Nanomaterials in Cerebrovascular Disease Diagnose and Treatment

Cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) are among the most serious diseases with high mortality and disability rates. The prevalent diagnosis and treatment methods of CVDs include imaging and interventional therapy. With the development of nanotechnology, large numbers of nanomaterials have been applied to the diagnosis and treatment of CVDs, mainly including carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, fullerenes, and dendrimers. In this review, the applications of nanomaterials in the field of diagnosis and treatment of CVDs, mainly including drug target delivery, imaging, therapy, endovascular treatment, and angiogenesis, are summarized. The applications of nanomaterials in the field of CVD are almost in the laboratory, and more effort is needed for clinical translation. The aim of this review is to provide useful information for future research and equipment development.     

Self-assembled free-floating nanomaterials from sequence-defined polymers

Sequence-defined polymers can be programmed to self-assemble into precise nanostructures for applications in biosensing, drug delivery, optics, and molecular computation. Inspired by the natural self-assembly processes present in biological protein and DNA systems, sets of molecular design rules have emerged across materials classes as instructions to build a variety of tunable structures. This review highlights recent advances in self-assembled sequence-defined and sequence-specific polymers across peptides, peptoids, DNA, and non-biological synthetic materials, with a focus on synthesis, assembly processes and overall structure. Specifically, these self-assembled structures are free-floating, as such constructs can potentially serve as a platform for the aforementioned applications. Emphasis is placed on the molecular design of polymers that self-assemble into zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional nanostructures. With the development of automated syntheses and increasing control over self-assembly, future work may focus on emerging classes of compatible hybrid materials with exciting directions toward new architectures and applications.     

The Early Steps of Molecule-to-Material Conversion in Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD): A Case Study

Transition metal complexes with β-diketonate and diamine ligands are valuable precursors for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of metal oxide nanomaterials, but the metal-ligand bond dissociation mechanism on the growth surface is not yet clarified in detail. We address this question by density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) in combination with the Blue Moon (BM) statistical sampling approach. AIMD simulations of the Zn β-diketonate-diamine complex Zn(hfa)₂TMEDA (hfa = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionate; TMEDA = N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine), an amenable precursor for the CVD of ZnO nanosystems, show that rolling diffusion of this precursor at 500 K on a hydroxylated silica slab leads to an octahedral-to-square pyramidal rearrangement of its molecular geometry. The free energy profile of the octahedral-to-square pyramidal conversion indicates that the process barrier (5.8 kcal/mol) is of the order of magnitude of the thermal energy at the operating temperature. The formation of hydrogen bonds with surface hydroxyl groups plays a key role in aiding the dissociation of a Zn-O bond. In the square-pyramidal complex, the Zn center has a free coordination position, which might promote the interaction with incoming reagents on the deposition surface. These results provide a valuable atomistic insight on the molecule-to-material conversion process which, in perspective, might help to tailor by design the first nucleation stages of the target ZnO-based nanostructures.     

Feasible Tuning of Surface OVs on (001) TiO2 for Superior Photocatalytic Nitrogen Fixation Activity

A feasible tuning method for oxygen vacancies was realized by annealing under 3 atm H₂ with (001)-exposed TiO₂ nanosheets. The colored TiO₂ sample exhibits an excellent N₂ photo-fixation rate owing to the abundant oxygen vacancies (OVs) thus demonstrating that annealing with high pressure H₂ is exceedingly efficient for tuning surface OVs.     

A Tri-state Fluorescent Switch with “Gated” Solid-state Photochromism Induced by an External Force

Mr. Chen Qian, Dr. Zhimin Ma, Mr. Jianwei Liu, Mrs. Xue Zhang, Prof. Shitao Wang and Prof. Zhiyong Ma. In this article, we report a newly designed molecule composed of a dihydroazulene (DHA) group and a phenothiazine (PTZ) moiety, which achieves aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE), mechanochromism and “gated” solid-state photochromism upon stimulation by an external force. Grinding loosens intermolecular interactions in the crystal and causes a red-shift of fluorescence from 570 nm to 600 nm. Meanwhile, the ring-opening reaction of DHA unit is activated by grinding and a remarkable photochromism could be observed from the grinded powder. The reddish emission of the grinded powder peaked at 600 nm weakened gradually and finally became dark, and a new absorption band at 470 nm emerged in the absorption spectra. Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculation results reveal that the intramolecular intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) process is replaced by a locally excited (LE) emission on the DHA group, which leads to the quenching of fluorescence. Its impressive photochromic property inspired us to a simple but effective way to develop an encryption system which can let the correct information be displayed upon external stimulation.     

Nido-carborane encapsulated by BODIPY zwitterionic polymers: Synthesis,photophysical properties and cell imaging

Carborane encapsulation was visualized by using fluoroboropyrrole (BODIPY) zwitterionic polymer as fluorescence marker. Firstly, a water-soluble fluorescent probe carrier was prepared by combining the BODIPY derivatives with poly (carboxybetaine methacrylate) (p-CBMA). Two oil-in-water carborane polymers were self-assembled in organic solvents by means of dual ion hydrogen bonding. The ultraviolet and fluorescence spectra were measured with different organic solvents, and the spectra ranged from 531 to 555 nm. The dynamic self-assembly effect was tested by TEM, and the internal microscopic phenomena of the water-soluble polymer were further observed. It was confirmed that two kinds of BODIPY zwitterionic polymers were firmly encase the fat-soluble carborane, forming an oval shape. Carboranes are water-soluble, can achieve biocompatible expression, and can visualize the degree of aggregation in the targeted cells through its own fluorescence effect. Subsequent imaging of the cells showed that both polymers entered the targeted cells.     

大斯托克斯位移远红光至近红外荧光探针用于检测肝损伤过程中过氧化亚硝酸盐的动态变化

肝损伤是影响公众健康的重大问题之一, 已经引起了人们越来越多的关注. 而过表达的过氧化亚硝酸盐(ONOO^?)在肝损伤等疾病的发病机制中起着重要作用, 被认为是一种与早期肝损伤密切相关的生物活性分子. 因此, 为了探究ONOO^?在肝损伤过程中的作用, 开发可以实现肝损伤过程中ONOO^?高选择性和实时检测的分析方法具有重要意义. 本文报道了一种具有大斯托克斯位移的远红光至近红外(FR-NIR)ONOO^?荧光探针. 由于该探针具有大的斯托克斯位移, 可以有效消除光谱重叠和自吸收的干扰, 从而显著提高成像的信噪比. 此外, 该探针对ONOO^?具有高的灵敏度(检出限为25.8 nmol/L)和良好的选择性, 被成功用于药物诱导肝损伤过程中ONOO^?信号的成像检测.     

高中化学创新实验课程的设计与实施*

将学生所学的化学理论知识与生活实际和学科最前沿的研究热点相结合,开发并实施了 “氢氧化镁纳米材料的制备及其在处理重金属废水中的应用” 创新实验课程。该课程通过文献调研、方案设计、实验操作、结果与讨论以及论文撰写等环节,激发学生的创新潜能,系统培养学生的创新综合素质和责任意识,这有助于更好地达成化学学科核心素养。     

Improved Interfacial Bonding Strength and Reliability of Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Cement Reinforcement Applications

Poor bonding strength between nanomaterials and cement composites inevitably lead to the failure of reinforcement. Herein, a novel functionalization method for the fabrication of functionalized graphene oxide (FGO), which is capable of forming highly reliable covalent bonds with cement hydration products, and therefore, suitable for use as an efficient reinforcing agent for cement composites, is discussed. The bonding strength between cement and aggregates was improved more than 21 times with the reinforcement of FGO. The fabricated FGO also demonstrated many important features, including high reliability in cement pastes, good dispersibility, and efficient structural refinement of cement hydration products. With the incorporation of FGO, cement mortar samples demonstrated up to 40 % increased early and ultimate strength. Such results make the fast demolding and manufacture of light constructions become highly possible, and show strong advantages on improving productivity, saving cost, and reducing CO₂ emissions in practical applications.