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The development of low-cost, efficient, and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts is very important for the development of renewable energy. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are considered to be promising electrocatalysts due to their flexible ion exchange, abundant structural adjustability, excellent thermal stability, and easy functionalization with other materials. In this work, nickel-cobalt layered double hydroxide (NiCo-LDH) nanosheet arrays are prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. Four samples Ni1Co4-LDH, Ni2Co3-LDH, Ni3Co2-LDH and Ni4Co1-LDH are obtained by adjusting the Ni/Co ratio (5 − x : x). Among them, the Ni2Co3-LDH samples show excellent HER and OER properties. At a current density of 50 mA cm−2 in a 1.0 M KOH electrolyte, the overpotentials of the HER and OER are 227 mV and 303 mV, respectively. In addition, as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting, the sample provides a voltage of 1.83 V and long-term stability at 50 mA cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a typical VOC gas, the harm of isopropanol to human health and the environment cannot be ignored. The detection of isopropanol is of great significance to human safety and environmental protection. Herein, Au/α-Fe2O3 sensors with different Au contents were prepared for isopropanol detection using a simple microwave-assisted method. The morphology, structure, and composition of the samples were characterized using SEM, TEM, XRD, and XPS. The gas-sensitive properties of pure α-Fe2O3 and Au/α-Fe2O3 composites were systematically investigated under different temperatures. It was found that the Au/α-Fe2O3 composite (AF) sensors exhibited excellent selectivity and a high response to isopropanol at an optimal operating temperature of 220 °C. The gas-sensing performances of the Au-modified α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were significantly improved compared to that of pristine α-Fe2O3. Especially, the sample with the Au-modified concentration of 7 mol% exhibited the highest response of 51.47 to 100 ppm isopropanol, which was 4.5 times higher than that of pure α-Fe2O3. Moreover, the AF gas sensor displayed great selectivity, reusability, and long-term stability. The enhancement of the gas-sensing performances of the AF composite gas sensors can be attributed to the effects of electronic sensitization and chemical sensitization induced by the introduction of Au nanoparticles, providing a viable solution for detecting isopropanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-wavelength hot-band excitation, forbidden in the conventional Stokes fluorescence mechanism, is found to be available with cascading triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC). Selective excitation of Pt(II)octaethylporphyrin (PtOEP) by diode lasers with wavelengths of 532 nm, 589 nm, 635 nm, 655 nm, and 671 nm respectively can all induce 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA) to emit blue upconversion, with the maximum anti-Stokes shift of 0.95 eV in the microcrystals exposed to air. Whether the zero-vibrational energy level excitation or the hot-vibrational energy level excitation in the ground state, the PtOEP/DPA pair showed triplet–triplet energy transfer (TTET) efficiencies approaching ∼95%. The doped microcrystal samples without encapsulation can emit blue upconversion from green/yellow/red excitation with stability for ∼20 days under atmospheric conditions, demonstrating their potential applications in multiple information encryption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the widespread use of gold as a precious metal, the recovery of gold has become an urgent problem to be solved. Therefore, the design and preparation of a sorbent with better adsorbability and higher selectivity for Au(III) is of great significance for recovering gold resources and protecting the environment. In order to obtain an efficient and stable gold ion sorbent, N1,N1′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(N1-(4-aminophenyl)benzene-1,4-diamine) and 2,4,6-tricarboxylisophene were cross-linked by a solvent thermal reaction to synthesize a double-functional covalent organic polymer (N-TPCOP). The N-TPCOP has a very high gold uptake capacity of 3400.38 mg g−1, because it reduces Au(III) to elemental gold by sequestration and redox reactions between functional atoms (N and O) and Au(III). In summary, we have verified the adsorption potential of a novel covalent organic polymer for Au(III), which provides a strong reference for the recycling of precious metal gold in secondary resources and the protection of environmental resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a method for the large-scale and solvent-free preparation of hierarchical pore single-atom catalysts is highly desirable but challenging. Herein we report the fabrication of bamboo-like nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes comprising both Ni single atoms and Ni nanoparticles (Ni-SAs/NPs@BNCNTs) via combining the ball milling and pyrolysis methods. Due to the nature of the carbonaceous species and the plasmonic excitation of the Ni nanoparticles, the as-obtained Ni-SAs/NPs@BNCNTs exhibit excellent photothermal performance, with the reaction solution temperature rising to 70.4 °C at a light intensity of 200 mW cm−2. The semiconductor properties of nickel/nitrogen-doped carbon (Ni–N–C) facilitate the generation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Remarkably, the Ni-NPs/SAs@BNCNTs act as a photothermal catalyst for the N-formylation of amines with CO2 and phenylsilane and exhibits prominent catalytic performance (yield: 95% and selectivity: 96%). This study provides unique insights into the facile and scalable preparation of single-atom catalysts and their photothermal catalytic applications in CO2 fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring highly efficient and durable bifunctional catalysts for enhancing overall water splitting (OWS) is greatly desired but challenging for electrocatalysis applications. Herein, Fe doping in three-dimensional (3D) tremella-like MoNi4 alloy crystal frameworks (denoted as MNFn CFs) is utilized for building up a bifunctional OWS electrocatalyst. Experimental analysis and density functional theory (DFT) simulations reveal that Fe doping enhances the conductivity, lowers the free energy barriers for water splitting, and weakens the adsorption of catalytic intermediates. In particular, a MNF2.5 CF catalyst exhibits a superior OER performance, and requires an ultra-low overpotential of 187.18 mV to drive 30 mA cm−2 and a low Tafel slope of 56.50 mV dec−1 in 1 M KOH. Eventually, an OWS device consisting of MNF2.5 CFs crystallized at 500 and 600 °C (MNF2.5-500‖MNF2.5-600 CFs) is demonstrated and can be driven by a 1.5 V AAA battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiwavelength hot-band excited triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) was accomplished with the excitation of a sensitizer at hot-band vibrational energy levels in the ground state. Selective excitation of Pt(II)tetraphenyltetrabenzoporphyrin (PtTPBP) at 635 nm, 655 nm, 671 nm or even 785 nm (IR) all can induce the emissions of 9,10-bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene (BPEA) with the maximum anti-Stokes shift at 0.86 eV, which significantly increases anti-Stokes shifts and shows potential application in information multiple encryptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the intrinsic Na+ ion diffusivity of the advanced cathode material Na3V2(PO4)2O2F (NVPOF) has been a fundamental strategy to enhance its Na+ ion storage performance, while challenges remain in structural design and fabrication with specific features targeting the alleviation of migration energy barriers of the Na+ ions at different (de)sodiated states. Herein, K+ ions are introduced into the Na-sites in NVPOF to create Na+ ion vacancies, support the Na+ ion transport channels in the c axis and disrupt the continuity of the crystal structure. This strategy simultaneously reduces the electrostatic repulsive forces on the migrating Na+ ions from neighboring Na+ ions at a sodiated state and energy barriers originating from Na+ ion ordering at a desodiated state. Thus, the obtained NVPOF-K0.05 cathode presents a dramatic enhancement in the rate capability up to 80C (49.1 mA h g−1) and almost no decay in the long cycles at 10C up to 500 cycles (106.7 mA h g−1). The NVPOF-K0.05//Se@C sodium-ion full cell exhibits outstanding energy/power density (430.3 W h kg−1 at 208.3 W kg−1 and 310.5 W h kg−1 at 3357.1 W kg−1) and cycling stability (86.5% capacity retention of 107.1 mA h g−1 after 1000 cycles at 10C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the structural instability and torpid kinetic limitation has been a pressing while challenging issue for vanadium oxide cathode materials to realize their outstanding performance in rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). Herein, vanadium oxide nanobelts with a bilayer structure (LiV3O8@NaV3O8, LVO@NVO) have been prepared successfully via a quick one-pot eutectic oxidation process. When evaluated as a cathode for ZIBs, the LVO@NVO shows an amazing capacity of 476 mA h g−1 at 0.05 A g−1, superior rate properties (236 mA h g−1 @ 5 A g−1), and excellent cycling capability over 2000 cycles with a capacity-retention of 93.4%. Owing to the pre-intercalated Li+ and Na+ cations and the resulting bilayer structure, higher pseudocapacitance, faster charge-transfer/ion-diffusion kinetics, and a robust architecture have been achieved in the LVO@NVO cathode, which are responsible for the superior zinc-ion storage performance. Furthermore, the energy storage mechanism based on Zn2+ and H+ co-intercalation/extraction has been proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional anti-counterfeit luminescent materials were limited by the fixed excitation and emission mode. Complex anti-counterfeiting strategies with multiple luminescent modes are significantly required for defeating the continuously developing counterfeit technologies. In this work, triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) materials were applied for anti-counterfeiting and encoding by combining with lanthanide-doped afterglow phosphors through an energy transfer process. This combination constructed a multi-mode luminescent system with four different luminescent modes, and the corresponding multi-dimensional anti-counterfeiting patterns were prepared by a direct-writing method. A dual polymer network matrix consisting of poly-α-pinene (PαP) and polyisobutylene (PIB) could protect TTA-UC from oxygen quenching and improve the printability of the system. Based on the four luminescent modes, multiple information could be obtained from the anti-counterfeit patterns and encoding arrays. This work provides a new perspective for designing multi-dimensional anti-counterfeiting and encoding methods with high information concealment and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the extensive usage of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), gadolinium deposition has been observed in the brain, kidneys, liver, etc., and this is also closely related to the development of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients with renal dysfunction. Chelation, thereby promoting the elimination of deposited Gd(III), seems to be promising for alleviating these problems. Despite many ligands suitable for chelation therapy having been studied, the decorporation of transition metals (e.g. iron, copper, lead, etc.) and actinides (e.g. uranium, plutonium, etc.) has long been a primary concern, whereas the study of Gd(III) has been extremely limited. Due to their excellent metal binding abilities in vivo and therapeutic effects toward neurodegenerative diseases, bidentate hydroxypyridinone ligands are expected to be able to remove Gd(III) from the brain, kidneys, bones, and liver. Herein, the Gd(III) decorporation efficacy of a bidentate hydroxypyridinone ligand (Me-3,2-HOPO) has been evaluated. The complexation behavior between Me-3,2-HOPO and Gd(III) in solution and solid states was characterized with the assistance of potentiometric titration and X-ray diffraction techniques, respectively. Solution-based thermodynamic studies illustrate that the dominant species of complex between Gd(III) and Me-3,2-HOPO (HL) is GdL2+ (log β120 = 11.8 (3)) at pH 7.4. The structure of the Gd–Me-3,2-HOPO crystal obtained from a room temperature reaction reveals the formation of a Gd(III) dimer that is chelated by four ligands as a result of metal ion hydration and ligand complexation. Cellular Gd(III) removal assays illustrate that Me-3,2-HOPO could effectively reduce final amounts of gadolinium by 77.6% and 66.1% from rat renal proximal tubular epithelial (NRK-52E) cells and alpha mouse liver 12 (AML-12) cells, respectively. Our current results suggest the potential of bidentate HOPO ligands as an effective approach to treat patients suffering from Gd(III) toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea urchin-like hierarchical p-CuO/n-ZnO heterostructures were fabricated through a one-step chemical bath deposition method without any surfactant or heat treatment. The morphologies and crystal structures of the obtained CuO/ZnO heterostructures were characterized by various characterization methods. The crystal structure of the ZnO nanomaterial is the wurtzite hexagonal structure, while the two main crystal planes of CuO correspond to the (111) and (1¯11), respectively. The samples with a lower dripping rate and longer growth time have the advantages of regular morphology and high porosity. Meanwhile, the photocatalytic performances of sea urchin-like hierarchical p-CuO/n-ZnO heterostructures with different CuO contents were systematically evaluated. As an important p-type narrow band gap (∼1.7 eV) semiconductor, CuO forms a p–n heterojunction with ZnO, which is beneficial to the photocatalytic efficiency of the wide-band gap semiconductor ZnO. The photocatalytic performances of the CuO/ZnO heterostructures increased with increasing CuO content from 0 to 10%. However, when the content of CuO in the CuO/ZnO heterostructure was 20%, it was possible that the concentration of copper oxide is too high, which made the sample agglomerate. Alternatively, excessive CuO will shield ZnO from UV absorption, thus reducing the efficiency of photon utilization. Therefore, when the content of CuO is too high, the photocatalytic performance decreases. For all CuO/ZnO nanocomposites, UV-vis indicates that the 10% ZnO/CuO nanostructure may exhibit higher light utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fixation of CO2 and epoxides into cyclic carbonates is a promising strategy for the resourceful use of CO2. However, halogen-based homogeneous co-catalysts are usually required for synergistic catalysis in most heterogeneous catalytic systems, which complicates the process of product separation and purification. Furthermore, CO2 cycloaddition usually requires heating to drive the reaction, making it a highly energy-consuming catalytic process. Herein, the hyper-cross-linked mesoporous poly(ionic liquid)s and nickel-based bamboo-like N-doped carbon nanotubes are spatially organized to construct a synergistic photothermal catalytic system for CO2 cycloaddition (denoted as Ni-BNCNTs@HMPs-NH2). The integrated bifunctional catalyst Ni-BNCNTs@HMPs-NH2 exhibits superior activity and stability for the conversion of CO2 to cyclic carbonates under mild and co-catalyst/solvent-free conditions. Specifically, when the light intensity is 0.4 W cm−2, the reaction temperature can reach 74.2 °C, the yield is 99%, and there is no significant activity loss after 10 cycles of catalysis. Various characterizations illustrate that atomically dispersed Ni–N–C sites and imidazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s in the Ni-BNCNTs@HMPs-NH2 can act as Lewis acid sites and nucleophiles for synergistic catalytic CO2 cycloaddition, respectively. In addition, under light irradiation, bamboo-like carbon nanotubes and plasmonic Ni nanoparticles facilitate the photothermal conversion, and semiconductor Ni–N–C generates photogenerated electrons as well as accelerates the rate-limiting step of the CO2 cycloaddition. This work provides insights into low-energy photothermal-driven catalytic CO2 conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of efficient and low-cost catalysts is of great significance for the future application of the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a series of Ni,N co-doped Mo2C nanostructures (Nix–Mo2C/N) with different Ni content levels are fabricated. The phase-directing effect of Ni on Mo2C/N is observed, which is in charge of the phase transformation of Mo2C/N from an α- to a β-phase. At the optimized Ni-doping level, biphase Ni15–Mo2C/N exhibits outstanding HER activity under both acidic and alkaline conditions. In particular, under alkaline conditions, Ni15–Mo2C/N delivers an overpotential of only 105.0 mV, accompanied by a low Tafel slope of 44.96 mV dec−1. The performance is comparable to commercial 20% Pt/C and higher than most state-of-the-art Mo2C-based catalysts as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports about the detection of antibiotic aztreonam (ATM) are very rare. Herein, a fluorescent "turn-on" sensing coordination polymer 1 for ATM is described. The good linear relationship between the luminescence intensity and ATM concentration (0–0.135 mM) gave the slope of 20 380 M−1 and detection limit of 4.44 × 10−7 M. This work is of great significance, not only because 1 is a sensing material for ATM with excellent selectivity, sensitivity, anti-interference ability and recoverability, but also because it expands the catalogue of antibiotics detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The typical triplet sensitizer Pd(II)octaethylporphyrin (PdOEP) was first found to possess absorption involving a hot vibrational energy-level, resulting in one-photon absorption (OPA) upconversion emission. Cascading hot-band OPA and triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) provides a novel low-powered upconversion approach that can effectively enhance the anti-Stokes shift in a simple way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal contamination of actinides has been a long term concern for the medical treatment of people in nuclear accident scenarios, due primarily to their chemo- and radio-toxicity. So far, many ligands and functional nanomaterials have been designed to sequester actinides in vivo, however, little attention has been paid to reduce the injury induced by the internal exposure of actinides. Herein, we propose PEG grafted melanin nanoparticles (MNPs-PEG) as a bifunctional agent that can not only selectively sequester two different actinides (namely U and Th) at the same time, but also reduce the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in U and Th contaminated cells. The adsorption experiments indicate that more than 99% of U and Th can be chelated selectively by MNPs-PEG in the presence of excess interfering ions. The in vitro decorporation assays show that the material can greatly reduce the deposition of U (77.5%) in NRK-52E cells and Th (75.8%) in AML-12 cells. In addition, ROS assays show that MNPs-PEG can almost reduce the intracellular ROS to a normal level, verifying its remarkable radical quenching ability. More importantly, an in vivo study demonstrated the effective sequestration capability of MNPs-PEG by reducing 33.1% and 45.4% of U from kidneys and bones, respectively, and 42.8% of Th from the liver of mice, simultaneously. Our results show that the MNPs-PEG exhibit clear advantages compared with the current decorporation agents in both actinide sequestration and radiation protection capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a highly sensitive and rapid SERS immunoassay for cardiac troponin I (cTnI), a biomarker for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), using core–shell SERS nanotags. Here, covering a Ag shell on the Au core bound to Raman reporter molecule (4MBA) generates a large number of "hot spots", which have a strong Raman enhancement effect, and then they bind to antibodies to form SERS immunoprobes. In the presence of cTnI, SERS tags and capture probes form sandwich structures through immune responses, and then the immune complex is enriched by a specific reaction of streptavidin on the surface of magnetic beads with biotin. Finally, the concentration of biomarkers was quantified by detecting the characteristic Raman peak intensities of the Raman-reporter molecules. With this SERS immunization platform, the detection limit of cTnI was 9.80 pg mL−1. Moreover, cTnI does not cross-react with non-specific proteins and has good specificity. Furthermore, SERS immunoassay combined with the proposed magnetic beads does not require complex separation procedures and detection was rapid. More importantly, the portable Raman instrument was used in this study, which can meet the requirements of the point-of-care test and small sample size (50 μL). To summarize, it is proved again that SERS immunoassay has good potential in the early diagnosis of AMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foodborne diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria pose a serious threat to human health. Early and rapid detection of foodborne pathogens is urgently needed. The use of biosensors to identify and detect pathogenic bacteria has attracted ample attention because of their high sensitivity, near real-time quantification without enrichment, on-site detection, simple operation, and so on. As a promising alternative recognition element in biosensors, lectins have been widely studied in bacterial detection because of their high stability and low cost. In this review, we highlight the progress of lectin-based pathogen detection methods, including various electrochemical methods, optical methods and quartz crystal microbalance methods, as well as lectin based microfluidic methods. The interaction mechanism between lectins and bacterial recognition site-sugars is also studied. Finally, the future prospects and challenges in the development of lectin-based biosensors are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aldehyde-based diphenylanthracene derivatives were found to be prominent panchromatic luminescent triplet annihilators. The resulting upconversion system in either solution or grafting polymer exhibits stable highly-efficient white-light emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the high mobility of copper ions in numerous structurally-related phases, copper sulphide (Cu2−xS, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1) has been widely used as a starting template to fabricate various heterostructures via cation exchange. Such nanoheterostructures can possess unique combinations of physical properties that could be useful in diverse applications. Controllable methods of fabricating copper sulphide nanoheterostructures of increasing complexity have been rapidly emerging over the past few years. In this tutorial review, we discuss recent progress in heterostructure fabrication methods using copper sulphide. We primarily focus on important reports of cation exchange-based approaches and then summarize some key emerging applications that can employ these copper-sulphide-based nanoheterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

d-Limonene, obtained from the rind of citrus fruits, was demonstrated as a green solvent to realize air-stable and highly efficient triplet–triplet annihilation photon upconversion (TTA-UC). This natural low-toxic compound also contributed to noncoherent UC excited by a solar simulator in air, making TTA-UC materials promising candidates in solar energy and other practical applications. The rapid deoxygenating ability of d-limonene was thoroughly investigated. This system demonstrated very good UC performance for a fluid solution under ambient conditions. Besides, other eight types of terpene were also explored to enrich the alternatives for air-stable TTA-UC in protic and aprotic fluidic environments. This work provides a terpene-based protective platform for oxygen-sensitive TTA-UC applications ranging from life science to photonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-dimensionally integrated yolk–shell (3D-IYS) nanoreactor with spatially separated functionalities was fabricated via a protection–deprotection approach and core–shell colloidal crystal templates (CS-CCTs). The resulting bifunctional catalyst served as a platform for cascade reactions with excellent activity, selectivity, and recyclability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe-Doped NiSe encapsulated in carbon was synthesized by a simple method using a filter paper as the sacrificial support and carbon source, exhibiting remarkable OER performance. Fe doping modulated the electronic property of NiSe and shifted the d-band of the surface Ni atom toward the Fermi level. Together with the good conductivity and porous structure of the filter paper-derived carbon, the composite greatly enhanced the catalytic activity and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deferiprone (3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethyl-4(1H)-pyridone, DFP), which is a drug clinically used for removing heavy metals in vivo, was explored for its removal efficiency towards uranium. The reaction of uranyl nitrate hexahydrate with DFP at room temperature yielded the compound [(UO2)(H2O)(C7NO2H8)2]·4H2O (1), which crystallizes from a mixed solution of methanol and water (pH = 7.0). X-ray diffraction shows that the stable complexation of uranyl occurs from the coordination of two bidentate DFP ligands perpendicular to the O=U=O unit with a fifth coordinating oxygen atom coming from one water molecule, resulting in a pentagonal bipyramidal geometry. The formation constants of uranyl and DFP complexes were measured and the species distribution diagram illustrates that UO2L2 (94.6%) is the dominant uranyl-DFP complex in 0.1 M KCl solution at physiological pH = 7.4. The results from both crystallographic and potentiometric studies imply that the metal : ligand ratio is 1 : 2. The effectiveness of using DFP to remove uranium was examined at the cellular level, and the results suggest that it can significantly reduce the cellular uptake and increase the cellular release of U(vi) in renal proximal tubular epithelial cells (NRK-52E). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and novel method was developed to fabricate silica-based hierarchical porous Janus microcapsules (HPJMs SiO2) for catalysis. The resulting Au@HPJMs SiO2 nanocomposites showed enhanced catalysis, great stability, convenient recovery and reuse without losing catalytic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical application of RNA interference (RNAi)-based cancer gene therapy has been hampered by the lack of efficient delivery of short interfering RNA (siRNA). In this context, the use of biodegradable charged polyester-based vectors (BCPVs) for delivering mutated K-Ras-targeting siRNA in a pancreatic xenograft model was investigated in vivo. Using mice bearing pancreatic xenografts as an animal model, results show that fluorescently labeled TRAMA (carboxytetramethylrhodamine) K-Ras siRNA continuously accumulated in the xenograft via BCPVs for at least 72 h. After the treatment, the level of the targeted mRNA and protein reduced to 50% of their original level. As a consequence, significant suppression in tumor growth, decreased tumor local infiltration, and increased cell apoptosis were observed in the xenograft model after the siRNA treatment. More importantly, physiological analysis results reveal that an excessive amount of BCPV (10 times higher than the commonly treated amount) will not have a significant influence on the status of the blood stream, blood stream components, and organ tissue, suggesting that BCPVs have very low in vivo toxicity. Our results indicate that the delivery of K-Ras-targeting siRNA via BCPV nanoparticles may be a promising strategy for pancreatic cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the performance of labeling agents is crucial to the further development of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) related technologies. Although a large number of ECL luminophores beyond ruthenium complexes have been reported so far, there is still a scarcity of studies involving novel ECL labeling agents. Herein, five novel iridium ECL labels and one control label comprising a ruthenium complex have been rationally designed and thoroughly characterized using photophysical techniques, theoretical calculations and electrochemical characterization to assess the ECL properties in this work. Both in coreactant-assisted potential scan experiments and through an annihilation approach, most of these novel iridium labels exhibit equivalent or even-stronger ECL signals than tri-2,2′-bipyridylruthenium(ii) [abbreviated as Ru(bpy)32+] under the same experimental conditions. Most importantly, using the same labeling protocol, bovine serum albumin (BSA) labeled with an iridium label (label 3 in this work) exhibits a much more intense ECL signal (1.9 times) than the same amount labeled with a traditional ruthenium complex (Ru-based Label in this work) in ProCell buffer solution. In addition to the advantage of exhibiting various emission colors, the novel iridium labels reported in this work may offer insight for the further development of ECL-based analytical technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous carbon nanotubes (PCNTs) were synthesized and incorporation of MnO nanoparticles inside PCNTs (MnO–PCNTs) was successfully achieved by simple pyrolysis of conjugated microporous polymer (CMP) nanotubes and manganese acetate adsorbed CMP nanotubes, respectively. PCNTs exhibit good performance as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. The performance of PCNTs can be further enhanced by incorporation of MnO nanoparticles. MnO–PCNTs show excellent cycling stability (572.6 mA h g−1 after 300 cycles at 1C) and large rate performance (160.8 mA h g−1 at 30C), which are much higher than carbon nanotubes (CNTs) supported MnO composites (MnO–CNTs). This may be due to the unique structure of MnO–PCNTs, where MnO nanoparticles are located inside the tubes, preferably resolving the pulverization issue of MnO during repeated charge–discharge cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]