Yonghao Ni

• University of New Brunswick

Solar‐driven evaporators have emerged as a sustainable strategy for water purification and energy harvesting. Designing advanced systems that achieve high evaporation performance, long‐term operational stability, and resistance to salt crystallization remains a significant challenge. In this study, an innovative Janus membrane is proposed that addr...

Nitrogen‐coordinated metal single atoms catalysts, especially with M‐N4 configuration confined within the carbon matrix, emerge as a frontier of electrocatalytic research for enhancing the sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Nevertheless, due to the highly planar D4h symmetry configuration in M‐N4, their adsorption behavior toward...

Phase change fibers (PCFs) are increasingly popular in thermal storage and release applications, such as temperature management. However, a simple but effective integration of thermal conductive materials into PCFs to deliver ultrafast thermal conduction remains a big challenge. Herein, a facile one‐pot coaxial wet spinning strategy based on sheath...

Zinc‐ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs) are emerging for high‐efficiency energy storage. However, single‐layer cathode materials often suffer from low‐charge storage kinetics. Herein, an innovative gradient porous carbon superstructure with enhanced charge storage kinetics is developed, achieved by designing a concentration gradient carbon superstr...

As is well known, pore structure has a significant impact on the storage and transport behavior of electrolyte ions. Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), a green biomass material, not only have good processability and flexibility, but can also be used to design and construct membrane materials with rich pore structures. It has broad application prospects i...

Bio‐based hydrogels, valued for their flexibility, tunable mechanical properties, and biocompatibility, are promising materials for wearable skins and sensing devices in bionic hand control systems. Lignin, a biopolymer rich in functional groups, can be modified into UV‐curable monomers, enabling the development of 3D‐printed hydrogels via photopol...

Flexible electronic skins (e-Skins) have emerged as a promising technology for various applications, including health monitoring. In this work, we presented a novel work on a multifunctional, conductive hydrogel with...

We conducted pilot plant trials to clarify the effect of alkaline peroxide pretreatment on TMP rejects. Different alkaline and peroxide charges were applied to the rejects before refining. The study showed that a 2.2% total alkali charge was not sufficient to achieve noticeable energy reduction or physical property improvement. However, at a total...

Because of the high cost and low opacity of kraft pulp in comparison to mechanical pulp, there has been an incentive to minimize the amount of kraft pulp in SC papers. In this study we carried out a systematic study to examine the possibility of reducing or eliminating kraft pulp in SCA furnish by alkaline peroxide pre-treatment on TMP rejects. At...

Prussian blue analogs (PBA) exhibit excellent potential for energy storage due to their unique three‐dimensional open framework and abundant redox active sites. However, the dissolution of transition metal ions in water can compromise the structural integrity of PBAs, leading to significant issues such as low cycle life and capacity decay. To addre...

Supramolecular hydrogels are typically assembled through weak non‐covalent interactions, posing a significant challenge in achieving ultra strength. Developing a higher strength based on molecular/nanoscale engineering concepts is a potential improvement strategy. Herein, a super‐tough supramolecular hydrogel is assembled by gradually diffusing lig...

Membranes are a selective barrier that allows certain species (molecules and ions) to pass through while blocking others. Some rely on size exclusion, where larger molecules get stuck while smaller ones permeate through. Others use differences in charge or polarity to attract and repel specific species. Membranes can purify air and water by allowin...

Membranes are a selective barrier that allows certain species (molecules and ions) to pass through while blocking others. Some rely on size exclusion, where larger molecules get stuck while smaller ones permeate through. Others use differences in charge or polarity to attract and repel specific species. Membranes can be used to purify air and water...

Review Porous Graphitic Carbon Nitride-Based Photocatalysts for Antibiotic Degradation Zhaoqiang Wang 1, Guixiang Ding 1, Juntao Zhang 1, Peng Wang 2, Qi Lv 3, Yonghao Ni 4 and Guangfu Liao 1,* 1 National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Plant Fiber Functional Materials, College of Materials Engineering, Fujian Agriculture an...

Developing porous self-supporting electrodes with excellent conductivity, good mechanical properties, and high electrochemical activity is crucial for constructing electrode materials with lightweight, ultra-thin, flexible, and high capacitance performance. In this work, we prepared a cellulose nanofibers (CNFs)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/vinasse acti...

A snake-like continuous tracking robot/actuator was studied. The bending angle of the actuator can achieve a maximum deflection of 360° in 1.2 seconds. The CNFs/MXene/CMC film formed a moisture-electric generator.

Personalized healthcare management is an emerging field that requires the development of environment‐friendly, integrated, and electrochemical multimodal devices. In this study, the concept of integrated paper‐based biosensors (IFP−Multi) for personalized healthcare management is introduced. By leveraging ink printing technology and a ChatGPT–bioel...

Natural polymers‐based carbon electrodes have gained significant research attention for next‐generation portable supercapacitors. Herein, present an environmentally benign and novel approach for the synthesis of N/S‐O x carbon material derived from natural polymers on gram scale. By capitalizing the synergistic effect of sulfonated lignin and amino...

With the advent of the 5G technology era and the development of flexible electronic devices, higher requirements for electromagnetic interface (EMI) shielding materials have been put forward in the fields of national defense and civil use. At present, researchers have done a lot of research work and made a lot of achievements from traditional non-b...

Multi‐component composite materials with a magnetic‐dielectric synergistic effect exhibit satisfactory electromagnetic wave absorption performance. However, the effective construction of the structure for these multi‐component materials to fully exploit the advantages of each component remains a challenge. Inspired by natural biomass, this study ut...

The loading of catalytic manganese dioxide (MnO2) nanoparticles onto an impregnated decorative paper has been an effective method for the removal of indoor formaldehyde (HCHO) pollutants. However, its preparation can present numerous challenges, including instability in dipping emulsions and leaching. In this investigation, a novel and stable forma...

With the continuous improvement of living standards and advancements in science and technology, composite materials with multiple functionalities are gaining high practical value in modern society. In this paper, we present a multifunctional conductive paper-based composite with electromagnetic (EMI) shielding, sensing, Joule heating, and antimicro...

Boron (B) and nitrogen (N) co-doped 3D hierarchical micro/meso porous carbon (BNPC) were successfully fabricated from cellulose nanofiber (CNF)/ boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS)/ zinc-methylimidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanocomposites prepared by 2D BNNS, ZIF-8 nanoparticles, and wheat straw based CNFs. Herein, CNF/ZIF-8 acts as versatile skeleton...

With the rapid development of “Internet of Things” and human-computer interaction techniques, it is essential and urgent to develop facile and scalable fabrication platforms for stretchable flexible sensor. Herein, we report a facile strategy of using the green choline chloride–acrylamide deep eutectic solvent (CC-AM DES) to guide the in-situ ring-...

In recent years, paper‐based functional materials have received extensive attention in the field of energy storage due to their advantages of rich and adjustable porous network structure and good flexibility. As an important energy storage device, paper‐based supercapacitors have important application prospects in many fields and have also received...

Polymers obtained from biomass are a concerning alternative to petro-based polymers because of their low cost of manufacturing, biocompatibility, ecofriendly and biodegradability. Lignin as the second richest and the only polyaromatics bio-polymer in plant which has been most studied for the numerous applications in dirrenent fields. But, in the pa...

Due to their rich and adjustable porous network structure, paper-based functional materials have become a research hotspot in the field of energy storage. However, reasonably designing and making full use of the rich pore structure of paper-based materials to improve the electrochemical performance of paper-based energy storage devices still faces...

Metal/nitrogen-doped carbon single-atom catalysts (M−N−C SACs) show excellent catalytic performance with a maximum atom utilization and customizable tunable electronic structure. However, precisely modulating the M−Nx coordination in M−N−C SACs remains a grand challenge. Here, we used a N-rich nucleobase coordination self-assembly strategy to preci...

Liquid marbles, as particle-armored droplets, have potential applications in microreactors, biomedicine, controlled release and gas detection. To improve the stability and biocompatibility of marble, biocompatible cellulose acetate particles and 3-allyloxy-2-hydroxy-propyl-cellulose (AHP-cellulose) were used to fabricate robust cellulose-based liqu...

Multifunctional hydrogels, particularly with superior mechanical properties and using green/sustainable approaches, have attracted increasing attention because of their many applications and consistency with the green chemistry principle; unfortunately, their effective fabrication process is challenging. In this work, inspired by unique functions i...

Natural polysaccharides show enviable advantages for preparation of sustainable hybrid materials. However, in most cases, complex chemical modifications of natural polysaccharides are required, which not only causes changes of the inherent properties of polysaccharides, but also increases the manufacturing costs of the final materials. Therefore, i...

As an environmentally friendly energy storage device, supercapacitors have the advantages of low pollution and fast charging and discharging speed, which have attracted extensive attention of researchers. Aerogels are considered as a potential electrode material for supercapacitors due to its excellent characteristics such as light weight, low dens...

Developing highly efficient, sustainable carbon cathodes is essential for emerging Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZICs). Herein, lignin's novel chemical modification (amination) has been developed to produce high quantity pyrrolic-N moieties as active sites. Furthermore, chemically modified amine moieties in lignin are vital as a natural self-activ...

The discharge of large amounts of dye-containing wastewater seriously threats the environment. Adsorbents have been adopted to remove these dyes present in the wastewater. However, the high adsorption capacity, predominant pH-responsibility, and excellent recyclability are three challenges to the development of efficient adsorbents. The poly(acrylo...

Actuators are widely used in bionic devices and soft robots, among which invisible actuators have some unique applications, including performing secret missions. In this paper, highly visible transparent cellulose-based UV-absorbing films were prepared by dissolving cellulose raw materials using N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) and using ZnO nanop...

With the rapid development of science and technology, paper-based functional materials have become the core of the field of new materials. Recently, they have received extensive attention in the field of energy storage due to their advantages of rich and adjustable porous network structure, good flexibility. As an important energy storage device, p...

Interfacial engineering is a vital strategy to enable high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs). To develop efficient, low-cost, and green biomass interfacial materials, here, a bifunctional cellulose derivative is presented, 6-O-[4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)butyl]-2,3-di-O-methyl cellulose (C-Cz), with numerous methoxy groups on the backbone and redo...

Cellulose and its derivatives have received much attention as green raw materials to prepare ultrafiltration membranes. However, the inferior performance (low rejection, poor anti-fouling etc.) hinders their development. To improve the preparation of cellulose based ultrafiltration membrane and its performance, in this study, we developed a facile...

Improving the cellulose accessibility and reactivity in an efficient and convenient way has become the focused issue in the field of dissolving pulp manufacturing. We herein demonstrate a simple yet efficient strategy, namely a simultaneous microwave (MW)-assisted phosphotungstic acid (PTA) catalysis (MW-PTAsim). The MW-PTAsim treatment was efficie...

Lignin reductive depolymerization via a lignin-first strategy is extremely attractive but practically challenging due to the harsh reaction conditions, such as high temperature and high external H2 pressure. Herein, we demonstrate a highly efficient acid-assisted reductive fractionation of lignocellulose over a cobalt monatomic catalyst (Co [email...

Cellulose nanomaterials have attracted much attention in recent years because of their unique properties. Commercial or semi-commercial production of nanocellulose has been reported in recent years. Mechanical treatments for nanocellulose production are viable but highly energy-intensive. Chemical processes are well reported; however, these chemica...

Excellent mechanical strength and conductivity are essential and exigent features for advanced gel materials. The trade-off between them, however, remains a challenge. Here, we proposed an ion-molecular engineering strategy to...