Latest ArticlesCarbonaceous materials can accelerate extracellular electron transfer for the biotransformation of many recalcitrant, redox-sensitive contaminants and have received considerable attention in fields related to anaerobic bioremediation. As important electron shuttles (ESs), carbonaceous materials effectively participate in redox biotransformation processes, especially microbially-driven Fe reduction or oxidation coupled with pollutions transformation and anaerobic fermentation for energy and by-product recovery. The related bioprocesses are reviewed here to show that carbonaceous ESs can facilitate electron transfer between microbes and extracellular substrates. The classification and characteristics of carbon-containing ESs are summarized, with an emphasis on activated carbon, graphene, carbon nanotubes and carbon-based immobilized mediators. The influencing factors, including carbon material properties (redox potential, electron transfer capability and solubility) and environmental factors (temperature, pH, substrate concentration and microbial species), on pollution catalytic efficiency are discussed. Furthermore, we briefly describe the prospects of carbonaceous ESs in the field of microbial-driven environmental remediation.
A palladium-catalyzed 2-alkylation of indoles with α-bromo esters is developed by employing a P, P=O ligand. The method features excellent regioselectivities, mild reaction conditions, and good functional group compatibility. The employment of the P, P=O ligand as well as 4 Å molecular sieves were crucial for the success of the transformation. Mechanistic studies indicate the reaction proceed through a radical pathway.
White-light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) possess many merits, such as high efficiency and stability. Developing cost-effective, environmentally friendly, high-performance luminophores to achieve high-quality, full-spectrum, white lighting is of great importance to the construction and progress of WLEDs. In this work, solid-state, highly luminescent orange-emitting nanoclusters (MgCl2-Lys-Ag/Au NCs) were prepared via the salt-induced precipitation of Lys-Ag/Au NCs from solution, which showed a high absolute quantum yield of 44.5%. A cyan-emitting metal-organic framework (MOF)-like nanomaterial (named Fe@TAOH) was also prepared by the self-assembly of the coordination compound of Fe3+ and TAOH acted upon by H3PO4 via H-bonding and π-π stacking interactions, which showed an emission peak at 485 nm and an absolute quantum yield of 21.7%. The potential application of the two facile-synthesis, low toxicity, and highly luminescent materials in WLEDs was investigated. The WLEDs was constructed by coating powdered Fe@TAOH and MgCl2-Lys-Ag/Au NCs samples on commercial GaN LED chip with 365 nm emissions, and it exhibited acceptable white light characteristics with a CIE color coordinates and a color rendering index (CRI) of (0.28, 0.34) and 79.6, respectively, implying good prospects in the field of WLEDs.
Photothermal therapy (PTT)-induced immune response has attracted much attention, however, which cannot work at full capacity. In this study, the simvastatin (SV) adjuvant is loaded into gold nanocages (AuNCs) to develop a simple drug delivery system, which can efficiently utilize the tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) for improving immune responses. AuNCs/SV-mediated PTT treatment enhances tumor cells damage and promotes the release of TAAs which are immediately captured by AuNCs/SV to form AuNCs/SV/TAAs recombinant nanoparticle. Impressively, AuNCs/SV/TAAs can accumulate in lymph nodes effectively due to the suitable size of ~55 nm and hyperthermia-induced vasodilative effect. And the co-delivery of antigen and adjuvant is beneficial to stimulating the maturation of dendritic cells for further activating T cells. In a word, the recombinant strategy could make full use of TAAs to produce an individual powerful immunotherapy.
In recent years, porphyrins with a similar structure to chlorophyll are often used as photosensitizers or reaction centers to improve the light absorption capacity or catalytic selectivity of existing photocatalytic systems. However, photocatalytic reactions include photoelectric conversion, photocarrier transport, and surface reaction, which requires the overall design of porphyrin-based photocatalysts. In this paper, the research work of porphyrin molecular design in heterogeneous photocatalysis in recent years is reviewed. Besides, the application of interface control and spatial confinement effect in porphyrin-based hybrid photocatalyst is introduced. Finally, the future development direction of porphyrin-based photocatalysts is prospected and the main challenges in the research of porphyrin-based photocatalysts are given.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently allured a variety of concern in the fields of nanotechnology. However, exploring their biomedical applications is still a relatively new field. In this work, zeolite imidazole skeleton-8 (ZIF-8) was reported for the first time as a drug carrier for the treatment of lung injury. Uniform ZIF-8 nanoparticles encapsulating plumbagin (PLB) are achieved by a facile physical adsorption process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and UV–vis absorption spectrum were conducted to investigate the physical properties of ZIF-8 and PLB@ZIF-8. In animal model, the collagen fibers deposition produced by severe lung injury is significantly decreased. The secretion of inflammatory factor TGF-β and IL-6 were efficiently dropped by the combination of plumbagin and ZIF-8. At the same time, the expressions of collagen I, α-SMA and TNF-α were also suppressed. This strategy puts forth a promising blueprint in the application of MOF materials, especially in biomedical fields.
The engineering of carbon nanocatalysts for the persulfate activated elimination of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) demonstrates promising potential compared with metal-based counterparts due to their unique advantage of high stability and low toxicity. The early reviews introduced the theoretical background of persulfate activation together with a detailed summary of different mechanisms responsible for degradation of EOCs. To further unify the state of knowledge, identify the research gaps, and prompt new research in this area, we present a thorough review on current trends in research on metal-free carbon nanocatalysts (e.g., 0D nanodiamond, 1D carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers, 2D graphene and graphitic carbon nitride, and 3D carbon nanocatalysts), with emphasis on their applications in persulfate activation and EOCs decontamination. We also discuss the current challenges and future perspectives in practically relevant applications. Last, we highlight that the development of sustainable carbon nanocatalysts/persulfate systems lies at the interface of multiple disciplines, which calls for future in-depth interdisciplinary collaborations.
Two amphiphilic TPE E/Z isomers with aggregation induced emission (AIE) property have been synthesized and characterized. The logarithmic fluorescent intensity of the two molecules was in positive relationship with logarithmic viscosity of liquid. To note, the Z-TPE isomer exhibited more sensitivity in the viscosity of liquid sensing in comparison with the corresponding E-TPE counterpart (around 1.80 folds). Furthermore, two molecules could be used as fluorescent sensors for mechanical properties (viscosity and storage modulus) of hydrogel as well. In addition, two sensors displayed low cytotoxicity in normal tissue cell line (L929) within the concentration range of 2-10 μmol/L. These results potentially promised their applications as fluorescent sensors for mechanical properties in the fields of biological and biomedical.
Valuable application prospects and large-scale production technologies are powerful driving forces for the development of materials science. Carbon dots (CDs) are a kind of promising carbon-based fluorescent nanomaterials, which possess wide application prospects based and even beyond the fluorescence properties. Herein, we report the fast and high-yield synthesis of CDs and the large-scale preparation of fluorescent nanofiber films with enhanced mechanical properties. CDs were prepared from magnetic hyperthermia treatment of citric acid and carbamide, with the output of 25.37 g in a single batch. The as-prepared CDs exhibit a high absolute photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) of 67% and wonderful dispersibility in polar solvents. Then, solution blow spinning of CDs and polymer matrixes of alcohol soluble polyurethane (APU) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) led to large-area fluorescent CDs-embedded nanofiber films, APU/CDs (size: 120 cm × 18 cm) and PAN/CDs (size: 120 cm × 22 cm), respectively. The resultant large-area APU/CDs and PAN/CDs nanofiber films have dramatically enhanced mechanical properties, to show integrated improvement of tensile strength and elongation.
Earth abundant metals are much less expensive, promising, valuable metals and could be served as catalysts for the borrowing hydrogen reaction, dehydrogenation and heterocycles synthesis, instead of noble metals. The uniformly dispersed zinc composites were designed, synthesized and carefully characterized by means of XPS, EDS, TEM and XRD. The resulting zinc composite showed good catalytic activity for the N-alkylation of amines with amines, ketones with alcohols in water under base-free conditions, while unsaturated carbonyl compounds could also be synthesized by tuning the reaction conditions. Importantly, it was the first time to realize the synthesis of 2-aryl-1H-benzo[d]imidazole derivatives by using this zinc composite under green conditions. Meanwhile, this zinc catalyst could be easily recovered and reused for at least five times.
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