Long-term super-resolution imaging of mitochondrial dynamics

Monitoring dynamics of mitochondria has become an essential approach to explore the function of mitochondria in living cells with the emergence of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. However, long-term super-resolution imaging of mitochondria is still challenging due to the lack of photostable fluorescent probes and stable mitochondria-specific markers which are not affected by the changes of mitochondrial membrane potential. Here, we introduce a method for long-term imaging mitochondrial dynamic through the SNAP-tag fluorogenic probe based on 4-azetidinyl-naphthalimide derivatives. Using structured illumination microscopy (SIM), we observed the fusion and fission of mitochondria over a course of 16 min at 109 nm resolution. Furthermore, the interactions as well as fusion between mitochondria and lysosomes were studied during mitophagy at the nanoscale. Convincingly, the combination of SNAP-tag fluorogenic probes and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy will offer a new way to monitor dynamic mitochondria in living cells.     

A ratiometric near-infrared naphthalimide-based fluorescent probe with high sensitivity for detecting Fe2+ in vivo

Iron is one of the essential trace elements in the human body. It plays an important role in human biology and pathology. Deregulation of iron levels in cells is associated with disease development. In this work, we synthesized a novel near-infrared intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) based ratiometric fluorescent probe to detect Fe²⁺, by using naphthalimide and indole moieties as building blocks. Our work showed that the radiometric probe has excellent selectivity, sensitivity and rapid response. Moreover, we could successfully perform real-time monitoring of Fe²⁺ in HeLa cells and C. elegans.     

Contradictory effect of gold nanoparticle-decorated molybdenum sulfide nanocomposites on amyloid-β-40 aggregation

The effect of gold nanoparticle-decorated molybdenum sulfide (AuNP-MoS₂) nanocomposites on amyloid-β-40 (Aβ₄₀) aggregation was investigated. The interesting discovery was that the effect of AuNP-MoS₂ nanocomposites on Aβ₄₀ aggregation was contradictory. Low concentration of AuNP-MoS₂ nanocomposites could enhance the nucleus formation of Aβ₄₀ peptides and accelerate Aβ₄₀ fibrils aggregation. However, although high concentration of AuNP-MoS₂ nanocomposites could enhance the nucleus formation of Aβ₄₀ peptides, it eventually inhibited Aβ₄₀ aggregation process. It might be attributed to the interaction between AuNP-MoS₂ nanocomposites and Aβ₄₀ peptides. For low concentration of AuNP-MoS₂ nanocomposites, it was acted as nuclei, resulting in the acceleration of the nucleation process. However, the structural flexibility of Aβ₄₀ peptides was limited as the concentration of AuNP-MoS₂ nanocomposites was increased, resulting in the inhibition of Aβ₄₀ aggregation. These findings suggested that AuNP-MoS₂ nanocomposites might have a great potential to design new multifunctional material for future treatment of amyloid-related diseases.     

Understanding the dehydrogenation mechanism over iron nanoparticles catalysts based on density functional theory

The conversion of chemical feedstock materials into high value-added products accompanied with dehydrogenation is of great value in the chemical industry.However,the catalytic dehydrogenation reaction is inhibited by a limited number of expensive noble metal catalysts and lacks understanding of dehydrogenation mechanism.Here,we report the use of heterogeneous non-noble metal iron nanoparticles(NPs) incorporated mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon to investigate the dehydrogenation mechanism based on experiment observation and density functional theory(DFT) method.Fe NPs catalyst displays excellent performance in the dehydrogenation of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline(THQ)with 100% selectivity and 100% conversion for 10-12 h at room temperature.The calculated adsorption energy implies that THQ prefers to adsorb on Fe NPs as compared with absence of Fe NPs.What is more,the energy barrier of transition state is relatively low,illustrating the dehydrogenation is feasible.This work provides an atomic scale mechanism guidance for the catalytic dehydrogenation reaction and points out the direction for the design of new catalysts.     

乙炔氢氯化反应中的负载金-离子液体催化剂:离子态金物种的稳定机制

聚氯乙烯(PVC)作为世界通用工程塑料之一,具有优异的物理、化学和机械性能,在工业、农业、建筑、包装、电力等行业中应用广泛.氯乙烯是生产聚氯乙烯的重要单体.氯乙烯的生产主要有电石法和乙烯法两种工艺路线,由于我国“贫油、富煤、少气”的资源现状,电石法产能占全部产能的83%以上.电石法生产氯乙烯的原理是在氯化汞催化剂存在下,将电石水解精制后的乙炔气与氯化氢加成直接合成氯乙烯.随着节能减排及环保要求的逐渐提高和国际涉汞公约的实施,开发新一代绿色无汞催化剂具有重要的战略意义.近年来,金基催化剂是无汞催化剂基础研究和技术开发中最重要的方向.在之前的工作中,我们课题组首先报道了负载离子液体-金催化剂体系(Au-SILP)在电石法生产氯乙烯工艺中的应用,并发现离子液体的存在可以显著提高金活性物种在载体表面的分散度和稳定其化学价态.在后续研究中,我们在负载离子液体-金催化体系中引入金属铜离子(Cu^2+),利用反应过程中Au-Cu之间的氧化还原循环,设计并制备了金属铜基配位离子液体,构建了负载离子液体-金-铜催化剂体系.铜离子的引入形成了一个催化剂自身维持氧化态的微环境,实现了被还原金物种的原位氧化再生.本文在上述研究基础上,利用配位离子液体[Bmim][N(CN)2]中[N(CN)2^–]阴离子和阳离子金之间的强配位作用,构建出比Au-Cl键更稳定的Au–N键,并通过X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、球差校正-扫描透射电镜(AC-STEM)和扩展X射线吸收精细结构(EXAFS)表征证明了Au以单原子状态存在于载体表面.制备的Au-N(CN)2/AC催化剂在乙炔氢氯化反应中表现出比Au-Cl/AC和Au/AC催化剂更高的稳定性和催化活性以及更短的诱导期.进一步表征分析发现,[N(CN)2^–]配体促进了阳离子金和配体之间的电子转移,提高了阳离子金的电子云密度,削弱了乙炔在阳离子金上的吸附强度,抑制了其还原,提高了催化剂的稳定性.更重要的是,与阳离子金配位的[N(CN)2^–]配体使得反应过程中的氯化氢在氮位点发生化学解离,促进了氯化氢活化,同时降低了反应能垒.对负载配位离子液体-金催化体系反应诱导期的分析结果表明,反应诱导期与反应物(乙炔、氯化氢)分子在离子液体层中的溶解度无关,而主要取决于催化剂中Au(Ⅲ)物种的含量和反应物分子在离子液体中的扩散速率.上述研究结果进一步深化了离子液体和活性金物种之间电子的作用机理,建立了负载离子液体-金催化剂体系对反应物的活化机制和反应机理,为进一步开发具有工业应用价值的乙炔氢氯化反应无汞催化剂提供了科学基础和参考.     

酰胺连接的共价有机骨架的制备及其在水中高效光催化性能

光催化是将太阳能转换为化学能的绿色可持续发展途径,有望解决日益严重的能源危机和环境污染问题.在光催化过程中,半导体材料作为光催化剂,负责可见光的捕获、光生载流子的生成和传输以及氧化还原反应,在整个光催化系统中起着决定性的作用.共价有机骨架材料(COFs)是一类新兴的半导体光催化剂,已被证明在可见光诱导的水分解、二氧化碳还原、有机转化反应和水中污染物降解方面具有应用前景.然而,大部分COFs是通过可逆反应构筑的,在水中及苛刻条件下的稳定性差.因此,提升基于COFs的光催化剂在水相中的光催化活性和循环稳定性仍然面临巨大挑战.本文提出了一种新策略,即通过实现多重协同效应,设计和开发2D-COFs作为在水中的高效非均相光催化剂.通过后合成策略将亚胺键连接的2D-COFs氧化,制备了两种具有丰富三嗪结构单元的以酰胺键连接的2D-COFs(命名为COF-JLU18和COF-JLU19).结果表明,COF-JLU18和COF-JLU19具有高比表面积和孔体积,其比表面积分别为1156和541 m2/g;COF-JLU19具有比相似拓扑结构的亚胺COF-JLU17更好的水蒸气吸附性能.此外,COF-JLU19表现出了极高的化学稳定性,在水中、盐酸和氢氧化钠溶液中浸泡两天,其结构和结晶性均没有发生明显变化.由此可见,酰胺键不仅可以增加材料骨架的亲水性,还能够提高COFs对水的稳定性.本文制备的酰胺键连接的COF-JLU19材料,在光降解罗丹明B水溶液(RhB)反应中可以获得高达0.69 min?1的光降解速率常数,活性明显优于其他光催化剂,如C3N4等.COF-JLU19具有较好的催化活性主要归因于以下两方面:一方面,良好的亲水性和固有孔隙率之间的协同效应可以增强COFs在水中对染料的吸附能力,使其光催化活性得到有效提升;另一方面,高的结晶度和优秀的稳定性使酰胺键连接的COFs在多相光催化中实现稳定循环利用.为了扩展COFs的应用前景,本文还制备了一种基于酰胺键连接COFs的静电纺丝膜,在以太阳光为光源的光降解罗丹明B水溶液实验中表现出较高的光催化活性和重复使用性.综上,本文提出的多重协同效应为基于COFs的高效光催化剂的设计提供了一种有效策略.     

Two 2D uranyl coordination complexes showing effective photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B and mechanism study

Two new hydrostable two-dimensional(2 D) uranyl coordination complexes [(UO_2)_5(μ_3-O)_2(nbca)_2].7 H_2O(1) and [(UO_2)_3(nbca)_2(H_2O)_3]·2 H_2O(2)(H_3 nbca=5-nitro-1,2,3-benzenetricarboxylic acid) were hydrothermal synthesized.Single-crystal structural refinements reveal that both of the two complexes were formed by the packing of 2D uranyl coordination sheets via the hydrogen bonds.The nbca ligand coordinating to the uranyl polyhedron centers constructed the 2D sheets.There are UO_8 hexagonal bipyramids and UO_7 pentagonal bipyramids in 1 while only U07 pentagonal bipyramids in 2.Photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B(RhB) in aqueous solution was studied.Complex 2 possesses better performance than 1 with 96.2 % of the RhB was degraded in only 60 min.Mechanism studies reveal that the dissolved oxygens are essential to the RhB degradation.The photocurrent density of 2 is more stable than that of 1,which indicating the stronger ability to separate photoexcited electrons and hole pairs of 2.     

Recent advances in electrochemical sensors for antibiotics and their applications

The abuse of antibiotics will cause an increase of drug-resistant strains and environmental pollution,which in turn will affect human health.Therefore,it is important to develop effective detection techniques to determine the level of antibiotics contamination in various fields.Compared with traditional detection methods,electrochemical sensors have received extensive attention due to their advantages such as high sensitivity,low detection limit,and good selectivity.In this mini review,we summarized the latest developments and new trends in electrochemical sensors for antibiotics.Here,modification methods and materials of electrode are discussed.We also pay more attention to the practical applications of antibiotics electrochemical sensors in different fields.In addition,the existing problems and the future challenges ahead have been proposed.We hope that this review can provide new ideas for the development of electrochemical sensors for antibiotics in the future.     

Ceria supported Ru~0-Ru~(δ+) clusters as efficient catalyst for arenes hydrogenation

Selective hydrogenation of aromatic amines,especially chemicals such as aniline and bis(4-aminocyclohexyl)methane for non-yellowing polyurethane,is of particular interests due to the extensive applications.To conquer the existing difficulties,in selective hydrogenation,,the Ru~0-Ru~(δ+)/CeO_2 catalyst with solid frustrated Lewis pairs was developed for aromatic amines hydrogenation with excellent activity and selectivity under relative milder conditions.The morphology,electronic and chemical properties,especially the Ru~O-Ru~(δ+) clusters and reducible ceria were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),sca nning electronic microscopy(SEM),X-ray photoelectron sp ectroscopy(XPS),CO_2 tempe rature programmed deso rption(CO_2-TPD),H_2 tempe rature programmed reduction(H_2-TPR),H_2 diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(H_2-DRIFT),Raman,etc.The 2% Ru/CeO_2 catalyst exhibited good conversion of 95% and selectivity greater than 99% toward cyclohexylamine.The volcano curve describing the activity and Ru state was found.Owning to the "acidic site isolation" by surrounding alkaline sites,condensation between the neighboring amine molecules could be effectively suppressed.The catalyst also showed good stability and applicability for other aromatic amines and heteroarenes containing different functional groups.     

Methods for enhancing the capacity of electrode materials in low-temperature lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries(LIBs) have evolved into the mainstream power source of ene rgy sto rage equipment by reason of their advantages such as high energy density,high power,long cycle life and less pollution.With the expansion of their applications in deep-sea exploration,aerospace and military equipment,special working conditions have placed higher demands on the low-temperature performance of LIBs.However,at low temperatures,the severe polarization and inferior electrochemical activity of electrode materials cause the acute capacity fading upon cycling,which greatly hindered the further development of LIBs.In this review,we summarize the recent important progress of LIBs in low-temperature operations and introduce the key methods and the related action mechanisms for enhancing the capacity of the various cathode and anode materials.It aims to promote the development of high-performance electrode materials and broaden the application range of LIBs.