Facet-dependent antibacterial activity of Au nanocrystals

Engineered nanomaterials have attracted significantly attention as one of the most promising antimicrobial agents for against multidrug resistant infections. The toxicological responses of nanomaterials are closely related to their physicochemical properties, and establishment of a structure-activity relationship for nanomaterials at the nano-bio interface is of great significance for deep understanding antibacterial toxicity mechanisms of nanomaterials and designing safer antibacterial nanomaterials. In this study, the antibacterial behaviors of well-defined crystallographic facets of a series of Au nanocrystals, including {100}-facet cubes, {110}-facet rhombic dodecahedra, {111}-facet octahedra, {221}-facet trisoctahedra and {720}-facet concave cubes, was investigated, using the model bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. We find that Au nanocrystals display substantial facet-dependent antibacterial activities. The low-index facets of cubes, octahedra, and rhombic dodecahedra show considerable antibacterial activity, whereas the high-index facets of trisoctahedra and concave cubes remained inert under biological conditions. This result is in stark contrast to the previous paradigm that the high-index facets were considered to have higher bioactivity as compared with low-index facets. The antibacterial mechanism studies have shown that the facet-dependent antibacterial behaviors of Au nanocrystals are mainly caused by differential bacterial membrane damage as well as inhibition of cellular enzymatic activity and energy metabolism. The faceted Au nanocrystals are unique in that they do not induce generation of reactive oxygen species, as validated for most antibiotics and antimicrobial nanostructures. Our findings may provide a deeper understanding of facet-dependent toxicological responses and suggest the complexities of the nanomaterial-cell interactions, shedding some light on the development of high performance Au nanomaterials-based antibacterial therapeutics.     

电镀铜实验中镀层性质及其影响因素的探究*

电镀实验是电解原理应用的重要案例,通过实验不仅要获得定性的感性认知,还应该获得定量的理性数据。针对电镀铜实验,通过改变铜离子浓度、pH、电解时间、电解电压和电解温度等因素,探究其对镀层厚度、均匀性和致密性等性质的影响,在电解原理的基础上分析其形成机制,从而确定了电镀铜较适宜的操作条件,以此为学生开展电镀实验提供参考案例与研究思路。     

新型非对称二苯并[b,f][1,5]二氮杂环辛四烯的合成

以两种不同取代的2-氨基二苯甲酮为原料,氯苯为溶剂,BF3-Et2O为脱水剂,通过分子间脱水一步环化缩合制备非对称二苯并[b,f][1,5]二氮杂环辛四烯衍生物。运用HPLC监控反应过程,优化合成工艺,得到最佳反应条件为:等物质的量的两种不同取代2-氨基二苯甲酮和BF3-Et2O,在氯苯中回流反应12 h。化合物4a^4c为新化合物,其结构经1H NMR,13C NMR和MS(ESI)表征。     

Cycloparaphenylene (CPP) series are molecular models for graphene armchair edges: trends in their aromaticity and cyclic conjugation are evaluated

Cycloparaphenylene ([r]CPP) and cyclacene ([r]CA) series are models for short carbon nanotubes. It is shown that armchair edges in model cycloparaphenylenes possess greater aromaticity and cyclic conjugation than do zigzag edges in model cyclacenes. According to Aihara’s bond resonance energy (BRE) and Bosanac and Gutman energy effect (ef) measurements, cycloparaphenylenes are twice as aromatic as cyclacenes. The general solution of all eigenvalues of all members of the cycloparaphenylene series is given. The origin of the recurrence of some eigenvalues are determined.     

Dynamical Analysis of a New Chaotic Fractional Discrete-Time System and Its Control

This article proposes a new fractional-order discrete-time chaotic system, without equilibria, included two quadratic nonlinearities terms. The dynamics of this system were experimentally investigated via bifurcation diagrams and largest Lyapunov exponent. Besides, some chaotic tests such as the 0–1 test and approximate entropy (ApEn) were included to detect the performance of our numerical results. Furthermore, a valid control method of stabilization is introduced to regulate the proposed system in such a way as to force all its states to adaptively tend toward the equilibrium point at zero. All theoretical findings in this work have been verified numerically using MATLAB software package.     

Multifunctional Sulfur-Hyperdoped Silicon Nanoparticles with Engineered Mid-Infrared Sulfur-Impurity and Free-Carrier Absorption

Si nanoparticles (NPs), which are innovative promising light-harvesting components of thin-film solar cells and key-enabling biocompatible theranostic elements of infrared-laser and radiofrequency hyperthermia-based therapies of cancer cells in tumors and metastases, are significantly advanced in their near/mid-infrared band-to-band and free-carrier absorption via donor sulfur-hyperdoping during high-throughput facile femtosecond-laser ablative production in liquid carbon disulfide. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman microscopy reveal their mixed nanocrystalline/amorphous structure, enabling the extraordinary sulfur content of a few atomic percents and very minor surface oxidation/carbonization characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A 200-nm thick layer of the nanoparticles exhibits near−mid-infrared absorbance, comparable to that of the initial 380-micron thick n-doped Si wafer (phosphor-dopant concentration ≈10¹⁵ cm⁻³), with the corresponding extinction coefficient for the hyperdoped NPs being 4–7 orders higher over the broadband spectral range of 1–25 micrometers. Such ultimate, but potentially tunable mid-IR structured, multi-band absorption of various sulfur-impurity clusters and smooth free-carrier absorption are break through advances in mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser and radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia-based therapies, as envisioned in the RF-heating tests, and in fabrication of higher-efficiency thin-film and bulk photovoltaic devices with ultra-broad (UV−mid-IR) spectral response.     

复合材料失效判据有效性验证方法研究

为系统地验证复合材料失效判据计算精度和有效性范围,给出了4种材料体系、6种铺层形式的层合板在单轴、双轴载荷下的失效试验数据,用以评估复合材料失效判据在单向层合板失效包线、多向层合板初始失效包线、多向层合板最终失效包线、层合板变形及层合板的破坏特性等五个方面的预测能力。并根据验证方法和有效性评估策略对失效判据计算精度进行量化考核,给出了失效判据在五个层面上的计算精度。     

Dinuclear gold (I)-di-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes: syntheses,structure, density functional theory calculation and photoluminescence study

The synthesis and characterizations for a series of dinuclear gold (I)-di-NHC complexes, 1–8 through the trans-metalation method of their respective silver (I)-di-NHC complexes, i–viii are reported (where NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene). The successful complexation of a series of unusual non-symmetrical and symmetrical di-NHC ligands, 3,3'-(ethane-1,2-diyl)-1-alkylbenzimidazolium-1'-butylbenzimidazolium (with alkyl = methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl, benzyl) with the gold (I) ions are suggested by elemental analysis, Fourier transform-infrared, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR data. The ¹³C-NMR spectra of 1–8 show a singlet sharp peak in the range of 190.00–192.00 ppm, indicating the presence of a carbene carbon that bonded to the gold (I) ion. From single crystal X-ray diffraction data, the structure of complex 6 with the formula of [di-NHC-Au (I)]₂·2PF₆ is obtained [where NHC = 3,3'-(ethane-1,2-diyl)-1-hexylbenzimidazolium-1'-butylbenzimidazolium]. The photophysical study in solid state of 6 displays an intense photoluminescence with a strong emission maxima, λ_em = 480 nm, upon excitation at 340 nm at room temperature. Interestingly, the emission maximum at 77 K shows a structural character with a strong peak at 410 nm, a medium at 433 nm and a weak at 387 nm, accompanied by a tail band to about 500 nm.     

Synthesis and characterization of PEGylated iron and graphene oxide magnetic composite for curcumin delivery

Nowadays, nanostructures have been given significant attention in medical and biological fields. Among these nanostructures, graphene oxide (GO) has been widely used in drug delivery systems, because of its unique properties, and the ability to connect to other nanostructures such as magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) as well as polymers by its functional groups. In this research, first, GO was prepared by exfoliating graphite according to the modified Hummer’s method, and then the Fe₃O₄ NPs were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method on GO nanosheets. In the next step, with the help of the ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide coupling reagents, the polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer was bonded to the GO-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite. Finally, anti-cancer drug, curcumin (Cur) was loaded onto the nanocomposite and the Cur loading ratio was measured at about 8%. The samples were evaluated using Fourier transform-infrared, differential scanning calorimtery, vibrating-sample magnetometry, atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering techniques. The results show that the prepared nanocomposite is an appropriate candidate for biomedical applications.     

Controlled synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles from a Zn(II) coordination polymer: Structural characterization,optical properties and photocatalytic activity

A zinc coordination polymer derived from pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate (PDC), {[Zn₂(PDC)₂]}_n, was successfully prepared via conventional, sonication and microwave-irradiation methods. The composition and characteristics of the obtained coordination polymers (CPs) were investigated by elemental analysis, TGA/DTA, X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic techniques. The so obtained CPs were heat-treated in the air at 600 °C for 2 h to produce ZnO of nanosized particles (NPs). It is of interest to note that the synthesis approach of the precursor greatly affects both the nanoparticle size and the structure of the resulting ZnO NPs. Moreover, the smallest particle size was associated with the sample derived from the ultrasonically prepared precursor. TEM analysis revealed that all samples have sphere-like morphologies. Structural analysis of the prepared ZnO samples was conducted and compared using Rietveld analysis of their PXRD patterns. Optical band gap calculations based on analysis of the UV–vis spectra of ZnO samples using Tauc's power law were achieved. The highest band gap of 3.63 eV was observed for ZnO sample obtained from the ultrasonically prepared precursor. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of ZnO NPs for the removal of Eosin Y color was monitored. The highest removal efficiency was recorded for ZnO originated from the ultrasonically synthesized precursor. Enhancement of removal efficiency that reached 98% was attained in only a period of 8 min. Its recycling test showed that it can be reused without structural changes over four cycling experiments.