Latest ArticlesMembrane will inevitably reach the end of its lifespan due to the irrecoverable fouling accumulation in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) during long-term operation. Herein, we developed an eco-friendly membrane regeneration strategy with triethyl phosphate (TEP), which successfully prolonged the lifespan of end-of-life (EOL) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes in a large-scale MBR. The regenerated (Rg) membrane exhibited a water permeance of 534.8 ± 45.7 L m−2 h−1 bar−1, along with stable rejection rate, which was comparable with that of the new membrane. Furthermore, compared to the membrane subjected solely to preliminary cleaning, the Rg membrane presented a more hydrophilic surface due to the combination of preliminary cleaning and solvent-based processing. Besides, the Rg membrane presented less fouling propensity with the critical flux of 15.2 L m−2 h−1, significantly higher than that of the EOL membrane (4.0 L m−2 h−1). Importantly, the membrane regeneration strategy was capable of guaranteeing the effluent quality in MBR systems for treating real municipal wastewater. This study provides an eco-friendly membrane regeneration strategy for effectively removing the irrecoverable foulants, thereby promoting the advancement of sustainable membrane-based wastewater treatment technology.
Exosomes as authigenous nanovesicles secreted by living cells represent a significant class of biomaterials. By virtue of their unique roles in intercellular communication, exosomes can mediate intercellular information/cargoes exchange as messenger and facilitate drug delivery as smart vehicles. Oral medication is the most clinically relied upon route of administration and can achieve both topical and systemic therapeutic effects after absorption. Exosomes and exosome-derived vectors have shown to be of high value in oral drug delivery, since they enable efficient oral delivery of therapeutic molecules by targeting intestinal epithelial cells. In recent years, exosome-biomimetic nanocarriers have emerged as an important catalyzer in innovating oral drug delivery systems. In this work, we roundly reviewed the biogenesis and functions of exosomes, their extraction and characterization methods, resources available for exosomes harvest, and design philosophy of exosome-derived vehicles, particularly highlighting the oral delivery application of exosome-biomimetic nanocarriers for diverse medicines. Accumulating evidence suggests that exosome-biomimetic nanocarriers hold great promise for oral delivery of intractable drugs with potential biopharmaceutic issues.
Diabetes mellitus considerably affects bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), for example, by inhibiting their proliferation and differentiation potential, which enhances the difficulty in endogenous bone regeneration. Hence, effective strategies for enhancing the functions of BMSCs in diabetes have far-reaching consequences for bone healing and regeneration in diabetes patients. Tetrahedral framework nucleic acids (tFNAs) are nucleic acid nanomaterials that can autonomously enter cells and regulate their behaviors. In this study, we evaluated the effects of tFNAs on BMSCs from diabetic rats. We found that tFNAs could promote the proliferation, migration, and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs from rats with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and inhibited cell senescence and apoptosis. Furthermore, tFNAs effectively scavenged the accumulated reactive oxygen species and activated the suppressed protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway. Overall, we show that tFNAs can recover the proliferation and osteogenic potential of diabetic BMSCs by alleviating oxidative stress and activating Akt signaling. The study provides a strategy for endogenous bone regeneration in diabetes and also paves the way for exploiting DNA-based nanomaterials in regenerative medicine.
Recently, the composite of soft conductive substrates, such as carbon fiber (CF), with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been employed in a myriad of applications. The composite material has demonstrated exceptional potential in the realm of electrochemical sensing platforms. However, the rapid growth of MOFs on the surface of CF remains a challenge. Herein, we propose a simple galvanostatic method as an effective strategy for rapidly growing zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) on CF, and obtain nano-caltrop-like ZIFs modified CF (NC-ZIFs/CF) glucose (Glu) sensor platform with distinctive morphology. The prepared NC-ZIFs/CF demonstrated significant electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of Glu in alkaline media, characterized by a pronounced augmentation in oxidation current density. At an applied potential of 0.4 V, NC-ZIFs/CF exhibited a remarkably broad detection range (3–30,000 µmol/L) and demonstrated outstanding selectivity, repeatability and reproducibility. Additionally, the NC-ZIFs/CF was efficaciously employed for the detection of blood Glu levels in the serum of both normoglycemic and hyperglycemic patients, obtaining highly reliable results. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using galvanostatic method assembly to induce the growth of MOFs on conductive substrates, providing new ideas for electrocatalysis sensors and other electrochemical applications.
X-ray detection plays a crucial role across various aspects of our daily lives, encompassing medical diagnoses, security screenings, and non-destructive examinations in industrial settings. Given the wide array of application contexts, a wealth of opportunities is entailed with the practical utilization of both organic and inorganic X-ray detection materials. A novel and promising contender in this realm is the emergence of metal-free organic halide perovskites (O-PVSKs), offering great opportunities and tremendous potential in X-ray detection. This potential can be attributed to the distinct crystalline configuration of O-PVSKs, where organic constituents are structured into an ABX3 perovskite arrangement. Consequently, O-PVSKs exhibit captivating characteristics reminiscent of organic materials, such as lightweight nature and modifiability, all while retaining the distinctive traits associated with halide perovskites ranging from diverse structures to tunable optoelectronic properties. This review article delves into the intrinsic attributes of O-PVSKs and critically examines the viability of O-PVSKs in X-ray detection, through which key features that distinguish O-PVSKs from traditional organic semiconductors and perovskites are outlined. This is followed by a perspective given on their future avenues for exploration.
The catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is of considerable significance for the sustainable development of the chemical industry; thus, considerable efforts have been devoted to the exploration of efficient catalysts for use in this reaction. In this regard, the development and utilization of single-atom catalysts (SACs) in VOCs decomposition is a rapidly expanding research area. SACs can be employed as potential catalysts for oxidizing VOC molecules due to their optimal utilization efficiency, unique atomic bonding structures, and unsaturated orbits. Progress has been achieved, while the challenges surrounding precise regulation of the microstructures of SACs for improving their low-temperature efficiency, stability, and product selectivity under practical conditions are remaining. Therefore, elucidating structure-performance relationships and establishing intrinsic modulating mechanisms are urgently required for guiding researchers on how to synthesize effective and stable functional SACs proactively. Herein, recent advances in the design and synthesis of functional SACs for application in the catalytic oxidation of VOCs are summarized. The experimental and theoretical studies revealing higher efficiency, stability, and selectivity of as-prepared functional SACs are being highlighted. Accordingly, the future perspectives in terms of promising catalysts with multi-sized composite active sites and the illustration of intrinsic mechanism are proposed. The rapid intelligent screening of applicable SACs and their industrial applications are also discussed.
The development of high-precision sensors using flexible piezoelectric materials has the advantages of high sensitivity, high stability, good durability, and lightweight. The main problem with sensing equipment is low sensitivity, which is due to the mismatch between materials and analysis methods, resulting in the inability to effectively eliminate noise. To address this issue, we developed the denoising analysis method to motion signals captured by a flexible piezoelectric sensor fabricated from poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) materials. Experimental results demonstrate that this improved denoising method effectively removes noise components from neck muscle motion signals, thus obtaining high-quality, low-noise motion signal waveforms. Wavelet decomposition and reconstruction is a signal processing technique that involves decomposing a signal into different scales and frequency components using wavelets and then selectively reconstructing the signal to emphasize specific features or eliminate noise. The study employed the sym8 wavelet basis for wavelet decomposition and reconstruction. In the denoised signals, a high degree of stability and periodic peaks are distinctly manifested, while amplitude and frequency differences among different types of movements also become noticeably visible. As a result of this study, we are enabled to accurately analyze subtle variations in neck muscle motion signals, such as nodding, shaking the head, neck lateral flexion, and neck circles. Through temporal and frequency domain analysis of denoised motion signals, differentiation among various motion states can be achieved. Overall, this improved analytical approach holds broad application prospects across various types of piezoelectric sensors, such as healthcare monitoring, sports biomechanics.
(±)-Mycosphatide A (1a/1b), a pair of highly oxidized enantiomeric polyketides featuring a unique 5/5/6/5-fused tetracyclic ring system, were isolated from the mangrove endophytic fungus Mycosphaerella sp. SYSU-DZG01. Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic analyses, single crystal X-ray diffraction, and experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra comparison. The plausible biosynthetic pathway of 1 was proposed, which involved the generation of a key spiro[4.5]decane scaffold. Compounds (+)-1a and (−)-1b exhibited significant lipid-lowering activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes model, with EC50 values of 7.85 ± 1.56 and 8.87 ± 0.80 µmol/L, respectively.
With the increasing demand for high energy density energy storage device, Li metal has received intensive attention for its ultrahigh capacity and the lowest redox potential. LiNO3 is widely used as electrolyte additive for ether electrolyte, which can improve the cycle performance of Li metal anode. Compared to ethers, carbonates are more suitable for Li metal batteries with high voltage cathode because they have a wider electrochemical window. However, LiNO3 performs poor solubility in carbonate electrolyte, restricting its application in high voltage Li battery. Herein, we presented a facile method to introduce abundant LiNO3 additive to carbonate electrolyte system by introducing LiNO3-PAN es as the interlayer of the cell. LiNO3-PAN es is in sufficient contact with the electrolyte so that it can continuously releases LiNO3 to assist the formation of Li2N2O2-rich single nitrogenous component SEI layer on Li surface. With the help of LiNO3-PAN es, Li metal anode shows excellent cycle stability even at a high current density of 4 mA/cm2, so that the cycle performance of the full cells was significantly improved, whether in the anode-free Cu||LFP cell or the Li||NCM622 cell.
Theranostic carbon dots (CDs) have attracted widespread attention recently due to their tunable optical properties and diverse bioactivities. Beyond fluorescent imaging application, the photothermal property endows CDs with the potential for microbial inactivation. However, realization of the effective conversion between fluorescence and heat in one CD system has rarely been reported. Herein, we provide a simple strategy for targeted microbial theranostics based on 4-carboxyphenylboronic acid-derived CDs (PCBA-CDs) which possess concentration-dependent photoluminescence/photothermal features. At lower concentrations, PCBA-CDs show bright and stable fluorescent signals ranging from blue to green. The fluorescence intensity gradually decreases with increasing concentration, while on the contrary, the photothermal effect of PCBA-CDs ascends progressively due to the rearrangement of electronic transitions in aggregated CDs. PCBA-CDs also demonstrate high affinity to the polysaccharide structures on the surface of microbe which allows rapid microbial fluorescence imaging as well as specific photothermal ablation of pathogens in skin wounds using PCBA-CDs at lower and higher concentrations, respectively. This study supplies a facile nanotheranostic strategy for just-in-time microbial management using bioactive CDs.
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