Tantalum Nitride Nanosheets for Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Photothermal Cancer Therapy

In this study, the synthesis of TaN nanosheets and their application in theranostic agents is reported. After coating polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the TaN nanosheets, the as-synthesized PEG-modified TaN nanosheets (TaN-PEG) show good stability and biocompatibility. Because of their high absorbance in the near-IR region, TaN-PEG can be utilized as photoacoustic imaging contrast agents for tumor imaging. Moreover, TaN-PEG has significant photothermal conversion performance, exhibiting effective laser-induced tumor ablation capability. The TaN-PEG possessing excellent photoacoustic contrast effect and photothermal properties thus have great promise in theranostic applications, especially imaging-guided cancer treatment.     

新型暂堵酸化用自降解暂堵剂的制备及现场应用

针对传统暂堵酸化用暂堵剂颗粒耐酸性差、降解性差和除堵工艺复杂等问题，本研究通过水溶液自由基聚合法制备了一种新型的自降解暂堵剂CQZDJ。考察了单体加量、交联剂加量、引发剂加量对CQZDJ凝胶强度和降解性的影响；通过FT-IR、TGA、SEM对其结构进行表征；并对其降解机理进行了探讨；最后在长8区块的环平81-8实验井进行了现场实践。结果表明：CQZDJ凝胶强度及降解时间与单体加量、交联剂加量、引发剂加量成正比关系，且降解时间可控；降解性实验表明CQZDJ在(1%~10%)HCl溶液、水、（2%~10%）NaCl溶液中均可在4 d内完全降解，具备良好的降解性能，对地层伤害小；SEM照片显示CQZDJ的降解过程是从初始三维网状结构逐渐崩解为层状结构，最终降解为无规则线性小分子链的过程；暂堵后现场流压上升6.3 MPa，日产油由3.87 t/d增产至5.22 t/d，实现了储层的有效改造，增产效果显著。      

Explosive synchronization in a mobile network in the presence of a positive feedback mechanism

Synchronization is a process that describes the coherent dynamics of a large ensemble of interacting units.The study of explosive synchronization transition attracts considerable attention.Here,I report the explosive transition within the framework of a mobile network,while each oscillator is controlled by global-order parameters of the system.Using numerical simulation,I find that the explosive synchronization(ES)transition behavior can be controlled by simply adjusting the fraction of controlled oscillators.The influences of some parameters on explosive synchronization are studied.Moreover,due to the presence of the positive feedback mechanism,I prevent the occurrence of the synchronization of continuous-phase transition and make phase transition of the system a first-order phase transition accompanied by a hysteresis loop.     

Identification of metabolites of rupestonic acid in rat urine by liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry

Rupestonic acid, a potential anti‐influenza agent, is an important and characteristic compound in Artemisia rupestris L., a well‐known traditional Uighur medicine for the treatment of colds. In the present study, high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry was used to detect and identify the metabolites in rat urine after oral administration of rupestonic acid. A total of 10 metabolites were identified or partially characterized. The structure elucidations of the metabolites were performed by comparing the changes in accurate molecular masses and fragment ions with those of the parent compound. The results showed that the main metabolites of rupestonic acid in rat urine were formed by oxidation, hydrogenation and glucuronidation. A metabolism pathway was proposed for the first time based on the characterized structures. This metabolism study can provide essential information for drug discovery, design and clinical application of rupestonic acid. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Activatable T1-Weighted MR Contrast Agent: A Noninvasive Tool for Tracking the Vicinal Thiol Motif of Thioredoxin in Live Cells

We have synthesized new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T₁ contrast agents (CA1 and CA2) that permit the activatable recognition of the cellular vicinal thiol motifs of the protein thioredoxin. The contrast agents showed MR relaxivities typical of gadolinium complexes with a single water molecule coordinated to a Gd³⁺ center (i.e., ~4.54 mM⁻¹s⁻¹) for both CA1 and CA2 at 60 MHz. The contrast agent CA1 showed a ~140% relaxivity enhancement in the presence of thioredoxin, a finding attributed to a reduction in the flexibility of the molecule after binding to thioredoxin. Support for this rationale, as opposed to one based on preferential binding, came from ¹H-¹⁵N-HSQC NMR spectral studies; these revealed that the binding affinities toward thioredoxin were almost the same for both CA1 and CA2. In the case of CA1, T₁-weighted phantom images of cancer cells (MCF-7, A549) could be generated based on the expression of thioredoxin. We further confirmed thioredoxin expression-dependent changes in the T₁-weighted contrast via knockdown of the expression of the thioredoxin using siRNA-transfected MCF-7 cells. The nontoxic nature of CA1, coupled with its relaxivity features, leads us to suggest that it constitutes a first-in-class MRI T₁ contrast agent that allows for the facile and noninvasive monitoring of vicinal thiol protein motif expression in live cells.     

介孔碳材料抑制锂电池负极枝晶生长

为了解决锂电池负极表面锂枝晶生长带来的性能衰退和安全问题。 以沸石咪唑酯骨架-8(ZIF-8)为前驱体制得介孔碳材料(MCM),用于金属锂负极表面改性。 X射线粉末衍射(XRD)和拉曼光谱表明,退火制得的MCM具有一定的石墨化程度,N₂气吸脱附测试(BET)证明MCM具有典型的介孔特征。 对比不同温度退火样品的XRD、拉曼光谱和BET测试结果,确定900 ℃为最佳退火温度。 优化的MCM作为表面改性剂对金属锂负极进行改性研究。 电池充放电循环后,负极样品的XRD和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)测试表明,MCM能够通过均衡锂负极表面的电荷分布抑制金属锂的取向沉积和锂枝晶的生长。 本研究为制备抑制锂电池负极枝晶生长表面改性剂提供了一种简便而有效的合成方法,有利于锂电池循环寿命的延长和安全性能的提高。     

Obtaining of a PET-CaF2 hybrid multifilament: Non-isothermal crystallization studies

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) has been mixed with fluorite (CaF₂) particles to obtain micro- and nano-composites aiming to obtain a hybrid multifilament. In first term, the use of two montanic waxes and an amide wax as dispersing agents towards the compatibilization of the inorganic and organic components of the CaF₂/PET composite were considered. To do this, non-isothermal crystallization studies by differential scanning calorimetry have been carried out. Moreover, the influence of the CaF₂ particle size and concentration on the thermal properties of the system have been also studied by this technique. Finally, the extrapolation of the results has materialised as a novel PET/CaF₂ hybrid multifilament. Thermal and mechanical properties and molecular weight of the multifilament have been as well evaluated.     

Design and build an elastic crosslinked network to strengthen and toughen soybean-meal based bioadhesive using organo-sepiolite and greener crosslinker triglycidylamine

Poor water resistance and curing layer brittleness are significant challenges of greener soybean meal (SM) adhesive promotion and application. In this study an elastic network was built to crosslink the SM adhesive and improve the cured layer toughness of the resultant adhesive. Long-chain organo-sepiolite (OSEP) was first prepared by compound modification using KH-560 and KH-602 silane coupling agents. Triglycidylamine (TGA), a greener crosslinking agent with a large number of effective epoxy functional groups, was then synthesized. SM-based adhesives were fabricated using SM, OSEP and TGA. Results indicated that an elastic network was fabricated by the cross-linked reaction of SM, OSEP, and TGA. The elastic network effectively improved the toughness of the resultant adhesive. The wet shear strength of the plywood (PlyW) bonded by SM with 1% OSEP (SM/TGA/OSEP-1 adhesive) increased by 60% to 1.25 MPa relative to that of the SM/TGA adhesive. This study provided a greener, simple and cheap method improving the toughness and wet shear strength of SM-based adhesive, which contributes to the industrialized application of the product.     

Radical polymerization in the presence of peroxide and reducing agent monomer for branched polymers

In this article, we report the radical polymerization in the presence of peroxide and commercially available or designed reducing agent monomer (RAM) for the preparation of branched poly(methyl methacrylate)s (PMMAs). The reaction behavior of the RAM was studied by NMR. Triple‐detection SEC (TD‐SEC) analysis was used to confirm the branching structure of the prepared PMMAs and to investigate the influence of peroxide concentration and RAM concentration on molecular weight and branched structure. The obtained branched PMMAs exhibited high molecular weights and relatively narrow polydispersities at high conversion of MMA. Interestingly, a significant increase in molecular weight and degree of branching of the obtained polymers are observed in higher BPO concentration, these results are quite different from that reported in the literature. The unique radical polymerization mechanism in the RAM/BPO redox‐initiated radical polymerization system resulted in branched PMMAs with high molecular weights at relatively high RAM and BPO concentrations. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 833–840     

Nanocrystalline cellulose/fluorinated polyacrylate latex via RAFT‐mediated surfactant‐free emulsion polymerization and its application as waterborne textile finishing agent

A simple method for nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC)/fluorinated polyacrylate was developed by RAFT‐mediated surfactant‐free emulsion polymerization, in which the nanocomposites formed a core‐shell spherical morphology. The influence of the content of NCC‐g‐(PAA‐b‐PHFBA) (AA was acrylic acid, HFBA was hexafluorobutyl acrylate) on the properties of latex and film were systematically studied. The monomer conversion, the tensile strength, and water–oil repellency of film increased first and then decreased, the latex particle size decreased first and then decreased, when the content of NCC‐g‐(PAA‐b‐PHFBA) increased from 1 to 6 wt %. Elongation at break and thermal stability distinctly decreased when the content of NCC‐g‐(PAA‐b‐PHFBA) gradually increased. XPS showed that the fluorine‐containing groups well concentrated at the film–air interfaces during the annealing process. SEM analysis revealed that the treated fiber had a rugged surface, and the treated fabric had an excellent water repellency. In addition, this green grafting method in water offered a new perspective for the fabrication of exceptional NCC‐based nanocomposites with NCC as the core and also helped to promote the potential applicability of NCC in a range of multipurpose applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1305–1314