Enzymatic Extraction of Bioactive and Self‐Assembling Wool Keratin for Biomedical Applications

Keratin is widely recognized as a high‐quality renewable protein resource for biomedical applications. Despite their extensive existence, keratin resources such as feathers, wool, and hair exhibit high stability and mechanical properties because of their high disulfide bond content. Consequently, keratin extraction is challenging and its application is greatly hindered. In this work, a biological extraction strategy is proposed for the preparation of bioactive keratin and the fabrication of self‐assembled keratin hydrogels (KHs). Based on moderate and controlled hydrolysis by keratinase, keratin with a high molecular weight of approximately 45 and 28 kDa that retain its intrinsic bioactivities is obtained. The keratin products show excellent ability to promote cell growth and migration and are conferred with significant antioxidant ability because of their intrinsically high cysteine content. In addition, without the presence of any cross‐linking agent, the extracted keratin can self‐assemble into injectable hydrogels. The KHs exhibit a porous network structure and 3D culture ability, showing potential in promoting wound healing. This enzyme‐driven keratin extraction strategy opens up a new approach for the preparation of keratin that can self‐assemble into injectable hydrogels for biomedical engineering.     

Organic solar cells based on chlorine functionalized benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]difuran-benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c′]dithiophene-4,8-dione copolymer with efficiency exceeding 13%

Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene(BDT) has been widely used to construct donor-acceptor(D-A) copolymers in organic solar cells(OSCs). However, benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]difuran(BDF), an analogue of BDT, has received less attention than BDT. The photovoltaic performance of BDF copolymers has lagged behind that of BDT copolymers. Here, we designed and synthesized two BDF copolymers, PBF1-C and PBF1-C-2Cl. PBF1-C-2Cl, which is composed of BDF and benzo[1,2-c:4,5-c′]dithiophene-4,8-dione connected by a chlorinated thiophene π-bridge, displays a low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital energy level,which helps in yielding a high open-circuit voltage(V_(oc)) in OSCs. As a result, when blended with Y6, PBF1-C-2Cl-based devices showed a high V_(oc) of 0.83 V and a power conversion efficiency(PCE) of 13.10%. To the best of our knowledge, the PCE of 13.10% is among the highest efficiency values for OSCs based on BDF copolymers.     

A theoretical study on the pure and doped ZnO nanoclusters as effective nanobiosensors for 5-fluorouracil anticancer drug adsorption

The electronic sensitivity and effectiveness of the pristine, Fe,- Mg-, Al- and Ga-doped ZnO nanoclusters interacted with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) anticancer drug are theoretically investigated in the gas phase using the B3LYP/wB97XD density functional theory calculations with LANL2DZ basis set. It is concluded that 5-FU adsorption on the doped nanoclusters has relatively higher adsorption energy as compared with the pristine zinc oxide. A number of thermodynamic parameters, such as band gap energy (E_g), adsorption energy (E_ad), molecular electrostatic potential, global hardness (η) and density of electronic states, are attained and compared. Also, calculated geometrical parameters and electronic properties for the studied systems indicate that Mg- and Ga-doped Zn₁₂O₁₂ present higher sensitivity to 5-FU compared with the pristine nanocluster. Theoretical results reveal that adsorption of 5-FU on the doped nanoclusters is influenced by the electronic conductance of the nanocluster. Therefore, Mg- and Ga-doped ZnO can be considered as promising nanobiosensors for detection of 5-FU in medicine.     

Effects of C3-aromatic heterocycles on 1,3,5-triaryl-2-pyrazoline sulfonium salt photoacid generators as light-emitting diode-sensitive cationic photoinitiators

Four 1,5-diphenyl-3-aromatic heterocyclyl-2-pyrazoline-based sulfonium salt photoacid generators (PAGs) with different aromatic heterocycles substituted on C3 atom and dimethyl sulfonium group on C5 atom were synthesized. These PAGs were highly photosensitive in the 365–425 nm light-emitting diode region, and the intramolecular charge transfer from the pyrazoline ring to sulfonium salts induced efficient photolysis and high Φ_H⁺. The heterocycles as well as their substituted positions significantly influenced the energy of the S₂ orbital, which was determined by the electrochemical and absorption properties of the PAGs. The raising of the S₂ orbital energy enlarged the energy gap of S₀–S₂ and S₁–S₂, resulting in blue shift of the absorption spectra and increase in the quantum yield of photoacid generation (Φ_H⁺), respectively. When the energy of excited electrons was higher than that of the S₂ orbital, the transition from S₀ to S₂ (π–π*) occurred before the C-S cleavage on S₁ and the PAGs showed high Φ_H⁺ values (0.52–0.72). The transition from S₀ to S₁ (π–σ*) occurred when the energy of electrons is lower than that of the S₂ orbital, and the PAGs showed low Φ_H⁺ value. The photopolymerization kinetics demonstrated that these PAGs were highly efficient cationic photoinitiators.     

Amorphous Manganese–Cobalt Nanosheets as Efficient Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER)

Catalysis Surveys from Asia - A facile and efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) to produce hydrogen is very important for future energy. In this paper, amorphous...     

2,2-双(4-氯-2-氟苄基)丙二酸二乙酯的晶体结构和密度泛函理论研究

标题化合物是一个重要的精细化工中间体,可用于制备嘧啶类、吡唑类等产品。本文利用红外光谱(IR)、质谱(MS)、核磁共振氢谱(¹H NMR)、核磁共振碳谱(¹³C NMR)和X-射线单晶衍射对此化合物进行了表征,并在B3LYP/6-311G(d, p)模式下使用密度泛函理论(DFT)计算了此化合物的最稳定晶体结构以及最高占有分子轨道(HOMO)和最低占有分子轨道(LUMO)能量。结果表明,通过DFT优化的分子结构与X-射线单晶衍射确定的晶体结构基本一致,该化合物属于单斜方P2(1)/n空间群,晶胞参数为:a=1.563 9(10) nm, b=0.778 6(4) nm, c=1.838 2(10) nm,Z=4, ρ_c＝1.345 g·cm^-3,R=0.047 7,R_w=0.138 7。     

An Optical Sensing Platform for Beta-Glucosidase Activity Using Protein-Inorganic Hybrid Nanoflowers

In this work, a convenient and dual-signal readout optical sensing platform for the sensitively and selectively determination of beta-glucosidase (β-Glu) activity was reported using protein-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers [BSA-Cu₃(PO₄)₂·3H₂O] possessing peroxidase-mimicking activity. The nanoflowers (NFs) were facilely synthesized through a self-assembled synthesis strategy at room temperature. The as-prepared NFs could catalytically convert the colorless and non-fluorescent Amplex Red into colored and highly fluorescent resorufin in the presence of hydrogen peroxide via electron transfer process. β-Glu could hydrolyze cyanogenic glycoside, using amygdalin (Amy) as a model, into cyanide ions (CN^?), which can subsequently efficiently suppress the catalytic activity of NFs, accompanied with the fluorescence decrease and the color fading. The concentration of CN^? was controlled by β-Glu-triggered enzymatic reaction of Amy. Thus, a sensing system was established for fluorescent and visual determination of β-Glu activity. Under the optimum conditions, the present fluorescent and visual bimodal sensing platform exhibited good sensitivity for β-Glu activity assay with a detection limit of 0.33 U·L^?1. The sensing platform was further applied to determinate β-Glu in real samples and satisfactory results were attained. Additionally, the optical sensing system can potentially be a promising candidate for β-Glu inhibitors screening.

     

Improved Reversible Zinc Storage Achieved in a Constitutionally Crystalline-Stable Mn(VO3)2 Nanobelts Cathode

Rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are potential for grid-scale applications owing to their safety, low price, and available sources. The development of ZIBs cathode with high specific capacity, wide operating voltage window and stable cyclability is urgently needed in next-generation commercial batteries. Herein, we report a structurally crystalline-stable Mn(VO₃)₂ nanobelts cathode for ZIBs prepared via a facile hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized Mn(VO₃)₂ exhibited high specific capacity of 350 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹, and maintained a capacity retention of 92 % after 10,000 cycles at 2 A g⁻¹. It also showed good rate performance and obtained a reversible capacity of up to 200 mAh g⁻¹ after 600 cycles at 0.2 A g⁻¹ under −20 °C. The electrochemical tests suggest that Mn(VO₃)₂ nanobelts impart fast Zn²⁺ ions migration, and the introduction of manganese atoms help make the structures more indestructible, leading to a good rate performance and prolonged cycle lifespan.