Post-modification using aluminum isopropoxide after dye-sensitization for improved performance and stability of quasi-solid-state solar cells

In this study, dye-sensitized TiO₂ electrodes were immersed into a solution of aluminum isopropoxide and after hydrolysis quasi-solid-state solar cells were fabricated. The interaction between the dye and the resulting Al₂O₃ overlayer was investigated by ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrum, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum and X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS). The current density–voltage (I–V) characteristics showed that the overlayer increased the photovoltage and decreased the photocurrent under low intensity irradiation, and increased both the photovoltage and photocurrent under AM 1.5 irradiation. The Al₂O₃ overlayer at the dye/electrolyte interface resulted in a 28% improvement in overall photo-to-electrical conversion efficiency from 2.60 to 3.32%. Dark current measurements showed that Al₂O₃ acted as an insulator barrier to retard recombination between the TiO₂ and dye/quasi-solid-state electrolyte interface. Without encapsulation, dye-sensitized solar cells with Al₂O₃ coating after sensitization also exhibited improved stability compared to cells without coating.     

Effects of CO2 laser pretreatment on drought stress resistance in wheat

In order to determine the role of laser in drought stress resistance of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), seed embryos were exposed to CO2 laser radiation for 0min, 1min, 3min and 5min, respectively, and when the seedlings were 12 days old they were treated with 10% (w/v) PEG6000 solution for 10 days. Changes in the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), glutathione (GSH), ascorbate (AsA), oxidized glutathione (GSSG), carotenoid, zeaxanthin, the production rate of superoxide radical (O2(-)), the activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GP), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and the growth parameters of seedlings (plant height, leaf area and dry weight) were measured to test the effects of laser pretreatment. The results showed that suitable laser pretreatment of embryos enhanced drought stress resistance in wheat seedlings by decreasing the concentration of MDA and H2O2, GSSG, the production rate of O2(-), leaf area and increasing the activities of APX, GST, GP and POD and AsA, carotenoid and zeaxanthin concentration. It is suggested that those changes in MDA, O2(-) H2O2, anti-oxidative enzymes and anti-oxidative compounds were responsible for the increase in drought stress resistance observed in the experiments. The results also showed that the laser had a long-term positive physiological effect on the growth of drought stress seedlings. This is the first investigation reporting the use of CO2 laser pretreatment to enhance drought stress resistance of spring wheat.     

Synergistic cytotoxic effect of different sized ZnO nanoparticles and daunorubicin against leukemia cancer cells under UV irradiation

Failure of chemotherapy to the malignant tumor is usually induced by multidrug resistance (MDR). The development of anti-MDR agents for efficient drug delivery is of great importance in cancer therapy. Recent reports have demonstrated that some anticancer drugs could be readily self-assembled on some biocompatible nanomaterials covalently or non-covalently, which could effectively afford the sustained drug delivery for the target cancer cells and reduce the relevant toxicity towards normal cells and tissues. Thus these biocompatible nanomaterials may play an important role in the relevant biological and biomedical system. In this paper, we have explored the cytotoxic effect of anticancer drug daunorubicin on leukemia cancer cells in the absence and presence of different sized ZnO nanoparticles via fluorescence microscopy, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, electrochemical analysis as well as MTT assay. Meanwhile, the cytotoxicity suppression of daunorubicin together with different sized ZnO nanoparticles in the absence and presence of UV irradiation on leukemia cancer cells were also investigated using MTT assay. The results indicate that the combination of the different sized ZnO nanoparticles and daunorubicin under UV irradiation could have synergistic cytotoxic effect on leukemia cancer cells, indicating the great potential of ZnO nanoparticles in relevant clinical and biomedical applications.     

Theoretical study on the relationship between spin multiplicity effects and nonlinear optical properties of the pyrrole radical (C4H4N.)

The geometrical structure and stability of neutral pi-conjugated C4H4N. with three spin states were investigated by using ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) methods. In addition, the linear and nonlinear optical properties were studied at the same level combined with the finite field approach. The calculated results show that conjugation and stability decreased with increasing spin multiplicity. These reliable UCCSD results show that the polarizability (alpha) values of C4H4N. with the quartet state are maximal, while those of C4H4N. with the doublet state are minimal. The order of betatot values is betasextet > betadoublet > betaquartet. The second hyperpolarizability (gamma) values exhibit positive values. The variation trends of gamma are consistent with alpha.     

Ionic self-assembled organic nanobelts from the hexagonal phase complexes and their cyclodextrin inclusions

The supramolecular ionic self-assembly (ISA) strategy has been used to construct the long-range ordered hierarchical aggregates from the complexes of 1-adamantanamine hydrochloride (AdCl) and sodium bis(2-ethyl-1-hexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT). The formed AOT-Ad complexes have been proved to possess a composition of equal molar ratio and a hexagonal columnar structure with Ad blocks as the core and AOT outside. More interestingly, the length, width, and thickness of the aggregates are on the order of milli-, micro-, and nanometer, respectively, and can thus be taken as one type of organic nanobelt. Such nanobelts are plastic and stable to resist breakage even bent to a circle, which makes them useful in the fields of novel nanomaterial fabrication. In addition, the ISA process of this aggregate can be tuned by including Ad blocks in beta-cyclodextrins to form a supramolecular complex, which is comparatively stable in the water and expected to self-assemble into some other ordered structures.     

Orthogonal Trichromatic Upconversion with High Color Purity in Core-Shell Nanoparticles for a Full-Color Display

Materials with tunable emission colors has attracted increasing interest in both fundamental research and applications. As a key member of light-emitting materials family, lanthanide doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have been intensively demonstrated to emit light in any color upon near-infrared excitation. However, realizing the trichromatic emission in UCNPs with a fixed composition remains a great challenge. Here, without excitation pulsed modulation and three different near-infrared pumping, we report an experimental design to fine-control emission in the full color gamut from core–shell-structured UCNPs by manipulating the energy migration through dual-channel pump scheme. We also demonstrate their potential application in full-color display. These findings may benefit the future development of convenient and versatile optical methos for multicolor tuning and open up the possibility of constructing full-color volumetric display systems with high spatiotemporal resolution.     

Palladium-Catalyzed Atroposelective Kinetic C−H Olefination and Allylation for the Synthesis of C−B Axial Chirality

The direct C−H functionalization of 1,2-benzazaborines, especially asymmetric version, remains a great challenge. Here we report a palladium-catalyzed enantioselective C−H olefination and allylation reactions of 1,2-benzazaborines. This asymmetric approach is a kinetic resolution (KR), providing various C−B axially chiral 2-aryl-1,2-benzazaborines and 3-substituted 2-aryl-1,2-benzazaborines in generally high yields with excellent enantioselectivities (selectivity (S) factor up to 354). The synthetic potential of this reaction is showcased by late-stage modification of complex molecules, scale-up reaction, and applications.     

Ultrafast quenching of tryptophan fluorescence in proteins: Interresidue and intrahelical electron transfer

Quenching of tryptophan fluorescence in proteins has been critical to the understanding of protein dynamics and enzyme reactions using tryptophan as a molecular optical probe. We report here our systematic examinations of potential quenching residues with more than 40 proteins. With site-directed mutation, we placed tryptophan to desired positions or altered its neighboring residues to screen quenching groups among 20 amino acid residues and of peptide backbones. With femtosecond resolution, we observed the ultrafast quenching dynamics within 100 ps and identified two ultrafast quenching groups, the carbonyl- and sulfur-containing residues. The former is glutamine and glutamate residues and the later is disulfide bond and cysteine residue. The quenching by the peptide-bond carbonyl group as well as other potential residues mostly occurs in longer than 100 ps. These ultrafast quenching dynamics occur at van der Waals distances through intraprotein electron transfer with high directionality. Following optimal molecular orbital overlap, electron jumps from the benzene ring of the indole moiety in a vertical orientation to the LUMO of acceptor quenching residues. Molecular dynamics simulations were invoked to elucidate various correlations of quenching dynamics with separation distances, relative orientations, local fluctuations and reaction heterogeneity. These unique ultrafast quenching pairs, as recently found to extensively occur in high-resolution protein structures, may have significant biological implications.     

Novel nanocomposite of nano fe(3)o(4) and polylactide nanofibers for application in drug uptake and induction of cell death of leukemia cancer cells

Novel nanocomposites of polylactide (PLA) nanofibers and tetraheptylammonium-capped Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles have been prepared and utilized to realize the efficient accumulation of anticancer drug daunorubicin in target cancer cells. The observations of optical microscopy and confocal fluorescence microscopy indicate that the PLA nanofibers and Fe3O4 nanoparticles may contribute to their beneficial effects on intracellular drug uptake of leukemia K562 cell lines in which the efficiently enhanced accumulation of anticancer drug daunorubicin on the membrane of cancer cells could be observed. Meanwhile, the electrochemical detection and the microculture tetrazolium studies were also explored to probe the effect of the relevant nanomaterials on the drug uptake of cancer cells. The results illustrate that the nanocomposites could effectively facilitate the interaction of daunorubicin with leukemia cells and remarkably enhance the permeation and drug uptake of anticancer agents in the cancer cells, which could readily lead to the induction of the cell death of leukemia cells. This observation suggests a new perspective for the targeted therapeutic approaches of cancers.     

Structure elucidation and complete NMR spectral assignments of two new dammarane-type tetraglycosides from Panax quinquefolium

Two new saponins were isolated from leaves of Panax quinquefolium and their structures were elucidated as 3beta, 12beta, 20S-trihydroxy-25-methoxydammar-23-ene 3-O-{[beta-D-glucopyranosyl(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-20-O-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl(1-->6)]-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1) and 3beta, 20S-dihydroxy-12beta, 23R-epoxydammar-24-ene 3-O-{[beta-D-glucopyranosyl(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl]-20-O-[beta-D-xylopyanosyl(1-->6)]-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2) on the basis of (1)D and (2)D NMR (including (1)H, (13)C-NMR, (1)H-(1)H COSY, HSQC, TOCSY, HMBC, and NOESY), ESI-MS spectrometry and chemical methods.