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In vivo, multiple biophysical cues provided by highly ordered connective tissues of the extracellular matrix regulate skeletal muscle cells to align in parallel with one another. However, in routine in vitro cell culture environments, these key factors are often missing, which leads to changes in cell behavior. Here, we present a simple strategy for using optical media discs with nanogrooves and other polymer-based substrates nanomolded from the discs to directly culture muscle cells to study their response to the effect of biophysical cues such as nanotopography and substrate stiffness. We extend the range of study of biophysical cues for myoblasts by showing that they can sense ripple sizes as small as a 100 nm width and a 20 nm depth for myotube alignment, which has not been reported previously. The results revealed that nanotopography and substrate stiffness regulated myoblast proliferation and morphology independently, with nanotopographical cues showing a higher effect. These biophysical cues also worked synergistically, and their individual effects on cells were additive; i.e., by comparing cells grown on different polymer-based substrates (with and without nanogrooves), the cell proliferation rate could be reduced by as much as ~29%, and the elongation rate could be increased as much as ~116%. Moreover, during myogenesis, muscle cells actively responded to nanotopography and consistently showed increases in fusion and maturation indices of ~28% and ~21%, respectively. Finally, under electrical stimulation, the contraction amplitude of well-aligned myotubes was found to be almost 3 times greater than that for the cells on a smooth surface, regardless of the substrate stiffness.

Developing photocatalytic systems by larger design to achieve degradation of dye pollutants by using solar light is highly desirable. Present work is devoted to the synthesis of step-scheme (S-scheme) g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction which subsequently employed for simultaneous degradation of a binary mixture of Methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) solution in parabolic trough collectors (PTC) as continuous flow loop photoreactor. The as-prepared g-C3N4/TiO2 was analyzed by various techniques such as FE-SEM, EDS, XRD, FT-IR, BET, elements mapping and DRS. The composite central design (CCD) was applied to express mathematical relationships among variables such as process time, catalyst mass and initial concentrations of MB and RhB in the degradation process. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared composite is higher than pure TiO2 and g-C3N4 that is attributed to the positive synergetic effect of S-scheme between g-C3N4 and TiO2 nanostructure. Under solar irradiation in PTC, g-C3N4/TiO2 was able to degrade about 94.92 and 93.07% of binary mixture MB and RhB, respectively.

The limits of the pH buffering action (pHbuff) of YNHCH2SO3H – NH2CH2CH2OH –H2O (Y = H, CH3, HOCH2CH2, t-С4H9 and C6H5CH2) were determined and their buffer capacity (p) for monoethanolamine (MEA) was estimated in the temperature range 293–313 K. For systems with aminomethanesulfonic acid (AMSA), its N‑methyl, N‑hydroxyethyl (HEAMSA) and N‑benzyl (BzAMSA) derivatives, an increase in temperature leads to a decrease in the pH values of the lower limit of the buffering action of their solutions with monoethanolamine; in the case of N‑tert-butylaminomethanesulfonic acid (t-BuAMSA) – to an increase in the specified characteristic. An increase in temperature for systems with the most hydrophobic t-BuAMSA and BzAMSA (in comparison with other studied aminomethanesulfonic acids) leads to a decrease in the pH values of the upper limit of the buffer action. A decrease in the YNHCH2SO3H and NH2CH2CH2OH concentration leads to a shift in the boundaries of the pH of the buffering action to a more acidic region. The nature of the influence of the empirical function, combining their acid-base properties and lipophilicity (рKа + lgPow), on the concentration dependence of the buffer capacity according to MEA was revealed. It is shown that the buffering effect of the studied systems is due to the presence, in addition to the systems N‑alkylammoniummethanesulfonate – N‑alkylaminomethanesulfonate and 2-hydroxyethylammonium – monoethanolamine, ionic associates (pairs and triples). The position of the extrema on the graphical π=f(CMEA)/QYAMSA) dependencies for systems with hydrophilic AMSA and HEAMSA coincides with the position of the first minima on the differential titration curves dpH/dV = f(CMEA)/QYAMSA). Substitution of MEA to potassium aminomethanesulfonate leads to a shift in the pH buffering action to a more acidic region and increases the buffer capacity of the resulting systems.

The impact of radiation-induced bystander effect (RIBE) is still not well understood in radiotherapy. RIBEs are biological effects expressed by nonirradiated cells near or far from the irradiated cells. Most radiological studies on cancer cells have been based on biochemical characterization. However, biophysical investigation with label-free techniques to analyze and compare the direct irradiation effect and RIBE has lagged. In this work, we employed an electrical cell-indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate impedance system (ECIIS) as a bioimpedance sensor to evaluate the HeLa cells' response. The bioimpedance of untreated/nonirradiated HeLa (N-HeLa) cells, α-particle (Am-241)-irradiated HeLa (I-HeLa) cells, and bystander HeLa (B-HeLa) cells exposed to media from I-HeLa cells was monitored with a sampling interval of 8 s over a period of 24 h. Also, we imaged the cells at times where impedance changes were observed. Different radiation doses (0.5 cGy, 1.2 cGy, and 1.7 cGy) were used to investigate I-HeLa and B-HeLa cells' radiation-dose-dependence. By analyzing the changes in absolute impedance and cell size/number with time, compared to N-HeLa cells, B-HeLa cells mimicked the I-HeLa cells' damage and modification of proliferation rate. Contrary to the irradiated cells, the bystander cells' damage rate and proliferation rate enhancements have an inverse radiation-dose-response. Also, we report multiple RIBEs in HeLa cells in a single measurement and provide crucial insights into the RIBE mechanism without any labeling procedure. Unambiguously, our results have shown that the time-dependent control of RIBE is important during α-radiation-based radiotherapy of HeLa cells.

This review presents the adsorptive removal process of hazardous materials onto carbon-based materials comprising activated carbon, graphene, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, biochar and carbon aerogels. Particular emphasis is placed on the fabrication of various carbon-based substances and their characteristics. As a ubiquitous phenomenon, dangerous compounds originating from industrial wastewater lead to damage to the environment and water resources. Therefore, among conventional technologies, adsorption is highly effective and the most extensively used method owing to its simplicity of performance and fairly low cost of application for the removal of hazardous pollutants. This paper comprehensively reviews a multitude of aspects regarding the chemical and physical nature of various carbon materials and their adsorption ability by increasing their surface area or their possible modification. Based on the properties of nano-carbon materials, adsorptive elimination mechanisms for antibiotics, dyes, heavy metals, pesticides, oils, phenolic and volatile organic compounds and gas pollutants are highlighted. The advantageous characteristics of nano-carbon materials assigned to their unique adsorptive removal of common hazardous substances will be pointed out.

Silanization processes with perfluoroalkyl silanes have been demonstrated to be effective in developing advanced materials with many functional properties, including hydrophobicity, water repellency, and self-cleaning properties. However, practical industrial applications of perfluoroalkyl silanes are limited by their extremely high cost. On the basis of our recent work on photoredox catalysis for amidation with perfluoroalkyl iodides, its application for surface chemical modification on filter paper, as an illustrative example, has been developed and evaluated. Before photocatalytic amidation, the surface is functionalized with amine functional groups by silanization with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propylamine. All chemically modified surfaces have been fully characterized by attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and three-dimensional (3D) profiling to confirm the successful silanization and photocatalytic amidation. After surface modification of the filter papers with perfluoroalkanamide, they show high water repellency and hydrophobicity with contact angles over 120°. These filter papers possess high wetting selectivity, which can be used to effectively separate the organic and aqueous biphasic mixtures. The perfluoroalkanamide-modified filter papers can be used for separating organic/aqueous biphasic mixtures over many cycles without lowering the separating efficiency, indicating their reusability and excellent durability.

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is widely used as a plasticizer in consumer products. People are continuously exposed to DEHP through ingestion, inhalation and dermal absorption. From epidemiological studies, DEHP has been shown to associate with various adverse health effects, such as reproductive abnormalities and metabolic diseases. Health concerns have been raised regarding DEHP exposures; therefore, relevant risk assessment has become necessary through toxicological testing of DEHP. In the past 10 years, an increasing number of DEHP toxicity studies have been using zebrafish embryos as an in vivo model due to their high fecundity, rapid embryonic development as well as optical transparency, which have now been established as an alternative of the more conventional rodent model. The aim of the present paper is to review the effects of acute (from embryo stage to ≤1 week) and chronic (from embryo stage to >1 week) DEHP exposures on zebrafish, which start from the embryonic stage, and to analyze acute and potential long-term effects induced by acute exposure and effects induced by chronic exposure of DEHP upon subjecting to exposures, starting from the embryonic stage to different developmental stages, with a view to facilitate risk assessments on DEHP exposures.

A new class of luminescent mechanochromic cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes with pyridyl acyclic carbene ligands have been developed. These complexes shown predominant MLCT phosphorescence mixed with 3LC character. In the solid state and neat film, the emission of these complexes show significant red-shift upon mechanical grinding. On the basis of XRD, X-ray crystallography, Raman spectroscopy and DFT calculation, the mechanically-induced variations of the molecular packing and the structural conformation have been elucidated. With the understanding of their mechanochemical changes, it enables the design of luminescent mechanochromic compounds with tailored mechanochromic properties, including the emission color and the mechanochromic shift, through judicious structural modifications of the ligands as illustrated in the complexes reported in this work. It would also open up new design of mechanoresponsive materials.

To meet device applications, it is essential to fabricate nondegenerate ZnSnN2 with higher mobility. Herein, the chemical potential of nitrogen was improved under Zn-rich sputtering conditions and nondegenerate ZnSnN2 with mobility higher than 20 cm2 V−1 s−1 was successfully fabricated. The properties of the samples were characterized. The obtained ZnSnN2 is wurstite. Band conduction is observed in the range 300–100 K and nearest neighbour hopping is observed in the range 100–70 K. The forbidden band gap is about 1.43 eV and Sn substituting Zn is the major donor, whose ionization energy is 34.6 meV. Improving the chemical potential of nitrogen under Zn-rich conditions effectively changes the off-stoichiometry of ZnSnN2 and unintentionally increases oxygen doping, which finally leads to a decrease in electron density and an increase in mobility.

It is challenging to achieve highly efficient thermoelectric materials due to the conflicts between thermopower (Seebeck coefficient) and electrical conductivity. These parameters are the core factors defining the thermoelectric property of any material. Here, we report the use of isovalent substitution as a tool to decouple the interdependency of the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical properties of cerium-doped bismuth selenide thermoelectric material. With this strategy, we can achieve a simultaneous increase in both the electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient of the material by tuning the concentration of cerium doping, due to formation of neutral impurities and consequently the improvement of carrier mobility. Our theoretical calculation reveals a downward shift of the valence band with cerium concentration, which influences the thermoelectric enhancement of the synthesized materials. Finally, an order of magnitude enhancement of the figure of merit is obtained due to isovalent substitution, thus providing a new avenue for enhancing the thermoelectric performance of materials.

A simple approach towards preparation of non-noble metal electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in low temperature fuel cells has been necessity for a sustainable green technology. Herein, a cost-effective and facile method of preparation of TiC@N-doped graphene like carbon nanocomposite (TiC@NC) has been discussed. The composite structure of as-prepared TiC@NC was confirmed using structural analysis and morphological studies. Interestingly, the optimized TiC@NC(0.2)-800 electrocatalyst shows remarkable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics with better onset potential +1.08 vs RHE and significant current density of 4.8 mA/cm2 in alkaline medium. Further, obtained catalyst exhibits four electron transfer mechanism similar to Pt-based electrocatalysts. Additionally, TiC@NC(0.2)-800 shows better mass activity (∼410 mA/mg) as compared to other compositions. Moreover, the single step kinetics mechanism has been seen due to lower (

In this work, two metallopolymers (P1 and P2) were designed and synthesized through coupling of ferrocene-anchored fluorene derivatives with porphyrin and benzene based diethynyl ligand, respectively. The chemical structure and physical properties of these two metallpolymers were fully characterized, which indicate that these two metallopolymers are thermally stable and semiconducting. Then, sandwich-like organic resistive memory based on P1 and P2 for data storage were explored. The memory device testing results manifest that both P1 and P2 are of the stable electric bistability and show write once read many times memory (WORM) characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol misuse is prevalent and clinically significant among college students. Psychological distress is one factor that has been found to predict alcohol misuse in this population. However, relatively few investigations examined the association of psychological distress to alcohol misuse or its underlying mechanisms among students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The present study examined whether impulsivity explains the relation between psychological distress and alcohol misuse in this population using structural equation modeling. METHODS: Participants were 287 undergraduate students attending an HBCU in the southern United States (M(age) = 22.5, 66.3% female, 93.7% Black). RESULTS: Impulsivity was found to significantly mediate the association of psychological distress to alcohol misuse, such that higher levels of psychological distress were associated with greater impulsivity which, in turn, was related to more alcohol misuse. Further analyses indicated that attentional impulsivity significantly mediated the association of psychological distress to alcohol misuse. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the utility of targeting impulsivity in interventions aimed at preventing and reducing alcohol misuse among college students attending HBCUs who experience psychological distress.

It is highly desirable to develop biodegradable UV-shielding materials from the renewable resources as the ever-increasing demand for the sustainable environment. In this work, TiO2 decorated lignin particles (TiO2@lignin) were synthesized successfully by hydrothermal method in aqueous solution to improve the UV shielding performance of lignin particles. The poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) composite films (thickness of ~23 μm) with different contents of TiO2@lignin were prepared via a blade-casting method. Morphological analysis showed that the TiO2@lignin dispersed uniformly in the PPC matrix with a good miscibility. UV–vis transmission spectra results revealed that the PPC composite film containing 5 wt% TiO2@lignin could absorb about 90% of UV light in the full UV band (200–400 nm), indicating the TiO2@lignin had a good UV-shielding property. Moreover, the presence of TiO2@lignin could significantly improve the thermal stability of the PPC/TiO2@lignin composite films. The DMA results showed that the introduction of TiO2@lignin could enhance the storage modulus and glass transition temperature simultaneously.

In this work, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) supporting finely dispersed Au nanoparticles is developed as a simple and efficient photocatalyst for H2O2 production under visible light irradiation. Au nanoparticle cocatalyst remarkably enhances photocatalytic activity of C3N4 for H2O2 production. Due to the inert nature to catalyze the decomposition of H2O2, Au/C3N4 also exhibits stable H2O2 evolution rate. It is of great interest that the maximal H2O2 production activity is reached at the loading amount of Au as low as 0.01%, revealing the great catalytic efficacy of highly dispersed Au cocatalyst during the photocatalytic H2O2 synthesis and the possibility to produce concentrated H2O2 using C3N4 with extremely low Au loading amount. The in situ electron spin resonance studies reveal that the H2O2 is produced through direct 2e− oxygen reduction over Au/C3N4 photocatalyst.

Cuprous oxide has important applications from photovoltaic devices to photocatalysis and nitrogen-doping can improve the p-type conductivity of cuprous oxide. Here, phase-pure cuprous oxide thin films are prepared by sputtering a copper target in the atmosphere of Ar, O2 and N2 with the sputtering pressure varying from 0.6 Pa–3.0 Pa. The samples deposited at 0.6 Pa is also annealed in the flow of Ar or Ar plus N2. The results show that sputtering pressure below 1.0 Pa results in higher deposition rate and more nitrogen incorporation into cuprous oxide while sputtering pressure of 3.0 Pa leads to lower deposition rate and no nitrogen doping though the gas flow rates are the same. In nitrogen-doped Cu2O, nitrogen exists as β-N (atomic nitrogen), α-N2 (-N=N-) and γ-N2 (N N). Annealing completely removes β-N and partially turns α-N2 into γ-N2. Nitrogen-doped cuprous oxide has smaller resistivity and larger hole density than undoped samples. The longest time for the absorbed nitrogen molecules to stay on the copper position is estimated to be 8.45 × 10−7 s. Annealing has little effect on the electrical and optical properties of nitrogen-doped cuprous oxide though it induces a weak decomposition.

In this work, an Au modified Bi2O3-TiO2 (Au/Bi2O3-TiO2) hybrid is developed as a simple and effective photocatalyst for the production of H2O2. The modification of Bi2O3 improves the charge separation of photocatalyst and significantly enhances the photocatalytic activity of Au/TiO2 for H2O2 production. In-situ electron spin resonance studies shows stepwise single-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the Au/Bi2O3-TiO2 photocatalyst for the production of H2O2. This work demonstrates the importance of heterojunction structure photocatalyst for improved performance of TiO2 in order to produce concentrated H2O2.

Histamine, which is a naturally occurring chemical in seafood, is known to cause undesirable inflammatory response when consumed in large amounts. Histamine is produced in unsafe amounts in colored seafood when improperly stored for just a few hours. Food and health regulatory bodies across the world have guidelines limiting the amount of histamine in fresh as well as processed seafood. Conventional histamine detection is performed in testing labs, which is a slow process and results in bottlenecks in the seafood supply-chain system. A system to rapidly detect the seafood histamine levels on site is very desirable for seafood suppliers. Herein, we describe an impedance-based histamine detection sensor built on a flexible substrate that can detect histamine in the range of 100–500 ppm. Moreover, our sensor discriminates histamine in the presence of DL-histidine and other biogenic amines, with the selectivity provided by molecular imprinting technology. As a proof of concept, a smartphone controlled, portable semi-quantitative histamine sensing device was fabricated that gave out reliable testing results for histamine in different test solutions as well as for real seafood. We believe this technology can be extended towards determination of other food contaminants in aqueous solutions.

Facile and efficient early detection of cancer is a major challenge in healthcare. Herein we developed a novel sensor made from a polycarbonate (PC) membrane with nanopores, followed by sequence-specific Oligo RNA modification for early gastric carcinoma diagnosis. In this design, the gastric cancer antigen CA72-4 is specifically conjugated to the Oligo RNA, thereby inhibiting the electrical current through the PC membrane in a concentration-dependent manner. The device can determine the concentration of cancer antigen CA72-4 in the range from 4 to 14 U/mL, possessing a sensitivity of 7.029 µAU−1mLcm−2 with a linear regression (R2) of 0.965 and a lower detection limit of 4 U/mL. This device has integrated advantages including high specificity and sensitivity and being simple, portable, and cost effective, which collectively enables a giant leap for cancer screening technologies towards clinical use. This is the first report to use RNA aptamers to detect CA72-4 for gastric carcinoma diagnosis.

Developing a thermoelectric generator(TEG) with shape conformable geometry for sustaining low-thermal\ud impedance and large temperature gradient (ΔT) is fundamental for wearable and multi-scale energy harvesting applications. Here we demonstrate a flexible architectural design, with efficient thin film thermoelectric\ud generator as a solution for this problem. This approach not only decreases the thermal impedance but also\ud multiplies the temperature gradient, thereby increasing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) as comparable to\ud bulk TEG. Intact thin films of Tin telluride (p-type) and Lead Telluride (n-type) are deposited on flexible substrate\ud through physical vapor deposition and a thermoelectric module possessing a maximum output power density of\ud 8.4 mW/cm2 is fabricated. We have demonstrated the performance of p-SnTe/n-PbTe based TEG as a flexible\ud wearable power source for electronic gadgets, as a thermal touch sensor for real-time switching and temperature\ud monitoring for exoskeleton applications.

Dissolving polymer microneedles have attracted much attention for their biocompatibility, fast dissolution, and high drug loading. Among them, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is widely used, but its high water absorption and poor mechanical properties constrain its broad applications. Herein we show that adding cyclodextrin (CD) to form PVP–CD inclusion complexes can alleviate these problems. The water absorption of PVP was reduced by 36–40% at different RHs as the PVP–CD inclusion complexes formed. Attractively, the water absorption at 10 and 20 days remained almost the same for the complexes while it could dramatically increase for the pure PVP samples, particularly in high humidity environments, indicating a possibly longer storage time for the complexes. It was also found that the Young's modulus and hardness of the PVP–CD could be greatly improved, especially for low molecular weight PVP. Furthermore, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the PVP–CD increased by up to 39 °C. With the improved properties, the fabricated PVP–CD microneedles possessed much sharper needle tips and the patch had less cracks than those made from pure PVP. Pig skin application results suggested that the PVP–CD microneedle arrays were able to reliably pierce the stratum corneum of the skin while it was not achievable for the PVP microneedles with the same geometry. We anticipate that these PVP–CD complex microneedles are more suitable for vaccine and drug delivery because of their superior properties.

Lignin can be employed as a sustainable functional additive and reinforcement filler for polymers. In this work, melamine phosphate modified lignin (MAP-lignin) was synthesized as a bio-based halogen-free flame-retardant agent. The synergetic effects between MAP-lignin and rice husk ash (RHA) on the thermal stability, dynamic mechanical performance and flame-retardant properties of the poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate) (P34HB) biocomposites were investigated. The results revealed that MAP-lignin and RHA could significantly increase the char residue and MAP-lignin had a good miscibility with P34HB. The incorporation of MAP-lignin and RHA as stiff fillers could enhance the storage modulus of the P34HB matrix. Moreover, the tensile strength and elongation at break of the P34HB/RHA composite could be improved due to the MAP-lignin could serve as a compatibilizer to improve the interaction between RHA and P34HB. Cone calorimetry data demonstrated that the addition of 30 wt% MAP-lignin and 5 wt% RHA reduced the peak heat release rate (PHRR) and total heat release (THR) of P34HB noticeably by 42.8 and 24.3%, respectively. In addition, the CO2 production rate and CO concentration could be significantly suppressed by the addition of MAP-lignin. The enhanced flame retardancy of P34HB composite should be ascribed to the barrier effect of the increased char residue with compact and intact structure, as well as the released gases from the decomposition of melamine.

Natural biomaterials are capable of producing biodegradable and/or biocompatible electronic devices for vast applications such as next-generation green data storage. Here, we demonstrate an environment-friendly alkali lignin as a favourable candidate for resistive switching memory storage applications. The resistive memory devices based on gold nanoparticles embedded alkali lignin (Au NPs:lignin) exhibits a typical write-once-read-many-times memory (WORM) resistive switching behaviour with a large on-off ratio (>104), and long data retention characteristics (>103 s) under low power operation (4.7 V). Au NPs acting as trapping sites in the active layer are responsible for the resistive switching mechanism. The active layer is fabricated on organic substrates through facile solution-processed methods under normal ambient conditions. The skin-inspired polylactide (PLA) film is utilized as an ultrathin substrate endowing the memory devices with good mechanical support and biodegradability. This work opens up new avenues towards renewable and environmentally benign lignin-based materials for biodegradable electronic devices.

Ultrathin nanocrystals with thicknesses of only several monolayers and even a single monolayer were prepared via exfoliation by ultrasound from an octamethyl substituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnMe2Pc). The drop-casted thin films of these nanocrystals exhibited higher crystallinity than that of the vacuum-deposited film. The drop-casted field-effect transistor based on these nanocrystals showed a significant increase in charge carrier mobility because of enhanced intermolecular π-π stacking in the ultrasonic-treated ZnMe2Pc, and the measured mobility was two orders of magnitude higher than that of the vacuum-deposited transistor.

Phthalates, which are proven to have adverse health effects, are globally restricted for use in all kinds of plastics through various regulations. Although there are laboratory based techniques for phthalate detection, there is a pressing need for a field based technique so samples can be pre-screened. Here, we report a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) functionalized extended gate field effect transistor (EGFET) as a field sensor to identify di-2-ethlyhexyl phthalate (DEHP), which is the one of the most commonly used phthalate. In DI water, DEHP is detected at the extremely low concentration of 25 μg/L while exhibiting excellent selectivity. We are able to tune the linear dynamic range of the sensor by synthesizing the MIP with a different monomer-to-template ratio and by choice of the functional monomer. Finally, the sensor is calibrated for DEHP in artificial saliva at sub 50 μg/L, showing applicability in phthalate migration tests, which are used in assessing the safety of plastic toys. Furthermore, our sensor platform can be further extended to identify other phthalates as fast pre-screening tool.

Multichromophoric oligomers offer a versatile platform for nanoparticle multicolor fluorescent modulation. A donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) type oligomer (DDBTD), with blue emitting antenna and red emitting core, is chosen to assemble into fluorescent colloidal nanoparticles (FCNs) using a nanoprecipitation method. By modulating the DDBTD concentrations in good solvent, the DDBTD nanoparticles with average diameters ranging from sub-10 to 300 nm are obtained by the nanoprecipitation process in aqueous solution. Interestingly, multicolor photoluminescence (PL) can be realized from bright blue (∼440 nm) to rose red (∼630 nm) based on FCNs size control. The size-dependent PL originates from the aggregation-enhanced fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from diphenyl-aminofluorenyl antenna unit (blue emitter) to benzothiadiazole-based core (red emitter). Furthermore, the lifetime measurement of the FCNs in excited state shows a size-dependent behavior, which confirms that the size-dependent multicolor P...

Heat batteries show outstanding charging and discharging thermal energy capability with the latent heat of fusion (Hm) for solar thermal application. In this work, novel magnesium nitrate hexahydrate (MNH) based heat batteries are fabricated and tested for 1000 sequential thermal cycles. The MNH heat batteries demonstrate a high level of operational stability with the least corrosive rate. Real-time performance of the heat batteries was studied by incorporating them in the parabolic solar thermal cooking module. The developed MNH heat batteries based solar cooking module illustrates excellent heat retention capacity over 6 h after the sunshine. Temperature profiles under no load and full load conditions reveal the moderation and enhancement in the solar thermal cooking module's operational efficiencies. The solar cooking module's efficiency with the heat batteries reaches a maximum of 22.8% and 42.5%, under no load and full load conditions, respectively. Real-time cooking capacity with different edible materials under both outdoor and indoor environments proves the effective performance. Further, it is estimated that MNH heat batteries can be in full performance for a minimum of 2 years with maintenance-free and emission-free operations.

Molecular non-volatile memory devices are deemed to offer remarkable features such as low-cost, high retention times and low power consumption that could possibly catapult their implementation over the contemporary silicon-based devices. Although scattered examples of small molecules, particularly transition metal complexes with rich electrochemical behavior, have been demonstrated to show promising performance in memory device application, systematic study on the molecular design and the structure–property relationship is lacking. Moreover, studies on memory applications of transition metal complexes have been mainly confined to those of precious metals. These have hindered the development and the practical applications of molecular non-volatile memory devices. To improve the practical applicability of transition metal complex-based molecular memory devices, herein, we report the study of memory applications of various solution-processable and earth-abundant polypyridyl Cr(III) complexes. Some of the fabricated resistive random-access memory (RRAM) devices exhibit reversible bipolar switching, high ON/OFF ratio and long retention time. It is anticipated that this study will provide important insights on the molecular design of transition metal complexes for memory device applications and would lead to a new generation of economically accessible and sustainable non-volatile memory devices.

Bio-micromachining is an emerging latest non-traditional manufacturing process and has various advantages. In this manufacturing process micro-organisms are used for material removal in desired shape and size. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans micro-organism are used as a tool for machining the copper workpiece and the effects of various parameters like pH, temperature, shaking speed, machining time are being calculated and there optimized value is being purposed. Vickers hardness test was also being performed and comparative study between bio-micromachining and photochemical machining is done in this paper.

We introduce an organometal halide perovskite (CH3NH3PbI3), as a hole injection layer (HIL) to accelerate hole injection and transport in tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum-based organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The excellent charge mobility of CH3NH3PbI3 along with the better interface contacts induced by the CH3NH3PbI3 HIL improved the charge balance and thus enhanced device performance compared with that of OLEDs without a HIL and with a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) HIL. Maximum luminance of 19110 cd m−2 and power efficiency of 3.210 lm W−1 were obtained. Also, besides more balanced charge recombination, the non-aqueous fabrication of the perovskite HIL and the chemical stability of indium tin oxide in contact with CH3NH3PbI3 led to increased device stability and durability, giving a half-life time as long as 31.7 h.

Two luminescent ruthenium(II) polypyridine complexes appended with a D-fructose unit, [Ru(N^N)2(bpy-fructose)](PF6)2 (bpy-fructose = 4-(1-deoxy-D-fructos-1-yl)aminocarbonyl-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine; N^N = 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Ph2-phen) (1a) and 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) (2a)) and their D-fructose-free counterparts [Ru(N^N)2(bpy-Et)](PF6)2 (bpy-Et = 4-ethylaminocarbonyl-4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridine; N^N = Ph2-phen (1b) and bpy (2b)) were synthesized and characterized. The photophysical properties, lipophilicity, cytotoxicity, and cellular uptake of the complexes were studied. Laser-scanning confocal microscopy revealed that both complexes 1a and 1b displayed intense membrane staining toward human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells. However, while complex 1a retained its membrane-staining characteristic when incubated with human cervix epithelioid carcinoma (HeLa) cells, complex 1b was localized in the mitochondria. Additionally, fructose-dependent cellular uptake experiments suggested that complex 1a was transported into MCF-7 cells via a glucose transporter (GLUT)-mediated pathway.

Phase-pure cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) thin films doped with Fluorine (F) have been prepared under thermal diffusion at diffusion temperatures of 1123 K and 1223 K and it is found that higher diffusion temperature leads to larger grain size. F-doping slightly reduces the lattice constant and F-doped Cu 2 O thin films exhibit p-type semiconductor characteristics. The reduction of band gap occurs due to F-doping induced impurity band, because F-doped samples have larger Urbach tails than that of undoped samples. Theoretical calculation demonstrates that substitutional F-doping makes Cu 2 O almost metallic because the energy bands of F atoms enter the forbidden gap, and interstitial F-doping narrows the band gap because F atoms contribute to the valence bands. The doped F atoms are very possibly interstial and play the role of acceptors in Cu 2 O. Phase-pure Cu 2 O doped with F have smaller resistivity and larger hole concentration, implying potential application in solar cells.

Layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanoparticles have been widely used for various biomedical applications. However, because of the difficulty of surface functionalization of LDH nanoparticles, the systemic administration of these nanomaterials for in vivo therapy remains a bottleneck. In this work, we develop a novel type of aqueous dispersible two-dimensional ultrathin LDH nanosheets with a size of about 50 nm and a thickness of about 1.4 to 4 nm. We are able to covalently attach positively charged rhodamine B fluorescent molecules to the nanosheets, and the nanohybrid retains strong fluorescence in liquid and even dry powder form. Therefore, it is available for bioimaging. Beyond this, it is convenient to modify the nanosheets with neutral poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), so the nanohybrid is suitable for drug delivery through systemic administration. Indeed, in the test of using these nanostructures for delivery of a negatively charged anticancer drug, methotrexate (MTX), in a mouse model, dramatically improved therapeutic efficacy is achieved, indicated by the effective inhibition of tumor growth. Furthermore, our systematic in vivo safety investigation including measuring body weight, determining biodistribution in major organs, hematology analysis, blood biochemical assay, and hematoxylin and eosin stain demonstrates that the new material is biocompatible. Overall, this work represents a major development in the path of modifying functional LDH nanomaterials for clinical applications.

Nanoscale size controllable and surface modifiable zeolitic imidazolate framework-8-poly(acrylic acid sodium salt) (ZIF-8-PAAS) nanocomposites are fabricated by employing PAAS nanospheres as a soft template. These ZIF-8-PAAS nanocomposites have different sizes ranging from 30 to 200 nm and exhibit different crystallinity, and pH sensitivity. These nanocomposites can be employed as vectors to deliver doxorubicin for anticancer therapy, leading to greatly enhanced drug therapeutic efficacy when tested in cell lines and mice model. Systematic toxicity investigation including hematoxylin and eosin staining analysis of tumor and major organs, hematology analysis, and blood chemistry analysis indicates that the nanocomposites possess high biocompatibility. This work provides a strategy to make metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) nanocomposites with size tunability in nanoscale and flexible surface modification for various applications.

In this work, we demonstrate a one-step room-temperature ethanol-processed nickel oxide (NiOx):electron acceptor nanocomposite functioning as efficient hole transport layer (HTL). Specifically, one-step refers to the formation of the nanocomposite HTL films without extra steps of pre-treatments of ITO nor post-treatments of HTL films, and thus considerably reduce the fabrication complexity and cost. By varing the concentration of the electron acceptor, 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4-TCNQ), the work function (WF) of the nanocomposite films can be widely tuned from 4.73eV to 5.30 eV, which favors its use for photovoltaic applications of organic donor materials with different highest energy occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels. Organic solar cells (OSCs) have been fabricated by using the NiOx:F4-TCNQ nanocomposite as HTL. The optimized average power conversion efficiency (PCE) of NiOx:F4-TCNQ based OSCs can be 18% better than that of one-step prepared poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) based OSCs. Remarkably, NiOx:F4-TCNQ based OSCs show better reproducibility as the deviation of PCE values can be improved by a greatest extent of 10 times. This work contributes towards simple and low-cost fabrication of high efficiency OSCs for practical photovoltaic applications.

Plastic pollution has become a serious issue to the ecosystem, and biodegradable poly (butylene succinate)/polylactide (PBS/PLA) blends are regarded as the promising eco-friendly alternatives to replace the non-degradable plastics based on fossil fuels. Yet, the thermodynamically immiscible nature of PBS and PLA hinders their extended applications. In this contribution, nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) was introduced into immiscible PBS/PLA blends by melt compounding. The incorporation of NG in PBS/PLA (70/30 wt%) blends was observed to significantly improve the geometrical morphology and reduce the domain size of the dispersed PLA phase, indicating a compatibilization effect of NG on the immiscible blends. The TEM micrographs showed that the NG mainly dispersed in the PBS matrix while a small amount was located in PLA phase. When the NG concentration increased to 1.0 wt%, the NG filled PBS/PLA nanocomposites exhibited an obvious improvement in the storage modulus and loss modulus in comparison with the pristine PBS/PLA blend. The thermal stability of the PBS/PLA/NG nanocomposites was enhanced monotonously with an increase of the NG concentration, due to the barrier effect of NG and good interaction between the NG and polymer matrices. Moreover, the NG was noticed to act as a nucleating agent to significantly improve the PBS crystallinity without affecting the crystal forms of PBS and PLA. The tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation at break of the blends could be enhanced by the low concentration of NG.

Cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) thin films co-doped with zinc (Zn) and indium (In) were fabricated with direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering. The sputtering voltage of the Cu target was fixed while that of the alloy target of Zn and In was varied. It is found that when the alloy target voltage is below 310 V, pure-phase Cu 2 O can be obtained while a further increase in the alloy target voltage will result in the presence of metallic copper. The surface morphologies, the atomic ratios of the Zn and In, and the grain size do not have a linear dependence on the sputtering voltage of the alloy target. Higher concentration doping will decrease the lattice constant of Cu 2 O. Pure-phase samples doped with Zn and In have relatively higher transmittance and larger optical band gaps. The n-type conduction of Cu 2 O co-doped with Zn and In is realized when the sputtering voltage of the alloy target is 310 V. Zn and In atoms are found to exist as Zn 2+ and In 3+ in the films and they are possible donors for the n-type conduction.

There is an ever-growing need for more advanced methods to study the response of cancer cells to new therapies. To determine cancer cells' response from a cell-mortality perspective to various cancer therapies, we report a label-free and real time method to monitor the in situ response of individual HeLa cells using a single cell gated transistor (SCGT). As a cell undergoes apoptotic cell death, it experiences changes in morphology and ion concentrations. This change is well in line with the threshold voltage of the SCGT, which has been verified by correlating the data with the cell morphologies by scanning electron microscopy and the ion-concentration analysis by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). This SCGT could replace patch clamps to study single cell activity via direct measurement in real time. Importantly, this SCGT can be used to study the electrical response of a single cell to stimuli that leaves the membrane intact.