion in practical application. Herein, we fabricated a conductive and superhydrophobic 1H,1...

The combination of catalyzing carbonization and free‐radical quenching mechanism is proposed to be a promising strategy for the preparation of high‐efficiency flame‐retardant polypropylene (PP). Herein, a novel functionalized zirconium phosphate (RQZrP) nanosheet with free‐radical quenching capability was fabricated by decorating macromolecular N‐a...

Organosilicon materials with high capacity of organic-to-inorganic conversion at elevated temperature are always favorable in the field of high-temperature-resistant materials, flame retardant materials, chemical engineering and functional materials in electrical engineering. In this work, it was found out that the platinum-nitrogen catalytic syste...

Ureido-containing MQ silicone resin (U-MTQ) was synthesized by the hydrolysis and co-condensation reaction of ethyl silicate, ureido silane, hexamethyldisiloxane, and divinyltetramethyldisiloxane under the catalysis of hydrochloric acid. U-MTQ was characterized by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, ²⁹Si-NMR, GPC and TGA. The influences of M/Q molar ratio and hydrochlo...

In this study, we proposed an ingenious strategy to fabricate supersensitive fire-warning coatings for large-area combustible materials, which is a challenging yet urgent necessity. A novel sandwich-like flame retardant nanocoating based on graphene oxide (GO), silver nanowire (AgNW), and fluoride polyvinyl butyral (FPVB) was fabricated via spray-c...

Superhydrophobic materials with special functions such as electrical conductivity, magnetism and self-repairing have attracted considerable attention. Herein, a superhydrophobic conductive [email protected] nanowires ([email protected]) cotton fabric was fabricated via a simple dipping-thermal curing method. Owing to the combination of rough struct...

How to improve the flame-retardant efficiency and dispersion of layered double hydroxide (LDH) in silicone rubber (SR) is one of the biggest challenges for the application of halogen-free flame retardant SR/LDH nanocomposite. In this work, a novel and highly efficient flame retardant, i.e., polyborosiloxane decorated layered double hydroxide (PBS-d...

Novel platinum nanoparticles immobilized on exfoliated α-zirconium phosphate ([email protected]) was prepared and the structure of [email protected] was characterized by SEM, TEM and XRD. The effect of [email protected] on anti-tracking and erosion properties of [email protected]/SiR was investigated. It was found that [email protected] can be unif...

Humidity and chemical vapor sensors have promising applications in the field of environment protection, human healthcare, etc. It is still changeling to develop sensor materials that can be served as both humidity and chemical vapor sensors with a high sensitivity while low detection limit, excellent stretchability, repeatability and reliability. I...

In article number 1900554, Hongqiang Li, Xingrong Zeng, and co‐workers report a robust porous superhydrophobic composite (PSC) based on a hybrid of multiwalled carbon nanotubes network and a poly(ethylene‐co‐vinyl acetate) matrix for recoverable shape reconfiguration and underwater vibration detection. The solvent plasticization and capillary effec...

Improving the anti-fouling and anti-tracking of silicone rubber (SR) is significant to enlarge its application in the field of outdoor high voltage insulation. In this work, fluorosilane-grafted silica (F–SiO2) was prepared by the grafting reaction of silica with perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane. Inclined-plane test (IP test), surface potential decay...

Conductive superhydrophobic cotton fabric was fabricated by assembling carboxylated and aminated multiwalled carbon nanotubes and modifying with polydimethylsiloxane. The cotton fabric possessed superhydrophobicity with a CA of 162°, and was successfully applied in oil-water separation with high separation efficiency and great reusability. Addition...

Piezoresistive pressure sensors have attracted much attention for their potential applications in health monitoring, wearable devices, electronic skin and smart robots. Herein, we report an innovative strategy to fabricate multilayer piezoresistive pressure sensors with polydimethylsiloxane anchored carbonized cotton fabric (PACCF). Due to the good...

With the increasing environmental pollution, superhydrophobic materials for effectively separating oil/water mixtures especially emulsions have attracted considerable interests. Herein, we propose a facile vacuum-filtration approach to fabricating flexible superhydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane@multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PDMS@MWCNTs) membrane. Th...

How to effectively enhance the flame retardancy of polyamide 46/polyphenylene oxide (PA46/PPO) alloy is one of the key issues needed to be addressed. In this work, organic-modified zirconium phosphate (OZrP) nanosheet was incorporated with PU-coated carbon fiber (CF) to flame-retard PA46/PPO alloy. The combination of OZrP and CF showed an outstandi...