Electrochemical Detection of Superoxide Anion Released by Living Cells by Manganese(III) Tetraphenyl Porphine as Superoxide Dismutase Mimic

Superoxide anion, one of the most active reactive oxygen species, is associated with the development of many diseases. So monitoring superoxide anion in living cells is of great significance for the pathological research of many diseases. In this work, a new non-enzymatic sensor for the detection of superoxide anion(O₂^·-) was developed, which was fabricated by the nanocomposites composed of manganese(III) tetraphenyl porphine(MnTPP) as super-oxide dismutase mimic and electrochemical reduced graphene oxide(ERGO) as electrode support material to modify the glassy carbon electrode(GCE). The electrochemical behavior of the fabricated electrode(MnTPP/ERGO/GCE) was performed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) and cyclic voltammetry(CV), which revealed that MnTPP/ERGO/GCE possessed good catalytic ability to the electrochemical reduction of O₂^·-. The MnTPP/ERGO/GCE showed excellent electroanalysis performance towards O₂^·- using the technique of differential pulse voltammetry(DPV) with a linear relationship in the range of 0.2-110.0 μmol/L, a sensitivity of 445 μA·L·mmol^-1·cm^-2 and a detection limit of 0.039 μmol/L(S/N=3). The real-time monitoring of O₂^·- from MCF-7 breast cancer cells stimulated by zymosan was realized in this work, which indicates that the MnTPP/ERGO/GCE hold potential application for electrochemical quantification of superoxide anions in biological applications.     

Synthesis,characterization and superoxide dismutase activity of some octahedral nickel(II) complexes

Four new mixed ligand nickel(II) complexes viz., [Ni(tren)(phen)](ClO₄)₂ (1), [Ni(tren)(bipy)](ClO₄)₂ (2), [Ni(SAA)(PMDT)] · 2H₂O (3) and [Ni(SAA)(TPTZ)] (4) (tren = tris(2-aminoethylamine), phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine, SAA = salicylidene anthranilic acid, PMDT = N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine, TPTZ = 2,4,6-tri(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine) have been synthesized and characterized by means of elemental analysis, spectroscopic, magnetic susceptibility and cyclic voltammetric measurements. Single crystal X-ray analysis of [Ni(tren)(phen)](ClO₄)₂ (1) and [Ni(SAA)(PMDT)] · 2H₂O (3) has revealed the presence of a distorted octahedral geometry. Superoxide dismutase activity of these complexes has also been measured.     

Mussel-inspired chemistry in producing mechanically robust and bioactive hydrogels as skin dressings

The development of hydrogels as skin dressings demonstrates a great potential in real life applications. To achieve this, the hydrogel has to conquer its natural poor mechanical strength, and to prolong its lifetime, antifatigue and self-healing properties originating from dynamic interactions are also required. As skin dressings, the hydrogel needs to maintain its ductility while pursuing the above mentioned properties. In this work, poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate is used to produce skin dressings by reinforcing poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate/alginate double network hydrogels with a crosslinker from mussel-inspired chemistry, which is 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine. This crosslinking methodology significantly improved mechanical strength of the hydrogel, with 11,200% increase in compressive failure strength; it endowed the hydrogel with outstanding antifatigue and training strengthening properties that makes its mechanical strength increasing in a 50 cycles compressive test; the hydrogel showed excellent self-healing properties that in rheological characterization; it also displayed enhanced storage modulus after withstanding a shear strain up to 1100%; meanwhile, the hydrogel exhibited extreme ductility with an elastic modulus of only 10.90–16.53 kPa. 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine also renders the hydrogel its inherent antioxidant activity, conductivity, and bioadhesiveness. Together with the highly transparent appearance, the hydrogels possess a great potential and practibility in the fields of skin dressings.     

Designing High-Donicity Anions for Rechargeable Potassium Superoxide/Peroxide Batteries

A battery cathode based on the superoxide/peroxide redox not only inherits the advantage of oxygen (O₂) batteries in high capacities and low costs but also overcomes the disadvantages in O₂ storage, electrolyte evaporation, and anode deactivation due to O₂ crossover. Herein, we report an enhanced potassium superoxide (KO₂)/peroxide (K₂O₂) conversion by adopting a high-donicity anion additive in the ether-based electrolyte. Such an anion was synthesized via a “Solvent-in-Anion” strategy and validated to enhance the electron donicity of the electrolyte. The use of high-donicity anion could lead to enhanced KO₂ utilization (≈90.2 %) by retarding electrode passivation and allow the full charging back of K₂O₂ through the solution-mediated pathway without electrocatalysts. No apparent cell degradation is observed during the first 120 cycles by controlling the reversible depth-of-discharge capacity at 292 mAh g⁻¹ within an O₂-free region. The K−KO₂ cell delivers a high energy efficiency (>84.4 %) and a lifespan of over 1440 hours.     

超氧阴离子

介绍了超氧阴离子 O-·2 的产生、检测、化学性质、反应动力学、生物学研究、应用等方面的研究进展。