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White water is highly recycled in the papermaking process so that its quality is easily deteriorated, thus producing lots of malodorous gases that are extremely harmful to human health and the environment. In this paper, the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the control of malodorous gases released from white water was investigated. The results showed that the released amount of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) decreased gradually with the increase of H2O2 dosage. Specifically, the TVOC emission reached the minimum as the H2O2 dosage was 1.5 mmol/L, and meanwhile, the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and ammonia (NH3) were almost completely removed. It was also found that pH had little effect on the release of TVOC as H2O2 was added, but it evidently affect-ed the release of H2S and NH3. When the pH value of the white water was changed to 4.0 or 9.0, the emission of TVOC decreased slightly, while both H2S and NH3 were completely removed in both cases. The ferrous ions (Fe2+) and the copper ions (Cu2+) were found to promote the generation of hydroxyl radicals (HO•) out of H2O2, enhancing its inhibition on the release of malodorous gases from white water. The Fe2+/H2O2 system and Cu2+/H2O2 system exhibited similar efficiency in inhibiting the TVOC releasing, whereas the Cu2+/H2O2 system showed better perfor-mance in removing H2S and NH3.

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) are relatively stable aggregates composed of several to several thousand metal atoms through physical or chemical bonding, and their size is generally less than 3 nm. It has excellent quantum size effect and has outstanding applications in many fields such as optics, electricity, magnetism, catalysis, chirality, etc. However, NCs have poor optical properties at room temperature, which limits their further applications in the optical field. Therefore, the assembly of metal clusters with different types of molecular materials is driven by non-covalent bonds inspired by the concepts of “aggregation-induced emission” (AIE) and “supramolecular chemistry”, which can not only regulate the optical properties of metal clusters, but also can realize multi-functional coordination. As an important category of supramolecular chemistry, self-assembly provides a way to construct ordered structures from the bottom up. Self-assembly mainly uses non-covalent interactions to precisely control the specific structure of the building element to obtain functionalized micro-nano materials. Supramolecular self-assembly is one of the hot research fields in the chemical industry. It has been widely used in biomedicine, environment, sensing, optoelectronic devices and catalysis due to its simple operation and easy availability of raw materials. Herein, firstly, this paper introduces the effect of self-assembly on the assembly structure in detail combining the research work of this research group and related research on the self-assembly of design metal clusters at home and abroad. The research involving the aggregation morphology and morphology of metal nanoclusters is currently in its infancy in the world, and is a relatively popular research topic. Therefore, the self-assembly strategy to achieve the control of the aggregation morphology and morphology of metal nanoclusters can enrich the research field of self-assembly and realize the functionalization of metal nanoclusters. Secondly, fluorescence is one of the most important properties of metal clusters. Compared with traditional PL materials, the quantum yield (QY) of metal nanoclusters is relatively low. In addition, the proportion of fluorescent metal nanoclusters is also very low. Therefore, precise control of the metal composition and clearly defined surface chemistry factors not only provide a basis for a firm understanding of the structure and fluorescence, but also provide a method for the design and preparation of new nanoclusters with PL enhancement and adjustable emission wavelength. Hence, the vibration and rotation of the ligands around the metal core can be effectively restricted, and non-radiative transitions can be reduced, thereby achieving enhanced fluorescence through self-assembly. The fluorescence intensity and emission wavelength of the metal clusters can be controlled by controlling the assembly conditions of the metal clusters. The effect of self-assembly on the luminescence of metal clusters is commonly regulated by solvent regulation, pH, and co-assembly of other molecules to obtain highly stable luminescent clusters. In addition, the research progress in the application of metal cluster assembly and other aspects are summarized. Although precious metal nanoclusters have been used in chemical sensing, biological fields, catalysis and light conversion materials, the stability of the metal nanoclusters itself is relatively poor and the fluorescence is relatively weak. The assembly of nanoclusters can well solve the above shortcomings. The cluster aggregates have strong PL intensity, good light stability, and wide emission wavelength, which makes it a new type of fluorophore used in chemical sensing, biological fields, catalysis and light conversion materials. Finally, the improved scope and future prospects of the new nanoclusters are summarized and emphasized. Our review is expected to open up new horizons for these scientists to effectively control the functional properties of nanoclusters.

Highly emissive fluorophores based on polyaromatic hydrocarbons with tunable emission properties and aggregated structures play a very important role in relevant functional studies. In this study, a novel alkynylpyrene derivative 1 was synthesized, which exhibits unimolecular to excimer emission in methanol with an increasing concentration accompanied by the formation of nanovesicles via the π-π stacking, hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction. The self-assembly behavior as well as emission properties of 1 in aprotic polar solvents (ACN, acetone, DMF and DMSO) can also be adjusted by the volume fraction of the poor solvent H2O, which can induce 1 self-assembly to excimer state and could be applied in information transfer. Moreover, upon visible light irradiation, photoswitchable performance of nanovesicles of 1 was observed in which the emission markedly changes from yellow to blue; this is attributed to the cycloaddition reaction of alkynyl groups and singlet oxygen, which can be generated without the addition of external photosensitizers. The multi-responsive and fluorescence behavior of the alkynylpyrene derivative show that the self-assembly can be used to expand the development of this type of fluorophores, and the novel photoinduced tunability of the fluorescence emission provides an effective strategy to obtain high-performance transmitting and sensing materials.

The control of materials concerning size as well as high-order organization may have profound implications for a wide variety of technologies. Herein, we develop a facile strategy to fabricate hierarchically organized amino acid and quantum dot (QD) biomimetic light-harvesting antenna via the integration of coordination-driven self-assembly and bioinspired mineralization. Simplified from phytochelatins, cystine is used as a chelating agent to bind cadmium ions (Cd

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) as a new type of fluorescent material have attracted great interest due to their good biocompatibilities and outstanding optical properties. However, most of the studies on metal NCs focus on the synthesis, atomic or molecular assembly, whereas metal NCs ability to self-assemble to higher-level hierarchical nanomaterials through supramolecular interactions has rarely been reported. Herein, we investigate atomic precise silver NCs (Ag9-NCs, [Ag9(mba)9], where H2mba = 2-mercaptobenzoic acid) and peptide DD-5 were used to induce self-assembly, which can trigger an aggregation-induced luminescence (AIE) effect of Ag9-NCs through non-covalent forces (H-bond, π–π stacking) and argentophilic interactions [Ag(I)–Ag(I)]. The large Stokes shift (~140 nm) and the microsecond fluorescence lifetime (6.1 μs) indicate that Ag9-NCs/DD-5 hydrogel is phosphor. At the same time, the chirality of the peptide was successfully transferred to the achiral Ag9-NCs because of the supramolecular self-assembly, and the Ag9-NCs/DD-5 hydrogel also has good circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) properties. In addition, Ag9-NCs/DD-5 luminescent hydrogel is selective and sensitive to the detection of small biological molecule arginine. This work shows that DD-5 successfully induces the self-assembly of Ag9-NCs to obtain high luminescent gel, which maybe become a candidate material in the fields of sensors and biological sciences.

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) with excellent photoluminescence properties are an emerging functional material that have rich physical and chemical properties and broad application prospects. However, it is a challenging problem to construct such materials into complex ordered aggregates and cause aggregation-induced emission (AIE). In this article, we use the supramolecular self-assembly strategy to regulate a water-soluble, atomically precise Ag NCs (NH4)9[Ag9(C7H4SO2)9] (Ag9-NCs, [Ag9(mba)9], H2mba = 2-mercaptobenzoic acid) and L-malic acid (L–MA) to form a phosphorescent hydrogel with stable and bright luminescence, which is ascribed to AIE phenomenon. In this process, the AIE of Ag9-NCs could be attributed to the non-covalent interactions between L–MA and Ag9-NCs, which restrict the intramolecular vibration and rotation of ligands on the periphery of Ag9-NCs, thus inhibiting the ligand-related, non-radiative excited state relaxation and promoting radiation energy transfer. In addition, the fluorescent Ag9-NCs/L–MA xerogel was introduced into polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) to form an excellently fluorescent film for sensing of Fe3+. Ag9-NCs/L–MA/PMMA film exhibits an excellent ability to recognize Fe3+ ion with high selectivity and a low detection limit of 0.3 μM. This research enriches self-assembly system for enhancing the AIE of metal NCs, and the prepared hybrid films will become good candidates for optical materials.

The interaction between biological surfactant sodium deoxycholate (NaDC) and nonionic surfactants polyoxyethylene (n) nonylphenol ether (NPn) for the formation of micelles in aqueous soluti...

Due to the great demand of gold for society innovation, gold recovery technology from second resources are attracting attentions. Herein, we constructed a novel kind of vesicles featuring photo-luminescent for high efficiency gold extraction by combining carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), reaching 96.8 % of extraction efficiency (E%). A bilayer-membrane structure (>300 nm) with negatively charges (−14.8 ± 1.5 mV) was observed by TEM and characterized by zeta potential measurements. The effect of single factor such as equilibrium time, pH, salinity and vesicles concentration were evaluated. The coordination number 6: 1 was determined by Job’s method. Then, by the combination of 1H NMR, zeta potential analysis and size distribution analysis, anion exchange mechanism was proposed. Because of the fluorescence and strong anti-jamming properties of carbon quantum dots, a novel fluorescent probes for the Au(III) detection in wasted water solution was designed, whose fluorescence cannot be quenched by general base metals, such as Ag+, Al3+, Cu2+, Fe3+, Ni2+ and so on. Based on the investigation of corresponding gold concentration which could quench the fluorescence of a certain concentration of vesicles, this kind of vesicles could be applied in gold detection. Approximate concentration of gold could be known by watching if the fluorescence quench or not. Or the mixture could be analyzed by PL spectrophotometer, the rough concentration of gold could be known if the fluorescent intensity under 100.

Successful seed germination depends on the rapid repair of cell membrane damaged by dry storage. However, little is known about the reorganization of lipids during this process. In this study, the changes of intracellular redox environment, cell membrane integrity, lipid composition, and expression of genes related to phospholipid metabolism were assessed during imbibition of Brassica napus seeds. A total number of 443 lipids belonging to 7 categories were detected by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS). In the 24 h-imbibed seeds, the relative content of triacylglycerol was lower than in dry seeds, while the relative content of phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), and phosphatidylserine (PS), especially PC (36:2, number of carbons in the acyl chains: number of double bonds), PC (36:3), and PE (36:3) were higher than those in dry seeds. Meanwhile, the content and unsaturation levels of phospholipids increased, indicating membrane lipids remodeling during seed imbibition. The plasma membrane integrity, which was measured by the relative electrolyte leakage (REL) of the membrane and FM4-64 fluorescent dye, was improved upon imbibition, confirming that cell membrane was repaired after 24 h-imbibition. The reduction of H2O2 content, redox potential, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content indicated that the degree of membrane lipid peroxidation was significantly decreased upon imbibition. Gene expression analysis showed that the differential expression of genes for key enzymes occurred in the plateau phase of the imbibition curve, i.e. after 8 h-to 24 h-imbibition. Moreover, the differential expression of genes such as those encoding phospholipase C (PLC), phospholipase D (PLD), triacylglycerol lipase (TAG lipase), choline/ethanolamine phosphotransferase (CEPT), and phosphatidylserine synthase (PTDSS2) during imbibition indicated that membrane lipid remodeling was related to complex metabolic pathways, among which the degradation of triacylglycerol and the synthesis of phospholipids using diacylglycerol might play an important role during membrane remodeling.

In this paper, in order to successfully achieve a fluorescent polyoxometalate (POM) probe with high luminescence, aggregation enhanced emission of POM is achieved by a self-assembly strategy. In detail, Eu-polyoxometalate (Na9[EuW10O36]·32H2O (EuW10)) and ionic-liquid-type imidazolium gemini surfactants ([C14-n-C14im]Br2, n = 2, 4, 6) constructed a vesicle with aggregation enhanced emission phenomenon. With the introduction of [C14-n-C14im]Br2, the luminescence intensity increased sharply and compared the effect of the different space length of [C14-n-C14im]Br2, the introduction of [C14-2-C14im]Br2 had the best luminescence effect and the strongest luminescence of EuW10/[C14-2-C14im]Br2 was 32 times that of pure EuW10. Thus, a sensitive selective off-luminescence chemical sensor EuW10/[C14-2-C14im]Br2 was developed for the label-free detection of Cr3+ and MnO4− in aqueous solution with lower detection limits of 0.926 μM and 1.70 μM, respectively. Collision between the fluorophore and Cr3+ or MnO4− caused dynamic quenching. Luminescence quenching of Cr3+ was attributed to Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) while luminescence quenching of MnO4− was attributed to UV–vis competitive absorption. Our strategy for combining polyoxometalates with surfactants to construct aggregation enhanced emission systems is expected to provide new ways to develop simple, economical, fast and sensitive sensors in environmental applications such as metal ion detection.

Previous studies have documented mitochondrial dysfunction during the critical node (CN) of rice (Oryza sativa) seed aging, including a decrease in the capacity of NADH dependent O2 consumption. This raises the hypothesis that changes in the activity of NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) may play a role in seed aging. The composition and activity of complex I was investigated at the CN of aged rice seeds. Using BN-PAGE and SWATH-MS 52 complex I subunits were identified, nineteen for the first time to be experimentally detected in rice. The subunits of the matrix arm (N and Q modules) were reduced in abundance at the CN, in accordance with a reduction in the capacity to oxidise NADH, reducing substrate oxidation and increase ROS accumulation. In contrast, subunits in the P module increased in abundance that contains many mitochondrial encoded subunits. It is proposed that the changes in complex I abundance subunits may indicate a premature re-activation of mitochondrial biogenesis, as evidenced by the increase in mitochondrial encoded subunits. This premature activation of mitochondrial biogenesis may under-pin the decreased viability of aged seeds, as mitochondrial biogenesis is a crucial event in germination to drive growth before autotrophic growth of the seedling is established.

Porous ternary Zn2SnO4 nanofibers with a high surface-to-volume ratio were fabricated through an electrospinning technique. UV-activated ethanol sensing responses at low temperatures were revealed using these porous Zn2SnO4 nanofibers as a sensing active layer. The ethanol response was up to 32.5, and the calculated detection limit was as low as 1.6 ppm at a low temperature of 130 °C. The sensor exhibited good ethanol selectivity and stability under UV irradiation. The photoinduced electrons reacted with the absorbed oxygen molecules to form active O− species [O−(hν)], which contributed to the enhanced resistance modulation and low-temperature ethanol response of Zn2SnO4 nanofibers.

Research on the self-assembly of various amphiphilic molecules is a relatively new research area and of great significance. However, new kinds of metal-nanocluster (NC)-based amphiphilic molecule have rarely been explored. Herein, hydrophobic cation 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium (C16 mim+ ) was chosen to modify hydrophilic (NH4 )6 [Ag6 (mna)6 ] (Ag6 -NCs, H2 mna=2-mercaptonicotinic acid) and Ag6 @C16 mim-NCs were obtained. Ag6 @C16 mim-NCs displayed thermotropic liquid crystal and thermofluorescent properties. Moreover, the Ag6 @C16 mim-NCs exhibits benign amphiphilicity, and it can self-assemble into ordered nanosheets and nanorods through aggregation in water/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) binary solvent mixtures, whereas single Ag6 -NCs do not. Meanwhile, the Ag6 @C16 mim-NCs also displays aggregation-induced emission properties owing to the restriction of intramolecular vibrations of the capping ligands. Furthermore, the luminescent aggregates could detect arginine selectively with the detection limit at 28 μm. This study introduces a new kind of metal-NC-based amphiphilic molecule in a supramolecular self-assembly field, and they have potential to be used as optical materials in applied research.

Two hyperbranched block copolymers H904 and H90R4 which were the same in chemical composition but different in block sequence were synthesized by anionic polymerization. Commercially X shaped Tetronic block copolymers T904 and T90R4 were selected for comparison. The effect of block sequence on the aggregation behaviors of these four copolymers were studied by surface tension, transmission electron microscopy, steady-state fluorescence and dynamic light scattering. Compared with H904 and T904, higher critical aggregation concentration, the greater hydrophobicity and smaller size of the aggregates were the characteristics of the reverse sequence copolymers H90R4 and T90R4. The ability of copolymer aggregates to encapsulate and in vitro release of a hydrophobic drug olmesartan medoxomil (OM) were also evaluated. The smaller size of H90R4 and T90R4 aggregates resulted in much lower drug solubilization. However, the more tightly packing of H90R4 and T90R4 aggregates led to a stronger interaction between OM and aggregates, so the release of OM from H90R4 and T90R4 were slower. Besides, H904 and H90R4 spontaneously formed vesicles in aqueous solution, while T904 and T90R4 formed micelles. The block order and hyperbranched architecture of the block copolymers had great effects on their aggregation behavior, drug solubilization and release property.

Although hepatic metabolism of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) played critical roles in the selective bioaccumulation of HBCDs in humans, the hepatic metabolism patterns of its enantiomers remained ambiguous. Aiming to elucidate the mechanism on hepatic metabolism of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) enantiomers, the enantiomers ((+)-α-HBCD, (-)-α-HBCD, (+)-γ-HBCD, and (-)-γ-HBCD), the diastereoisomers (α-, β-, and γ-HBCDs) and the mixed of α- and γ-HBCDs were incubated with human HepG2 cell under different exposure levels in the present study. The clearance percentages ranked as γ-HBCD enantiomersβ-HBCD enantiomersα-HBCD enantiomers at the same exposure levels. The clearance percentages of (+)- and (-)-α-HBCDs increased when cells were exposed to racemic α-HBCD and the mixture of racemic α- and γ-HBCDs (p0.05). (-)-γ-HBCD was more resistant to human hepatic metabolism than (+)-γ-HBCD, leading to the enantiomer fractions (EFs) of γ-HBCD lower than 0.50. (-)-α-HBCD was slightly more metabolized when independently exposed to α-HBCD, while (+)-α-HBCD was more preferentially metabolized after exposure to α- and γ-HBCD mixtures. Hydroxylation and debromination HBCD metabolites were identified. In addition, the different EFs of HBCDs in cells and mediums suggested the selective transfer of chiral HBCDs and HBCD metabolites through the cell membrane. This study provided new insight into the enantiomer-selective metabolism of HBCDs.

Umbelliferone exhibits extensive pharmacological activity, including anti-immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and antigenotoxicity activities. However, its antitumor properties still remain unclear in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells. Our results have revealed that treatment of human RCC cells (786-O, OS-RC-2, and ACHN) with umbelliferone reduced cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner and induced dose-dependent apoptotic events. In addition, cell cycle analysis determined that umbelliferone treatment induced cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, western blotting analysis showed a dose-dependent decrease in Ki67, MCM2, Bcl-2, CDK2, CyclinE1, CDK4, and CyclinD1 and a dose-dependent increase in Bax in RCC cells cultured with umbelliferone. Similarly, umbelliferone exhibited a dose-dependent reduction of p110γ when using western blotting analyses. Taken together, these results provide an insight into the pharmacology regarding the potential application of umbelliferone, which contributes to cell death by decreasing p110γ protein expression.

In this article, ionic liquid-type imidazole gemini surfactants with different spacer length ([C14-n-C14im]Br2, n = 2, 4, 6) were synthesized and 3D nanostructures were constructed by using a novel Preyssler-type POM (K12.5Na1.5[NaP5W30O110]∙15H2O, abbreviated as P5W30) and [C14-n-C14im]Br2 through the ionic self-assembly (ISA) strategy. Hybrid nanostructures were fully characterized by various characterization methods, such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray small-angle scattering, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). By changing the spacer length of [C14-n-C14im]Br2, the rigidity and space volume of the gemini surfactants can change, which can affect the behavior of [C14-n-C14im]Br2/P5W30, such as the size of the nanostructures, the behavior of thermotropic liquid crystals, d spacing of SAXS, spatial displacement and decomposition temperature. In addition, the calcined [C14-6-C14im]Br2/P5W30 nanostructures exhibit excellent degradation efficiency for methyl orange dyes (MO), which maybe have outstanding application prospects for wastewater treatment. The nanostructure formed by self-assembly not only realizes heterogeneous catalysis, but also solves the problem of water solubility of P5W30 which was easy to recycle. Moreover, the active sites of nanostructures formed by ion self-assembly increase, and the degradation rate was nearly 3 times higher than that of pure P5W30. Our work confirmed that POM and gemini surfactants can construct functional nanostructures through ISA strategy, which can be the perfect candidate for photocatalysis and biomedical.

Lanthanide-containing polyoxometalates (POMs) can be used to detect various materials, but their luminescence in water has suffered enormous limitations due to the strong fluorescence quenching. Herein, to resolve this problem, three-dimensional nanoparticles built by mixed Weakley-type europium-containing POMs (Na9[EuW10O36]·32H2O, abbreviated to EuW10) and tetra-n-alkyl ammonium (TA) with enhanced fluorescent properties have been designed in aqueous solution using an ionic self-assembly (ISA) technique, which is mainly driven by the electrostatic interaction between EuW10 and TA. The morphology and fluorescent properties of the system as well as some influencing factors (alkyl chain length, amino group, and inorganic salt concentration) were systematically investigated. The results indicated that the fluorescent intensity of EuW10/tetramethylammonium bromide (TMAB) composite increased about 14 times, whereas the extent of increase of fluorescence for EuW10/tetraethylammonium bromide (TEAB) and EuW10/tetrabutylammonium bromide (TMAB) composites gradually decrease due to the bulkier steric hindrance of the longer alkyl chain. Besides, the luminescence of EuW10/TMAB nanoparticles is pH responsive, and the reversibility of their structures and luminescence can be realized upon the addition of NaOH/HCl. Moreover, the EuW10/TMAB system also shows great fluorescence-sensing behavior, which could detect Cu2+ with a detection limit of 0.15 μM. Our work provides a facile construction strategy for a functional fluorescent complex via POMs-based supramolecular self-assembly in aqueous solution, which will be further used in biomarkers and sensors.

The effect of spacer lengths of imidazolium gemini surfactant [C14-n-C14im]Br2 (n = 2, 4, 6) on the equilibrium, thermodynamics and kinetics of Au(III) extraction from hydrochloric acid medium were investigated in this article. The thermodynamic parameters, including the changes in enthalpy (ΔH*), entropy (ΔS*) and Gibbs free energy (ΔG*) were determined. The values of ΔH* demonstrated that the extraction of Au(III) by [C14-n-C14im]Br2 was endothermic at first and exothermic at last. The kinetics study found that extraction rate became faster when the spacer lengths were increased. Moreover, kinetics results demonstrated that the diffusion is the controlling step, and the mass transfer coefficients of Au(III) in the investigated systems indicated that the resistance of mass transfer was smaller when the spacer lengths was longer. The studies of interfacial tension further confirmed the better extractability of [C14-n-C14im]Br2 with longer spacer lengths. Our results reveal efficient and sustainable gold separation.

The longevity of seeds stored in Genebank is based on their storability. However, the mechanism of seed storability is largely unknown. In previous studies, accelerated ageing treatments were always applied for rapidly acquiring different seed viabilities, which could not reflect the actual situation during seed storage, especially for the seed stored in Genebank. In this study, two wheat genotypes (accession TRI_23248 and TRI_10230) were supplied by IPK-Gatersleben Genebank, Germany, where they were stored for 10 years in the long-term storage (−18 °C) and at ambient conditions (20 °C) The comparison of viability of those seed after this storage period, identified TRI_23248 as storage tolerant (ST) and TRI_10230 as storage sensitive (SS). The abundance patterns of proteins in these seeds identified 93 protein spots in the ST and 105 spots in the SS seeds that were markedly changed; their functions were mainly associated with disease or defense, protein destination and storage, energy, and other. The ST seeds possessed a stronger ability in activating the defense system against oxidative damage, utilizing storage proteins for germination, and maintaining energy metabolism for ATP supply. These results provided novel insights into the mechanism of seed storability, which can facilitate the comprehensive understanding of seed longevity.

Hierarchical self-assembly provides a new strategy for the bottom-up fabrication of functional materials with ordered structures. In this article, ionic self-assembly (ISA) of an anionic biological surfactant sodium deoxycholate (NaDC) and a cationic dye Rhodamine B (RhB) in NaOH solution were performed and three-dimensional spherical microcrystals consisting of symmetric nanorods which show similar architectural structure of sea urchin, were obtained. The urchin-like microcrystals possess highly ordered thermotropic liquid crystal behavior and it is interesting to find that the NaDC/RhB/NaOH microcrystals also possess highly enhanced solid emission which is in sharp contrast to nearly no photoluminescence of RhB. Moreover, they exhibited remarkably different morphologies and luminescence behaviors in mixed organic solvents which depended on the mixing ratio of the solvents, i.e., the fraction of n-propanol, due to the polarity of the solvent and the hydrophobic effect. Our NaDC/RhB/NaOH microcrystals in n-propanol show a superior fluorescent sensing capability for the detection of Fe3+ with a limit of detection (LOD) low to 4.40 μM through fluorescence quenching caused by donor–acceptor electron transfer mechanism. The supramolecular nanostructures developed herein open up new opportunities for practical applications in optoelectronics and sensors.

Tunable solid-state fluorescence of a cationic dye acridine orange (AO) aggregates were triggered by introducing an anionic biosurfactant sodium deoxycholate (NaDC) as matrix. The NaDC/AO assembles with morphology of flabellate and dumbbell-shaped fiber bundles were formed via ionic self-assembly (ISA) strategy and both the ratio of NaDC to AO and temperature have influence on the morphology. Composition and driving force analysis of the microfibers have been investigated. The results revealed that the interaction between NaDC and AO was strongly influenced by direct electrostatic forces between the COO groups in NaDC and N+ in AO, respectively. Besides the electrostatic interactions, which proved to be the main driving forces for the formation of the supramolecular aggregates, the π-π stacking and hydrogen bond interactions also makes some contribution. What’s more, the fluorescence have dramatically enhanced upon the formation of complex, and the wavelength and intensity of this solid-state aggregates fluorescence can be further controlled by the molar ratio of NaDC to AO which induced the fluorescence lifetime and fluorescence quantum yield both increase with the increased concentration of NaDC. Thus, it is expected that the facile design of tunable solid-state fluorescence material by the ISA strategy could be used to provide new insight for the development of solid luminescent materials.

Three hyperbranched block polyethers H3, H5 and H7 with the same PPO block numbers but different PEO contents were synthesized by anionic polymerization. The self-assembly behaviors of H3, H5 and H7 in aqueous solution were investigated by surface tension, fluorescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Meanwhile, the commercially available linear block polyether Pluronic F127 and X shaped block polyether Tetronic1107 (T1107) were also selected for comparison. The goal of this study was to gain an insight into the self-assembly behaviors and drug solubilization capability of these different block polyethers. The results indicated that the solubilization abilities of H3, H5 and H7 are much larger than those of F127 and T1107. H3, H5 and H7 spontaneously form spherical vesicles in aqueous solution as observed by TEM, which demonstrated that the vesicle space available for solubilization of drug is much larger than the micelle formed by F127 and T1107. Furthermore, proved by fluorescence spectroscopy measurement, H3, H5 and H7 can provide aggregates with more hydrophobic environment which is directly correlated with the ability of the polyethers to host the drug in aggregates. The hyperbranched architecture has a great effect on the self-assembly behavior and the drug solubilization ability of block polyethers.

Photoluminescent lytropic liquid crystals (LLCs) were prepared in aqueous solutions from n-dodecyl tetraethylene monoether (C12E4) and Tyloxapol, which is an oligomer of polyoxyethylene tert-octylphenyl ether (TX-100) with a polymerization degree below 7. The close packing of the seven benzene rings in Tyloxapol induces a strong π–π interaction, which makes Tyloxapol fluorescent. The Tyloxapol/C12E4 mixed system were characterized by polarized optical microscopy (POM) observations, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), rheological and fluorescence measurements with close comparison to the TX-100/C12E4 mixture. It was found that the type of LLCs transfered gradually from lamellar phase to hexagonal phase with increasing mass ratio of Tyloxapol to C12E4, during which an enhanced photoluminescence was observed. Our results showed that encapsulation of fluorescent molecules into the matrix of traditional surfactants could be an effective way for the preparation of photoluminescent LLCs.

A novel simple strategy for alkylamine-directed self-assembly of weakley-type polyoxometalate (POM, Na9[EuW10O36]•32H2O, abbreviate to EuW10) to form three dimensional (3D) nanoflowers have been successfully developed through ionic self-assembly (ISA) method. For comparison, different molecular weights of alkylamines including diethylenetriamine (DETA), triethylenetetramine (TETA) and tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) were selected to construct hierarchical nanostructures. Our results revealed that the morphologies and sizes of the nanostructures could be simply controlled by varying the molecular weights and concentrations of alkylamines. The fluorescent colour of EuW10/TEPA nanoflowers changed compared with that of EuW10 owning to the symmetry degree of europium coordination in EuW10/TEPA nanoflowers was varied. It is demonstrated that this effective self-assembly occurs mainly though hydrogen bond and electrostatic interaction between EuW10 and TEPA. What’s more, the EuW10/TEPA nanoflowers after calcining ...

Herein, a convenient on-off fluorescent probe was developed to detect iron ion (Fe 3+ ) with sensitivity and selectivity by using highly luminescent ionic liquid-functionalized carbon quantum dots (CQDs) which was prepared by one-step hydrothermal treatment using citric acid and 1-Aminopropyl-3-methylimidazolium. The sensitivity of CQDs for Fe 3+ was examined by measuring the fluorescence (FL) intensity of various concentrations of Fe 3+ in CQDs solution and the selectivity of CQDs for Fe 3+ was examined by adding different metal ions (Na + , Mg 2+ , Al 3+ , K + , Ca 2+ , Mn 2+ , Zn 2+ , Ag + , Cd 2+ , Pb 2+ and Ba 2+ ) into CQDs solution, respectively. The results indicated that the FL intensity of CQDs showed a good linear response to the concentrations of Fe 3+ in the range of 0–300 μmol L −1 (R 2 = 0.99) with a detection limit of 13.68 μmol L −1 . Furthermore, based on the redox mechanism, after the fluorescent of CQDs was quenched by Fe 3+ , different neurotransmitters and amino acids were added and the FL test show that only ascorbic acid (AA) can recover the intensity of the CQDs/Fe 3+ , indicating that CQDs/Fe 3+ can be further used as a on-off fluorescent probe for the detection of AA. It is expected that our strategy may offer a new approach for developing rapid, low cost and sensitive CQDs-based sensors for environmetal and biological sensing applications.

Genebank conservation of pollen is valuable because it makes genetic resources immediately available for use in breeding programs. In the case of Citrus species, conserved anthers or pollen can be easily transported and used to develop new varieties with pathogen resistance and desirable quality and yield traits. The aim of this study was to develop and improve air-desiccation cryopreservation protocols for Citrus cavaleriei and Citrus maxima anthers in genebanks. In the current study, warming, rehydration, and in vitro germination conditions were optimized to achieve high levels of in vitro germination in Citrus pollen for ten cultivars after liquid nitrogen (LN) exposure. The optimal warming, rehydration, and in vitro germination medium formulations affected the germination levels after pollen cryopreservation, with species- and cultivar-dependent effects. The Citrus anthers were dehydrated to the moisture content of 5–14% before LN exposure and warmed at 25 (cryopreserved Citrus anthers with a moisture content of lower than 10%) or 37°C (a moisture content of 10% or higher), then rehydrated, and cultured on medium with 150-g L−1 sucrose, 0.1-g L−1 boric acid, 1.0-g L−1 calcium nitrate, 0.1-g L−1 potassium nitrate, 0.3-g L−1 magnesium sulfate, and 10-g L−1 agar. After 2 yr of storage, in vitro germination levels of Citrus pollen after cryopreservation were significantly higher (> 22% for all ten cultivars) than those of samples that were stored at 4°C (0%). In vitro germination levels of pollen from six of ten cultivars after cryopreservation remained relatively high after 2 yr of storage (38–93%). The highest viability of 93% was obtained for C. cavaleriei ‘2–3’. The methods identified in the current study could be used to cryopreserve C. cavaleriei and C. maxima anthers.

Supramolecular hydrogels were facilitated by α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) and three silicone surfactants named S1E8, S1E19 and S2E38, respectively. Influences of the molecular structure and concentration of the silicone surfactants on the formation of hydrogels and their stabilities were investigated. The hydrogels were characterized by phase behavior study and various techniques. The results indicated that the balance between the hydrophilicity and the hydrophobicity of the silicone surfactants is crucial for the formation and high stability of the hydrogels. S2E38, which has two poly-(ethylene oxide) chains, exhibits a stronger ability to form hydrogels than S1E8 and S1E19 do. Moreover, in vitro study using doxorubicin (DOX) as a model anticancer drug shows that α-CD/silicone surfactant hydrogels can be used as injectable carriers for controlled drug release.

TiO 2 nanosheets with exposed {001} high-energy facets were used as gas sensing materials. Interestingly, the sensor displayed a regular n-type response to alcohol with high sensitivity at high temperatures above 250 °C, but abnormal p-type sensing behavior over a wide temperature range from room temperature to 120 °C. Such an unusual p-type sensing response, unprecedented for n-type TiO 2 nanomaterials, was attributed to the proton transfer between alcohol molecules and adsorbed water molecules on the surface of TiO 2 nanosheets. The present work provides a new insight into the gas sensing mechanism of metal oxide nanostructures.

The effects of alkaline amino acids l -Lysine ( l -Lys) and l -Arginine ( l -Arg) on the lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) behavior of ionic liquid-type imidazolium surfactant (1-tetradecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide, C 14 mimBr) were investigated systematically. The corresponding properties were investigated by polarized optical microscopy (POM), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and rheological measurements. The results indicated that with the introduction of l -Lys, LLC phase of C 14 mimBr gradually undergoes the transition to an isotropic homogeneous phase, which demonstrated to be worm-like micelles (WLMs). While for C 14 mimBr/ l -Arg system, it remained the hexagonal phases and merely induced the variation of the mechanical strength of C 14 mimBr LLCs. It can be speculated that the balance between electrostatic interaction, H-bond interaction, and hydrophobic interaction plays an important role in the phase transition of C 14 mimBr/amino acids. Our work can contribute to a better understanding of the effect of the additions especially amino acids on the influence of the surfactant aggregates and their macroscopic properties, which maybe open the door for wide applications in the biological system.

The dilational rheological properties of hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide (HMPAM) or hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) solutions without and with imidazolium surfactants ([C14-4-C14im]Br2 and [C14mim]Br) at the air/water surface were investigated using oscillating bubble measurements. The results obtained suggest that imidazolium surfactants interact with the polymer on the surface, enhancing the dilational viscoelasticity of surface film. The dilational modulus value of [C14-4-C14im]Br2/HMPAM is higher than that of the [C14mim]Br/HMPAM system at low polymer concentration, confirming that [C14-4-C14im]Br2 with two head groups and two hydrophobic chains can combine with a polymer to form a strong film on the surface. Moreover, imidazolium surfactants have stronger hydrophobic interaction with HMPAM chains than those of HPAM, thus enhancing the surface film strength for a surfactant/HMPAM system. The surface interaction mechanism between polyacrylamide and imidazolium surfactant is proposed to result from the electrostatic interactions and the hydrophobic effect.

In this paper, new inorganic–organic hybrid nanoflowers consisting of a Weakley-type polyoxometalate Na9[EuW10O36]·32H2O (denoted as EuW10) and biomolecule dopamine (DA) were fabricated through a simple ionic self-assembly (ISA) method. The hybrid nanoflowers were fully characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and fluorescence spectra. We found that the electrostatic interaction and hydrogen-bonding interaction between EuW10 and DA favored the formation of the hierarchical flowerlike structure with hundreds of nanopetals and their morphologies could be controlled simply by tuning the ratio and respective concentrations of the components. Once forming EuW10/DA vesicles or nanoflowers, the fluorescence of EuW10 was quenched due to the hydrogen bonding between the ammonium group of DA and the oxygen atom of EuW10 that blocked the hopping of the d1 elec...

In this article, a sensitive and selective on–off–on fluorescence chemosensor, Tyloxapol (one kind of water soluble oligomer), was developed for the label-free detection of MnO4− ions in aqueous solution. From fluorescence experiments, it is demonstrated that Tyloxapol is a sensitive and selective fluorescence sensor for the detection of MnO4− directly in water over a wide range of anions including Cl−, Br−, I−, NO3−, H2PO4−, HCO3−, OH−, ClO4−, Ac−, SO42−, HPO42−, CO32−, C2O42−, S2−, SO32−, and Cr2O72−. Moreover, the fluorescence intensity of Tyloxapol has shown a linear response to MnO4− in the concentration range of 0 to 120 μmol L−1 with a detection limit of 0.392 μmol L−1 MnO4−. The interaction mechanism demonstrated that our on–off fluorescent oligomer probe for detecting Mn(VII) is based on the inner filter effect (IFE) because the absorption bands of Mn(VII) are fully covered by the excitation bands of Tyloxapol. Next, another turn-on sensing application of the Tyloxapol/MnO4− platform to probe S2− against various other anions and aldehydes against various other organic pollutants were also established. It is expected that our strategy may offer a new approach for developing a simple, cost-effective, rapid and sensitive sensor for the detection of anions and aldehydes in environmental applications.

Supramolecular self-assembly, based on non-covalent interactions, has been employed as an efficient approach to obtain various functional materials from nanometer-sized building blocks, in particular, [Ag6(mna)6]6−, mna = mercaptonicotinate (Ag6-NC). A challenging issue is how to modulate the self-assembly process through regulating the relationship between building blocks and solvents. Herein, we report the controlled self-assembly of hexanuclear silver nanoclusters into robust multilayer vesicles in different solvents, DMSO, CH3CN, EG and MeOH. Their unique luminescence enables them to be bifunctional probes to sense Fe3+ and DL-dithiothreitol (DTT). By protonating the Ag6-NC to Ag6-H-NC using hydrochloric acid (HCl), the multilayer vesicles survive in aprotic solvents, DMSO and CH3CN, but are transformed to nanowires in protic solvents, water, EG and MeOH. Our results demonstrated that the solvent-bridged H-bond plays a key role in the evolution of the morphologies from vesicles to nanowires. Moreover, the nanowires could further hierarchically self-assemble in water into hydrogels with high water content (99.5%), and with remarkable mechanical strength and self-healing properties. This study introduces a robust cluster-based building block in a supramolecular self-assembly system and reveals the significance of aprotic and protic solvents for the modulation of the morphologies of cluster-based aggregates.

A series of NiO–WO3 composite nanofibers with different molar ratios (Ni/W = 0%, 1%, 3% and 5%) were fabricated based on an electrospinning and calcination technique. The gas sensing performances of sensors based on the as-produced nanofibers were studied towards acetone in detail. Compared with the pure WO3 nanofibers, the porous NiO–WO3 composite nanofibers exhibited higher sensitivity, faster response, and shorter recovery time towards acetone. Particularly, the 3 mol% NiO–WO3 heterojunction nanofibers demonstrated the largest sensitivity, exhibiting a prominent value of 22.5 under 100 ppm acetone at the operating temperature of 375 °C, which is almost 2.1 times larger than that of the pure WO3 nanofibers. Moreover, the 3 mol% NiO–WO3 heterojunction nanofibers also exhibited excellent selectivity and long-term stability to acetone. The combined effects including the formation of p–n heterojunctions between NiO and WO3, high oxygen species absorbing capacity, and special porous structural features with high surface area and small grain size, contributed to the enhanced sensing properties of the 3 mol% NiO–WO3 composite nanofibers. These attractive gas sensing properties enable the NiO–WO3 heterojunction nanofibers to be a promising material for application in gas sensors.

Microemulsions consisting of ionic liquid-type imidazolium gemini surfactants with different spacer lengths ([C14-n-C14im]Br2, n = 2, 4, 6), cyclohexane, n-hexyl alcohol and hydrochloric acid solution, were investigated for Au(III) extraction. [C14-n-C14im]Br2 in the microemulsion played a dual role as surfactant and extractant. The extraction efficiency (E%) of the [C14-n-C14im]Br2/cyclohexane/n-hexyl alcohol/HCl microemulsion system for Au was above 99% under optimal conditions. The results of our study indicated that the Au(III) extraction ability of the three different [C14-n-C14im]Br2 with different spacer lengths was better with longer a spacer. The mechanism for the Au(III) extraction by [C14-n-C14im]Br2 was confirmed to be based on an anion-exchange process by the continuous variation method and spectroscopic analysis (UV-Vis, FT-IR, 1H-NMR). The FT-IR spectra indicated that the better extraction ability of [C14-n-C14im]Br2 for Au(III) was positively correlated with the spacer length, due to a less significant steric effect of the methylene groups in surfactants with longer spacers. The electric conductivity values of the [C14-n-C14im]Br2 microemulsions indicated that surfactants with longer spacers can ionize to a higher extent to give more [C14-n-C14im]2+ cations and Br− anions, thus promoting anion-exchange and further increasing E%.

Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical nanostructures have generated a large amount of interest because of their unique, unusual properties and potential applications. In this article, copper(II) ions as the inorganic component and various biosurfactants as the organic component were used to successfully form 3D nanoflowers via a facile and effective self-assembly template synthesis strategy. It can be confirmed that the biosurfactant molecules can first form complexes with the copper ions, and these complexes then become nucleation sites for primary crystals of copper phosphate, indicating that the interaction between biosurfactant and copper ions leads to the formation of 3D nanoflowers. Several reaction parameters such as aging time and the concentration of the biosurfactant, which play a critical role in the formation process and morphologies of the nanoflowers, were investigated. Under the optimum synthetic conditions, a spherical flowerlike structure with hundreds of nanopetals was obtained. Moreover, the biosurfactant–Cu3(PO4)2·3H2O nanoflowers also showed high stability and catalytic activity for degradation of cationic dyes. Our results demonstrate that the biosurfactant–inorganic 3D nanoflowers, which combined the advantages of the biosurfactant and inorganic material, have potential applications in industrial biocatalysis, biosensors, and environmental chemistry.

White light-emitting materials arouse widespread interest in optical research in recent years because of their broad application prospects in the fields of display and lighting. However, limited success on white light emission has been achieved in solution which induce it a worthy subject to study. In this article, we regulated the fluorescence color of the solution and achieved the white light emission by adjusting the concentration of the alkynylpyrene derivative 1 and the dye rhodamine-B (RhB), as well as the ratio of the mixed solvents. The results of fluorescence spectrum showed that when the concentrations of 1 and RhB are 40 μM and 50 μM, respectively, white light was achieved in 25 % water and 75 % DMSO, and the CIE coordinates were (0.33, 0.32). TEM, SEM, fluorescence spectrum, time-resolved fluorescence and other methods were used to observe the morphologies and fluorescence properties of white-light solution, exploring the self-assembly process and mechanism. We also studied the polymerization of white-light solution under 420 nm light irradiation, observed the changes of self-assembly behavior and fluorescence properties. Such white-light solution is expected to be applied to new luminescent materials.

Supramolecular self-assembly is a noncovalent bond-based method to build complex ordered aggregates with specific functions. However, self-assembly based on metal nanoclusters (NCs) has been rarely studied because of the poor water solubility and silent fluorescence in a single-molecular state of metal NCs. Here, water-soluble silver NCs (NH4)9[Ag9(mba)9] (Ag9-NCs, H2mna = 2-mercaptonicotinic acid) were synthesized with phthalic acid (PA) to form hydrogels using the self-assembly strategy. Due to the formation of hydrogen bonds, hollow tubes appear in the hydrogel. For comparison, isophthalic acid (IPA) and terephthalic acid (TPA) are selected to self-assemble with Ag9-NCs in aqueous solutions. The result shows that only PA can form a strong phosphorescent hydrogel due to the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) and ligand-metal-metal charge transfer (LMMCT). In addition, the hydrogel is used as an excellent sensor for Fe3+, and the detection limit, which is defined as the change of 10% of fluorescence intensity, is 0.611 μM. This work shows that a hydrogel was successfully prepared using a supramolecular self-assembly strategy and will become a candidate in the fields of biological sciences and sensors.

In this work, through the aqueous phase self-assembly of an Eu-containing polyoxometalate (POM), Na9[EuW10O36]·32H2O (EuW10) and different amino acids, we obtained spontaneously formed vesicles that showed luminescence enhancement for EuW10 and arginine (Arg), lysine (Lys), or histidine (His) complexes, but luminescence quenching for EuW10 and glutamic acid (Glu) or aspartic acid (Asp) complexes. The binding mechanisms between them have been explored at the molecular level by using different characterization techniques. It was found that EuW10 acted as polar head groups interact with the positively charged residues for alkaline amino acids, protonated amide groups for acidic amino and nonpolar acid aminos through electrostatic interactions, and the remaining segments of amino acids served as relatively hydrophobic parts aggregated together forming bilayer membrane structures. Moreover, the different influences of amino acids on the fluorescence property of EuW10 revealed that the electrostatic interaction...

A fluorescent solid-like giant vesicle was prepared by using an anionic dye methyl orange (MO) and an oppositely charged surfactant 1-tetradecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (C14mimBr) on the basis of the ionic self-assembly (ISA) strategy. The properties of MO/C14mimBr complexes were comprehensively characterized. The results indicated that the giant vesicle was formed by the fusion of small vesicles and could keep its original structure during the evaporation of solvent. Besides, the giant vesicles exhibit luminescent property owing to the break of intermolecular π–π stacking of MO, which achieves the transformation from aggregation-caused quenching to aggregation-induced emission by noncovalent interaction. Moreover, MO/C14mimBr complexes also exhibit smart pH-responsive characteristics and abundant thermic phase behavior. That is, various fluorescent structures (polyhedron, giant vesicle, chrysanthemum, peony-like structure) were obtained when pH ≥ 4, whereas a simple nonfluorescent structure (microfla...

Two-component hydrogels were formed by the supramolecular assembly of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and ionic liquid-type imidazolium gemini surfactants ([C 14 -4-C 14 im]Br 2 ) in water. The mechanism for the formation of hydrogels was studied by various methods including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and rheological measurements. It can be revealed that in these hydrogels, β-CD is as the host and [C 14 -4-C 14 im]Br 2 is as the guest and they can form inclusion complexes. Moreover, the properties of the hydrogels of β-CD/[C 14 -4-C 14 im]Br 2 are responsive to external stimuli and can be controlled by changing the host/guest ratio or the temperature. For example, by increasing the temperature, the hydrogels change into solutions and this process is reversible and reproducible. Taken together and according to the previous study, it is suggested that the main driving forces are hydrogen bonding between β-CDs, β-CD and the imidazolium headgroup of [C 14 -4-C 14 im] 2+ , β-CD and the solvent, and the hydrophobic interaction between the hydrophobic chains of [C 14 -4-C 14 im]Br 2 . The properties of these hydrogels led them be useful in the field of biomedical applications such as injectable drug delivery systems.

Giant vesicles (1-10 μm) were constructed via a facile ionic self-assembly (ISA) strategy using an anionic dye Acid Orange II (AO) and an oppositely charged ionic-liquid-type cationic surfactant 1-tetradecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (C14mimBr). This is the first report about preparing giant vesicles through ISA strategy. Interestingly, the giant vesicle could keep the original morphology during the evaporation of solvent and displayed solid-like properties at low concentration. Moreover, giant vesicles with large internal capacity volume and good stability in solution could also be achieved by increasing the concentrations of AO and C14mimBr which contributed to the increase of the other noncovalent cooperative interactions. In order to facilitate comparison, a series of parallel experiments with similar materials were carried out to investigate and verify the driving forces for the formation of these kinds of giant vesicles by changing the hydrophobic moieties or the head groups of the surfactants. It is concluded that the electrostatic interaction, hydrophobic effect and π-π stacking interaction play key roles in this self-assembly process. Importantly, the giant vesicles can act as a smart microcarrier to load and release carbon quantum dot (CQD) under control. Besides, the giant vesicles could also be applied as a microrector to synthesize monodispersed Ag nanoparticles with diameter of about 5-10 nm which exhibited the ability to catalyze reduction of 4-nitroaniline. Therefore, it is indicated that our AO/C14mimBr assemblies hold promising applications in the areas of microencapsulation, catalyst support, and lightweight composites owing to their huge sizes and large microcavities.

Single-crystal of Cu3(BO3)2 has been prepared under high temperature molten-salt method and its structure has been determined by single crystal X-Ray diffraction analysis. Compound Cu3(BO3)2, whose structure solution was complicated by two components non-merohedral twinning, crystallizes in orthorhombic space group Pnnm with cell parameters a = 4.4607 (12), b = 5.4001 (15), c = 8.302 (2) A. The structure features a three-dimensional framework containing CuO6 octahedra and BO3 triangles which are further interconnected via corner- or edge-sharing O atoms. In addition, band structure and density of states calculations have been done for title compound by the density functional theory method.

A kind of self-assembled vesicles that composed of ionic liquid-type cationic gemini surfactant (C3H6-α, ω-(Me2N+C12H25Cl–)2, 12-3-12) and anionic biological surfactant (sodium deoxycholate, SDC) were constructed for Au(III) extraction. The appearance and microstructure of vesicles system were characterized by visual and TEM images. Compared to the zeta potential of pure vesicles system (+45 ± 1 mV), zeta potential of gold-loaded vesicles system reduced 15 ± 1 mv (changed to +30 ± 1 mV), which confirmed the mechanism of Au(III) was effectively extracted by vesicles through electrostatic interaction. The main influence factors including extraction equilibrium time, surfactants concentration, NaCl concentration, and pH on the extraction efficiency (E%) were explored. Furthermore, an effective method was devoted for gold(III) stripping. Through stepwise extraction and ligand-modified vesicles system, Au(III), Cu(II), and Fe(III) were separated from a mixed solution successfully. In short, an effective and po...

The aggregation behavior of sodium bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-sulfosuccinate (AOT) at the air/water interface in the absence and presence of inorganic salts was investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. Both monovalent and divalent ions were studied, such as LiCl, NaCl, KCl, MgCl2 and CaCl2. It has been proved that these inorganic ions have great influence on the structure of the AOT monolayer and water molecules around its headgroup. In the presence of inorganic salts, AOT molecules are relatively ordered at the interface and water around the headgroups of AOT shows a lower diffusion coefficient compared with the situation without inorganic salts. All the counterions are prone to move toward the headgroups and locate at the interface. Divalent ions have a strong interaction with AOT, thus they affect the aggregation behavior of AOT remarkably.