Biomimetic Approach for Highly Selective Artificial Water Channels Based on Tubular Pillar[5]arene Dimers

Artificial water channels mimicking natural aquaporins (AQPs) can be used for selective and fast transport of water. Here, we quantify the transport performances of peralkyl-carboxylate-pillar[5]arenes dimers in bilayer membranes. They can transport ≈10⁷ water molecules/channel/second, within one order of magnitude of the transport rates of AQPs, rejecting Na⁺ and K⁺ cations. The dimers have a tubular structure, superposing pillar[5]arene pores of 5 Å diameter with twisted carboxy-phenyl pores of 2.8 Å diameter. This biomimetic platform, with variable pore dimensions within the same structure, offers size restriction reminiscent of natural proteins. It allows water molecules to selectively transit and prevents bigger hydrated cations from passing through the 2.8 Å pore. Molecular simulations prove that dimeric or multimeric honeycomb aggregates are stable in the membrane and form water pathways through the bilayer. Over time, a significant shift of the upper vs. lower layer occurs initiating new unexpected water permeation events through toroidal pores.     

Mechanosensitive membrane probes: push-pull papillons

ABSTRACT

Design, synthesis and evaluation of push-pull N,N′-diphenyl-dihydrodibenzo[a,c]phenazines are reported. Consistent with theoretical predictions, donors and acceptors attached to the bent mechanophore are shown to shift absorption maxima to either red or blue, depending on their positioning in the chromophore. Redshifted excitation of push-pull fluorophores is reflected in redshifted emission of both bent and planar excited states. The intensity ratios of the dual emission in more and less polar solvents imply that excited-state (ES) planarization decelerates with increasing fluorophore macrodipole, presumably due to attraction between the wings of closed papillons. ES planarization of highly polarisable papillons is not observed in lipid bilayer membranes. All push-pull papillon amphiphiles excel with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) from bent ES as micelles in water and mechanosensitivity in viscous solvents. They are not solvatochromic and only weakly fluorescent (QY < 4%).     

Gas-Sensing Activity of Amorphous Copper Oxide Porous Nanosheets

In this paper, the gas-sensing properties of copper oxide porous nanosheets in amorphous and highly crystalline states were comparatively investigated on the premise of almost the same specific surface area, morphology and size. Unexpectedly, the results show that amorphous copper oxide porous nanosheets have much better gas sensing properties than highly crystalline copper oxide to a serious of volatile organic compounds, and the lowest detection limit (LOD) of the amorphous copper oxide porous nanosheets to methanal is even up to 10 ppb. By contrast, the LOD of the highly crystalline copper oxide porous nanosheets to methanal is 95 ppb. Experiments prove that the oxygen vacancies contained in the amorphous copper oxide porous nanosheets play a key role in improving gas sensitivity, which greatly improve the chemical activity of the materials, especially for the adsorption of molecules containing oxygen-groups such as methanal and oxygen.     

Fluorescence sensing of 2,4,6‐trinitrophenol based on hierarchical IRMOF‐3 nanosheets fabricated through a simple one‐pot reaction

Hierarchical IRMOF‐3 nanosheets were firstly fabricated by a simple reflux strategy and were then characterized through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. They revealed a high fluorescence quantum yield (13.2%) and showed excellent selectivity and sensitivity for 2,4,6‐trinitrophenol (TNP) over a concentration range of 1–29 μM in aqueous solution. This work demonstrates that the facile fabrication method for hierarchical IRMOF‐3 nanosheets with favorable selectivity and sensitivity for TNP could produce a new point of view on novel metal–organic framework nanomaterials for on‐line detection of organic pollutants in water.     

Orientation dependence of the electrocaloric effect of ferroelectric bilayer thin films

An analytical thermodynamic theory is applied to investigate the electrocaloric effect of ferroelectric BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ bilayer thin films with different orientations at room temperature. Theoretical analysis indicates that the strong electrostatic coupling between the layers results in the suppression of ferroelectricity at a critical relative thickness which occurs approximately at 50%, 23%, and 12% of SrTiO₃ fraction in the (001), (110), and (111) bilayer thin films, respectively. The ferroelectric bilayer thin films are respected to have the largest electrocaloric effect at this critical relative thickness. Moreover, the electrocaloric effect strongly depends on the orientation and the (110) oriented bilayer thin films have the largest electrocaloric effect. Consequently, control of the orientation and the relative thickness of SrTiO₃ layer can be used to adjust the electrocaloric effect of ferroelectric bilayer thin films, which may provide the potential for practical application in refrigeration devices.     

Pair interaction of bilayer-coated nanoscopic particles

The pair interaction between bilayer membrane-coated nanosized particles has been explored by using the self-consistent field (SCF) theory. The bilayer membranes are composed of amphiphilic polymers. For different system parameters, the pair-interaction free energies are obtained. Particular emphasis is placed on the analysis of a sequence of structural transformations of bilayers on spherical particles, which occur during their approaching processes. For different head fractions of amphiphiles, the asymmetrical morphologies between bilayers on two particles and the inverted micellar intermediates have been found in the membrane fusion pathway. These results can benefit the fabrication of vesicles as encapsulation vectors for drug and gene delivery.     

Electronic transport of bilayer graphene with asymmetry line defects

In this paper,we study the quantum properties of a bilayer graphene with(asymmetry) line defects.The localized states are found around the line defects.Thus,the line defects on one certain layer of the bilayer graphene can lead to an electric transport channel.By adding a bias potential along the direction of the line defects,we calculate the electric conductivity of bilayer graphene with line defects using the Landauer-Biittiker theory,and show that the channel affects the electric conductivity remarkably by comparing the results with those in a perfect bilayer graphene.This one-dimensional line electric channel has the potential to be applied in nanotechnology engineering.     

I–V characteristics and critical currents in superconducting/ferromagnetic bilayers

Current–voltage (I–V) characteristics and critical current density, J_c, for the onset of vortex motion were measured at different magnetic fields, H, and temperatures, T, in a superconducting (S)/ferromagnetic (F) bilayer and in a single Nb film. We choose Nb as a superconductor and a weak ferromagnetic alloy, Pd_1−xNi_x with x = 16, as F. We found that J_c was smaller for the S/F bilayer with respect to the single Nb film. The result was related to the reduced value of the superconducting order parameter in the bilayer.     

无序双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜的电子性质

基于安德森紧束缚模型,本文研究了无序双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜的电子性质. 数值计算结果表明在双层都无序掺杂的情况下,六角氮化硼量子薄膜的电子是局域的, 其表现为绝缘体性质;而对于单层掺杂(无论是氮原子还是硼原子)的双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜, 在能谱的带尾出现了持续的迁移率边.这就说明在单层掺杂的双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜中产生了 金属绝缘体转变.这一结果证实了有序-无序分区掺杂的理论模型,为理解及调控双层六角氮化硼量子薄膜 的电子性质提供了有益的理论指导.