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1. Fish Gelatin‐Carbohydrate Composite Nanofibers: High‐Yield Electrospinning and In Vitro Performance

   https://doi.org/10.1002/marc.202500036  

   Kennell, Amanda; Shivers, Olivia; Chatterton, Ranoah; Stanishevsky, Andrei (March 2025, Macromolecular Rapid Communications)

   Abstract Electrospun fish gelatin (FGel) nanofibers (NF) mimic the natural bodies extracellular matrix's (ECM) structure and are an attractive material for many biomedical applications. However, FGel poor mechanical properties and rapid dissolution in an aqueous media paired with usually low productivity of the typical electrospinning process necessitate further effort in overcoming these issues. In this study, alternating field electrospinning (AFES) fabricates cold water fish skin gelatin nanofibrous materials (FGel NFM) with up to 10 wt.% Dextran (DEX) or acetyl glucosamine (AGA) from pure aqueous solutions at process productivity of 7.92–8.90 g∙h⁻¹. Thermal crosslinking of as‐spun materials resulted in FGel‐based NFM with 125–325 nm fiber diameters. DEX (MW500k and MW75k) and AGA additives cause different effects on FGel fiber diameters, structure, tensile and degradation behavior, and in vitro performance. All tested materials reveal favorable, but not the same, cellular response through the formation of a confluent layer on the NFM surface regardless of the fibers’ composition despite the significant difference in FGel NFM structure and properties. Results show that AFES and thermal crosslinking of FGel‐based NFM can lead to a sustainable “green” fabrication technology of mono‐ and polysaccharide modified FGel‐based NFM scaffolds with the parameters attuned to targeted biomedical applications. 

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2. Alternating field electrospinning of blended fish gelatin/poly(ε-caprolactone) nanofibers

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2023.134284  

   Lacy, Hannah A.; Jenčová, Věra; Lukáš, David; Stanishevsky, Andrei (June 2023, Materials Letters)

   Blended nanofibrous biomaterials from natural and synthetic sources show promise for better biointegration. This study explores high-yield alternating field electrospinning (AFES) of blended cold-water fish skin gelatin (FGEL) and polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibrous meshes with up to 30 wt% PCL at 7.8–14.4 g/h fiber productivity, depending on the composition. FGEL/PCL nanofibers reveal smooth surface morphology and 237–313 nm average diameters after thermal crosslinking. FTIR analysis indicated little FGEL/PCL interaction and notable changes in PCL crystallinity in the crosslinked nanofibers. A 14-days in-vitro analysis shows good cellular viability and nanofibrous FGEL/PCL mesh stability. Results demonstrate that AFES provides efficient, scalable production of blended FGEL/PCL nanofibrous biomaterials with suitable characteristics. 

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3. High‐throughput fabrication, structural characterization, and cellular interaction of compositionally diverse fish gelatin/polycaprolactone ( PCL ) nanofibrous materials

   https://doi.org/10.1002/app.54376  

   Lacy, Hannah A.; Jenčová, Věra; Hauzerová, Šarká; Stanishevsky, Andrei (September 2023, Journal of Applied Polymer Science)

   Abstract Nanofibers made by blending natural and synthetic biopolymers have shown promise for better mechanical stability, ECM morphology mimicry, and cellular interaction of such materials. With the evolution of production methods of nanofibers, alternating field electrospinning (a.k.a. alternating current (AC) electrospinning) demonstrates a strong potential for scalable and sustainable fabrication of nanofibrous materials. This study focuses on AC‐electrospinning of poorly miscible blends of gelatin from cold water fish skin (FGEL) and polycaprolactone (PCL) in a range of FGEL/PCL mass ratios from 0.9:0.1 to 0.4:0.6 in acetic acid single‐solvent system. The nanofiber productivity rates of 7.8–19.0 g/h were obtained using a single 25 mm diameter dish‐like spinneret, depending on the precursor composition. The resulting nanofibrous meshes had 94%–96% porosity and revealed the nanofibers with 200–750 nm diameters and smooth surface morphology. The results of FTIR, XRD, and water contact angle analyses have shown the effect of FGEL/PCL mass ratio on the changes in the material wettability, PCL crystallinity and orientation of PCL crystalline regions, and secondary structure of FGEL in as‐spun and thermally crosslinked materials. Preliminary in vitro tests with 3 T3 mouse fibroblasts confirmed favorable and tunable cell attachment, proliferation, and spreading on all tested FGEL/PCL nanofibrous meshes. 

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4. Antiferroelectrics: History, fundamentals, crystal chemistry, crystal structures, size effects, and applications

   https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.17834  

   Randall, Clive_A; Fan, Zhongming; Reaney, Ian; Chen, Long‐Qing; Trolier‐McKinstry, Susan (May 2021, Journal of the American Ceramic Society)

   Abstract Antiferroelectric (AFE) materials are of great interest owing to their scientific richness and their utility in high‐energy density capacitors. Here, the history of AFEs is reviewed, and the characteristics of antiferroelectricity and the phase transition of an AFE material are described. AFEs are energetically close to ferroelectric (FE) phases, and thus both the electric field strength and applied stress (pressure) influence the nature of the transition. With the comparable energetics between the AFE and FE phases, there can be a competition and frustration of these phases, and either incommensurate and/or a glassy (relaxor) structures may be observed. The phase transition in AFEs can also be influenced by the crystal/grain size, particularly at nanometric dimensions, and may be tuned through the formation of solid solutions. There have been extensive studies on the perovskite family of AFE materials, but many other crystal structures host AFE behavior, such as CuBiP₂Se₆. AFE applications include DC‐link capacitors for power electronics, defibrillator capacitors, pulse power devices, and electromechanical actuators. The paper concludes with a perspective on the future needs and opportunities with respect to discovery, science, and applications of AFE. 

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5. AC versus DC field effects on the crystallization behavior of a molecular liquid, vinyl ethylene carbonate (VEC)

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cp05290f  

   Duarte, Daniel M.; Richert, Ranko; Adrjanowicz, Karolina (January 2021, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics)

   null (Ed.)

   Using electric fields to control crystallization processes shows a strong potential for improving pharmaceuticals, but these field effects are not yet fully explored nor understood. This study investigates how the application of alternating high electric fields can influence the crystallization kinetics as well as the final crystal product, with a focus on the possible difference between alternating (ac) and static (dc) type fields applied to vinyl ethylene carbonate (VEC), a molecular system with field-induced polymorphism. Relative to ac fields, static electric fields lead to more severe accumulation of impurity ions near the electrodes, possibly affecting the crystallization behavior. By tuning the amplitude and frequency of the electric field, the crystallization rate can be modified, and the crystallization outcome can be guided to form one or the other polymorph with high purity, analogous to the findings derived from dc field experiments. Additionally, it is found that low-frequency ac fields reduce the induction time, promote nucleation near T g , and affect crystallization rates as in the dc case. Consistency is also observed for the Avrami parameters n derived from ac and dc field experiments. Therefore, it appears safe to conclude that ac fields can replicate the effects seen using dc fields, which is advantageous for samples with mobile charges and the resulting conductivity. 

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