Latest ArticlesRiboflavin (RF, vitamin B2) is an essential vitamin and has been considered as a promising natural photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, further exploration of RF in antitumor application was limited by its poor cellular uptake. In this study, using cell-penetrating peptides Arg8, (Cha-Arg)3 and small molecule triphenylphosphine (TPP) as delivery compounds, three RF conjugates were prepared to increase the accumulation of RF in cells, termed as Arg8-RF, (Cha-Arg)3-RF and TPP-RF, respectively. Compared with TPP-RF and Arg8-RF, (Cha-Arg)3-RF exhibited better cell internalization and stronger cytotoxicity against HeLa cells upon exposure to blue light. Further researches proved that (Cha-Arg)3-RF generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) under irradiation, which could indiscriminately destroy endogenous proteins and mitochondria, ultimately inducing cell death. This work provides a new approach to explore RF as a natural photosensitizer for antitumor photodynamic therapy.
Stabilizing triplet excited states is important for room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials to achieve multifunctional applications in humid environment. However, due to the lack of preparation strategies, the realization of RTP materials in water still faces challenges. Herein, a new design strategy was presented to achieve RTP in water by confining carbonized polymer dots (CPDs) in amino functional mesoporous silica (MSNs-NH2). The as-prepared MSNs-CPDs aqueous dispersion exhibited blue afterglow, lasting more than 3 s to naked eyes. The triplet excited states were protected from non-radiative deactivation by the double-confinement effect including covalent bonding fixation and mesoporous structure confinement. The MSNs-CPDs inherited the structure of MSNs-NH2, so the stability of morphology and properties were superior to CPDs and even most of silica-based CPDs RTP materials. A water-related encryption technique demonstrated the promising application of MSNs-CPDs as smart materials in the field of information security. Besides, the possibility of potential application in ion detection was also explored.
Sulfur dioxide and its derivative sulfite widely existed in air, water as the environment pollutant. Sulfite is also commonly used as preservative and additive in fresh fruits, vegetables, wines and pharmaceutical materials. Due to sulfite is closely related with human diseases, it is very urgent for the sensitive and rapid quantification of sulfite in various samples. In our study, a turn-on near infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe (MDQ) was developed for sulfite detection based on a Michael addition reaction, with high sensitivity (LOD 4.16 nmol/L), selectivity and fast response time (400 s). Using MDQ, a quantify method for sulfite in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) was developed with the advantages of high precision, accuracy and convenient operation. Furthermore, according to the photophysical property of MDQ, a portable fluorescence detector is designed to quantify sulfite for TCMs and surface water in Dalian city of China. Therefore, the developed fluorescent probe MDQ and portable fluorescent detector as a rapid inspection instrument were successfully used to real-time monitor the sulfite in various complex samples.
Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytic electrodes under actual working conditions show interesting mass transfer behaviors at solid (electrode)/liquid (electrolyte)/gas (hydrogen) three-phase interfaces. These behaviors are essential for forming a continuous and effective physical contact region between the electrolyte and the electrode and require further detailed understanding. Here, a case study on 1T-2H phase molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)/carbon fiber paper (CFP) catalytic electrodes is performed. Rapid gas-liquid mass transfer at the interface for enhancing the working area stability and capillarity for increasing the electrode working area is found. The real scenario, wherein the energy utilization efficiency of the as-prepared non-noble metal catalytic electrode exceeds that of the noble metal catalytic electrode, is disclosed. Specifically, a fluid dynamics model is developed to investigate the behavior mechanism of hydrogen bubbles from generation to desorption on the catalytic electrode surface with different hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties. These new insights and theoretical evidence on the non-negligible three-phase interface behaviors will identify opportunities and motivate future research in high-efficiency, stability, and low-cost HER catalytic electrode development.
Designing a carbon material with a unique composition and surface functional groups for offering high specific capacity in a wide voltage window is of great significance to improve the energy density for the supercapacitor in a cheap and eco-friendly aqueous electrolyte. Herein, we develop an efficient strategy to synthesize a N, O co-doped hierarchically porous carbon (NODPC-1.0) with moderate specific surface area and pore volume as well as rich heteroatoms using a deep eutectic solvent (DES) as an activator. It is found that NODPC-1.0 with a large proportion of pseudocapacitive functional groups (pyrrole-N, pyridine-N and carbonyl-quinone) can work stable in an acidic 2 mol/L Li2SO4 (pH 2.5) electrolyte, exhibiting specific capacities of 375 and 186 F/g at the current densities of 1.0 and 100 A/g, respectively. Also, the assembled symmetric capacitor using the NODPC-1.0 as the active material and 2 mol/L acidic Li2SO4 (pH 2.5) as the electrolyte shows an outstanding energy density of 74.4 Wh/kg at a high power density of 1.44 kW/kg under a broad voltage window (2.4 V). Relevant comparative experiments indicate that H+ of the acidic aqueous electrolyte plays a crucial part in enhancement the specific capacity, and the abundant pseudocapacitive functional groups on the surface of the NODPC-1.0 sample play the key role in the improvement of electrochemical cycle stability under a broad voltage window.
The natural hematite (α-Fe2O3) is stable and abundant on the earth, as well as with strange electronic band structure and good visible light absorption properties. However, the composition and catalytic performance of natural hematite should be explored. In this study, the photo-assisted hematite nanoparticles activated persulfate (H-NPs/PS/vis) system was constructed. As detected, H-NPs had an irregular agglomerate structure with abundant internal pore and were mainly composed of Fe2O3, SiO2 and TiO2. The system was applied to removing various antibiotic (i.e., lomefloxacin, ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin with initial concentration of 10 mg/L), achieving high degradation performance of 82.0%, 81.2% and 82.2% after 120, 330 and 240 min, respectively. Moreover, H-NPs had excellent reusability with low metal leaching (Ti leaching percentage lower than 0.01%, Fe dissolution percentage was 0.48%) and stable structure. At last, a possible reaction mechanism of H-NPs/PS/vis system was proposed that lomefloxacin (LOM) was efficiently removed via the synergistic process of components contained in H-NPs with PS and light, involving the generation of •O2−, •OH and SO4•−. Above all, this paper provided a novel application scheme of natural hematite through in-depth and comprehensive experimental exploration.
Developing high-performance electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is crucial since it is beneficial for environmental protection and the resulting value-add chemical products can act as an alternative to fossil feedstocks. Nonetheless, the direct reduction of CO2 into long-chain hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons with high selectivity remains challenging. Copper (Cu) shows a distinctive advantage that it is the only pure metal catalyst for reducing CO2 into multi-carbon (C2+) products and the certain facets (e.g., (100), (111), (111)) of Cu nanocrystals exhibit relatively low energy barriers for the formation of specific products (e.g., CO, HCOOH, CH4, C2H4, C2H5OH, and other C2+ products). Therefore, extensive studies have been carried out to explore the relationship between the facets of Cu nanocrystals and corresponding catalytic products. In this review, we will discuss the crystal facet-dependent electrocatalytic CO2RR performance in metallic Cu catalysts, meanwhile, the detailed reaction mechanisms will be systematically summarized. In addition, we will provide a personal perspective for the future research directions in this emerging field. We believe this review is helpful to guide the design of high-selectivity Cu-based electrocatalysts for CO2RR.
Self-supported transition-metal single-atom catalysts (SACs) facilitate the industrialization of electrochemical CO2 reduction, but suffer from high structural heterogeneity with limited catalytic selectivity. Here we present a facile and scalable approach for the synthesis of self-supported nickel@nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes grown on carbon nanofiber membrane (Ni@NCNTs/CFM), where the Ni single atoms and nanoparticles (NPs) are anchored on the wall and inside of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes, respectively. The side effect of Ni NPs was further effectively inhibited by alloying Ni with Cu atoms to alter their d-band center, which is theoretically predicted and experimentally proved. The optimal catalyst Ni9Cu1@NCNTs/CFM exhibits an ultrahigh CO Faradic efficiency over 97% at −0.7 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Additionally, this catalyst shows excellent mechanical strength which can be directly used as a self-supporting catalyst for Zn-CO2 battery with a peak power density of ~0.65 mW/cm2 at 2.25 mA/cm2 and a long-term stability for 150 cycles. This work opens up a general avenue to facilely prepare self-supported SACs with unitary single-atom site for CO2 utilization.
Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is selected as the ideal carrier for preserving and transmitting the genetic information over the course of evolution. However, the genomic DNA is constantly exposed to various endogenous and environmental threats, causing a diversity of damaged bases, lesions, mismatches and base-pair modifications in the genome, eventually leading to genomic instability and cancers. Base excision repair (BER) is the most important repair mechanism, repairing a variety of DNA damages arising from oxidation, alkylation, methylation, deamination, and hydrolysis reactions. DNA glycosylases are responsible for initiating the first step of the BER pathway through cleaving the N-glycosidic bond between the damaged base and the DNA backbone. However, abnormal DNA glycosylases are associated with a variety of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disease and inflammation, suggesting the important role of DNA glycosylases in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, it is highly desirable to monitor the activity of DNA glycosylases, gaining a deep understanding of the restoration process of damaged DNA and clinical diagnosis. Recently, a series of novel DNA glycosylases detection methods with excellent performance have been developed. In this minireview, we summarize the recent advances in DNA glycosylase assays including amplification-free assay and amplification-assisted assay. Firstly, a brief introduction of amplification-free assay for DNA glycosylase is given. Then, amplification-assisted assays for DNA glycosylases are discussed in detail. Ultimately, the conclusion and prospects of the directions of DNA glycosylase assays are provided.
The solar-driven photocatalytic technology has shown great potential in nitrate (NO3−) pollutants reduction, however, it has been greatly hindered by the complex preparation and high cost of photocatalysts. Herein, a relatively low-cost photocatalyst, rutile and anatase mixed phase TiO2 was synthesized by a facile microwave-hydrothermal method. Meanwhile, oxygen vacancy is successfully generated, leading to an acidic surface for strong adsorption towards NO3−, which further improved the reduction activity. Compared with the commercial P25, a higher NO3− conversion of ca. 100% and nitrogen (N2) selectivity of 87% were achieved under UV (365 nm) irradiation within 2 h. This research provides a promising strategy for designing efficient noble metal free photocatalyst in the NO3− reduction.
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