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The investigation of the interplay between complex coacervate microdroplets and amphiphilic molecules offers valuable insights into the processes of prebiotic compartmentalization on the early Earth and presents a promising avenue for future advancements in biotechnology. Herein, the interaction between complex coacervate microdroplets and amphiphilic molecule (decanoic acid) is systematically investigated by varying charge strengths of negatively charged polyelectrolytes (DNA and PAA) and positively charged polyelectrolytes (PDDA and DEAE‐Dextran). It is found that the interaction between amphiphilic molecule and complex coacervate microdroplets depended on the delicate balance between the interaction between decanoic acid and polyelectrolyte and the interaction between two polyelectrolytes. The different spatial distribution of amphiphilic molecule can result in differences in the internal microenvironment, which can further alter the uptake or exclusion of small molecules and biomolecules with different charges and polarities and functional biological process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mei Cong,1,* Houjun Pang,1,2,* Guangxing Xie,1 Feifei Li,3 Chunxiao Li,3 Hao Sun,3 Shaoyou Yang,1 Weidong Zhao3 1School of Pharmacy, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pharmacy, Dazhou Women and Children’s Hospital, Dazhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Henan Key Laboratory of Immunology and Targeted Drugs, School of Laboratory Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Weidong Zhao, Henan Key Laboratory of Immunology and Targeted Drugs, School of Laboratory Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, 453003, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 0373 3029977, Fax +86 0373 3029977, Email 141051@xxmu.edu.cnPurpose: Molecular targeted therapy is one of the most pivotal strategies in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, yet its curative effect is severely compromised by the poor aqueous solubility, low bioavailability and inadequate tumor accumulation of targeted agents. To enhance the efficacy of targeted agents, we demonstrate a novel self-assemble amphiphilic molecule based on erlotinib as an effective nanodrug for anti-cancer treatment.Methods: An amphiphilic molecule composed of hydrophobic erlotinib and hydrophilic biotin block was synthesized and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as well as high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Then, nanoassemblies of the amphiphilic molecules are formulated by using nanoprecipitation method. Subsequently, the size, morphology, cell uptake, the anticancer activity and in vivo distribution of the newly constructed erlotinib nanodrug were systematically assessed by some methods, including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light-scattering (DLS), flow cytometry, in vivo imaging system etc.Results: We developed a novel nanoformulation of erlotinib, which possesses a high drug loading of 45%. With the features of well-defined structure and small size, the obtained nanodrug could be effectively accumulated in tumor sites and rapidly internalized by cancer cells. Finally, the erlotinib-based nanoformulation showed considerably better anticancer activity compared to free erlotinib both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the nanodrug displayed great tolerability.Conclusion: Combining the advantageous features of both nanotechnology and self-assemble, this novel erlotinib nanomedicine constitutes a promising therapeutic candidate for cancer treatment. This study also underlines the potential use of amphiphilic molecule for improving drug efficacy as well as reducing drug toxicity, which could become a general strategy for the preparation of nanodrugs of active agents.Keywords: erlotinib, amphiphilic molecule, self-assembling, drug self-delivery system, non-small cell lung cancer

The structure and interaction parameters of the water-soluble cholesterol-based surfactant, Chobimalt, are investigated by small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering techniques. The obtained data are analyzed by a model-independent approach applying the inverse Fourier transformation procedure as well as considering a model fitting procedure, using a core-shell form factor and hard-sphere structure factor. The analysis reveals the formation of the polydisperse spherical or moderately elongated ellipsoidal shapes of the Chobimalt micelles with the hard sphere interaction in the studied concentration range 0.17–6.88 mM. The aggregation numbers are estimated from the micelle geometry observed by small-angle scattering and are found to be in the range of 200–300. The low pH of the solution does not have a noticeable effect on the structure of the Chobimalt micelles. The critical micelle concentrations of the synthetic surfactant Chobimalt in water and in H2O-HCl solutions were obtained according to fluorescence measurements as ~3 μM and ~2.5 μM, respectively. In-depth knowledge of the basic structural properties of the detergent micelles is necessary for further applications in bioscience and biotechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major challenges existing in the photocatalytic gas-liquid mixing system model include the mass transfer limit at the gas-liquid interface and the depth of light penetration. For this purpose, amphiphilic molecular catalysts were prepared by monovacancy phosphomolybdate modified by propyltrimethoxysilane. It is also used as a photocatalyst in the model reaction (molecular oxygen oxidation of aromatic alcohol). The amphiphilic molecular catalyst in the reaction is similar to surfactant behavior, not only can adsorb in the gas-liquid interface, ensure the direct contact between oxygen, catalyst and reactants, improve the efficiency of mass transfer, and also reduce the surface tension of aromatic alcohol, gas-liquid-solid three-phase system into foam system. The formed foam system amplifies the interface area of the reaction, enhances the light penetration depth and significantly promotes the reaction rate. The insights gained from our study provide a new perspective on the design of photocatalysis in a gas-liquid hybrid system. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrolyte engineering enables the fabrication of robust electrode/electrolyte interphase with excellent electrochemical stability for reliable lithium (Li) metal batteries (LMBs). Herein, an amphiphilic molecule nonafluoro-1-butanesulfonate (NFSA) is employed in electrolytes to realize anion-enrichment interfacial design. The functions of such an amphiphilic molecule in the electrolyte and anode/electrolyte interphases of LMBs are elucidated via theoretical and experimental analyses. The polar lithophilic segments (-SO 3 -) present a capability to solvate Li + , while the perfluoroalkyl chains (-CF 2 CF 2 CF 2 CF 3 ) exhibit a solvent-phobic, which alters the Li + solvation environment in the electrolyte and thus building a favorable interphase enriched with anion-derived inorganic compositions on Li electrode. As a result, the designed electrolyte enables stable operation of the Li||Cu cells for more than 200 cycles with a cumulative irreversible capacity loss of only 2.4 mAh cm -2 , and the long-term cycle life of the Li||Li cells is extended to more than 1500 h with a small overpotential (36.5 mV). Moreover, prolonged cycle life of the full cell assembled with commercial LiFePO 4 cathode (over 80% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 0.5 C) is achieved even under the limiting Li source (≈5 mAh cm -2 ), high cathode loading (≈12 mg cm -2 ), and lean electrolyte (≈2.5 µL mg -1 )., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

In contrast to traditional instrument-dependent methods, fluorescent probes provide a cost-effective, efficient, and convenient approach for detecting microplastics (MPs) in aquatic ecosystems. However, the conventional dye-based sensors reported exhibit the limitations such as insolubility in water, low contrast, dependence on heating treatment, and limited adaptability. Encouragingly, the water-soluble aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecules are desirable turn-on fluorescent probes, but their application for detecting MPs in water is rarely explored. In this work, we have developed two novel tetraphenylethene (TPE) derivatives with excellent water solubility by introducing dual-positive charge sites into TPE backbones (denoted as TPE-Phenyl-Py and TPE-Vinyl-Py), in which the TPE moieties are connected with pyridinium and quaternary ammonium-related cations through the phenyl group and vinyl group respectively. Remarkably, both of TPE derivatives enable in-situ detection of various MPs within 10 s in water due to the fluorescence is enhanced by the immobilization of TPE probes on MPs. Moreover, unlike traditional dyes that result in unchanged colors when staining different types of MPs, the colorful particles can be distinguished from each other based on their unique emission colors resulting from the immobilization-induced emission of TPE derivatives and the intrinsic fluorescence of MPs. Excitingly, as a result of its better hydrophilicity and weak background fluorescence, TPE-Vinyl-Py demonstrates excellent capability for detecting MPs leached from teabags steeped in 95℃ water. This work provides an effective strategy for exploring more turn-on fluorescent probes for MPs detection. [Display omitted] • Without any heating treatment, TPE derivatives can act as turn-on fluorescence probes for in-situ detection of various microplastics (MPs) within just 10 s in aqueous environment. • After staining with the TPE derivatives and subsequent drying, distinct emission colors can be observed under 365 nm irradiation. • TPE-Vinyl-Pyproves highly effective for the in-situ detection of MPs released from tea bags immersed in 95 °C water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure and interaction parameters of the water-soluble cholesterol-based surfactant, Chobimalt, are investigated by small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering techniques. The obtained data are analyzed by a model-independent approach applying the inverse Fourier transformation procedure as well as considering a model fitting procedure, using a core-shell form factor and hard-sphere structure factor. The analysis reveals the formation of the polydisperse spherical or moderately elongated ellipsoidal shapes of the Chobimalt micelles with the hard sphere interaction in the studied concentration range 0.17–6.88 mM. The aggregation numbers are estimated from the micelle geometry observed by small-angle scattering and are found to be in the range of 200–300. The low pH of the solution does not have a noticeable effect on the structure of the Chobimalt micelles. The critical micelle concentrations of the synthetic surfactant Chobimalt in water and in H2O-HCl solutions were obtained according to fluorescence measurements as ~3 μM and ~2.5 μM, respectively. In-depth knowledge of the basic structural properties of the detergent micelles is necessary for further applications in bioscience and biotechnology.

Organic semiconductor devices with low energy consumption and excellent stability are highly desirable. Controlling the intermolecular alignment orientation by designing the molecular structure or optimization of the film preparation process is an alternative way to achieve this goal. In this paper, a new idea was proposed to realize the formation of an aligned monomolecular layer and multimolecular layer thin films on the electrode substrate by controlling the surface pressure of molecular layer on the liquid surface by LB technology. An amphiphilic π‐conjugated D−A molecule was synthesized, and the influence of spin coating and LB technology on intermolecular ordered stacking in the film and the electrical memory performance were investigated. The results demonstrated that the film fabricated by LB technology has some advantages compared with that fabricated by spin‐coating method, such as higher crystallinity, lower surface roughness and better‐organized monomolecular and multimolecular layer, which significantly promoted the performance of the electrical memory device with lower power consumption and longer stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water-soluble aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecule is desirable as a turn-on fluorescence probe, but it is challenging because most AIE-based molecules are lipophilic and can emit strong fluorescence in water. To address the problem, tetraphenylethene (TPE) backbones are decorated with hydrophilic pyridine ethanol-related groups, and a series of novel amphiphilic TPE-based pyridinium salts (denoted as TPE-Py-OH, TPE-2Py-2OH and TPE-4Py-4OH) are synthesized. Encouragingly, TPE-2Py-2OH aqueous solution which is almost non-emissive can be used as a bifunctional turn-on fluorescent probe for developing latent fingerprints (LFPs) and detecting antibiotics. Level 3 details in LFPs are developed via soaking/ spraying method, owing to that AIE phenomenon is activated by the combination of lipophilic part in TPE-2Py-2OH and fatty acid residues in fingerprints. The method is worthy to promote, because it displays the advantages of water solubility, low working concentration, ease of operation, good stability, high safety, high contrast, high sensitivity, and high selectivity. It can also response to penicillin potassium (PNG) with a detection limit of 0.18 μM because the electrostatic interaction between TPE-2Py-2OH and PNG can mainly induce the enhanced fluorescence. This discovery provides a facile approach to design more promising amphiphilic AIE-based turn-on fluorescence probes. [Display omitted] • A tetraphenylethene derivative (TPE-2Py-2OH) is a novel water-soluble AIEgen. • TPE-2Py-2OH can act as a bifunctional turn-on fluorescent probe for both latent fingerprints (LFPs) development and antibiotics detection. • As a LFPs developer, TPE-2Py-2OH displays the advantages of organic solvent free, low working concentration, ease of operation, high contrast, high resolution, and excellent long-term stability. • As a detection reagent of antibiotics, TPE-2Py-2OH allowed highly selective, fast responsive and excellent sensitive toward penicillin potassium in water system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc-iodine batteries (ZIBs) are promising candidates for ecofriendly, safe, and low-cost energy storage systems, but polyiodide shuttling and the complex cathode fabrication procedures have severely hindered their broader commercial usage. Herein, a protocol is developed using phospholipid-like oleylamine molecules for scalable production of Langmuir-Blodgett films, which allows the facile preparation of ZIB cathodes in less than 1 min. The resulting inhomogeneous cathode allows for the continuous conversion of iodine. Moreover, the amine group of the oleylamine molecule at the cathode is capable of producing [OA*I + ]I 3 - charge-transfer complexes with iodine, which facilitates the rapid migration of iodine and results in a highly reversible iodine conversion process. Consequently, the as-prepared ZIBs can deliver over 2000 cycles at 0.5 mA cm -2 with a capacity retention of 75.3%. This work presents a novel, straightforward, and efficient method for the rapid construction of ZIBs.

The molecular and crystal structure of the widely used antiseptic benzyldimethyl{3‐[(1‐oxotetradecyl)amino]propyl}ammonium chloride monohydrate (Miramistin, MR), C26H47N2O+·Cl−·H2O, was determined by a single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction study and analyzed in the framework of the QTAIM (quantum theory of atoms in molecules) approach using both periodic and molecular DFT (density functional theory) calculations. The various noncovalent intermolecular interactions of different strengths were found to be realized in the hydrophilic parts of the crystal packing (i.e. O—H...Cl, N—H...Cl, C—H...Cl, C—H...O and C—H...π). The hydrophobic parts are built up exclusively by van der Waals H...H contacts. Quantification of the interaction energies using calculated electron‐density distribution revealed that the total energy of the contacts within the hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions are comparable in value. The organic MR cation adopts the bent conformation with the head group tilted back to the long‐chain alkyl tail in both the crystalline and the isolated state due to stabilization of this geometry by several intramolecular C—H...π, C—H...N and H...H interactions. This conformation preference is hypothesized to play an important role in the interaction of MR with biomembranes. Structure determination and DFT analysis of the bonding pattern in the antiseptic Miramistin were performed. Stabilization of the bent conformation of the organic cation occurs in both the crystalline and the isolated state due to noncovalent intramolecular interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]