@article {49094, title = {Enhancing the crystallization kinetics and mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid) blends for 3D printing application}, journal = {ACS Applied Polymer Materials }, volume = {6}, year = {2024}, month = {MAY }, pages = {5754-5762}, type = {Article}, abstract = {

3D printing of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) blends has been attempted to resolve issues such as inherent brittleness and slow crystallization rate of PLA. However, a persistent challenge remains in the form of phase separation or gradual migration of the blended soft polymer or plasticizers. To simultaneously enhance the miscibility of the blends and toughness of 3D-printed parts, a triblock copolymer PLA-PEG-PLA was synthesized and blended with PLA in varying proportions (5, 10, 15, and 20 wt \%). Blending only 10-20 wt \% low molecular weight PLA-PEG-PLA into PLA yielded a miscible blend that showed a 45-fold increase in elongation at break and a 23-fold enhancement in toughness over neat PLA. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of fractured cross sections revealed a brittle to ductile transition in 3D-printed PLA/PLA-PEG-PLA samples. Isothermal crystallization studies and data analysis using the Avrami equation showed an enhancement in the crystal growth rate and overall rate of crystallization. The blends achieved half of their crystallinity in approximately 3 min, a significant improvement over the 9 min required by PLA alone. This underscores the efficiency of our approach. This was also evident in the spherulite growth of 3D-printed PLA and mPLA blends when examined using polarized optical microscopy (POM). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report exploring the use of blends that include PLA and low molecular weight PLA-PEG-PLA triblock copolymers for 3D printing applications.

}, keywords = {Crystallization, FFF 3D printing, PLA-PEG-PLA triblock copolymer, poly(lacticacid), toughness}, issn = {2637-6105}, doi = {10.1021/acsapm.4c00428}, author = {Kothavade, Premkumar and Yadav, Prashant and Gopal, Animesh and Pol, Harshawardhan and Kafi, Abdullah and Bateman, Stuart and Shanmuganathan, Kadhiravan} } @article {49266, title = {Entropy-driven reversible melting and recrystallization of layered hybrid perovskites}, journal = {SMALL}, volume = {20}, year = {2024}, month = {NOV}, type = {Journal Article}, keywords = {hybrid perovskites, photodetector, reversible melting}, issn = {1613-6810}, doi = {10.1002/smll.202406735}, author = {Rajput, Parikshit Kumar and Salunkhe, Parashurama and Sarma, Manmayuri and Basu, Meghasree and Gopal, Animesh and Joshi, Aprajita and Shingote, Ajinkya Sundarnath and Saha, Surajit and Rahman, Atikur and Nag, Angshuman} } @article {49451, title = {Ultrabroad near infrared emitting perovskites}, journal = {Angewandte Chemie-International Edition}, volume = {64}, year = {2025}, month = {JAN}, type = {Article}, abstract = {

Phosphor converted light emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) have revolutionized solid-state white lighting by replacing energy-inefficient filament-based incandescent lamps. However, such a pc-LED emitting ultrabroad near-infrared (NIR) radiations still remains a challenge, primarily because of the lack of ultrabroad NIR emitting phosphors. To address this issue, we have prepared 2.5 \% W4+-doped and 2.8 \% Mo4+-doped Cs2Na0.95Ag0.05BiCl6\ perovskites emitting ultrabroad NIR radiation with unprecedented spectral widths of 434 and 468 nm, respectively. Upon band-edge excitation, the soft lattice of the host exhibits broad self-trapped exciton (STE) emission covering NIR-I (700 nm), which then nonradiatively excites the dopants. The\ mathematical equation\ {\textendash}donor ligand Cl-\ reduces the energy of dopant\ d{\textendash}d\ transitions emitting NIR-II with a peak at ~950 nm. Vibronic coupling broadens the dopant emission. The large spin-orbit coupling and local structural distortion might possibly enhance the dopant emission intensity, leading to an overall NIR photoluminescence quantum yield ~40 \%. The composite of our ultrabroad NIR phosphors with biodegradable polymer polylactic acid could be processed into free-standing films and 3D printed structures. Large (170mathematical equation\ 170 mathematical equation\ ), robust, and thermally stable 3D printed pc-LED panels emit ultrabroad NIR radiation, demonstrating NIR imaging applications.

}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202415003}, author = {Saikia, Sajid and Gopal, Animesh and Rathod, Radha and Joshi, Aprajita and Priolkar, K. R. and Saha, Surajit and Santra, Pralay K. and Shanmuganathan, Kadhiravan and Nag, Angshuman} }