Controlled electropolymerization based on self-dimerizations of monomers

Electropolymerization is one of the most important methodologies to synthesize and develop conducting polymers. The complexity of the polymerization mechanism, ion doping processes and structural defects are considered to be symbiotic and unavoidable, making the stagnant state and huge band gap with advanced interdisciplinary research fields and important applications in the last three decades. Herein, we provide a point of view into controlled electropolymerization by regioselective activation reactions of monomers, where self-dimerizations instead of self-electropolymerizations were utilized. The resulting dimers play a role in the connections between functional building blocks to form functional polymers on demand. This account highlights the typical findings in controlled electropolymerizations as a forum for discussing new opportunities in exploiting novel designs and applications.     

The metallic C6S monolayer with high specific capacity for K-ion batteries

K-ion batteries (KIBs) attract considerable attention due to the abundance of K, high-working voltages, and chemical similarity with Li, enabling the utilization of mature Li-ion technology. However, shortage of high-performance anode materials is a critical obstacle for the development of KIBs. Through first-principles swarm-intelligence structural search, we identify a potential anode material, the C₆S monolayer, which provides not only a remarkably high specific capacity of 1546 mAh/g but also a low diffusion barrier of 0.11 eV and a low open-circuit voltage of 0.21 V. Inherent metallicity originates from delocalized π electrons.     

Water‐Soluble Monolayer Molybdenum Disulfide Quantum Dots with Upconversion Fluorescence

Uniform water‐soluble monolayer MoS₂ quantum dots (MQDs) with lateral sizes of ≈2.1 nm, a clearly zigzag‐terminated edge, and a hexagonal lattice structure are achieved using ammonium molybdate, thiourea, and N‐acetyl‐l ‐cysteine (NAC) as precursors and the capping reagent in a facile one‐pot hydrothermal approach. MQDs have good dispersity and high stability in aqueous suspension and exhibit a significantly larger direct bandgap (3.96 eV) compared to monolayer MoS₂ nanosheets (1.89 eV). Pronounced blue‐shifts in the wavelengths of both the excitonic absorption and intrinsic state emission with activated strong luminescence at room temperature beyond monolayer MoS₂ nanosheets is demonstrated. Unusual upconversion photoluminescence is also observed and is caused by two successive transfers of energy from the near‐infrared (NIR) absorption generated by the NAC capping reagent to the hexagonal structure of MQDs. Additional optical properties of MQDs may provide numerous exciting technological applications. Here, MQDs are demonstrated as a highly selective fluorescent reagent for detecting tetracycline hydrochloride under UV and NIR irradiation.     

Point‐of‐Care Amperometric Testing of Diabetic Marker (HbA1c) Using Specific Electroactive Antibodies

Specific immune detection of glycated hemoglobin is still a great challenge owing to the small epitopic difference between Hemoglobin (Hb) and HbA1c. We report a new electrochemical immunoassay format for point of care testing of HbA1c. A conducting self‐assembled monolayer of mercaptophenyl boronic acid (MPBA) was used as a capture layer for binding of glycated proteins and ferrocene tagged anti‐HbA1c antibody (FcAb) as a tracer molecule on a gold screen printed electrode. Validation of the new HbA1c assay was carried out using 6 clinical samples with known HPLC values and a correlation coefficient of 98 % was observed.     

Phase behavior of amphiphiles at liquid crystals/water interface: A coarse-grained molecular dynamics study

We present a coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation study of phase behavior of amphiphilic monolayers at the liquid crystal （LC）/water interface. The results revealed that LCs at interface can influence the lateral ordering of amphiphiles. Particularly, the amphiphile tails along with perpendicularly penetrated LCs between tails undergo a two-dimension phase transition from liquid-expanded into a liquid-condensed phase as their area density at interface reaches 0.93. While, the liquid-condensed phase of the monolayer never appears at oil/water interface with isotropic shape oil particles. These findings reveal the penetration of anisotropic LC can promote ordered lateral organization of amphiphiles. Moreover, we find the phase transition point is shifted to lower surface coverage of amphiphiles when the LCs have larger affinity to the amphiphile tails.     

基于单(6-巯基-6-去氧)-β-环糊精修饰金电极对L-半胱氨酸的快速灵敏检测

将单(6-巯基-6-去氧)-β-环糊精(HS-β-CD)通过金硫键自组装在金电极(GE)表面, 构建了一种简单、 快速、 灵敏的超分子识别L-半胱氨酸(L-Cys)的电位型电化学传感器. 通过循环伏安法和交流阻抗法研究了膜表面的电化学行为; 通过扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)表征了电极表面的膜组装效果, 其作用机制是固定在金电极表面的HS-β-CD空穴可通过分子间作用力吸附结合带负电的L-Cys, 使电极表面的膜电位发生改变, 导致对L-Cys的超分子选择性识别作用, 从而实现对L-Cys的定量分析. 在优化的实验条件下, 该电极在pH=6.0的磷酸盐缓冲溶液中对L-Cys有良好的电位响应性能, 线性范围为1.0×10 ^-7~1.0×10 ^-4 mol/L, 斜率为(-65.29±1.0) mV/pc(25 ℃), 检测下限达到6.0×10 ^-8 mol/L; 电极响应速度快、 稳定性和重现性好、 抗干扰能力强. 将该电极用于实际猪血清和猪尿液样品中L-Cys含量的测定, 回收率为95.0%~104.7%, 表明该新型电极在生命科学等领域具有良好的应用前景.     

Ultrathin films of functionalised single-walled carbon nanotubes: a potential bio-sensing platform

ABSTRACT

The Langmuir monolayer is a special class of lyotropic liquid crystalline system wherein phase transition essentially depends on surface density, temperature and ion-content in the aqueous medium. The variety of surface phases can be transferred onto devices by the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique. The Langmuir monolayer of pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) exhibited gas and liquid-like phases. The LB film of SWCNTs shows target surface pressure dependent interesting morphologies. The methane gas sensing using parallel alignment of SWCNTs was found to be better than that of randomly oriented SWCNTs. The SWCNTs can be functionalised chemically to enhance the ease of film processability and affinity towards analytes. These are essential parameters for the development of a sensor. In this article, we present our work on Langmuir monolayer and LB films of octadecylamine functionalised SWCNTs (ODACNTs) and its sensing application towards bio-analytes, e.g. L-aspartic acid and bovine serum albumin. The sensing performance of LB film of ODACNTs was compared with that of spin-coated films of ODACNTs. The sensing performance of LB films of ODACNTs indicated a potential platform for bio-sensing application.     

Correlation between Ferromagnetic Layer Easy Axis and the Tilt Angle of Self Assembled Chiral Molecules

The spin–spin interactions between chiral molecules and ferromagnetic metals were found to be strongly affected by the chiral induced spin selectivity effect. Previous works unraveled two complementary phenomena: magnetization reorientation of ferromagnetic thin film upon adsorption of chiral molecules and different interaction rate of opposite enantiomers with a magnetic substrate. These phenomena were all observed when the easy axis of the ferromagnet was out of plane. In this work, the effects of the ferromagnetic easy axis direction, on both the chiral molecular monolayer tilt angle and the magnetization reorientation of the magnetic substrate, are studied using magnetic force microscopy. We have also studied the effect of an applied external magnetic field during the adsorption process. Our results show a clear correlation between the ferromagnetic layer easy axis direction and the tilt angle of the bonded molecules. This tilt angle was found to be larger for an in plane easy axis as compared to an out of plane easy axis. Adsorption under external magnetic field shows that magnetization reorientation occurs also after the adsorption event. These findings show that the interaction between chiral molecules and ferromagnetic layers stabilizes the magnetic reorientation, even after the adsorption, and strongly depends on the anisotropy of the magnetic substrate. This unique behavior is important for developing enantiomer separation techniques using magnetic substrates.     

Controlling the Microstructure of Conjugated Polymers in High‐Mobility Monolayer Transistors via the Dissolution Temperature

It remains a challenge to precisely tailor the morphology of polymer monolayers to control charge transport. Herein, the effect of the dissolution temperature (T_dis) is investigated as a powerful strategy for morphology control. Low T_dis values cause extended polymer aggregation in solution and induce larger nanofibrils in a monolayer network with more pronounced π–π stacking. The field‐effect mobility of the corresponding monolayer transistors is significantly enhanced by a factor of four compared to devices obtained from high T_dis with a value approaching 1 cm² V^?1 s^?1. Besides that, the solution kinetics reveal a higher growth rate of aggregates at low T_dis, and filtration experiments further confirm that the dependence of the fibril width in monolayers on T_dis is consistent with the aggregate size in solution. The generalizability of the T_dis effect on polymer aggregation is demonstrated using three other conjugated polymer systems. These results open new avenues for the precise control of polymer aggregation for high‐mobility monolayer transistors.     

Extracellular biosynthesis of monodispersed gold nanoparticles by a SAM capping route

Monodispersed gold nanoparticles capped with a self-assembled monolayer of dodecanethiol were biosynthesized extracellularly by an efficient, simple, and environmental friendly procedure, which involved the use of Bacillus megatherium D01 as the reducing agent and the use of dodecanethiol as the capping ligand at 26 °C. The kinetics of gold nanoparticle formation was followed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and UV-vis spectroscopy. It was shown that reaction time was an important parameter in controlling the morphology of gold nanoparticles. The effect of thiol on the shape, size, and dispersity of gold nanoparticles was also studied. The results showed that the presence of thiol during the biosynthesis could induce the formation of small size gold nanoparticles (<2.5 nm), hold the shape of spherical nanoparticles, and promote the monodispersity of nanoparticles. Through the modulation of reaction time and the use of thiol, monodispersed spherical gold nanoparticles capped with thiol of 1.9 ± 0.8 nm size were formed by using Bacillus megatherium D01.