Versatile Nitro-Fluorophore as Highly Effective Sensor for Hypoxic Tumor Cells: Design, Imaging and Evaluation

Based on the characteristics of a nitro-group, which can be partially or totally reduced to an amino-group in hypoxic cells, two series of hypoxic sensors containing 7H-Benzimidazole [2,1-a]benz[de]isoquinolin-7-one cores with nitro groups in different positions were designed, synthesized and evaluated. The target compounds exhibited significantly different fluorescence characteristics (fluorescence enhancement or quenching). The strong fluorescences of some partially reduced compounds could be explained through the examination of their infrared spectra, which showed a restriction of the nitro-group vibration. These compounds exhibited significant hypoxic–oxic fluorescence differences not only in numerical values but also in their fluorescent imaging properties as reported for the first time.      

A series of fluorenone-carbazole based regioisomers as bipolar host materials for efficient organic light emitting diodes

A series of fluorenone-carbazole based regioisomers (1–4) have been synthesized and applied as host materials for red OLEDs to investigate the effect of different connection configuration on the optoelectronic properties, charge transport capability and device performance. The optoelectronic properties, thermal stability, redox behaviors and charge transport characteristics of these four compounds were fully characterized. These four hosts demonstrated high thermal stability, bipolar charge transport properties and good EL performance. Although these four compounds demonstrated similar HOMO and LUMO energy levels, the twisted structure of 1 led to the smallest singlet-triplet energy gap, which could account in part for the observation of its better EL performance.     

Simultaneous isolation and label‐free identification of bacteria using contactless dielectrophoresis and Raman spectroscopy

The traditional bacterial identification method of growing colonies on agar plates can take several days to weeks to complete depending on the growth rate of the bacteria. Successfully decreasing this analysis time requires cell isolation followed by identification. One way to decrease analysis time is by combining dielectrophoresis (DEP), a common technique used for cell sorting and isolation, and Raman spectroscopy for cell identification. DEP‐Raman devices have been used for bacterial analysis, however, these devices have a number of drawbacks including sample heating, cell‐to‐electrode proximity that limits throughput and separation efficiency, electrode fouling, or inability to address sample debris. Presented here is a contactless DEP‐Raman device to simultaneously isolate and identify particles from a mixed sample while avoiding common drawbacks associated with other DEP designs. Using the device, a mixed sample of bacteria and 3 μm polystyrene spheres were isolated from each other and a Raman spectrum of the trapped bacteria was acquired, indicating the potential for cDEP‐Raman devices to decrease the analysis time of bacteria.     

On‐chip technology for single‐cell arraying,electrorotation‐based analysis and selective release

This paper reports a method for label‐free single‐cell biophysical analysis of multiple cells trapped in suspension by electrokinetic forces. Tri‐dimensional pillar electrodes arranged along the width of a microfluidic chamber define actuators for single cell trapping and selective release by electrokinetic force. Moreover, a rotation can be induced on the cell in combination with a negative DEP force to retain the cell against the flow. The measurement of the rotation speed of the cell as a function of the electric field frequency define an electrorotation spectrum that allows to study the dielectric properties of the cell. The system presented here shows for the first time the simultaneous electrorotation analysis of multiple single cells in separate micro cages that can be selectively addressed to trap and/or release the cells. Chips with 39 micro‐actuators of different interelectrode distance were fabricated to study cells with different sizes. The extracted dielectric properties of Henrietta Lacks, human embryonic kidney 293, and human immortalized T lymphocytes cells were found in agreements with previous findings. Moreover, the membrane capacitance of M17 neuroblastoma cells was investigated and found to fall in in the range of 7.49 ± 0.39 mF/m².     

生物电化学系统降解多环芳烃萘及微生物群落研究

采用单室空气阴极微生物燃料电池(MFC)反应器构型, 以不同浓度萘为基底物质, 考察MFC的产电性能、 萘降解率、 化学需氧量(COD)和总有机碳含量(TOC)降解率及MFC阴阳极微生物活性和多样性. 结果表明, 循环伏安曲线受不同浓度萘的影响变化较为明显, 随着萘浓度的增大, 最大功率密度呈下降趋势, 且萘对MFC的阴极电极电势影响较大; 当萘的浓度为15 mg/L时, MFC最大功率密度可达(645.841±28.08) mW/m ²; 对萘的降解率高达100%, 且MFC对COD和TOC的降解率随着萘浓度的提高而增大, 但是增大的速率逐渐减小. 对MFC阳极微生物膜进行高通量测序发现, Geobacter是优势菌属, 相对丰度达81%, 阴极主要以Aquamicrobium为主.     

超支化聚合物氮修饰Pd催化剂促进甲酸电催化氧化

通过原位聚合法制备了以超支化聚合物的氮修饰的PdN_x/C催化剂, 并考察了其催化甲酸电氧化反应的性能. 采用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、 X射线光电子能谱(XPS)和X射线衍射(XRD)等技术研究了氮的引入对催化活性组分Pd的形貌及表面电子形态的影响. 结果表明, 修饰氮后Pd纳米粒子粒径可稳定在2 nm, 并且保持了较高的分散度, 改善了表面Pd电子状态. 与Pd/C催化剂相比, 氮修饰的PdN₂₀/C用于甲酸电氧化的Pd单位质量比活性提高了10.9%.     

Dielectric and elastic properties of fluorine-containing tricyclic isothiocyanate liquid crystal

The dielectric and elastic properties of liquid crystals (LCs) generally depend on the molecule structure, such as polar group and carbon chain length. For further investigation of the influence of molecular structure on the dielectric and elastic properties of fluorine-containing tricyclic isothiocyanate LC, the experimental temperature was controlled at 25°C by precision hot stage, and a precision LCR meter was used to measure the capacitance of six LC cells under the voltage from 0.1 to 20 V at 1 kHz. An LC cell capacitance model and a dual-cell model were adopted to obtain the dielectric anisotropy, and the capacitance–voltage curves of six LC materials were plotted. The threshold voltage of Fréedericksz transition was analysed, and a finite difference iterative method was used to attain specific values of three elastic constants. The influence of molecular structure on the dielectric and elastic constants was finally analysed. Experimental results showed that the introduction of meta-difluoro group would increase the dielectric anisotropy and reduce the threshold voltage of LC. As the length of the alkyl carbon chain increased, the dielectric anisotropy would have an odd–even alternation effect, which would lead to changes in the elastic constants of LC.     

A Coumarin Triflate Reagent Enables One-Step Synthesis of Photo-Caged Lipid Metabolites for Studying Cell Signaling

Photorelease of caged compounds is among the most powerful experimental approaches for studying cellular functions on fast timescales. However, its full potential has yet to be exploited, as the number of caged small molecules available for cell biological studies has been limited by synthetic challenges. Addressing this problem, a straightforward, one-step procedure for efficiently synthesizing caged compounds was developed. An in situ generated benzylic coumarin triflate reagent was used to specifically functionalize carboxylate and phosphate moieties in the presence of free hydroxy groups, generating various caged lipid metabolites, including a number of GPCR ligands. By combining the photo-caged ligands with the respective receptors, an easily implementable experimental platform for the optical control and analysis of GPCR-mediated signal transduction in living cells was developed. Ultimately, the described synthetic strategy allows rapid generation of photo-caged small molecules and thus greatly facilitates the analysis of their biological roles in live cell microscopy assays.     

基于二噻吩并吡咯π桥的窄带隙非富勒烯受体材料在有机太阳能电池中的应用

以不同烷基取代的二噻吩并吡咯(DTP)为π桥,连接吲哒省并二噻吩(IDT)中间单元和氰基茚酮(IC)或二氟代氰基茚酮(2F-IC)末端基团,设计并合成了6个窄带隙的非富勒烯受体材料。 其中,IDTDTP-C₂C₂-H和IDTDTP-C₂C₂-F中的DTP单元以1-乙基丙基为侧链,IDTDTP-C₆C₆-H和IDTDTP-C₆C₆-F中的DTP单元以1-己基庚基为侧链,IDTDTP-C₁₂-H和IDTDTP-C₁₂-F中的DTP单元以十二烷基为侧链。 6个分子均具有较窄的光学带隙(1.37~1.44 eV)。 相比于以IC为末端基团的分子(IDTDTP-C₂C₂-H、IDTDTP-C₆C₆-H和IDTDTP-C₁₂-H),由于氟原子的拉电子效应,以2F-IC为末端基团的分子(IDTDTP-C₂C₂-F、IDTDTP-C₆C₆-F和IDTDTP-C₁₂-F)具有红移的吸收光谱,以及更低的最高分子占有轨道能级(HOMO)和最低分子空轨道(LUMO)能级。 以宽带隙聚合物聚[2,6-(4,8-双(5-(2-乙基己基))噻吩-2-基)-苯并[1,2-b:4,5-b']二噻吩-alt-5,5-(1',3'-二-2-噻吩)-5',7'-双(2-乙基己基)-苯并[1',2'-c:4',5'-c']二噻吩-4,8-二酮](PBDB-T)为给体材料,制备了有机太阳能电池器件。 PBDB-T:IDTDTP-C₆C₆-F共混薄膜具有较高且更平衡的空穴/电子迁移率,以及良好的形貌,基于PBDB-T:IDTDTP-C₆C₆-F的有机太阳能电池获得了6.94%的能量转换效率,开路电压为0.86 V,短路电流密度为13.56 mA/cm²,填充因子为59.5%。     

借助液体透射电镜原位分析钯纳米棒的可控性氧化刻蚀

借助原位液体透射电镜,我们观察并研究了钯纳米棒溶液环境下的氧化刻蚀的微观行为及机理。通过改变钯纳米棒所处的液体环境,有效地控制了钯纳米棒的氧化刻蚀行为。由于端部具有较高的反应活性,钯纳米棒在氯化铁溶液中的氧化刻蚀会选择沿着轴向进行,具有明显的各向异性。当反应在超薄液层进行时,钯纳米棒的氧化刻蚀会变为准各向同性。这种行为是由于超薄溶液中溶解产物以及氧化物的扩散被抑制,在纳米棒端部选择性发生的氧化刻蚀会受到阻碍。最后,我们发现在钯纳米棒端部选择性沉积金,可以保护纳米棒的端部不受氧化,从而能控制刻蚀沿着钯纳米棒的径向进行。本文的研究结果对贵金属纳米晶的结构参数的精确调控以利于实际应用具有重要的意义。