Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Au(I) as singlet oxygen generator for enhanced tumor photodynamic and photothermal therapy

Diketopyrrolopyrrole(DPP) derivatived photosensitizers(PSs) with near infrared(NIR) absorption and good photophysical properties have drawn tremendous attention in cancer phototherapy. However, current DPP derivatives present unsatisfactory quantum yield of singlet oxygen(~1O_2) due to the large energy gap between the excited singlet and triplet states. To tackle this challenge, herein the DPP core is functionalized with triphenylphosphine-Au(I) group(Th DPP-Au), leading to a high~1O_2 quantum yield of 0.65. Theoretical calculation attributes the enhancement to spin-orbit coupling and population of the triplet excition upon photoexcitation. The hydrophilic Th DPP-Au nanoparticals(NPs) are prepared via nano-reprecipitation, which displays homogeneous size and excellent light absorption ability(ε=4.382×10~4 M~(-1)cm~(-1)). And the Th DPP-Au NPs exhibit low dark toxicity and high phototoxicity, which can effectively kill tumor cells via ~1O_2 induced mitochondrial apoptotic pathway upon irradiation. Furthermore, in vivo experiments demonstrate that Th DPP-Au NPs can selective accumulation in tumor and present excellent synergistic photodynamic/photothermal therapy guided by fluorescence and photothermal dual imaging.     

Co-Intercalation of Dual Charge Carriers in Metal-Ion-Confining Layered Vanadium Oxide Nanobelts for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Vanadium-based oxides with high theoretical specific capacities and open crystal structures are promising cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). In this work, the confined synthesis can insert metal ions into the interlayer spacing of layered vanadium oxide nanobelts without changing the original morphology. Furthermore, we obtain a series of nanomaterials based on metal-confined nanobelts, and describe the effect of interlayer spacing on the electrochemical performance. The electrochemical properties of the obtained Al_2.65V₆O₁₃ ⋅ 2.07H₂O as cathodes for AZIBs are remarkably improved with a high initial capacity of 571.7 mAh ⋅ g⁻¹ at 1.0 A g⁻¹. Even at a high current density of 5.0 A g⁻¹, the initial capacity can still reach 205.7 mAh g⁻¹, with a high capacity retention of 89.2 % after 2000 cycles. This study demonstrates that nanobelts confined with metal ions can significantly improve energy storage applications, revealing new avenues for enhancing the electrochemical performance of AZIBs.     

Structural balance in fully signed networks

Node attributes play an important role in shaping network structures, but are generally ignored in transformations of structural balance. A fully signed network consisting of signs of edges and nodes expresses both properties of relationship and node attributes. In this article, we generalize the definition of structural balance in fully signed networks. We transform the unbalanced fully signed network by not only changing signs of edges but also changing the signs of nodes. We propose a memetic algorithm to transform unbalanced networks at the lowest cost. Experiments show that our algorithm can solve this problem efficiently, and different node attribute assignments may lead to different optimized structures. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 497–511, 2016     

Fine-Tuning the Homometallic Interface of Au-on-Au Nanorods and Their Photothermal Therapy in the NIR-II Window

The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of plasmonic nanomaterials is highly dependent on their structures. Going beyond simple shape and size, further structural diversification demands the growth of non-wetting domains. Now, two new dimensions of synthetic controls in Au-on-Au homometallic nanohybrids are presented: the number of the Au islands and the emerging shapes. By controlling the interfacial energy and growth kinetics, a series of Au-on-AuNR hybrid structures are successfully obtained, with the newly grown Au domains being sphere and branched wire (nanocoral). The structural variety allowed the LSPR to be fine-tuned in full spectrum range, making them excellent candidates for plasmonic applications. The nanocorals exhibit black-body absorption and outstanding photothermal conversion capability in NIR-II window. In vitro and in vivo experiments verified them as excellent photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging agents.     

New polycyclic borazine species

The new polycyclic borazines B(2){1,2-N(2)C(6)H(4)}(2){B(2)(NMe(2))(2)}(2), B(2){1,8-N(2)naph}(2){B(2)(NMe(2))(2)}(2) and B(2)(NPh)(4){B(2)(NMe(2))(2)}(2) have been prepared from diborate(4) anions and two equivalents of B(2)Cl(2)(NMe(2))(2) and have been structurally characterised. Aspects of their structure and bonding are discussed and comparison made with corresponding polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Dye induced great enhancement of broadband reflection from polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals

A series of polymer stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLCs) films were prepared from cholesteric liquid crystal (Ch‐LC) mixtures containing different components such as non‐reactive LC monomer, polymerizable monomer, chiral dopant, dye, and photoinitiator upon polymerization. The influence of the polymerizable monomer and dye of Ch‐LC mixtures on the reflection properties was investigated. The reflection bandwidth for all the samples can be increased by photo‐polymerization, and the network upon polymerization derived from two different polymerizable monomers with both one and two functional groups is more effective than that from one polymerizable monomer for broadening the reflection band. Especially, a dye‐doped Ch‐LC film can reflect incident light with the bandwidth over the wavelength range of 550–2350 nm, which is due to a greater pitch gradient formed inside of Ch‐LC film. The gradient pitch network structure was firstly demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with the film prepared from high diacrylate monomer concentration and subsequently proved by using a wash‐out/refill method. The nematic liquid crystals monomers was infiltrated into the polymer network that was prefabricated by removing the low molar weight LCs from the original PSCLCs film, and SEM exhibited the existence of a pitch gradient across the film thickness. The refilled nematic liquid crystals film showed broadband reflection after polymerzition, too. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metal Ions Enhance the Affinities of Flavonoids for Human Serum Albumin in Vitro

The affinities of apigenin, chrysin, daidzein and quercetin for human serum albumin (HSA) were studied in the presence and absence of Pb²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺. The fluorescence intensities of HSA decrease remarkably with increasing concentration of these four flavonoids. Adding apigenin and chrysin resulted in blue-shifts of HSA from ?? _em=336 to 332 nm and 330 nm, respectively. However, quercetin showed an obvious red-shift of HSA from ?? _em=336 to 347 nm whereas daidzein hardly affected the ?? _em of HSA. The ?? _em shifts induced by flavonoids in the presence of mental ions were much bigger than those in the absence of these ions. Pb²⁺, Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ increased the quenching constants of these four flavonoids for HSA by 19.2?% to 43?%, 47.7?% to 117?%, 23.3?% to 64.4?%, 9.29?% to 42.2?% and 18?% to 55.6?%, respectively. The affinities of apigenin, chrysin, daidzein and quercetin for HSA increased about 9.49?%, 3.63?%, 5.73?% and 2.32?%, respectively, in the presence of Pb²⁺. Ni²⁺ improved the affinities of apigenin, chrysin, daidzein and quercetin for HSA by about 4.79?%, 0.85?%, 11.91?% and 10.55?%, respectively. Zn²⁺ enhanced the affinities of apigenin, chrysin, daidzein and quercetin for HSA by about 1.03?%, 1.34?%, 1.96?% and 13.14?%, respectively. Mg²⁺ increased the affinities of apigenin, chrysin, daidzein and quercetin for HSA by about 2.03?%, 0.7?%, 1.39?% and 2.07?%, respectively. Mn²⁺ increased the affinities of apigenin, chrysin, daidzein and quercetin for HSA by about 2.46?%, 6.71?%, 12.3?% and 4.10?%, respectively.     

Diagnosis of electron temperature in Ar/O2 mixed gas and destruction of toluene/benzene by positive dc discharge plasma

The electron temperature (T_e) of positive dc corona plasma in Ar/O₂ atmosphere was diagnosed, and plasma decomposition of toluene/benzene was studied in a razor–plate reactor. Experimental results revealed that T_e would increase with corona current until it reached a peak value, and then decrease; the volume fraction of Ar (φ_Ar) in Ar/O₂ mixed gas also influenced T_e, the higher φ_Ar, the lower T_e. Though the decomposed volume fraction of toluene/benzene was positively related to the input power, the decomposition efficiency did not monotonically increase with the specific energy density. The highest energy yield reached 3.8 g-toluene/kWh and 2.4 g-benzene/kWh, respectively.     

高活性钒酸铋的尿素沉淀法控制合成及其光催化活性增强机制研究

通过普通尿素沉淀法、超声协助和水热尿素法合成出高结晶度的单斜晶白钨矿型的钒酸铋粉末。利用XRD、SEM、DRS等手段分别对合成材料的晶型、微观形貌及光物理性质等进行研究。结果表明3种方法均能得到结晶度较高的钒酸铋颗粒,但微观形貌上有较大差异。在可见光下对难生化降解的红色染料FN-3G的降解效果表明,所合成的三种BiVO₄样品的光催化性能均较好,超声协助法和水热法合成的样品光催化活性增强的机制主要归因于结晶度的提高和比表面积的增大。结晶度的提高可降低电子和空穴复合几率,从而增强光电转换效率;而比表面积的增大主要提高了染料分子的吸附能力。     

捷联惯导系统中卡尔曼滤波的应用研究

为提高捷联惯导系统初始对准精度,提出将卡尔曼滤波技术应用于系统初始精对准,用以估计系统的失准角和惯性误差。对卡尔曼滤波技术在捷联惯导系统中的应用进行分析,建立捷联惯导系统初始对准误差模型和卡尔曼滤波量测方程。分析不同条件下不同滤波方法的滤波原理和滤波精度。在此基础上,提出一种将预测扩展卡尔曼滤波应用于逆向导航技术的思路,并进行了理论分析和捷联惯导系统自对准流程设计,为后续进一步深入开展惯导系统初始对准奠定基础。