Latest ArticlesDNA-based hydrogels are exceptional materials for biological applications because of their numerous advantages such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, hydrophilicity, super absorbency, porosity, and swelling. Among these advantages, the ability of DNA-based hydrogels to respond to specific physical and chemical triggers and undergo reversible phase transitions has garnered significant attention in the fields of disease diagnosis (biosensors) and treatment (drug delivery). This article focuses on the recent advancements in the research of DNA-based hydrogels and discusses the different types of these hydrogels, the synthetic methods, their unique properties, and their applications in biosensors and drug delivery. The types of DNA hydrogels are categorized based on their building blocks, and the process of synthesis as well as the unique characteristics of DNA-based hydrogels are described. Then, DNA-based responsive hydrogels utilized as intelligent materials for the development of biosensors are reviewed. Furthermore, this article also presents the current status of DNA-based responsive hydrogels in drug delivery for cancer treatment, wound healing, and other therapeutic applications. Ultimately, this paper discusses the current challenges in expanding the practical application of DNA-based hydrogels.
The development of efficient and stable bifunctional overall water-splitting is a crucial goal for clean and renewable energy, which is a challenging task. Herein, we report an Mn-incorporated RuO2 (Mn-RuO2) catalyst for highly efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acid and alkaline media. Benefiting from a more electrochemical active area with the incorporation of Mn, the Mn-RuO2 required an overpotential of 200 mV to attain a current density of 10 mA/cm2 for OER in acid. DFT result indicates that the doping of Mn into RuO2 can enhance the OER activity. An acidic overall water-splitting electrolyzer with good stability constructed by bifunctional Mn-RuO2 only requires a cell voltage of 1.50 V to afford 10 mA/cm2 and can operate stably for 50 h at 50 mA/cm2, which is better than the state-of-the-art Ru-based catalyst. Additionally, the Mn-RuO2 exhibits excellent HER and OER activity in alkaline media, and it shows superior activity and durability for overall water-splitting, only needing a cell voltage of 1.49 V to attain 10 mA/cm2. The present work provides an efficient approach to designing and constructing efficient Ru-based electrocatalysts for overall water-splitting.
The existence of adsorbed water and structural water in the crystal structure of attapulgite (ATP) endows it with poor capability to store lithium ions. Herein, the chloride molten salt method was developed to function ATP materials based on theoretical calculations, which exhibit ground-breaking electrochemical performance. After the modification process, the metal ions in chloride molten salt occupy the vertices of the Mg-O octahedral structure from the liberation of structural water and hydroxyl groups in ATP, forming MaMgbAlcSixOy (M = Li, Na, or K). Using LiCl molten salt-modified ATP (Li-ATP) as a proof-of-concept, the detailed phase transition, physicochemical properties, and lithium storage capacity were investigated. Compared to the original ATP, Li-ATP achieves a nearly 7-fold increase in lithium storage capacity (498 mAh/g), featuring a promising low-cost polyanionic type anode material.
Zinc metal is regarded as one of the most promising anodes for Zn-based batteries in next-generation energy storage systems. However, the dendrite growth and interfacial corrosion lead to poor reversibility and cycle life of Zn anodes. Herein, we synthesize a 2-phosphate-1,2,4-butane tricarboxylic acid modified hyperbranched polyamidoamine containing rich terminal groups of phosphate and carboxyl (HPC) as modified layer for the Zn anodes. Importantly, the in situ acid-etching promotes the exposure of (002)Zn plane and the generated salt-polymer complexes could be adhered to the Zn anodes tightly. This greatly favors the uniform deposition of Zn and inhibits interfacial corrosion. Consequently, stable HPC@Zn anode plating/stripping for over 1200 h at a high areal capacity of 4 mAh/cm2 and a current density of 4 mA/cm2 is obtained. This study provides a new avenue of hyperbranched polymer in interfacial design for highly reversible and stable Zn metal anodes.
Infections frequently occur after skin injuries, posing a significant challenge in current clinical care. Frequently changing dressings to minimize wound infections and adhesions results in large amounts of medical waste. Therefore, developing environmentally friendly multifunctional dressings has considerable application and translational significance. This study aimed to prepare a wound dressing with favorable antimicrobial properties and biosafety by grafting a natural antimicrobial peptide, polylysine, onto a traditional cotton textile dressing. The cotton textile dressing offers excellent moisture absorption and softness, while polylysine provides excellent biocompatibility, a broad antimicrobial spectrum, and high stability. Furthermore, both materials are natural and biodegradable, making them ideal for environmentally friendly wound dressings.
Dual-state emission (DSE) molecules displayed conspicuous fluorescent performance both in solid and solution states. However, the construction of DSE molecules and the regulation of their emission wavelengths remains a great challenge. Based on the structure-function relationship of quinolinonitrile-type fluorophores, this work proposed a feasible strategy for modulating their fluorescent properties into DSE via limiting the torsion angle between the quinoline ring and C=C bond in the range of 4.7° to 30°. Based on this strategy, 53 compounds were obtained which displayed tunable emission wavelengths from 397 nm to 740 nm in solid-state and from 360 nm to 672 nm in solution. The feasibility of the strategy was supported by a series of theoretical calculations, optical characterizations, and crystal analysis, suggesting the compounds have great potential in imaging living cells and tissues with desired wavelengths.
Na-ion cathode materials with a fast charge and discharge behavior are needed to develop future high-energy sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, inevitably complicated phase transitions and sluggish kinetics during insertion and removal of Na+ in P2-type layered transition metal oxides generate structural instability and severe capacity decay. To get rid of such a dilemma, we report a structural optimization strategy to promote P2-type layered transition metal oxides with more (010) active planes as an efficient cathode for SIBs. As a result, as-prepared hexagonal-prism P2-type layered Na0.71Ni0.16Li0.09Co0.16Mn0.6O2 cathode with more (010) active planes delivers a reversible capacity of 120.1 mAh/g at 0.1 C, impressive rate capability of 52.7 mAh/g at 10 C, and long-term cycling stability (capacity retention of 95.6% over 200 cycles). The outstanding electrochemical performance benefited from the unique hexagonal-prism with more (010) active facets, which can effectively shorten the diffusion distances of Na+, increase the Na-ion migration dynamics and nanostructural stability during cycling verified by morphology characterization, Rietveld refinement, GITT, density functional theory calculations and operando XRD.
Amorphous alloys, with unique atomic structures and metastable nature, are treated as superior candidates for environmental wastewater remediation due to their superior catalytic capabilities. Given the strong demand for environmental protection, the field of amorphous alloys in wastewater treatment has great development prospects, and numerous research results have been published in recent years. As a promising catalyst, it was demonstrated that amorphous alloys could exhibit many excellent properties in wastewater treatment, such as high catalytic efficiency, easily adjustable parameters and reliable sustainability. This paper aims to summarize recent research trends regarding amorphous alloys in the field of catalysis, focusing on the preparation methods, physical performance, catalytic mechanisms and environmental application. Meanwhile, this review also investigates the challenges encountered and future perspectives of amorphous alloys, offering new research opportunities to enlarge their applicability spectra.
The application of nanotechnologies in formulation has significantly promoted the development of modern medical and pharmacological science, especially for nanoparticle-based drug delivery, bioimaging, and theranostics. The advancement of engineering particle design and fabrication is largely supported by a better understanding of how their apparent characteristics (e.g., size and size distribution, surface morphology, colloidal stability, chemical composition) influence their in vivo biological performance, which raises an urgent need for practical nanoformulation methods. Based on turbulent flow mixing and the self-assembly of molecules in fluids, flash technologies emerged as effective bottom-up fabrication strategies for effective nanoformulation. Among the flash technology family, flash nanocomplexation (FNC) is considered a novel and promising candidate that can promote and optimize formulation processes in a precise spatiotemporal manner, thus obtaining excellent fabrication efficiency, reproducibility and expandability. This review presents an overview of recent advances in fabricating drug-delivery nanoparticles using FNC platforms. Firstly, brief introductions to the basic principles of FNC technology were carried out, followed by descriptions of turbulent microvolume mixers that have significantly promoted the efficiency of FNC-based fabrications. Applications of real formulation cases were then categorized according to the self-assembly-driven interactions (including electrostatic interaction, coordination interaction, hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction) and discussed to reveal the progressiveness of fabricating nanoparticles and discuss how its flexibility will provide advances and replenish the philosophy of nanomedicine formulation. In the end, the commercial potential, current limitations, and prospects of FNC technology for nanoformulation will be summarized and discussed.
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