Preparation of high‐activity AgBr/Ag3PO4 photocatalyst based on hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and mechanism of photocatalytic enhancement

A high‐activity AgBr/Ag₃PO₄ heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized based on hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide. Its microspheres were characterized using X‐ray diffractometry, transmission electron microscopy and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The new photocatalyst with high photocatalytic activity exceptionally outperforms pure Ag₃PO₄ and AgBr in methyl orange degradation. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity is attributed to the efficient separation of electron–hole pairs. In this photocatalytic reaction, h⁺ and ^?O^2? are the main reactive species that induce visible‐light‐driven degradation.     

Poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) hydrogels containing hyper-branched poly(amidoamine) for sustained drug release

Hydrogels containing hyper-branched poly(amidoamine) (hb-PAMAM) microenvironments were suggested for the sustained release of ionizable drugs. For this purpose, a series of poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PHEA) hydrogels containing hb-PAMAM (PHEA-hb-PAMAM) were prepared by copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate with acryl-terminated hb-PAMAM. The hb-PAMAM was synthesized by the Michael addition reaction of triacryloylhexahydro-1,3,5-triazine (TT) and piperzaine (PZ). By using nonionic Tegafur and ionizable salicylic acid (SA) as model drugs, the release mechanisms of drugs from PHEA-hb-PAMAM hydrogels were investigated. Compared with the release kinetic of Tegafur, the release rate of SA from the hydrogels was evidently slowed down. Moreover, the release rate of SA can be modulated by the addition of salt. This can be attributed to the ionic interaction of SA with hb-PAMAM microenvironments. By analyzing the release kinetics of SA from the hydrogels, it was found that the release of SA followed non-Fickian diffusion.     

Observation of Non-Hermitian Quantum Correlation Criterion in Mesoscopic Optomechanical System

Although many quantum correlation criteria have been proposed successively in recent years, it is still an open question how to observe these criteria with the non–Hermitian terms in themselves. We propose an indirect scheme in this paper to observe non-Hermitian criteria and to judge whether or not quantum correlation exists in the system even though the expectation value measurement of non-Hermitian operator is invalid in quantum mechanics system. Our idea is to establish a critical state of mesoscopic oscillator under mean–field approximation, and the oscillator state will take place transition when the quantum correlation destroys the mean–field approximation. The non–Hermitian measurement will replace the position measurement in this process and it can be seen as a non–destructive detection. We give an example to explain this idea in a designed mesoscopic optomechanical system.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of pyridyl substituted benzoxazepinones as potent and selective inhibitors of aldosterone synthase

Exorbitant aldosterone is closely associated with various severe diseases, including congestive heart failure and chronic kidney disease. As aldosterone synthase is the pivotal enzyme in aldosterone biosynthesis, its inhibition constitutes a promising treatment for these diseases. Via a structure-based approach, a series of pyridyl substituted 3,4-dihydrobenzo[f][1,4]oxazepin-5(2H)-ones were designed as inhibitors of aldosterone synthase. Six compounds (5j, 5l, 5m 5w, 5x and 5y) distinguished themselves with potent inhibition (IC₅₀ <100 nmol/L) and high selectivity over homogenous 11β-hydroxylase. As the most promising compound, 5x exhibited an IC₅₀ of 12 nmol/L and an excellent selectivity factor (SF) of 157, which are both superior to those of the reference fadrazole (IC₅₀ = 21 nmol/L, SF = 7). Importantly, 5x showed no inhibition against steroidogenic CYP17, CYP19 and a panel of hepatic CYP enzymes indicating an outstanding safety profile. As it manifested satisfactory pharmacokinetic properties in rats, compound 5x was considered as a drug candidate for further development.     

Solvent replacement to thermo‐responsive nanoparticles from long‐subchain hyperbranched PSt grafted with PNIPAM for encapsulation

Long‐subchain hyperbranched polystyrene (lsc‐hp PSt) with uniform subchain length was obtained through copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition click chemistry from seesaw macromonomer of PSt having one alkynyl group anchored at the chain centre and two azido group attached to both chain ends [alkynyl‐(PSt‐N₃)₂]. After precipitation fraction, different portions of lsc‐hp PSt having narrow overall molecular weight distribution were obtained for further grafting with alkynyl‐capped poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (alkynyl‐PNIPAM), which was obtained via single‐electron transfer living radical polymerization of NIPAM with propargyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate as the initiator and grafted onto the peripheral azido groups of lsc‐hp PSt via click chemistry. Thus, amphiphilic lsc‐hp PSt grafted with PNIPAM chains (lsc‐hp PSt‐g‐PNIPAM) was obtained and would have star‐like conformation in tetrahydrofuran (THF). By replacing THF with water, lsc‐hp PSt‐g‐PNIPAM was dissolved at molecular level in aqueous solution due to the hydrophilicity of PNIPAM and exhibited thermal induced shrinkage of PNIPAM arms. The water‐insoluble lsc‐hp PSt would collapse densely and could be served as a reservoir to absorb hydrophobic chemicals in aqueous solution. The influence of overall molecular weight of lsc‐hp PSt on the absorption of pyrene was studied. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Structural,magnetic and optical properties of vanadium doped zinc oxide: Systematic first-principles investigations

The electronic structural, magnetic and optical properties of pure and V-doped ZnO are investigated by first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory. With the introduction of V atoms, the spin-splitting near the Fermi level leads to a net magnetic moment of the system. A significant possibility of room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) originated from the Ruderman–Kittel–Kassuya–Yosida (RKKY) exchange is predicted. Oxygen vacancy is positive to enhance the ferromagnetism while zinc vacancy is negative. With respect to the optical properties, the presence of V atoms was found to have an obvious influence on the transmittivity, especially in the low energy region. A slight V-doping can keep a high optical transmission and smoothly modulate the optical bandgap.