Preparation of porous polylactide microspheres by emulsion‐solvent evaporation based on solution induced phase separation

Porous polylactide (PLA) microspheres were fabricated by an emulsion‐solvent evaporation method based on solution induced phase separation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations confirmed the porous structure of the microspheres with good connectivity. The pore size was in the range of decade micrometers. Besides large cavities as similarly existed on non‐porous microspheres, small pores were found on surfaces of the porous microspheres. The apparent density of the porous microspheres was much smaller than that of non‐porous microspheres. Fabrication conditions such as stirring rate, good solvent/non‐solvent ratio, PLA concentration and dispersant (polyvinyl alcohol, PVA) concentration had an important influence on both the particle size and size distribution and the pore size within the microspheres. A larger pore size was achieved at a slower stirring rate, lower good solvent/non‐solvent ratio or lower PLA concentration due to longer coalescence time. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

3,4-Dinitrobenzamide Functionalized CdTe/ZnTe Quantum Dots as a Nanoprobe for Imaging Glutathione S-Transferase in Living Cells

A novel fluorescent nanoprobe for glutathione S‐transferase (GST) has been developed by incorporating 3,4‐dinitrobenzamide (a specific substrate of GST) onto CdTe/ZnTe quantum dots. The probe itself displays a low background signal due to the strong quenching effect of the electron‐withdrawing unit of 3,4‐dinitrobenzamide on the quantum dots. However, GST can efficiently catalyze the nucleophilic substitution of reduced glutathione on the p‐nitro group of the nanoprobe, leading to a large fluorescence enhancement. Most notably, this enhancement shows high selectivity and sensitivity towards GST instead of the other biological substances. With this nanoprobe, a simple fluorescence imaging method for intracellular GST has been established, and its applicability has been successfully demonstrated for imaging GST in different living cells, which reveals that A549 cells express GST about 3 times higher than NIH‐3T3 and Hela cells.     

Highly porous magnetite/graphene nanocomposites for a solid-state electrochemiluminescence sensor on paper-based chips

Graphene-nanosheet-based highly porous magnetite nanocomposites (GN-HPMNs) have been prepared using a simple solvothermal method and used as an immobilization matrix for the fabrication of a solid-state electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor on paper-based chips. Highly porous Fe₃O₄ nanocrystal clusters were coated with acrylate and wrapped tightly on the skeleton of graphene nanosheets. The structures and sizes of the GN-HPMNs could be tuned by varying the proportions of the solvents ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol. Then, the relatively highly porous ones with an average diameter of about 65 nm were combined with Nafion to form composite films on an electrode surface for immobilization of Ru(bpy)₃ ²⁺ (bpy is 2,2′-bipyridine). Because of their porosity, negatively charged surface, and cooperative characteristics of magnetic nanomaterials and graphene, under an external magnetic field, the GN-HPMNs ensured effective immobilization, excellent electron transfer, and long-term stability of Ru(bpy)₃ ²⁺ in the composite film. The sensor developed exhibited excellent reproducibility with a relative standard deviation of 0.65 % for 30 continuous cycles. It was found to be much more favorable for detecting compounds containing tertiary amino groups and DNAs with guanine and adenine. A detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio of 3) of 5.0 nM was obtained for tripropylamine. As an application example, 0.5 nM single-nucleotide mismatch could be detected. This was the first attempt to introduce magnetic nanomaterials and an external magnetic field into paper-based chips. The sensor developed has the advantages of high sensitivity, good stability, and wide potential applicability as well as simplicity, low cost, and good disposability.

Correction to: Derived from Diaryl-λ3-Iodane-Containing Polyoxometalate: Iodine-Doped Molybdenum Carbide for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Journal of Cluster Science -     

硫脲掺杂金刚石的高温高压合成及FT-IR光谱研究

利用温度梯度法,在6.5 GPa、1 300～1 350℃的高温高压极端物理条件下,通过在FeNiCo-C合成体系中添加硫脲(CH4N2S)成功合成了金刚石,所合成的晶体呈现出黄色且具有六-八面体形貌.利用扫描电镜(SEM)对所合成金刚石的表面形貌进行了表征,测试结果表明,随着合成体系中CH4N2S添加量的逐渐增加,所合成金刚石的表面变得逐渐粗糙.借助傅里叶红外(FT-IR)光谱对金刚石样品内部的氮、氢缺陷以及化学键结构进行了测试分析,结果表明,金刚石中的氢元素以-CH3,-CH2-,C-H形式存在,而其内部的氮杂质以C心、A心形式存在.此外,在3 300～3 600 cm-1观察到NH的吸收带.     

Application studies of activated carbon derived from rice husks produced by chemical-thermal process--a review

The production of functional activated carbon materials starting from cheap natural precursors using environmentally friendly processes is a highly attractive subject in material chemistry today. Recently, much attention has been focused on the use of plant biomass to produce functional carbonaceous materials, encompassing economic, environmental and social issues. Besides the classical route to produce activated carbons from fossil materials, rice husk shows clear advantages in that it can generate a variety of cheap and sustainable carbonaceous materials with attractive nanostructure and functional patterns for a wide range of applications. From a comprehensive literature review, it was found that porous carbon that derived from rice husks, in addition to having wide availability, has fast kinetics and appreciable adsorption capacities too. Porous carbon materials also play a significant role in new applications such as catalytic supports, battery electrodes, capacitors, and gas storage. In this review, an extensive list of rice husks literature has been compiled. Conclusions have been drawn from the literature reviewed, and suggestions for future research are proposed.