A membrane separation technique for optimizing sample preparation of MALDI-TOF MS detection

Here, we report a new method based on the combination of membrane separation technology and nanomaterial to rapid detection of peptides and protein with MALDI-TOF MS. This method shows advantages as it can inhibit the heterogeneous of sample spot and enhance the target molecular signal intensity.     

基于自组装技术的纳米功能材料研究进展

纳米自组装技术的迅速发展拓宽了纳米材料的应用领域.利用自组装合成纳米新材料是一种有效且具有发展前景的方法.本综述介绍了纳米自组装技术的研究价值及近年来新兴的制备方法,重点论述了驱动纳米自组装的作用类型,包括范德华力、静电作用、磁力作用、氢键、熵效应以及疏溶剂相互作用、DNA碱基互补配对等其它相互作用,同时也对纳米自组装体的应用情况进行了阐述,并探讨了利用纳米自组装技术研制新材料所面临的机遇和挑战.     

Natural Cellulose Substance Based Energy Materials

Natural cellulose substances have been proven to be ideal structural templates and scaffolds for the fabrication of artificial functional materials with designed structures, psychochemical properties and functionalities. They possess unique hierarchically porous network structures with flexible, biocompatible, and environmental characteristics, exhibiting great potentials in the preparation of energy-related materials. This minireview summarizes natural cellulose-based materials that are used in batteries, supercapacitors, photocatalytic hydrogen generation, photoelectrochemical cells, and solar cells. When natural cellulose substances are employed as the structural template or carbon sources of energy materials, the three-dimensional porous interwoven structures are perfectly replicated, leading to the enhanced performances of the resultant materials. Benefiting from the mechanical strengths of natural cellulose substances, wearable, portable, free-standing, and flexible materials for energy storage and conversion are easily obtained by using natural cellulose substances as the substrates.     

用于CO2分离的混合基质膜中填充剂的研究进展

高效、绿色和低能耗的CO_2捕集技术是解决能源气体净化和温室气体减排问题的关键。膜分离技术以其高效、节能、低碳等特点在CO_2捕集领域具有潜在的发展前景。目前,CO_2分离膜的研究主要集中在混合基质膜内的填充剂,通过调控填充剂解决膜内渗透性和选择性间的"博弈"效应。近年来,研究者们发现填充剂通常是影响混合基质膜分离性能的关键因素,采用不同的填充剂可改善混合基质膜的气体分离性能。基于此,本文对目前已经开发出的填充剂进行了归纳总结,以便为设计开发新型混合基质膜用于CO_2分离提供参考。     

Recent trends on electrochemical carbon-based nanosensors for sensitive assay of pesticides

Pesticides are substances or mixtures used to prevent, control, and reduce harmful organisms, are divided into various groups as carbamates, organophosphates, organochlorines, pyrethroids, fungicides, herbicides, and rodenticides. Uncontrolled and long-term use of pesticides has become an important issue that causes environmental pollution and health problems. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective sensors to determine pesticides in various samples. Electrochemical techniques stand out with high sensitivity, easy application, low cost, and user-friendliness, among other analysis techniques such as spectroscopic and chromatographic methods. Furthermore, carbon nanomaterials are advantageous materials for the sensor design as modification agents due to their unique electrical, physical, electrocatalytic, and chemical features. In this review, the most significant studies on the electroanalysis of pesticides (e.g., carbaryl, carbofuran, chlorpyrifos, malathion, methyl parathion, paraoxon) using carbon-based nanosensors in the last five years are overviewed. In addition, electrochemical methods and the carbon nanomaterials used in these studies are also evaluated.     

Materials Space-Tectonics: Atomic-level Compositional and Spatial Control Methodologies for Synthesis of Future Materials

Reactions occurring at surfaces and interfaces necessitate the creation of well-designed surface and interfacial structures. To achieve a combination of bulk material (i.e., framework) and void spaces, a meticulous process of “nano-architecting” of the available space is necessary. Conventional porous materials such as mesoporous silica, zeolites, and metal–organic frameworks lack advanced cooperative functionalities owing to their largely monotonous pore geometries and limited conductivities. To overcome these limitations and develop functional structures with surface-specific functions, the novel materials space-tectonics methodology has been proposed for future materials synthesis. This review summarizes recent examples of materials synthesis based on designing building blocks (i.e., tectons) and their hybridization, along with practical guidelines for implementing materials syntheses and state-of-the-art examples of practical applications. Lastly, the potential integration of materials space-tectonics with emerging technologies, such as materials informatics, is discussed.     

Synthesis of Biomorphic ZrO2-CeO2 Nanostructures by Silkworm Silk Template

A simple and green technique has been developed to prepare hierarchical biomorphic ZrO₂-CeO₂, using silkworm silk as the template. Different from traditional immersion technics, the whole synthesis process depends more on the restriction or direction functions of the silkwormsilk template. The analytic results showed that ZrO₂-CeO₂ exhibited a well-crystallized hierarchically interwoven hollow fiber structure with 16-28 μm in diameter. The grain size of the sample calcined at 800 oC was about 14 nm. Consequently, the interwoven meshwork at three dimensions is formed due to the direction of biotemplate. The action mechanism is summarily discussed here. It may bring the biomorphic ZrO₂-CeO₂ nanomaterials with hierarchical interwoven structures to more applications, such as catalysts.     

Sustainable alternative in environmental monitoring using carbon nanoparticles as optical probes

Environmental monitoring is getting more important nowadays due to the greater stress faced by the natural environment in the era of urbanisation and industrialisation. To accomplish the task, rapid and reliable analytical probes are essentially needed to perform the monitoring at real time basis with high sensitivity and accuracy. In view of this, analytical probes developed using carbon nanoparticles are one of the latest alternatives that are proven with capability to detect various analytes of the environment. Carbon nanoparticles portray good fluorescence property that enables the integration onto optical sensing transducers. Further engineering via surface functionalization can be performed in the interest to improve the selectivity and sensitivity of the probes. There are several advantages of using carbon nanoparticles and the most significant benefit is the sustainability prospect as compared to other groups of fluorophores. Carbon nanoparticles can be synthesised with greener approach via simple pyrolysis or hydrolysis processes that involve minimum use of toxic or harmful starting precursors, besides able to tap on using renewable resources such as carbon rich agricultural wastes. The synthesis is often performed under mild condition and produces less or no side chemical products. Carbon nanoparticles by nature show low toxicity effect to the environment. This review focuses specifically of the sustainable significances, advantages and achievements in adopting carbon nanoparticles as an alternative for environmental monitoring.     

金纳米粒子在TiO2气凝胶基质上的行为: 光催化活性评价和结构研究

TiO2 -Au aerogels containing different amounts of gold nanoparticles of different sizes (5 and 16 nm) were successfully synthesized using a sol-gel procedure, and were tested for salicylic acid photodegradation under UV irradiation. The structure and morphology of the obtained materials were investigated using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption-desorption measurements. UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to study the optical properties. The effects of the gold nanoparticles on the TiO2 crystallization process were twofold, as follows: (i) the number of crystallized zones was strongly related to the concentration of the gold nanoparticles, and (ii) the smaller gold particles increased the time taken for the crystallization of the samples. It was found that the noble metal-doped samples exhibited higher degradation rates compared with bare titania. It was found that the most active photocatalyst in each studied system was the sample with the highest concentration of gold nanoparticles. Additionally, the highest degradation rate value was obtained with the smallest Au nanoparticles (46.4 10-3 μmol/(L·s).     

Synthesis and Infrared Multi‐band Absorption Properties of Core‐shell NaYF4:Yb3+, Er3+@SiO2 Nanoparticles

Due to the unique size effects, nanomaterials in infrared absorption have attracted much attention for their strong absorption in the infrared region. To achieve the infrared multi‐band absorption, we propose to synthesize a core‐shell structure nanomaterial consisting of NaYF₄:Yb³⁺, Er³⁺ core and a layer of SiO₂ as shell. A series of NaYF₄:Yb³⁺, Er³⁺ nanocrystals were synthesized through hydrothermal method by adjusting the ratio of citric acid(CA)‐to‐NaOH, and the effects of CA concentration, and NaOH concentration were studied in detail. NaYF₄:Yb³⁺, Er³⁺@SiO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized by sol‐gel method using TEOS as silica source. The results show that the core‐shell NaYF₄:Yb³⁺, Er³⁺@SiO₂ nanoparticles were successfully synthesized. Up‐conversion spectra of these nanoparticles were recorded with 980 nm laser excitation under room temperature. There are no changes of the emission centers of nanoparticles before or after silica coating, but the emission intensities of nanoparticles after silica coating are weakened. Furthermore, the property of infrared multi‐band absorption was tested through ultraviolet‐visible‐near infrared spectrophotometer and infrared absorption spectra. The results illustrate that the multi‐band infrared absorption nanomaterial was successfully synthesized.