Latest ArticlesThe Maillard reaction (non-enzymatic browning reaction) is a complex reaction between carbonyl compounds such as reducing sugars, aldehydes and ketones and compounds containing free amino groups such as amino acids, peptides and proteins. This reaction not only affects product sensory qualities, but may also generate harmful substances such as acrylamide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and advanced glycation end-products. These substances pose various health risks to humans, including carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity and diabetes mellitus. Therefore, monitoring the Maillard reaction process and precisely controlling reaction conditions are crucial for understanding its mechanism, optimizing product quality and ensuring product safety. This review systematically summarizes recent advancements in Maillard reaction research, outlining its fundamental processes and key influencing conditions, laying a foundation for the study of the monitoring methods of Maillard reaction process. Additionally, this review takes a cross-industry perspective to explore the applications of Maillard reaction monitoring methods (spectroscopic methods, chromatography/chromatography-mass spectrometry, electrochemical methods and nuclear magnetic resonance and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) in various fields, including food industry, tobacco processing, biopharmaceuticals, materials science and textile dyeing. Through cross-industry applications, the challenges of monitoring the Maillard reaction process are analyzed, including the diversity of reaction products, complexity of sample preparation, and real-time monitoring. Future prospects are proposed through the challenges, including the development of advanced nanomaterials and biosensors, and the integration of machine learning into predictive modeling of reaction kinetics for application in industrial processes. The review aiming to provide valuable references and guidance for industrial safety production and process condition optimization.
Piezocatalysis offers an efficient approach for producing H2O2, a sustainable fuel and oxidant with a wide range of applications. Natural tourmaline, known for its exceptional piezoelectric properties, stands out as a promising green catalyst compared to other synthetic catalysts. In this study, natural tourmaline was modified using a simple acid treatment to remove iron, achieving effective piezocatalytic H2O2 synthesis at a rate of 513.7 µmol g−1 h−1 under ambient conditions. In-depth studies demonstrated that the Fe-free tourmaline exhibited a stronger polarization electric field due to the enhanced polyhedron distortion, compared to the Fe-containing tourmaline. The influence of temperature on their piezoresponse was also investigated. This study provides new insights into the mechanisms of piezoelectric H2O2 production using natural tourmaline.
Hydrogel electrolyte have attracted widely interest for aqueous zinc-ion batteries because of their multi-functionality and intrinsic safety. However, the unstable anode/electrolyte interface by dendrite and side reaction (HER) restricted the cycling of Zn anode, especially at high utilization. Herein, we propose an interface engineering strategy by introducing dimethylformamide (DMF) to polyacrylamide (PAM) electrolyte which could construct the polymer-inorganic bilayer solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) to improve the interface stability and compatibility. Internal Zn5(OH)6(CO3)2 provided high modulus to suppress the dendrite physically and external polymer exhibited flexibility to accommodate the volume change of Zn during cycles. Meanwhile, larger polymer clusters were induced by enhanced hydrogen-bond interactions, resulted in higher shear strength and interfacial adhesion. Additionally, DMF regulated the crystal orientation along (100) crystal plane and solvation structure of Zn2+ with PAM, enabling dense deposition and reduced by-products. Consequently, the Zn anode could provide an impressive lifespan (0.5 mA/cm2@0.5 mAh/cm2, 4000 h; 30 mA/cm2@15 mAh/cm2, 650 h). More importantly, high utilization (68%) was achieved using ultra-thin Zn (10 µm) with superior stability (2 mA/cm2@4 mAh/cm2, 1200 h). Coupled with iodine cathode, the Zn-I2 cell could provide an initial capacity of 184.5 mAh/g at the low ratio of anode/cathode capacity (N/P: 4.3) and ~86.4% retention over 500 cycles. This work provides a promising approach to construct robust interface by hydrogel electrolyte towards practical zinc-ion batteries.
The first example of heterogeneous direct benzylation of N-heterocycles (quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones and quinoxalines) with benzaldehydes has been accomplished via the sequence of a NaDT-photocatalyzed HAT, a single electron transfer reduction and a proton transfer, a spin-center shift and a back-HAT. Utilizing this strategy, a diverse array of benzylated N-heterocycles (29 examples) can be produced with high yields. Importantly, the DT-photocatalyzed direct benzylation with benzaldehydes would be a useful complement to the more extensively studied DT-photocatalyzed acylation and hydroxyalkylation, expanding the scope of DT photocatalysis.
Thermo-photocatalytic CO2 conversion to C2 products exhibits high research value and industrial potential. Enhancing the catalyst's adsorption activation for CO2 and H2O, along with multistep proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) and C-C coupling, is crucial for achieving thermo-photocatalytic CO2 reduction conversion to C2 products with H2O as a proton source in a continuous process. In this paper, we explore a novel approach utilizing biochar to obtain catalysts with more defects and combine reducing biochar with MOF Materials (ZIF-67) to get a composite (ZIF-67/PC) with substantial CO2 and H2O adsorption activation capabilities and electron density gradients. Compared to PC and ZIF-67, the ZIF-67/PC exhibited excellent catalytic performance, particularly in obtaining a certain amount of C2 products (yield 5.59 µmol g-1 h-1, selectivity 55.96%). We also investigated the structure-function relationship of the catalyst and the contributions of thermal and light effects to the catalytic reaction, aiming to guide the establishment of efficient, high-throughput catalytic CO2 conversion technologies.
Digital microfluidics (DMF) shows great promise in addressing the need for miniaturization and automation in immunoassay detection. Despite recent advances, an automatically operated, multiplexed heterogeneous immunoassay platform powered by DMF remains underdeveloped. Here we present a DMF platform for automated and multiplexed heterogeneous immunoassay detection by coupling spatial barcoding with automatic and uniform droplet dispensing. FluoroPel was selected as a robust hydrophobic reagent for coating the DMF top plate, and it also served as the substrate for the immuno-reaction. Its mechanical robustness was further enhanced with a Cytop CTL-809A adhesive layer under the top hydrophobic layer. Hourglass-shaped electrode patterns ensured consistent and uniform distribution of immunoassay reagents, with volume variation down to 1.0%. The analysis duration was significantly reduced from 75 min to 20 min after a heating module was integrated to elevate the immuno-reaction temperature to 37 °C. Utilizing a compact instrument featuring a multi-droplet manipulation protocol, we successfully implemented fully operated, multi-sample, multiplexed immunoassays using recombinant proteins on cell culture supernatants on the DMF platform. This innovative platform significantly enhances the efficiency, reliability, and degree of automation of DMF-actuated multiplexed heterogeneous immunoassays, potentially providing a viable solution for field deployment and multi-sample parallel diagnosis.
The extensive use of various antibiotics and organic dyes has led to increasingly severe environmental issues and posed a significant threat to human health. Developing an efficient and safe dual-functional photocatalytic material for degradation and antibacterial purposes is the key to solving environmental pollution problems. Polythiophene and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) possess excellent photophysical properties, high stability, and ease of modification, offering broad application prospects and significant development potential in the removal of organic pollutants and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB). A high-performance conductive polymer PTET-T-COOH (PThC) was prepared via the Stille coupling reaction, and a bipyridine (Bpy) covalent organic framework Bpy-COF was synthesized through acid-catalyzed imine condensation. By utilizing the π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding interactions between Bpy-COF and PThC, a novel Bpy-COF/PThC all-organic heterojunction was successfully fabricated. Compared to Bpy-COF and PThC, the composite exhibits a broadened spectral response range and higher carrier separation efficiency. The 30% Bpy-COF/PThC demonstrates the best photocatalytic performance, achieving a 99.96% inactivation rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with a cell density of 7.23 log and a 95.28% bactericidal rate of Escherichia coli (E. coli) with a cell density of 7.50 log within 60 min. Under natural light, it not only exhibits good inactivation effects on both MRSA and E. coli, but also shows excellent degradation performance for rhodamine B, methylene blue, and tetracycline. The cytotoxicity experiment demonstrates that the composite exhibits good biocompatibility and potential for practical applications. The research results provide new design ideas for constructing efficient and safe organic photocatalysts, and offer a theoretical basis for the treatment of water pollution.
Zinc ion hybrid capacitors (ZIHCs) are emerging electrochemical energy storage devices with the dual characteristics of high energy density and high power density. However, the mismatch of capacity and electrode kinetics between porous carbon cathodes and zinc metal anodes limits the development of ZIHCs. Lignin has high carbon content, high aromaticity, and three-dimensional functional molecular structures, which is an ideal raw material for preparing high-performance porous carbon electrode materials with high carbon yield, conductive carbon network and enriched heteroatom dopants. Currently, the high-value utilization ratio of industrial lignin is lower than 10%. In this review, the typical preparation methodologies of lignin-derived porous carbons are summarized. The latest research advances for the lignin-derived porous carbon cathodes in ZIHCs are critically focused from the perspectives of pore regulation, surface modification, and morphology design. The core points and development directions that lignin-derived porous carbon cathodes are expected to achieve an original breakthrough in the future are proposed from three levels of techniques, mechanisms, and applications. This review fills the blank region in the applications of lignin-derived porous carbons for ZIHCs, aiming to provide valuable guidance for the high-value utilization process of lignin and the industrialization process of ZIHCs.
Quinone-based electrode materials hold significant promise for next-generation sodium-ion batteries due to their structurally tailorable frameworks, high theoretical capacities, and favorable redox potentials. However, dissolution in organic electrolytes and structural instability during cycling critically impair their capacity retention and cycling durability. Herein, we designed and synthesized two novel acylimide materials N,N'-bis(2,6-anthraquinone diamine)-biphenyl diimide (DQ-BDI) and N,N'-bis(anthraquinone-2,6-diamine)-perylenyl diimide (DQ-PDI) with the gradual enhancement of π-conjugation. Electrochemical characterization reveals exceptional performance in DQ-PDI. At the current density of 50 mA/g, the DQ-PDI delivered the first discharge specific capacity of 158 mAh/g, and the capacity retention of 99% after 100 cycles, with the coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%. At a high current density of 500 mA/g, the DQ-PDI displays a high discharge capacity of 152 mAh/g. The reduction peaks of DQ-PDI located at 2.28 V and 1.34 V are the insertion reactions of sodium ion from the carbonyl groups on PTCDA unit and on DAAQ unit at both ends, respectively, and the two oxidation peaks at 2.58 V and 1.53 V corresponds to extraction reactions. Compared with DQ-BDI, DQ-PDI exhibits a larger π-conjugation plane, which significantly enhances the intermolecular π-π interactions. It can well reduce the dissolution of the material in organic electrolyte, resulting in a higher discharge capacity, superior cycling stability and accelerated reaction kinetics. Our π-conjugation extension strategy establishes a new paradigm for designing dissolution-resistant, high-performance organic electrodes.
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