Ridge Research Articles

Room-temperature self-healing polyurethane with superior mechanical properties based on supramolecular structure for flame retardant application

Self-healing polymers, with their ability to extend service life and conserve resources, have garnered significant attention across various fields due to their immense potential applications. However, most repairable polymers typically require high temperatures for repair, and their relatively weak mechanical properties limit their practical use. Moreover, the flammability of polymers not only poses safety hazards during use but also fails to meet specific requirements for flame retardancy in certain fields. Addressing these issues, this study successfully designed a reactive self-extinguishing room-temperature self-healing polyurethane (PU) by introducing hyperbranched catechol (DBPA) onto the PU main chain. The prepared self-healing PU elastomer (DPU) exhibited high tensile strength (∼51.2 MPa), outstanding toughness (∼119.0 MJ/m3), recyclability, and good flame retardancy. Through intermolecular and intramolecular multilevel hydrogen bonding, the prepared DPU0.6 achieved room-temperature self-healing with an efficiency of approximately 71.2 %. The results showed that the addition of trace amounts of DBPA (0.6 wt%) significantly enhanced the flame retardancy and thermal stability of DPU. Compared to DPU0, the heat release rate (HRR) of DPU0.6 decreased by approximately 13 %, the total heat release (THR) reduced by 18 %, and the time to ignition (TTI) was extended by 7 s (reduced by ∼ 21 %). This study not only provides insights into the synthesis and design of novel self-healing PU but also further expands the application scope of self-healing PU.

Structural Analysis and Anticoagulant Activity of Fucosylated Glycosaminoglycan from Sea Cucumber Phyllophorus proteus.

Phyllophorus proteus is a low-value sea cucumber from Indonesia and other tropical peripheral waters. In this study, a fucosylated glycosaminoglycan (FG) was extracted from P. proteus. It consists of GlcA, GalNAc, and Fuc, with a molecular weight of 67.1 kDa. The degraded FG (dFG) was prepared by β-elimination. Structural analysis revealed that the main chain of dFG was composed of GalNAc and GlcA, linked alternately by β1,3 and β1,4 glycosidic bonds. The sulfate group was located at the 4 and 6 positions of GalNAc. Fuc was attached to the 3 position of GlcA by an α1,3 glycosidic bond, and the side chain of Fuc exhibited various sulfate substitutions. FG significantly prolonged the coagulation time of APTT, PT, TT, and FIB, surpassing the effect of LMWH, thereby demonstrating its ability to exert anticoagulant effects in both the endogenous and exogenous coagulation pathways. Conversely, dFG had no significant effect on the clotting time of PT, suggesting its lack of impact on the intrinsic coagulation pathway. This study elucidates the structural properties and potent anticoagulant activities of fucosylated glycosaminoglycan from P. proteus.

Molecular Simulation Analysis of Polyurethane Molecular Structure under External Electric Field.

Polyurethane (PU) materials are extensively utilized in power equipment. This paper introduces a comprehensive evaluation method that combines electromagnetics and computational chemistry based on the Density Functional Theory (DFT) to elucidate the impact of external electric fields on the molecular structure of PU during electrical contact. The study focuses on the microstructural and molecular energy changes in the hard (HS) and soft (SS) segments of PU under the influence of an electric field of uniform intensity. Findings indicate that the total energy of HS molecules decreases markedly as the electric field intensity increases, accompanied by a significant rise in both the dipole moment and polarizability. Conversely, the total energy and polarizability of the SS molecules decrease, while the dipole moment experiences a slight increase. Under the influence of a strong electric field, HS molecules tend to stretch towards the extremities of the main chain, leading to structural instability and the cleavage of hydroxyl O-H bonds. Meanwhile, the carbon chain of the SS molecules twists towards the center under the electric field, with no chemical bond rupture observed. At an electric field intensity of 8.227 V/nm, the HOMO-LUMO gap of the HS molecule narrows sharply, signifying a rapid decline in the molecular structure stability, corroborated by infrared spectroscopy analysis. These findings offer theoretical insights and guidance for the modification of PU materials in power equipment applications.

Preparation of sulfated arabinogalactan-loaded hydrogel for wound healing in mouse burn model

Sulfation of polysaccharides can affect their biological activity by introducing sulfate groups. Skin burns occur regularly and have a great impact on normal survival. In this study, sulfated arabinogalactan (SAG) was prepared by sulfation, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used to prepare hydrogels for the treatment of scalded skin in mouse. The results show that the main chain of SAG consists of →3-β-D-Galactose (Gal)-(1, →3, 6)-β-D-Gal-(1 and →4)-β-d-Glucose (Glc)-(1. The chain is a neutral polysaccharide composed of T-β-L-Arabinose (Araf)-(1→, with a molecular weight of 17.9 kDa. At the same time, PVA + SAG hydrogel can promote the scald repair of mouse skin by promoting collagen deposition and angiogenesis, and regulating the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway. Interestingly, the effect of SAG on promoting the repair of scald wounds is enhanced after AG is derivatized by sulfation. Therefore, the preparation of SAG by sulfation can promote scald repair, and has great application potential in the field of food and medicine.

Extraction, Purification, Structural Characterization, and Antitumor Effects of Water-Soluble Intracellular Polysaccharide (IPSW-1) from Phellinus igniarius Mycelia.

Phellinus igniarius is a commonly used Chinese medicine fungus, and its polysaccharide is a valuable bioactive with antioxidant, antiaging, antitumor activities, etc. However, their bioactivities are influenced by their structural and physicochemical properties. Hence, this research isolated and purified homogeneous water-soluble intracellular polysaccharide (IPSW-1) from P. igniarius mycelia. A coherent study of its structural characteristics, conformation, and antitumor mechanisms was evaluated. The results showed IPSW-1 has no triple helical conformation according to the Congo red test. Based on FT-IR, periodate oxidation, Smith degradation, methylation analysis, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy data, and IPSW-1 consisted of α-d-glucopyranose (Glcp). The backbone of IPSW-1 consisted primarily of repeating three (1 → 6)-linked α-d-Glcp and one (1 → 3,4)-linked α-d-Glcp, with one terminal α-d-Glcp as side chains of 3-O-connected to the main chain for every four residues. The IPSW-1 had an inhibitory influence on HepG2 cell proliferation and inhibited the migration and invasion ability by down-regulating the expression levels of MMP-7 and RhoA. Moreover, IPSW-1 could inhibit the lysis of autophagosomes to inhibit autophagy and regulate mitochondrial membrane potential and pro-apoptotic protein Bax, which causes the caspase cascade to promote apoptosis, thereby inhibiting the role of tumor cells. These findings show IPSW-1 holds potential as an innovative functional food.

Differentiated influences of anomalous subtropical high on extreme persistent precipitation and heatwave events in the Yangtze River Valley

AbstractIn the summers of 2020 and 2022, the Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) intensified extremely and extended westward. However, in summer 2020, the Yangtze River Valley (YRV) witnessed record‐breaking floods, while in 2022, an unprecedented and prolonged heatwave occurred. Distinctly, these two extreme events were caused by different effects of the WPSH: one is enhancement of the transportation of water vapor and the other is adiabatic heating caused by the descending airflow. In June–July 2020, the stable extension of the WPSH ridge line to South China directed a southwesterly airflow along its northwest flank, leading to sustained precipitation in the YRV. Additionally, the midlatitude circulation pattern featured two troughs and two ridges. Such a circulation configuration, combined with the strong and westward WPSH, enabled the continuous southward intrusion of cold air and northward transport of warm moist air, converging over the YRV, and thus influenced extreme persistent precipitation. In contrast, the WPSH covered the YRV almost entirely during summer 2022. Under this influence, the clear‐sky condition and descending airflow through adiabatic warming directly resulted in the heatwave. In addition, local land–atmosphere feedback was crucial in its development and persistence. The soil moisture deficit induced by high temperatures increased the sensible heat flux between the soil and atmosphere upward, further enhanced the surface air temperature and strengthened the heat dry condition.

The effect of irradiation for Nafion membrane electrode rapid separation of hydrogen-methane by electrochemical hydrogen pumps

Designing an efficient and reliable tritium plant has become a major challenge to developing nuclear fusion, which focuses on efficient and safe hydrogen isotope separation and purification. The electrochemical hydrogen pump (EHP) developed in recent years can be used to separate and compress hydrogen. Herein, we used the commercial Nafion membrane electrode in the EHP, which has excellent H2/CH4 separation performance. When the cell voltage is at 0.8 V, the current density is 2.04 A/cm2, the hydrogen separation rate can reach 14.2 mL/ (min ·cm2), and the hydrogen purity is more than 99.99 %. The damage mechanism of electron beam irradiation on the membrane electrode was revealed. It was found that irradiation caused Nafion’s main chain and branch chain to break, producing hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups. The degree of chain fracture increased with the radiation dose, perforation and cracks occurred in the proton exchange membrane (PEM). Under the electron beam irradiation dose of 10 kGy, the membrane electrode can still maintain excellent H2/CH4 separation performance, and the hydrogen permeability caused by cracks and perforations is at a very low level. This study reveals the change of macroscopic performance caused by the microscopic mechanism of membrane electrode irradiation damage, provides a promising way to separate hydrogen isotope gases and is expected to promote the development of tritium plants in fusion engineering.

Preparation and performance study of silicon modified polyurethane-based magnetorheological elastomeric polishing pad

Abstract By employing Magnetorheological Elastomers (MREs) as polishing pads for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), the magnetorheological properties are utilized to effectively control the flexible removal of materials in CMP. This study presents a method for preparing a Silicon modified Polyurethane (SPU)-based MRE polishing pad, aimed at demonstrating improved magnetorheological properties while preserving mechanical properties. The SPU-based MRE polishing pad was synthesized through the copolymerization of hydroxypropyl silicone oil and polyurethane prepolymers, with subsequent evaluation of its mechanical properties and polishing performance. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis confirmed the successful incorporation of the soft polydimethylsiloxane main chain from organosilicon into the polyurethane main chain, forming a soft segment that intertwines with the polyurethane main chain to create a soft-hard segment crosslinked structure. Comparison to Polyurethane (PU)-based MRE, SPU exhibits significantly reduced hardness but improved wear resistance, as well as enhanced resistance to acid and alkali corrosion. Due to the presence of a soft matrix, SPU shows better magnetorheological effects than PU-based MRE. Under a magnetic field intensity of 845 mT, the magnetorheological effect of PU-based MRE is only 18%, while Si-15.96 and Si-16.79 SPU-based MREs can reach 84% and 110%, respectively. Although the Material Removal Rate (MRR) of single-crystal SiC decreases after polishing with SPU compared to PU-based MRE, a higher surface quality is achieved, and the glazing degree of the polishing pad is significantly reduced. In the magnetic field-assisted polishing of single crystal SiC, the MRR increased by 38.4% when polished with an SPU-based MRE polishing pad, whereas the MRR was only 8.7% when polished with a PU-based MRE polishing pad. This study provides further evidence for the development and application of MRE in CMP.

Design of Cyborg Proteins by Loop Region Replacement with Oligo(ethylene glycol): Exploring Suitable Mutations for Cyborg Protein Construction Using Machine Learning

Abstract We synthesized a “cyborg protein,” wherein a synthetic molecule partially substitutes the main peptide chain by linking two protein domains with a synthetic oligomer. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) served as the model for constructing the cyborg proteins. We prepared circularly permuted GFP (cpGFP) with new termini between β10 and β11, where the original N- and C-termini were linked by a cleavable peptide loop. The cyborg GFP was constructed from cpGFP by linking the β10 and β11 with oligo(ethylene glycol) using maleimide-cysteine couplings, followed by the enzymatic cleavage of the N- and C-termini linking loop by thrombin. With the help of machine learning, we were able to obtain the cpGFP mutants that significantly alter the fluorescence activity (53% increase) by thrombin treatment, which splits cpGFP into two fragments (fragmented-GFP), and by heat shock. When the cyborg GFP was constructed using this mutant, the fluorescence intensity increased by 13% after heat treatment, similar to cpGFP (33% increase), and the behavior was significantly different from that of the fragmented-GFP. This result suggests the possibility that the oligo(ethylene glycol) chain in the cyborg protein plays a similar role to the peptide in the main chain of the protein.

Aromatic polyamides with triarylmethane fragments in the main chain

Low-temperature polycondensation was used to obtain aromatic polyamides containing triarylmethane fragments in the main chain. It was shown that the synthesized aromatic polyamides are highly soluble in organic solvents. Transparent films were obtained from solutions of polyamides in dimethylformamide by casting. It was found that the resulting aromatic polyamides exhibit increased heat resistance, and films based on them have high mechanical properties.

Development of Controllable Hetero‐Pauson‐Khand Polymerization to Functional Stimuli‐Responsive Poly(γ‐lactam)s

Polymers containing lactam structures play a crucial role in both natural biological systems and human life, and their synthesis, functions and applications are of utmost importance for biomimetics and the creation of new materials. In this study, we developed an efficient heterogeneous Pauson‐Khand polymerization (h‐PKP) method for the controlled synthesis of main‐chain poly(γ‐lactam)s containing α, β‐unsaturated γ‐lactam functionalities using readily available internal alkynes and imines. The molecular weights of the resulting poly(N‐Ts/γ‐lactam)s can be precisely controlled by adjusting the ratio of phenyl formate and nickel. These polymers exhibit high solid‐state luminescence and demonstrate rapid and sensitive dual responsiveness to light and acid stimuli. They further demonstrate strong reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation capability. The unique dual‐emission peaks observed in poly(N‐H/γ‐lactam)s obtained through post‐treatment under acidic conditions demonstrate a mechanism of aggregation‐induced intermolecular excited‐state proton transfer specific to lactam structures. The efficient one‐pot synthetic method for poly(γ‐lactam) provides a novel strategy for constructing polymers with γ‐lactam structures in the main chain and the simple and efficient post‐modification method offer a versatile toolbox for functionalizing poly(γ‐lactam)s to expand their potential applications.

Sky Bridge 721 World's longest suspension footbridge

AbstractSky Bridge 721 was opened on 13 May 2022.It is located in the area of the Kralicky Sneznik mountain massif in the area of the Dolni Morava Mountain Resort. It was built in two years and spans the valley between the two ridges Slamnik and Chlum with a length of 721 metres.It has become a new landmark of the region, although in reality it is almost invisible when viewed from a distance. It winds like a thin thread below the horizon of the mountain ridge, suspended between the sky and the ground, so that it does not interfere with the view of the surrounding countryside.It was a real challenge to bridge such a wide valley at a height of nearly 100 metres and to achieve a subtle line of the footbridge that would not disturb the silhouette of the mountain massif.This is the story of the whole process, from the design to the statics, construction, design and implementation, that the TAROS NOVA a.s. team had to overcome during the implementation of the footbridge.

Study on the cracking process of epoxy resin under oxygen and water atmosphere based on ReaxFF force field

Amino-cured epoxy resins are widely used in the electrical and electronic industry for their excellent properties. To investigate the mechanism of the effect of O2 and H2O on the pyrolysis behavior of epoxy resin, in this paper, the cross-linked structure of bisphenol A type epoxy resin cured by adducts of diethylenetriamine and butyl glycidyl ether is modeled based on the ReaxFF force field, and the thermal decomposition processes at different temperatures and gas atmospheres were simulated and the pathways of the small molecule products were clarified. The results show that epoxy resin will produce small molecule gas products, such as H2, CO, H2O, OH, CH2O, and free radicals, in the process of pyrolysis; the presence of amino groups also generates nitrogen-containing radicals, such as CN, CH2N, and C2H4N; as the reaction temperature increases, the rate of pyrolysis reaction will be accelerated. The same temperature in oxygen and water atmospheres can accelerate the breakage of epoxy resin main chain by promoting the breakage of carbon and oxygen bonds and, at the same time, promote the generation of small molecule gases, such as H2 and CO.

Protein folding, protein dynamics and the topology of self-motions.

It has long been recognized that segments of the protein main chain are like robotic manipulators and inverse kinematics methods from robotics have been applied to model loops to bridge gaps in protein comparative modelling. The complex internal motion of a redundant manipulator with fixed ends is called a self-motion and its character is determined by the relative position of its ends. Self-motions that are topologically equivalent (homotopic) occupy the same continous region of the configuration space. Topologically inequivalent (non-homotopic) regions are separated by co-regular surfaces and crossing a co-regular surface can result in a sudden dramatic change in the character of the self-motion. It is shown, using a five-residue type I β-turn, that these concepts apply to protein segments and that as the ends of the five-residue segment come closer together, a co-regular surface is crossed, and the structure is locked in to becoming either a type I or type I' turn. It is also shown that the type II turn is topologically equivalent to the type I' turn, not the type I turn. These results have implications for both native-state protein dynamics and protein folding.

Rapeseed cake meal extract as an eco-friendly green sustainable inhibitor for the corrosion of cold rolled steel in trichloroacetic acid solution

The inhibitory properties of rapeseed cake meal extract (RCME) on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in trichloroacetic acid (TCA) were systematically investigated using gravimetric, electrochemical, surface characterizations and theoretical calculations. The results demonstrate that RCME exhibits excellent inhibitory performance with a maximum inhibition efficiency of 92.7% for 100 mg L−1 RCME at 20°C. The adsorption of RCME obeys Langmuir isotherm at 20 and 30°C, Temkin isotherm at 40°C, and Freundlich isotherm at 50°C. RCME acts as a cathodic inhibitor. The charge transfer resistance is increased with the addition of RCME, while the double-layer capacitance decreases. SEM, AFM, CLSM, XPS, XRD and TOF-SIMS analyses confirm that the active components in RCME adsorb onto the surface of CRS, forming a protective film that effectively inhibits the corrosion of CRS by TCA. Along with the increase in the concentration of RCME, the surface tension of the inhibited solution gradually decreases, while the electrical conductivity increases before stabilizing. HPLC-MS and FTIR analyses reveal rutin, linolenic acid, linoleic acid and adenine are the effective substances in RCME. Quantum chemical (QC) calculations and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations indicate that the active centers of the effective inhibitor molecules are predominantly located on benzene rings, O- or N-containing heterocyclic rings, and functional groups such as C=O and C=C. Additionally, their main chains adsorb onto the Fe (001) surface in an approximately flat manner, involving both chemical and physical adsorption processes.

An investigation of the mechanism of emulsion stabilization in octenyl succinic anhydride-modified tamarind seed polysaccharide

Previous studies have shown that octenyl succinic anhydride-modified tamarind seed polysaccharide (OTSP) is an effective emulsion stabilizer. In this study, the fine structure and interfacial behavior of OTSP were investigated using a variety of methods to elucidate its mechanism for stabilizing emulsions. First, the results of nuclear magnetic resonance indicated that the esterification reaction occurred at the 6th carbon atom of glucose, which was not replaced by xylose in the main chain of TSP. Then, the studies of the interfacial behavior showed that OTSP adsorbed more at the oil-water interface than TSP, and that the intermolecular interactions of OTSP were stronger than those of TSP. The adsorption of OTSP at the interface was dominated by diffusion. Compared to TSP, OTSP formed a denser and more flexible interfacial layer and was resistant to large deformations and high-frequency perturbation. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed the presence of an Ω-like structure in the OTSP molecule. This structure reduced the degree of ordering of its molecular chains, resulting in a more flexible and looser structure that facilitated the rearrangement of OTSP molecules at the interface. The hydrophobic groups anchored the OTSP to the surface of the oil droplets, fixing them in the network structure, further restricting droplet movement and thus improving emulsion stability. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of polysaccharide-stabilized emulsion, which is of great significance in promoting the application of TSP in the food industry.

Structural characterization and antioxidant activity mechanism of the ferulic acid-rich subfraction from sugar beet pectin

The feruloylated sugar chain in sugar beet pectin (SBP) is a natural polyphenol-polysaccharide complex. Its low abundance often leads to be neglected, thereby hindering its bioactivity and mechnism research. In this study, SBP-3 A, a novel feruloylated polysaccharide fragment, was isolated from sugar beet pectin utilizing enzymatic digestion. The presence of ferulic acid on SBP-3 A was confirmed through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), with a mass fraction of 22.5 μg/mg. The average molecular weight was determined to be 33.31 kDa. Methylation analysis, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra revealed that SBP-3 A is a heteroglycan with the main chain structure of →2)-α-Rhap-(1 → 4)-α-GalpA-(1 → 2)-α-Rhap-(1→, and the branched chain structure of ferulic acid (FA) → 3,4)-β-Galp-(1 → 2,4)-α-Rhap-(1→. Subsequently, the antioxidant activity of SBP-3 A was evaluated using the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). SBP-3 A improved antioxidant enzymes and non-enzymatic defense system, decreased reactive oxygen species levels, and up-regulated the mRNA expression of sod-3, skn-1, and daf-16, while down-regulated the expression of age-1 in C. elegans. Moreover, SBP-3 A modulated the gut flora by favorably affecting the abundances of Lactobacillus, Ligilactobacillus, and Akkermansia, thereby enhancing antioxidant capacity in C. elegans. Consequently, the aforementioned findings support the potential application of SBP-3 A as a functional food for treating oxidative stress-related illnesses.

Study on synthesis and mechanism of high temperature resistant suspension stabilizer for spacer fluid

With 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS), YX-1 (a monomer containing an amide group) as the main chain, DX-2 (a monomer containing a hydrophobic group), N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) as the side chain, the high temperature resistant suspension stabilizer for spacer was prepared by free radical aqueous solution polymerization and characterized. The structure was characterized by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), which proved that the synthesized product was the target product. The performance of the copolymer was evaluated. The experimental results showed that it could be used in the spacer fluid at 30 ∼ 210 °C, and its sedimentation performance could also meet the requirements in the spacer fluid system containing saturated brine. In order to explore the mechanism of the polymer, the polymer solution was tested by six-speed rotational viscometer, pyrene fluorescence probe test, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) test, and the isolation solution containing the copolymer was tested by Zeta potential test and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Based on the above test results, it is shown that the suspension stabilizer synthesized in this paper has the characteristics of thickening, physical plugging, chemical and physical adsorption, which can effectively ensure that the spacer fluid has excellent suspension performance at high temperature.

Recent Advances in Fluorescent Polyimides.

Polyimide (PI) refers to a type of high-performance polymer containing imide rings in the main chain, which has been widely used in fields of aerospace, microelectronic and photonic devices, gas separation technology, and so on. However, traditional aromatic PIs are, in general, the inefficient fluorescence or even no fluorescence, due to the strong inter- and intramolecular charge transfer (CT) interactions causing unavoidable fluorescence quenching, which greatly restricts their applications as light-emitting functional layers in the fabrication of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices. As such, the development of fluorescent PIs with high fluorescence quantum efficiency for their application fields in the OLED is an important research direction in the near future. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of fluorescent PIs as well as the methods to improve the fluorescence quantum efficiency of PIs. It is anticipated that this review will serve as a valuable reference and offer guidance for the design and development of fluorescent PIs with high fluorescence quantum efficiency, ultimately fostering further progress in OLED research.

Simple Fabrication and Unique Fiber Growth Mechanism of Copper(I) 4-Toluenethiolate-Based Fibrous Coordination Polymer.

Coordination polymers (CPs) exhibit various distinctive properties owing to the metals incorporated in their main chains. These properties make CPs appealing for applications in optoelectronic devices and sensors and as precursors for inorganic materials with controlled morphologies. However, only a few CPs form fibrous structures, and the fabrication methods require complicated procedures, thus, limiting their range of applications. In this study, we report the easily feasible fabrication of fibrous CP, specifically, copper(I) 4-toluenethiolate (CuSArMe), and investigate its unique fiber growth mechanism. The reaction of CuI and 4-toluenethiol in acetonitrile in the presence of triethylamine quickly produced aggregated CuSArMe particles. With continuous stirring at ambient temperature (∼20 °C), wavy fibers grew from the surface of the aggregates, eventually forming an entangled fibrous structure. Structural evaluations of CuSArMe using powder X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the regularity of the crystal phase increased as the morphology changed from aggregated particles to fibrous structures, suggesting that the transformation was a crystallization-driven process. Additionally, the conversion of fibrous CuSArMe to Cu2S, a known semiconductor, was demonstrated while maintaining the fiber-like structure and providing the desired materials.