Based on this, recently, the biobased polymer materials team at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, building upon their research into spatially confined assembly and molecular-interface synergistic reinforcement of FDCA polyester nanocomposites, proposed a novel in-situ catalytic synthesis strategy for high-performance biobased furan polyester nanocomposites. This approach is capable of simultaneously enhancing the gas barrier, mechanical properties, and crystallization ability of the polyester.

The researchers innovatively developed a high-speed shearing technique to prepare dendritic MXene@CNT heterostructures with surface-embedded two-dimensional MXene nanosheets. This structure not only achieves the synergistic dispersion of MXene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) but also inhibits the oxidation of MXene by forming C-O-Ti covalent bonds with residual hydroxyl groups in CNTs. Additionally, it exposes more active sites to enhance the catalytic and nucleation efficiency of MXene@CNT, while enabling mechanical interlocking and chemical bonding at multiscale interfaces for efficient stress transfer.

Subsequently, through an integrated catalytic-interface reinforcement strategy, the researchers prepared biobased plastics with a multiscale stress dissipation architecture, as shown in Figure 1. The biobased plastics, prepared by in-situ catalysis with a small amount (0.1-0.3 wt.%) of filler, showed simultaneous improvements in tensile strength (101 MPa), toughness (237%), and gas barrier properties (O2 barrier > 4 times that of PET). Thanks to the design and construction of the multiscale stress dissipation architecture, the biobased plastics also exhibited good reprocessing performance (maintaining 90% of their mechanical strength after 5 physical cycles), UV shielding function (blocking ~99% of UVB rays and ~80% of UVA rays), and solvent resistance (stable for >30 days in polar solvents), making them an ideal substitute for petroleum-based plastics.