Water treatment: functional nanomaterials and applications from adsorption to photodegradation

Global efforts for engineering desired materials which are able to treat the water sources still are ongoing in the bench level methods. Considering adsorbent and photocatalytic materials as the main reliable candidates still are encountering with struggles because of many challenges that restrict their large-scale application. This review comprehensively considered the recent advanced materials water treatment methods which involve to magnetic, activated carbon, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene (G), graphene oxide (GO), (Graphene) quantum dots, carbon nanorods, carbon nano-onions, and reduced graphene oxide (RGO), zeolite, silica and clay-based nanomaterials. The adsorption and photocatalytic properties of these nanomaterials introduced them as highly potent option for heavy metal ions and organic dyes removal and photocatalytic degradation. High specific surface area in conjugation with presenting higher kinetics of adsorption and decomposition are the main characteristics of these materials which make them appropriate to treat wastewater even in ultralow concentration of the pollutants. Considering the mechanistic aspects of the adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition process, challenges and opportunities were other subjects that have been highlighted for the discussed nanomaterials. In term of the adsorption approaches, the mechanism of adsorptions and their influence on the maximum adsorption capacity were discussed and also for photocatalyst approach the radical active spices and their role in kinetic and efficiency of the organic pollutant decomposition were provided a deep discussion.     

Controlling the Microstructure of Conjugated Polymers in High‐Mobility Monolayer Transistors via the Dissolution Temperature

It remains a challenge to precisely tailor the morphology of polymer monolayers to control charge transport. Herein, the effect of the dissolution temperature (T_dis) is investigated as a powerful strategy for morphology control. Low T_dis values cause extended polymer aggregation in solution and induce larger nanofibrils in a monolayer network with more pronounced π–π stacking. The field‐effect mobility of the corresponding monolayer transistors is significantly enhanced by a factor of four compared to devices obtained from high T_dis with a value approaching 1 cm² V^?1 s^?1. Besides that, the solution kinetics reveal a higher growth rate of aggregates at low T_dis, and filtration experiments further confirm that the dependence of the fibril width in monolayers on T_dis is consistent with the aggregate size in solution. The generalizability of the T_dis effect on polymer aggregation is demonstrated using three other conjugated polymer systems. These results open new avenues for the precise control of polymer aggregation for high‐mobility monolayer transistors.     

A Photowelding Strategy for Conductivity Restoration in Flexible Circuits

Light‐driven micropumps, which are based on electro‐osmosis with the electric field generated by photocatalytic reactions, are among most attractive research topics in chemical micromotors. Until now, research in this field has mainly been focused on the directional motion or collective behavior of microparticles, which lack practical applications. In this study, we have developed a photowelding strategy for repeated photoinduced conductivity recovery of cracked flexible circuits. We immersed the circuit in a suspension of conductive healing particles and applied photoillumination to the crack; photocatalysis of a predeposited pentacene (PEN) layer triggered electro‐osmotic effects to gather conductive particles at the crack, thus leading to conductivity recovery of the circuit. This photowelding strategy is a novel application of light‐driven micropumps and photocatalysis for conductivity restoration.     

A Light‐up Logic Platform for Selective Recognition of Parallel G‐Quadruplex Structures via Disaggregation‐Induced Emission

The design of turn‐on dyes with optical signals sensitive to the formation of supramolecular structures provides fascinating and underexplored opportunities for G‐quadruplex (G4) DNA detection and characterization. Here, we show a new switching mechanism that relies on the recognition‐driven disaggregation (on‐signal) of an ultrabright coumarin‐quinazoline conjugate. The synthesized probe selectively lights‐up parallel G4 DNA structures via the disassembly of its supramolecular state, demonstrating outputs that are easily integrable into a label‐free molecular logic system. Finally, our molecule preferentially stains the G4‐rich nucleoli of cancer cells.     

Discovery of Chemicals to Either Clear or Indicate Amyloid Aggregates by Targeting Memory‐Impairing Anti‐Parallel Aβ Dimers

Amyloid‐β (Aβ) oligomers are implicated in Alzheimer disease (AD). However, their unstable nature and heterogeneous state disrupts elucidation of their explicit role in AD progression, impeding the development of tools targeting soluble Aβ oligomers. Herein parallel and anti‐parallel variants of Aβ(1–40) dimers were designed and synthesized, and their pathogenic properties in AD models characterized. Anti‐parallel dimers induced cognitive impairments with increased amyloidogenesis and cytotoxicity, and this dimer was then used in a screening platform. Through screening, two FDA‐approved drugs, Oxytetracycline and Sunitinib, were identified to dissociate Aβ oligomers and plaques to monomers in 5XFAD transgenic mice. In addition, fluorescent Astrophloxine was shown to detect aggregated Aβ in brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid samples of AD mice. This screening platform provides a stable and homogeneous environment for observing Aβ interactions with dimer‐specific molecules.     

Anti-β-amyloid aggregation activity of enantiomeric furolactone-type lignans from Archidendron clypearia (Jack) I.C.N.

Abstract

The phytochemical investigation on the twigs and leaves of Archidendron clypearia (Jack) I.C.N. led to the isolation of three pairs of furolactone-type lignans enantiomers, including a pair of new compounds (1R,5S,6S)-Kachiranol (1a) and (1S,5R,6R)-Kachiranol (1b) and four known compounds (2a/2b and 3a/3b). Separation of the furolactone-type lignans enantiomeric mixtures was achieved using chiral HPLC for the first time. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and comparison between the experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. All optical pure compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on β-amyloid aggregation by ThT assay. Among them, the inhibitory activity of the compound 1b (71.1%) was higher than the positive control (61.0%) and other compounds. In addition, molecular dynamics and molecular docking were employed to explore the binding relationship between the ligand and the receptor.     

Effect of sunset yellow dye on morphological,optical, dielectric,thermal and mechanical properties of KDP crystal

Herein, we describe the growth and morphology of well-defined dyed crystals of KH₂PO₄ (potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate; KDP) containing organic azo (sunset yellow; SSY) dye in the {1 0 1} & {0 0 1} pyramidal growth sectors. An understanding on selective dye inclusion in various growth sector of host crystal is proposed, which will help in designing novel tailor-made dyed photonic crystals. The structural analysis and the identification of various functional groups present in as grown KDP crystals were carried out using powder XRD, FTIR and Raman studies. Solid state transmittance spectra for dyed KDP crystals displayed three absorption peaks at 230 nm, 311 nm and 477 nm, which were blue shifted for SSY dye in KDP crystal relative to neutral aqueous solution of SSY dye. These blue shifts in the absorption maxima confirm the successful incorporation of sunset yellow dye into the pyramidal growth sectors of dyed KDP crystals. The band around 409 nm in the photoluminescence emission spectrum indicates a violet emission. SSY dye doped KDP crystals showed enhanced dielectric properties and thermal stability as compared to pure KDP crystal. The mechanical strength of the KDP crystals estimated using Vickers microhardness test was found to decrease with the increase in SSY dye doping.     

Dye removal,antibacterial properties,and morphological behavior of hydroxyapatite doped with Pd ions

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) containing different contents of palladium (Pd) ions were synthesized using the co-precipitation method. The structural and morphological properties of the as-synthesized compositions were investigated using XRD and FESEM. The c/a increased from 0.728 to 0.733 with the lowest and highest contributions of Pd(II), respectively. Furthermore, the morphological features were investigated using FESEM. It was illustrated that Pd-HAP was formed as agglomerated as rod shapes with dimensions in the range of 63.4–110.3 nm for no Pd additions, and the size was reduced reaching 43.4–70.5 nm for the highest Pd contribution. Besides, the maximum height of the roughness (R_t) grew from 183.6 up to 236.5 nm for the lowest and highest Pd(II). Besides, the obtained specific surface area was around 28.3, 42.0, and 63.4 m²/g for 0.0Pd-HAP, 0.6Pd-HAP, and 1.0Pd-HAP, respectively. The antibacterial activity was examined against both Escherichia coli (E-coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and it obvious that the activity was enhanced upon Pd content. The inhibition zone was increased from no sensitivity reaching 4.3 ± 0.9 and 4.5 ± 0.8 mm for no Pd and the highest one, respectively. The removal efficiency of dyes was examined for methylene blue (MB) and it was shown that after 120 min of irradiation, the removal efficiency reached around 86.4% for the highest contribution of Pd. The pseudo-first-order constant (K_app) increased from 0.0032 to 0.0179 min⁻¹. The recyclability of Pd-HAP denoted that removal efficiency decreased to 5.65, 8.14, 6.24, 8.76, and 10.2% for different contents of Pd(II) after 6 cycles.     

In-situ constructing visible light CdS/Cd-MOF photocatalyst with enhanced photodegradation of methylene blue

Based on high specific surface area, high porosity of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and excellent visible light response of CdS, the CdS/Cd-MOF nanocomposites were constructed by in-situ sulfurization to form CdS using Cd-MOF as precursor and the CdS loading was controlled by the dose of thioacetamide. Under the irradiation of simulated sunlight, the degradation rate of methylene blue (MB) by 10 mg MOF/CdS-6 (mass ratio of MOF to thioacetamide is 6:1) was 91.9% in 100 min, which was higher than that of pure Cd-MOF (62.3%) and pure CdS (67.5%). This is attributed to the larger specific surface area of the composite catalysts, which provides more active sites. Meanwhile, the loading of CdS obviously broadens the light response range of Cd-MOF and improves the utilization of visible light. The Mott-Schottky model experiment shows that the formed type-II heterojunction between Cd-MOF and CdS can effectively inhibit the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. Meanwhile, the photocurrent intensity of MOF/CdS-6 is 8 times and 2.5 times of that of pure Cd-MOF and CdS. In addition, MOF/CdS-6 showed good photocatalytic performance after five cycles, showing excellent stability and reusability.     

Synthesis and aggregational behavior of acidic proteinoid

Polypeptide-based acidic proteinoid containing L -glutamic acid and L -aspartic acid in excess and five other neutral and basic amino acids in minor proportions have been synthesized and found that it forms organized aggregates in an aqueous solution. The proteinoid aggregate has been characterized using ¹³C-NMR, IR, and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. The c.m.c. of the proteinoid has been determined by conductometric and pH metric methods. The aggregation studies were carried out at different temperatures and varying ionic strengths of the medium. The phase transition of the proteinoid aggregate has been determined using the fluorescence absorbance method. The aggregation behavior is shown to be dependent on the pH of the solution. This was also supported by conductivity measurements. Using methylene blue as a model drug, the drug delivery property of the proteinoid micelles were studied in acidic (pH 4.5) and neutral (pH 7.4) mediums. Using biphasic model thermochemical parameters, ΔG, ΔH, ΔS, and ΔC_p have been evaluated. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.