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Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are considered "green" and "sustainable" alternatives to conventional organic solvents and ionic liquids (ILs) due to their characteristic properties and relatively low costs. DESs are considered IL analogs and have attracted consideration as benign media formulations for the synthesis of novel polymers because they satisfy the principle of sustainability. Over the past few years, the use of DESs has resulted in novel pathways for the synthesis of novel materials, biomaterials, functional materials, and ionic soft materials. Furthermore, DESs have been widely applied in the science, industrial, engineering, and technological fields. On the other hand, stimulus-responsive (smart) polymers have been widely utilized in intelligent devices owing to their virtues of good processibility, stimuli and environmental sensitivity, responsivity, and so on. With the introduction of a DES into the smart polymeric matrices, their potential characteristics, biocompatibility, and flexibility endow the corresponding DES-based polymeric materials with intriguing properties, which in turn will broaden their applications in various domains of polymer science and material chemistry. Substantial research has been done in the fabrication of DES-based polymeric materials. Numerous studies have extensively investigated the effects of DESs on biomolecules such as proteins/enzymes and nucleic acids, whereas few have addressed the impact of DESs on the aggregation and phase transition behaviors of smart polymers. This review focuses on mechanistic insights, aggregation behavior, and interactions between smart polymers and DESs. Opportunities and future research perspectives in this blossoming arena are also discussed. It is hoped that this review will pave futuristic pathways for the design and development of advanced DES-based polymeric materials and biomaterials for various applications.

Infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria pose an impending threat to humanity, as the evolution of MDR bacteria outpaces the development of effective antibiotics. In this work, we use indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) to treat infections caused by MDR bacteria via photodynamic therapy (PDT), which shows superior bactericidal efficiency over common antibiotics. PDT in the presence of InP QDs results in high-efficiency bactericidal activity towards various bacterial species, including Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus cereus , Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Upon light absorption, InP QDs generate superoxide (O 2 ˙ - ), which leads to efficient and selective killing of MDR bacteria while mammalian cells remain intact. The cytotoxicity evaluation reveals that InP QDs are bio- and blood-compatible in a wide therapeutic window. For the in vivo study, we drop a solution of InP QDs at a concentration within the therapeutic window onto MDR S. aureus -infected skin wounds of mice and perform PDT for 15 min. InP QDs show excellent therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy in treating MDR bacterial infection. These findings show that InP QDs have great potential to serve as antibacterial agents for MDR bacterial infection treatment, as an effective and complementary alternative to conventional antibiotics.

Skin is highly vulnerable to premature aging due to external stress, therefore, in this study, a peptide formulation, (galloyl) 2 -KTPPTTP (Gal 2 -Pep) was synthesized by combining TPPTTP peptide, and gallic acid (GA). All peptides were synthesized on 2-chlorotrityl chloride resin using solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), and analyzed on an electrospray ionization (ESI)/quadrupole-time-of-flight (Q-TOF) tandem mass spectroscopy (MS) system. Initially, Gal 2 -Pep showed no toxicity below the concentration 100 μM with cell survival rate of 88% for keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity of Gal 2 -Pep was more stable compared to GA alone; and after four weeks at room temperature, its ROS scavenging activity remained higher than 50%. Moreover, the peptide formulation, Gal 2 -Pep also exhibited elastase inhibitory effect in CCD-1064Sk fibroblast cells. Based on the results of RT-qPCR, it was proved in this study that Gal 2 -Pep increased the expression of PGC-1α to prevent oxidative stress, and validated its potential as an anti-aging agent through increasing the expression of type I collagen and by decreasing the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP1). The findings obtained reinforce the suggestion that the peptide formulation synthesized in this study could be used as a natural antioxidant and anti-aging agent for its cosmetic applications., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

We report a facile and large-scale synthesis of size-tunable and nontoxic mesoporous silica-coated Gd 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ (Gd@mSi) core-shell nanostructures using a TPAOH assisted modified UHP technique. The role of TPAOH in controlling the particle size was evaluated. The potentiality of these Gd@mSi core-shell nanoparticles before and after folic acid conjugation was established by in vitro fluorescence microscopy of the U2OS cell lines for cancer imaging and therapy.

The variation of the c-axis conductivity of a multilayer graphene (MLG) as a function of H2 pressure from vacuum to 20 bar has been investigated. MLG was connected to the electrodes vertically using a wet transfer process. After exposure to H2 gas pressure up to 20 bar, the chemisorption of dissociated atomic hydrogen on MLG affects its electrical and structural properties. The formation of C-H bonds causes a decoupling of graphene layers, and then interferes with charge transfer through the out of plane. As a result, the c-axis conductivity decreases. Furthermore, the electron doping effect and the decoupling of the layers were confirmed using Raman spectroscopy. Hydrogenated carbons induce a defect structure of MLG which results in the expansion of layers. We observed a 43.54% increase in the thickness of the MLG after H2 exposure using atomic force microscopy.

Herein, we report a simple and facile synthesis strategy of MnO 2 /carbon nanotubes decorated with a nanocomposite of Pt nanoparticles using a simple electrodeposition method. The Pt/MnO 2 /f-MWCNT modified electrode were characterized by several analytical and spectroscopy techniques and were adopted as a composite for a novel catechin sensor. The as-prepared Pt/MnO 2 /f-MWCNT modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) exhibited a smaller peak potential separation (ΔE p ), and electron transfer kinetics during the oxidation reaction of catechin. This can be attributed to the larger effective surface area, greater porosity, and more reactive sites on the Pt/MnO 2 /f-MWCNT-modified GCE. Notably, we achieved a very low detection limit (under optimized conditions) of catechin ca. 0.02 μM (S/N = 3); the linear range is 2-950 μM with excellent sensitivity. The real time application of catechin in red wine, black tea, and green tea samples with excellent performance. The proposed sensor was successfully developed and the advantages of low cost, ease of preparation, long-term stability, and good reproducibility were demonstrated which are superior to recently reported modified electrodes, thereby enabling practical industrial applications.

We demonstrated a non-enzymatic cholesterol sensor based on a nickel oxide (NiO) and high quality graphene composite for the first time. Graphene was grown by a chemical vapor deposition technique (CVD). The nanocomposite was fabricated through the electrodeposition of nickel hydroxide onto the surface of the CVD-grown graphene, which was followed by thermal annealing. The successful formation of the NiO/graphene composite was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The deposition of flower-like NiO onto the graphene surface was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical analyses were conducted to investigate the characteristics of the sensor during the detection of cholesterol. The sensor showed a high sensitivity of 40.6 mA μM -1 cm -2 , a rapid response time of 5 s, and a low detection of limit of 0.13 μM. We also investigated the effects of common interfering substances on the ability of the sensor to detect cholesterol. Furthermore, we successfully determined the cholesterol in a milk sample using the developed sensor. The composite electrode exhibited excellent detection of cholesterol with good reproducibility and long-term stability owing to the combined effects of NiO and graphene.

3-Aminopropyl functionalized magnesium phyllosilicate (aminoclay) is a tailor-made organoclay material that has many biomedical applications. Defining the biodistribution and in vivo pharmacokinetics of aminoclay is essential to gauge the therapeutic potential of aminoclay. Therefore, the present study investigated the in vivo fate of aminoclay nanoparticles in a mouse model. Fluorescent Cy5.0-conjugated-aminoclay (Cy5.0-aminoclay) was synthesized for optical imaging and quantification in vivo and then its tissue distribution as well as elimination pathways was investigated in mice. After intravenous administration, fast tissue distribution of Cy5.0-aminoclay into various organs including the liver, kidney, lung, heart, and intestine was evident, as was the rapid clearance from each organ without any long-term accumulation. In addition, systemically administered nanoparticles were eliminated mainly from the urine and feces, where the nearly complete recovery of administered dose was achieved within 72 h. After oral administration, the biodistribution and pharmacokinetic studies indicated no intestinal absorption of Cy5.0-aminoclay. Consequently, about 90% of orally administered nanoparticles were eliminated via feces within 24 h. Taken all together, the present study highlights the low risk for long-term tissue accumulation of aminoclay particles, which may be desirable attributes for biomedical applications as a drug delivery carrier.

Trace detection and physicochemical characterization of protein aggregates have a large impact in understanding and diagnosing many diseases, such as ageing-related neurodegeneration and systemic amyloidosis, for which the formation of protein aggregates is one of the pathological hallmarks. Here we demonstrate an innovative label-free method for detecting and characterizing small amounts of early stage protein aggregates using a Raman active nanofluidic device. Sub-micrometre channels formed by a novel elastomeric collapse technique enable the separation and concentration of matured protein aggregates from small protein molecules. The Raman enhancement by gold nanoparticle clusters fixed below a micro/nanofluidic junction allows characterization of intrinsic properties of protein aggregates at concentration levels (∼fM) much lower than can be done with traditional analytical tools. With our device we show for the first time the concentration dependence of protein aggregation over these low concentration ranges. We expect that our method could facilitate definitive diagnosis and possible therapeutics of diseases at early stages.

Here we present a novel microfluidic technique for on-chip surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based biomolecular detection, exploiting the use of electrokinetically active microwells. Briefly, the chip comprises of a series of microfluidic channels containing embedded microwells that, when electrically actuated, either locally attract or repulse species from solution through a combination of electrokinetic effects. We demonstrate that the approach combines the advantages of existing homogeneous (solution phase) and heterogeneous (surface phase) on-chip techniques by enabling active mixing to enhance the rate of binding between the SERS enhancers and the biomolecular targets as well as rapid concentration of the product for surface phase optical interrogation. This paper describes the chip design and fabrication procedure, experimental results illustrating the optimal conditions for our concentration and mixing processes, and a numerical analysis of the flow pattern. To demonstrate the usefulness of the device we apply it to the quantitative detection of nucleic acid sequences associated with Dengue virus serotype 2. We report a limit of detection for Dengue sequences of 30 pM and show excellent specificity against other serotypes.