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Metal-N4 (M-N4) macrocyclic complexes are interesting electrocatalysts due to their well-defined structures and rich molecular tuning. Among them, metal phthalocyanines have been widely studied for the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) in heterogeneous systems and demonstrated good electrocatalytic performance. However, other complexes like metal corroles and metal porphyrins are much less explored, and often show inferior performances. In this study, three cobalt macrocyclic complexes, cobalt phthalocyanine, cobalt meso-tetraphenylporphyrin, and cobalt meso-triphenylcorrole (CoPc, CoTPP and CoTPC) are investigated in heterogeneous electrocatalysis of CO2RR. Although CoPc/carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrid exhibits high electrocatalytic activity, CNT hybridization does not work for CoTPC and CoTPP that hold weak interactions with CNTs. By the drop-dry method with a high molecular loading of 5.4 × 10–7 mol cm–2, CoTPC and CoTPP could deliver appreciable electrode activities. Poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVP) introduction is further demonstrated as a facile method to afford enhanced activities for CoTPP at low molecular loadings through enhancing molecule-substrate interactions. The partial current density of carbon monoxide for CoTPP+CNT/PVP is around 8 times higher than the sample without PVP at –0.67 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. This work provides solutions to enhance the electrode activities of molecular electrocatalysts with weak substrate interactions in heterogeneous systems.

The synthesis and characterization of two 1,8-naphthalene-bridged cyclic oligo-para-phenylenes with four or eight phenylene units are reported. Both molecules exhibit a highly strained structure with two nearly face-to-face arranged p,p'-biphenylylene/p,p'-quaterphenylylene chains. Their dications were obtained by chemical oxidation with NO·SbF6, and both showed open-shell singlet diradical character with a small singlet-triplet energy gap.

Tumor-derived exosomes carrying unique surface proteins have shown great promise as novel biomarkers for liquid biopsies. However, point-of-care analysis for tumor-derived exosomes in the blood with low-cost and easy processing is still challenging. Herein, we develop an integrated approach, homogenous magneto-fluorescent exosome (hMFEX) nanosensor, for rapid and on-site tumor-derived exosomes analysis. Tumor-derived exosomes are captured immunomagnetically, which further initiates the aptamer-triggered assembly of DNA three-way junctions in homogenous solution containing aggregation-induced emission luminogens and graphene oxide, resulting in an amplified fluorescence signal. By integrating magnetic isolation and enhanced fluorescence measurement, the hMFEX nanosensor detects tumor-derived exosomes in the dynamic range spanning 5 orders of magnitude with high specificity, and the limit of detection is 6.56 × 104 particles/μL. Analyzing tumor-derived exosomes in limited volume plasma from breast cancer patients demonstrates the excellent clinical diagnostic efficacy of the hMFEX nanosensor. This study provides new insights into the point-of-care testing of tumor-derived exosomes for cancer diagnostics.

It is challenging to develop molecular fluorophores in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window with long wavelength emission and high brightness, which can improve the performance of biological imaging. Herein, we report a molecular engineering approach to afford NIR-II fluorophores with these merits based on fused-ring acceptor (FRA) molecules. Dioctyl 3,4-propylenedioxy thiophene (PDOT-C8) is utilized as the bridging donor to replace 3-ethylhexyloxy thiophene (3-EHOT), leading to more than 20 times enhancement of brightness. The nanofluorophores (NFs) based on the optimized CPTIC-4F molecule exhibit an emission peak of 1,110 nm with a fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of 0.39% (QY of IR-26 is 0.050% in dichloroethane as reference) and peak absorption coefficient of 14.5 × 104 M−1cm−1 in aqueous solutions, which are significantly higher than those of 3-EHOT based COTIC-4F NFs. It is found that PDOT-C8 can weaken intermolecular aggregation, enhance protection of molecular backbone from water, and decrease backbone distortion, beneficial for the high brightness. Compared with indocyanine green with same injection dose, CPTIC-4F NFs show 10 times higher signal-to-background ratio for whole body vessels imaging at 1,300 nm long pass filters.

Developing molecular fluorophores with high brightness is of considerable importance to achieve superior biological imaging quality in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window. It has been demonstr...

Functional amino acids provide great potential for treating autophagy-related diseases by regulating autophagy. The purpose of the autophagy process is to remove unwanted cellular contents and to recycle nutrients, which is controlled by many factors. Disordered autophagy has been reported to be associated with various diseases, such as cancer, neurodegeneration, aging, and obesity. Autophagy cannot be directly controlled and dynamic amino acid levels are sufficient to regulate autophagy. To date, arginine, leucine, glutamine, and methionine are widely reported functional amino acids that regulate autophagy. As a signal relay station, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) turns various amino acid signals into autophagy signaling pathways for functional amino acids. Deficiency or supplementation of functional amino acids can immediately regulate autophagy and is associated with autophagy-related disease. This review summarizes the mechanisms currently involved in autophagy and amino acid sensing, diverse signal transduction among functional amino acids and autophagy, and the therapeutic appeal of amino acids to autophagy-related diseases. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms of amino acid regulation of autophagy and the role of functional amino acids in clinical autophagy-related diseases and to further convert these mechanisms into feasible therapeutic applications.

Molecular fluorophores emitting in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window with good renal excretion ability are favorable for in vivo bio-imaging and clinical applications. So far, renally excretable fluorophores are still less studied. Understanding the influences of molecular structure on optical properties and renal excretion abilities are vital for fluorophore optimization. Herein, a series of shielding unit-donor-acceptor-donor-shielding unit (S-D-A-D-S) NIR-II molecular fluorophores are designed and synthesized with dialkoxy chains substituted benzene as the S unit. The anchoring positions of dialkoxy chains on benzene are tuned as meso-2,6, para-2,5, or ortho-3,4 to afford three fluorophores: BGM6P, BGP6P and BGO6P, respectively. Experimental and calculation results reveal that alkoxy side chains anchored closer to the conjugated backbone can provide better protection from water molecules and PEG chains, affording higher fluorescence quantum yield (QY) in aqueous solutions. Further, these side chains can enable good encapsulation of backbone, resulting in decreased binding with albumin and improved renal excretion. Thus, fluorophore BGM6P with meso-2,6-dialkoxy chains exhibits the highest quantum yield and fastest renal excretion. This work emphasizes the important roles of side chain patterns on optimizing NIR-II fluorophores with high brightness and renal excretion ability.

The low brominated polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) is ubiquitous in the marine environment. To elucidate the stress response and possible mechanisms underlying BDE-47, the rainbow trout fish Oncorhynchus mykiss were selected and orally fed bait with BDE-47 concentrations of 50 ng/g and 500 ng/g. BDE-47 was found to be mainly accumulated in head kidney and caused lipid peroxidation after prolonged exposure. We studied the detoxification system genes pregnane X receptor (PXR) and downstream genes (cytochrome 3 A, CYP3 A; glutathione S-transferase, GST) and their corresponding enzyme activity and found that the above indicators in the treatment groups increased first and then decreased with time, while the 500 ng/g group showed more significant changes. Further, the antioxidant system gene expression levels of the NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and downstream genes (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT) were found significantly up-regulated with concentration and time. The change in the enzyme activity of SOD and CAT showed the same tendency as that of indicators of detoxifying system. The results showed that BDE-47 can accumulated in head kidney and caused activate and fast increase of genes and enzymes of detoxification and antioxidant system in the short-term and then damage the response systems in longer times. After Pearson correlation analysis, the Integrated Biomarker Response (IBR) Index was established with malondialdehyde (MDA) content; PXR, Nrf2, SOD, and CAT gene expression; and CYP3 A, GST, and CAT enzymatic activity, which were significantly related to BDE-47 bioaccumulation (P 0.5). The IBR value can indicate the ecotoxicological responses of the head kidney to different BDE-47 concentrations exposure, but the high activity of the antioxidant system might obscure the damage of the detoxification system.

Depiction on an energetic chain in terms of assimilation, allocation and consumption as well as the linkage between energetic alteration and physiological process was performed in blue mussel Mytilus edulis coping with tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) based on a 21-day bioassay to shed light on the possible mechanism from energetic perspective. The filtration was hindered along with BDE-47 concentration increment and the influence of digestion was suggested according to the combination of the digestive enzymatic activities’ alteration and digestive gland tissue impairment, both of which decided the energy availability reduction. Energy consumption indicated by the electron transport system activity was firstly inhibited while was greatly increased with BDE-47 increment, and the cellular energy allocation and adenylate pool were decreased simultaneously. An energetic chain was thus depicted: it tended to reduce energy absorption, elevate the energy consumption and decrease the energy metabolism with BDE-47 exposure, and M. edulis adopted the energetic strategy with variation regarding to the stressing level, suggesting as the preference switched from protein utilization to lipid utilization with the concentration increment. A consistence was observed in index of growth and survival with the change of energy allocation, inferring the energetic involvement in sustaining the viability of the mussel.

Exosomes shed by tumor cells have been recognized as promising biomarkers for cancer diagnostics due to their unique composition and functions. Quantification of low concentrations of specific exosomes present in very small volumes of clinical samples may be used for noninvasive cancer diagnosis and prognosis. We developed an immunosorbent assay for digital qualification of target exosomes using droplet microfluidics. The exosomes were immobilized on magnetic microbeads through sandwich ELISA complexes tagged with an enzymatic reporter that produces a fluorescent signal. The constructed beads were further isolated and encapsulated into a sufficient number of droplets to ensure only a single bead was encapsulated in a droplet. Our droplet-based single-exosome-counting enzyme-linked immunoassay (droplet digital ExoELISA) approach enables absolute counting of cancer-specific exosomes to achieve unprecedented accuracy. We were able to achieve a limit of detection (LOD) down to 10 enzyme-labeled exosome complexes per microliter (∼10

Antibiotic resistance associated with the mcr-1 gene of Gram-negative bacteria, which confers resistance to drugs of last resort and has the potential to spread via plasmids, is one of the most pressing issues facing global health today. Point-of-care testing for the mcr-1 gene is needed to aid in the identification of colistin resistance in the field and to control its horizontal transmission. Here, we report the successful development of an enzyme-free homogenous electrochemical strategy for sensitive detection of the antibiotic resistance gene mcr-1 using the hybridization chain reaction and mcr-1-specific toehold probe. The long double-stranded DNA polymer produced using this strategy could be detected by assessing the diffusion of methylene blue towards the surface of a screen-printed gold electrode. Under optimized conditions, a linear relationship was observed between the variation of peak current and the natural logarithm of the mcr-1 gene concentration in the range of 1 nM to 1 μM with a detection limit of 0.78 nM (S/N = 3). This enzyme-free, isothermal platform is a rapid, portable, disposable, and sensitive method for detection of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance.

The enzymatic antioxidant system (EAS) protects aerobic cells from oxidative stress. However, it is brittle and susceptible of inactivation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) immoderate production. Here, we demonstrated that MoS2 nanosheets (few-layer MoS2), as a multifunctional nanozyme, possess intrinsic activity of mimicking enzymes of superoxide dismutases (SODs), catalases (CATs), and peroxidases (PODs) under physiological conditions (pH 7.4, 25 °C). Further, MoS2 nanosheets showed POD-like activity by transferring electrons instead of generating ROS. Similar to EAS, a defense termed nanozymatic antioxidant system (NAS) was developed by MoS2 nanosheets, for regulation of oxidative stress. Surprisingly, this NAS can effectively scavenge other free radicals including hydroxyl radicals (•OH), nitrogen-centered free radicals (•DPPH), and nitric oxide (•NO). To evaluate these unique properties of MoS2-based NAS in vivo, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and A549 cell models were...

Spirulina platensis is a blue-green algae with potential anti-obesity effects. In this study, the anti-obesity effects of whole Spirulina platensis (WSP), Spirulina platensis protein (SPP) and Spirulina platensis protein hydrolysate (SPPH) were compared in high-fat diet fed mice, and the potential acting mechanism of SPPH was also investigated. Totally, SPPH exhibited good anti-obesity effects (reducing 39.8%±9.7% of body weight), lowering 23.8%±1.6% of serum glucose, decreasing 20.8%±1.4% of total cholesterol, while positive drug Simvastatin had the corresponding values: 8.3%±4.6%, 24.8%±1.9% and -2.1%±0.2%, respectively. Subsequently, PCR array was used to conduct gene expression analysis in brain and liver tissues of SPPH-treated mice, which displayed distinctly different expression pattern. The most markedly changed genes included: Acadm (-34.7 fold), Gcg (2.5 fold), Adra2b (2 fold) and Ghsr (2 fold) in brain; Retn (39 fold), Fabp4 (15.5 fold), Ppard (6 fold) and Slc27a1 (5.4 fold) in liver. Further network analysis demonstrated that the significantly expressed genes in brain and liver tissues were mapped into an interacting network, suggesting a modulatory effect on brain-liver axis, major pathways were involved in the axis: PPAR, adipocytokine, AMPK, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and MAPK. This study showed that Spirulina platensis protein hydrolysate possessed anti-obesity effect in mice.

In this manuscript, indigo and isoindigo-based π-conjugated molecules with thermal removable tert-butoxycarbonyl (t-Boc) side groups were designed and synthesized. It was noted that the t-Boc side groups can be eliminated in nearly quantitative yields after thermal treatment at 200 °C for 15 min, as confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. From the thermal treated solution of isoindigo-based molecule DTIIC8C12 in the co-solvent of 1,2-dichlorobenzene/pyridine with volume ratio of 10/90, one-dimensional nanowires can be formed due to the hydrogen bonding assisted self-assembly. The afforded nanowires exhibited a moderate hole mobility of 1.3 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1, as estimated from the organic field effect transistors. These observations illustrated that the utilization of thermal removable side chain functionalized conjugated polymers can be an effective strategy for developing conjugated polymers with impressive charge carrier transport.

Surface protein patterns of tumor-derived exosomes could be promising noninvasive diagnostic biomarkers for liquid biopsy. However, a convenient and cost-effective platform for exosomal protein profiling is still lacking. Herein, a facile fluorescent aptasensor is developed to assess exosomal tumor-associated proteins, combining aptamers, aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens), and graphene oxide (GO) as recognition elements, fluorescent dye, and the quencher, respectively. Specifically, numberous TPE-TAs could bind one aptamer and form aggregates rapidly, resulting in an amplified fluorescence signal. In the absence of tumor-derived exosomes, GO absorbs the TPE-TAs/aptamer complex, allowing fluorescence quenching. When the target exosomes are introduced, the aptamer preferentially binds with its target. Thus the TPE-TAs/aptamer complexes detach from GO surface, followed by the appearance of a “turn-on” fluorescent signal. Under the optimized conditions, the linear range of target exosomes is estimated to be 4.07 × 105 to 1.83 × 107 particles/μL (0.68–30.4 pM) with a detection limit of 3.43 × 105 particles/μL (0.57 pM). This strategy demonstrated great performance in differentiating prostate cancer from healthy individuals (AUC: 0.9790). Furthermore, by profiling three tumor-associated protein markers including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) on exosomes in a breast tumor cohort, this sensing platform diagnoses breast tumors with high efficiency (AUC: 0.9845) and exhibits a high sensitivity of 97.37% for distinguishing malignant breast cancers, where the stage I cases were detected with 92.31% sensitivity. Therefore, this aptasensor provides a promising strategy to profile tumor-derived exosomal proteins for early diagnosis in liquid biopsy.

The toxic effects of the typically noxious bloom-forming dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi were studied using the allelopathic experimental system under controlled laboratory conditions. The potency of intact cell suspensions with whole cells, cell-free culture filtrate in different growth phases, and lysed cells with ultrasonication were compared, and the growth and reproduction of the marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis were used as endpoints to evaluate toxic differences. The intact cell suspension resulted the most significant growth inhibition, including lethality, on the growth of B. plicatilis (p &lt, 0.05). Lysed culture medium treated with ultrasonication and the cell-free culture filtrates at either the exponential or stationary phase exhibited limited negative impacts compared to the control according to changes in the population growth rate (r) and survival rate (p &gt, 0.05). Reproduction presented a similar tendency to change, and the number of eggs produced per individual, as well as spawning period decreased in the whole cell and lysed cell suspensions. The key parameters in the lift table include the net reproductive rate (R0) and the intrinsic rate of increase (rm), which were more sensitive to treatment and were significantly suppressed compared to that of the control. The addition of the ROS inhibitor N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could not change the growth or reproduction patterns. Moreover, substantial hemolytic toxicity was found in the treatment of the intact cell suspension (p &lt, 0.05), while limited toxicity was found in other treatments compared to that of the control. K. mikimotoi was speculated to secrete allelopathic substances onto the cell surface, and direct cell contact was necessary for allelopathic toxicity in B. plicatilis. Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-independent hemolytic toxicity was assumed to be the explanation for what was observed.

A stable cyclopenta-fused tetraphenanthrenylene macrocycle, CPTP-M, was synthesized, and the structure was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. It exhibits a large radical character (number of unpaired electron, NU =3.52) and a small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔES-T =-2.8 kcal mol-1 by SQUID). Its backbone contains 60 ([4n]) conjugated π electrons and is globally antiaromatic. NMR measurements and theoretical calculations revealed that its dication/dianion is globally aromatic owing to the existence of [4n-2]/[4n+2] π-conjugated electrons. Remarkably, the ring-current map of the tetraanion shows a unique ring-in-ring structure, with a diamagnetic outer ring and a paramagnetic inner ring. Accordingly, both the inner-rim and outer-rim protons are deshielded in its 1 H NMR spectrum. The tetraanion can be regarded as an isoelectronic structure of the known octulene, which shows similar electronic properties.

Ecotoxicological methods were applied in the present study, and the marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis was used as the toxic endpoint to depict what occurred when 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) was combined with solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B). B. plicatilis was exposed to three different combination methods of BDE-47 and UV-B at an equal toxicity ratio, including normal rotifer co-cultured with UV-B-irradiated BDE-47 (known as Method I), UV-B-irradiated rotifer co-cultured with BDE-47 exposure (known as Method II) and normal rotifer co-cultured with the simultaneous addition of BDE-47 and UV-B irradiation (known as Method III). Acute and chronic experiments were preformed to determine the toxicity differentiation according to the growth and reproduction changes in the rotifer. Twenty-four-hour acute experiments showed that the modes of three combined methods changed from antagonism to additive, to synergistic with the concentration/dose increment, and the contribution rates of Method I and Method II to Method III were calculated by approximately 40.4% and 59.6%, respectively. Chronic exposure to either the single stressor or the combination of stressors inhibited the growth and reproduction of the rotifer, demonstrating the inhibition of the population growth rate and the decrease in the larvae production. Three combined groups presented more serious damages compared to groups with single stress exposure, and the ascending sequence of toxicity was Method I

A fluorescent "turn-on" sensor for fast measurement of aliphatic biogenic amines (BAs) was developed based on fluorescent carboxylated polyfluorene (PFTBTCOOH)/chitosan-graft-oleic acid (CS-graft-OA) micelles. In this system, biobased CS-graft-OA micelles, prepared by graft modification of CS with OA, serve as the vector of the hydrophobic fluorescent probe. Bright turn-on fluorescence was achieved by the intermolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer of the encapsulated PFTBTCOOH, driven by the formation of an electrostatic complex with aliphatic BAs, which facilitate visual identification. The peak intensity ratio of the PFTBTCOOH/CS-graft-OA micelles toward an increasing amount of aliphatic BAs was calibrated, giving a linear relationship. The fluorescence response of PFTBTCOOH/CS-graft-OA micelles to aliphatic BAs in milk and yogurt matrixes reaches a detection concentration as low as 10 μM, showing that the PFTBTCOOH/CS-graft-OA micelle solution is a potential chemosensor for fast and selective detection of trace aliphatic BAs, which is of great significance to public health and food safety.

A highly soluble anthracene cyclic adduct with a thermally cleavable substituent was synthesized, and it was used as a donor unit in a series of donor–acceptor type conjugated copolymers with improved processability. The removable group was eliminated under elevated temperature through retro Diels–Alder reaction, which offered the corresponding copolymers with better planarity and rigidity. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), FT-IR, and UV–vis spectroscopy were carried out to study the thermal cleavage process. Uniform films were easily formed from these precursor copolymers due to their good solution processabilty. Polymer solar cells were successfully fabricated through applying thermal annealing treatment on the blend films that were spin-coated from solutions of the precursor copolymers blended with fullerene derivatives. The best polymer solar cell device with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.15% was achieved based on copolymer PCOAEHDPP.

Li2Tb4(MoO4)7 crystal with sizes of ∅20 × 26 mm was grown by the Czochralski method. X-ray powder diffraction was carried out and the lattice parameters were calculated, which showed that the single crystal belongs to tetragonal system. Absorption spectrum in the wavelength range of 400–1600 nm and weak absorption at 1064 nm were measured, which indicates the crystal has low absorption coefficient at 600–1500 nm regions. The Verdet constant of Li2Tb4(MoO4)7 crystal at 532 nm comes up to −347 rad/m T, which is as 1.8 times as that of TGG reported.

To develop environmentally friendly solvent processed high performance polymer solar cells (PSCs), an alcohol soluble narrow-band-gap conjugated polymer PCDTBT-N and an alcohol soluble C70 fullerene derivative PC71BM-N, which were functionalized with pendant tertiary amino groups, were developed and used as active layers in PSCs and as buffer layers in metal–semiconductor interfaces. Though solar cells with active layers containing amino groups showed no photovoltaic properties regardless of the processing conditions, both PCDTBT-N and PC71BM-N performed well as buffer layers to improve electron collection in PSCs. Space charge limited current (SCLC), field effect transistor (FET) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies revealed that the amino groups act as hole traps and disable hole transport in active layers. Moreover, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) indicates electronic structure changes and Fermi level shifts upon complexation of amino groups and the fullerene core, which may diminish the electron-accepting capacity of fullerenes, and may potentially provide a different kind of hole trap in the devices. The underlying mechanisms of the puzzling behavior of PCDTBT-N and PC71BM-N in different layers of PSCs were studied by numerical simulation, which indicates that hole traps distributed in the BHJ layer reduce device performance, conversely hole traps concentrated near the metal electrode can improve device performance. Besides, the formation of an amino group:C70 complex is another important cause of the performance improvements of the resulting solar cells using PCDTBT-N and PC71BM-N as buffer layers, due to the reduced transport loss for efficient electron collection through the n-doping of PC71BM at the interface of the buffer layer and the active layer.

A series of narrow band gap donor–acceptor type conjugated copolymers based on 2,6-linked anthracene derivatives are synthesized via Suzuki copolymerization. The resulting copolymers typically exhibit dual absorption characteristics in both solution and as thin films with optical band gaps in the range of 1.85–2.13 eV. By varying the substitutions from alkyloxy to aromatic thienyl and phenyl groups in the 9,10-positions of the anthracene unit, the constructed two-dimensional 2,6-linked anthracene structures lead to broader absorption, lower-lying highest occupied molecular orbitals, as well as improved charge carrier mobilities of the resulting copolymers relative to the alkyloxy side chain substituted counterparts. Additionally, it was found that the sizes of the substitutions in the benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole acceptor also play an important role in the optoelectronic properties of these anthracene based conjugated copolymers. The best polymer solar cell device with a power conversion efficiency of 4.34% and a high open circuit voltage of 0.98 V was realized based on the resulting materials. Our results indicate that substantial optimization in the sizes and patterns of substitutions of both the 2,6-linked anthracene donor and benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole acceptor may potentially lead to high performance narrow band gap copolymers for solar cell applications.