Engineering of chiral nanomaterials for biomimetic catalysis

Chiral nanomaterial-based biomimetic catalysts can trigger a similar biological effect to natural catalysts and exhibit high performance in biological applications. Especially, their active center similarity and substrate selectivity promoted their superior biocatalytic activity. Here, modification of critical elements, such as size, morphology, nanocrystal facets, chiral surface and active sites, for controlling the catalytic efficiency of individual chiral nanoparticles (NPs) and chiral nanoassemblies has been demonstrated, which had a synergistic effect on overcoming the defects of pre-existing nanocatalysts. Noticeably, application of external forces (light or magnetism) has resulted in obvious enhancement in biocatalytic efficiency. Chiral nanomaterials served as preferable biomimetic nanocatalysts due to their special structural configuration and chemical constitution advantages. Furthermore, the current challenges and future research directions of the preparation of high-performance bioinspired chiral nanomaterials for biological applications are discussed.

Chiral nanomaterial-based biomimetic catalysts can trigger a similar biological effect to natural catalysts and exhibit high performance in biological applications.     

Synthesis of phosphorylated calix[4]arene derivatives for the design of solid phases immobilising uranyl cations

With the aim of developing supports for uranyl cations immobilisation, new 1,3-alternate calix[4]arenes bearing both phosphonic acid functions as chelating sites and N-succinimide-4-oxabutyrate as the anchoring arm were synthesised in good yields. The coupling of such calixarenes to a gel was performed and a successful immobilisation of uranyl cations was obtained.     

Evaluation of the microhaplotype markers in kinship analysis

Microhaplotype markers are emerging forensic genetic markers, which may supplement existing markers. Consisting of two to four SNPs with an extent of <200 bp, microhaplotype can be genotyped through massively parallel sequencing technology. Articles that have been published suggested that microhaplotype markers have good application prospect in forensics. Multiallelic haplotype loci are potentially important in certain forensic works, as the stutter and high mutation rate of short tandem repeats and the low polymorphism of single nucleotide polymorphisms may limit the power of these two kind of regular markers. In this study, we explored the potential of 11 new microhaplotype loci in kinship analysis. The results suggested that these loci have relatively high polymorphic information in different populations worldwide and relatively high system effectiveness in the kinship analysis. Microhaplotypes have potential for forensic kinshipg analysis.     

A convenient cyclopropanation process of oxindoles via bromoethylsulfonium salt

A practical convenient conversion of oxindoles into the corresponding spirocyclopropyl oxindoles is achieved efficiently using bromoethylsulfonium salt, which is easily prepared on a large scale and is stable crystalline. This reaction of bromoethylsulfonium salt with different substituted unprotected oxindoles proceeded under mild condition and provided moderate yields.     

Recent Advances in the Research of Photo-Assisted Lithium-Based Rechargeable Batteries

The application of solar energy is crucial for alleviating the energy crisis and achieving sustainable development. In recent years, photo-assisted rechargeable batteries have attracted researchers because they can directly convert and store solar energy in the batteries. And it also can be used like a normal battery without light illumination. Photo-assisted lithium-based batteries have received more attention than other energy storage systems due to their higher energy density and relatively mature development. This Review focuses on the design of various photo-assisted lithium-based batteries including Li-ion, Li-S, Li-O₂, Li-CO₂ and Li-I batteries, as well as the working mechanism of photoelectrodes in these battery systems. The basic understanding and challenge of photo-assisted lithium-based batteries are also discussed. At last, perspectives for the photoelectrode development are provided in the summary to advance photo-assisted energy storage systems.     

pH responsive Janus polymeric nanosheets

pH responsive polymeric Janus nanosheets with poly(maleic acid) moiety and crosslinked PS onto the corresponding sides have been synthesized by free radical polymerization. The Janus nanosheets can serve as solid emulsifier to stabilize an oil/water emulsion, whose stability is easily triggered by changing pH across pKa of the poly(maleic acid).     

Photovoltaic properties of graphene oxide sheets beaded with ZnO nanoparticles

A hybrid material of graphene oxide (GO) sheets beaded with ZnO nanoparticles was prepared. The material extends over a few hundred square nanometers, in which the ZnO nanoparticles (average diameter (∼5 nm)) are dispersed evenly on the GO sheet. Both the surface photovoltage or surface photocurrent intensity for the material are much stronger than for pure ZnO nanoparticles, meaning that the free charge carriers can effectively be transferred from ZnO nanoparticles to GO sheets, which can serve as a probe to monitor the electron transfer from excited ZnO to GO. Anchoring ZnO nanoparticles on two dimensional carbon nanostructures such as GO can pave a way towards the design of ordered nanostructure assemblies that can harvest light energy efficiently.