Current Rectification in Temperature‐Responsive Single Nanopores

Herein we demonstrate a fully abiotic smart single‐nanopore device that rectifies ionic current in response to the temperature. The temperature‐responsive nanopore ionic rectifier can be switched between a rectifying state below 34 °C and a non‐rectifying state above 38 °C actuated by the phase transition of the poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) [PNIPAM] brushes. On the rectifying state, the rectifying efficiency can be enhanced by the dehydration of the attached PNIPAM brushes below the LCST. When the PNIPAM brushes have sufficiently collapsed, the nanopore switches to the non‐rectifying state. The concept of the temperature‐responsive current rectification in chemically‐modified nanopores paves a new way for controlling the preferential direction of the ion transport in nanofluidics by modulating the temperature, which has the potential to build novel nanomachines with smart fluidic communication functions for future lab‐on‐chip devices.     

Simultaneous determination of nine nucleosides and nucleobases in different Fritillaria species by HPLC‐diode array detector

A sensitive and reliable HPLC‐diode‐array detector method was developed for the first time to simultaneously determine nine nucleosides and nucleobases including uracil, cytidine, guanine, uridine, thymine, inosine, guanosine, thymidine and adenosine in 13 different Fritillaria species. The analysis was performed on a BaseLine C18 column with a gradient of acetonitrile in water at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The diode‐array detector wavelength was set at 260 nm for the UV detection of nucleosides and nucleobases. Satisfactory separation of these compounds was obtained in less than 40 min. The optimized method provided good linear relation (r² >0.9995 for all the investigated analytes), satisfactory precision (RSD <1.51%) and good recovery (from 97.64 to 101.16%). The established method was successfully applied to simultaneous determination of nine nucleosides and nucleobases in 61 batches of samples from 13 Fritillaria species collected from different habitats in China, which could be helpful to control the quality of Fritillaria bulbs.     

pH‐induced on–off switching of polycarbonate track‐etched membranes by plasma‐induced surface grafting

Surface functionalization of the plasma‐pretreated polycarbonate (PC) track‐etched membranes via plasma‐induced thermally graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AAc) was carried out. The resulting PC membranes with grafted AAc side chains were characterized by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. The morphology of the PC membranes was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the grafted PAAc polymers were formed uniformly inside the pores throughout the entire membrane thickness. With increase in the pore‐filling ratio, the pore diameters of PAAc‐grafted membranes became smaller. The PC‐g‐PAAc membranes exhibit rapid and reversible response of the flux to the environmental pH as pH is switched between 3 and 9. Between pH 3.5 and 5.5, the membranes demonstrate a pH‐valve function as the carboxyl group changes from neutral to charged with a corresponding variation in chain configuration. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of hollow α-Fe2O3 nanospheres templated by carbon nanospheres

Hollow α-Fe₂O₃ nanospheres were synthesized by using novel carbon spheres as templates. By carefully controlling the fundamental experimental parameters, porous nanospheres with diameters of 60–80 nm and nanojujubes with diameters of 80–100 nm have been efficiently obtained, respectively. The growth mechanism and magnetic properties are also discussed in detail. The coercivity values of the hollow α-Fe₂O₃ nanospheres and nanojujubes are much higher than those of other α-Fe₂O₃ nanomaterials. Due to the unique morphology with cavum and porous wall, the ferromagnetic nanospheres could be promising candidates as a magnetic carrier for drug targeting.     

Solvothermal synthesis of well-defined TiO(2) mesoporous nanotubes with enhanced photocatalytic activity

High efficiency TiO(2) photocatalyst in porous nanotubes were prepared by solvothermal alcoholysis of TiOSO(4) in the presence of carbon nanotube template.     

Construction of a trigonal bipyramidal cage-based metal-organic framework with hydrophilic pore surface via flexible tetrapodal ligands

A pcu network can be ordered through trigonal bipyramidal nanocages as secondary building blocks, which have the striking feature of hydrophilic affinity to the polar molecules and π-π interactions for aromatic molecules.     

Total synthesis and absolute configuration determination of (+)-subincanadine F

The first asymmetric synthesis of indole alkaloid (+)-subincanadine F was successfully accomplished with the uncommon 7-endo-trig stereoselective radical cyclization as the key step and its absolute configuration was thus assigned.     

Oxone/CaCl_2/TEMPO体系在温和条件下对醇的氧化反应

Oxone/TEMPO/CaCl_2(TEMPO=2,2,6,6-Tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy)是一种稳定安全和易得的氧化催化体系,在室温条件下,可以氧化苄基或烷基醇生成醛或酮.苄基伯醇很容易被氧化成相应的醛,有较高的反应收率(90%～96%),仲醇氧化成相应的酮,收率在81%～85%之间,1,4-丁二醇环氧化生成γ-丁内酯得到了94%的收率.     

Study on the influence of cross-sectional area and zeta potential on separation for hybrid-chip-based capillary electrophoresis using 3-D simulations

Hybrid chips combing microchips with capillaries have displayed particular advantages in achieving UV-vis and mass spectroscopic detection. In this work, systematic 3-D numerical simulations have been carried out to explore the influence of junction interface cross-sectional area and ζ-potential distribution on sample band broadening in hybrid-chip electrophoresis separation. In this case, the ratio of cross-sectional area of chip to capillary channel (S(ratio) ) is used as the parameter of the variation in junction interface cross-sectional area. Theoretical simulations demonstrated that the decrease of the S(ratio) would increase the separation efficiency in the hybrid-chip-based CE with uniform ζ-potential distribution. ζ-potential distribution along the axial direction of the channel also affects mass transport in hybrid-chip-based CE. Therefore, the effect of ζ-potential distribution has been considered in the 3-D simulation. Theoretical simulation results reveal that ζ-potential distribution rather than the interface cross-sectional area variation (S(ratio) ) controls the sample band broadening and manipulates sample separation efficiency in the hybrid-chip-based CE with non-uniform ζ-potential distribution. Both the theoretical simulations and experimental results show that optimal hybrid-chip CE separation efficiency can be achieved at S(ratio) =1.     

Recognition of proteins and peptides: Rational development of molecular imprinting technology

The creation of tailor-made receptors which are able to recognize molecular targets with high affinity and selectivity has attracted much attention in the field of chemistry, physics, and biology. Molecular imprinting has proved to be an effective technique for generating specific recognition sites in synthetic polymers. The synthesis of molecular imprinted polymers specific for proteins and peptides has been a focus for many scientists working in the area of molecular recognition, since the creation of synthetic polymers that can specifically recognize biomacromolecules is a very challenging but potentially extremely rewarding work. These polymers with specificity for biological macromolecules have considerable potential for applications in the areas of solid phase extraction, catalysis, medicine, clinical analysis, drug delivery, environmental monitoring, and sensors. In this review, the authors discuss the developed approaches associated with the imprinting of peptides and proteins, and provide an overview of the significant progress achieved within this field. Finally, the possible mechanism of the molecular imprinting and recognition has been discussed.