Preparation of Highly Stable and Photoluminescent Cadmium-Free InP/GaP/ZnS Core/Shell Quantum Dots and Application to Quantitative Immunoassay

Indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) are ideal substitutes for widely used cadmium-based QDs and have great application prospects in biological fields due to their environmentally benign properties and human safety. However, the synthesis of InP core/shell QDs with biocompatibility, high quantum yield (QY), uniform particle size, and high stability is still a challenging subject. Herein, high quality (QY up to 72%) thick shell InP/GaP/ZnS core/shell QDs (12.8 ± 1.4 nm) are synthesized using multiple injections of shell precursor and extension of shell growth time, with GaP serving as the intermediate layer and 1-octanethiol acting as the new S source. The thick shell InP/GaP/ZnS core/shell QDs still keep high QY and photostability after transfer into water. InP/GaP/ZnS core/shell QDs as fluorescence labels to establish QD-based fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay (QD-FLISA) for quantitative detection of C-reactive protein (CRP), and a calibration curve is established between fluorescence intensity and CRP concentrations (range: 1–800 ng mL⁻¹, correlation coefficient: R² = 0.9992). The limit of detection is 2.9 ng mL⁻¹, which increases twofold compared to previously reported cadmium-free QD-based immunoassays. Thus, InP/GaP/ZnS core/shell QDs as a great promise fluorescence labeling material, provide a new route for cadmium-free sensitive and specific immunoassays in biomedical fields.     

Chemical versus Electrochemical Synthesis of Carbon Nano‐onion/Polypyrrole Composites for Supercapacitor Electrodes

The development of high‐surface‐area carbon electrodes with a defined pore size distribution and the incorporation of pseudo‐active materials to optimize the overall capacitance and conductivity without destroying the stability are at present important research areas. Composite electrodes of carbon nano‐onions (CNOs) and polypyrrole (Ppy) were fabricated to improve the specific capacitance of a supercapacitor. The carbon nanostructures were uniformly coated with Ppy by chemical polymerization or by electrochemical potentiostatic deposition to form homogenous composites or bilayers. The materials were characterized by transmission‐ and scanning electron microscopy, differential thermogravimetric analyses, FTIR spectroscopy, piezoelectric microgravimetry, and cyclic voltammetry. The composites show higher mechanical and electrochemical stabilities, with high specific capacitances of up to about 800 F g^?1 for the CNOs/SDS/Ppy composites (chemical synthesis) and about 1300 F g^?1 for the CNOs/Ppy bilayer (electrochemical deposition).     

Vinylic MIDA Boronates: New Building Blocks for the Synthesis of Aza‐Heterocycles

A two‐step synthesis of structurally diverse pyrrole‐containing bicyclic systems is reported. ortho‐Nitro‐haloarenes coupled with vinylic N‐methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) boronates generate ortho‐vinyl‐nitroarenes, which undergo a “metal‐free” nitrene insertion, resulting in a new pyrrole ring. This novel synthetic approach has a wide substrate tolerance and it is applicable in the preparation of more complex “drug‐like” molecules. Interestingly, an ortho‐nitro‐allylarene derivative furnished a cyclic β‐aminophosphonate motif.     

Nanocomposite hydrogel consisting of Na‐montmorillonite with enhanced mechanical properties

A new kind of nanocomposite (NC) hydrogel with Na‐montmorillonite (MMT) is presented in this article. The NC hydrogels were synthesized by free radical copolymerization of acrylamide and (3‐acrylamidopropyl) trimethylammonium chloride (ATC) in the presence of MMT and N,N′‐methylene‐bis‐acrylamide used as chemical cross‐linker. Due to the cation‐exchange reaction between MMT and ATC (cationic monomer) during the synthesis of NC hydrogels, MMT platelets were considered chemical “plane” cross‐linkers, different from “point” cross‐linkers. With increasing amount of MMT, the crosslinking degree enhanced, causing a decrease of the swelling degree at equilibrium. Investigations of mechanical properties indicated that NC hydrogels exhibited enhanced strength and toughness, which resulted from chemical interaction between exfoliated MMT platelets and polymer chains in hydrogels. Dynamic shear measurements showed that both storage modulus and loss modulus increased with increasing MMT content. The idea described here provided a new route to prepare hydrogels with high mechanical properties by using alternative natural Na‐MMT. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1020–1026     

不同杂环取代(E)-β-Farnesene类似物的合成及生物活性研究

为了寻求新型蚜虫控制剂,以蚜虫报警信息素(E)-β-farnesene(EBF)为先导,引入不同类型的杂环取代EBF结构中不稳定的共轭双键,设计合成了一系列不同杂环取代的EBF类似物.所有化合物结构均通过1H NMR、13C NMR、IR及HRMS确证.对化合物进行了生物活性测试及初步构效关系分析.结果表明,所有化合物均对桃蚜和大豆蚜表现出一定的生物活性,部分化合物的杀虫活性优于先导EBF,酯基的引入则对驱避活性有利.     

双子佯谬与星际航行

计算了在两个假想的星际航行方案中,与"双子佯谬"相关的时间差别.这种差别体现了惯性与非惯性参考系经历的时间有绝对差异,而不再是"相对"效应.     

Identifying the viscoelastic properties of soft matter from the indentation response of a hard film-soft substrate system

The indentation technique is widely used in measuring the mechanical properties of soft matter at the microscale or nanoscale,but still faces challenges by these unique properties as well as the consequent strong surface adhesion, including the strong nonlinear effect, unclear judgment of the contact point, difficulties in estimating the contact area, and the risk of the indenter piercing the sample. Here we propose a two-step method to solve these problems: lay a hard film on a soft matter, and obtain the viscoelastic properties of this soft matter through the indentation response of this composite structure. We first establish a theoretical indentation model of the hard film-soft substrate system based on the theory of plates, elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle and Boltzmann superposition principle. To verify the correctness of this method, we measure the mechanical properties of the methyl vinyl silicone rubber(MVSR) covered by a Cu nanofilm. Finally, we test the effectiveness and error sensitivity of this method with the finite element method(FEM). The results show that our method can accurately measure the mechanical properties of soft matter, while effectively circumventing the problems of the traditional indentation technique.