A signal amplifying MOF-based probe:on-site and ultrasensitive dual-channel portable detection of Hg in groundwater through a fluorimetrically and RGB-based sensing assay.

Mercury (II) ions (Hg) are a significant source of heavy metal contamination in groundwater, posing a serious threat to human health and the environment. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of a new detection technique with high sensitivity for monitoring Hg in contaminated groundwater. Here, we developed a signal amplifying MOF-based probe (NXS@ZIF-8) for on-site and ultrasensitive dual-channel portable detection of Hg in groundwater.

Engineering an Ionic Aggregation-Induced Luminescence-Labeled Fluorescence Lateral Flow Immunoassay for C-Reactive Protein in Human Plasma.

The surge of lateral flow immunoassays (LFAs) stimulates researchers to explore the novel vibrant aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen)-doped nanoparticles to improve the accuracy and reliability of LFAs. However, the loading amount of AIEgens currently used for the LFA in microspheres is limited due to their symmetrical large conjugated skeleton structure, which significantly reduces the fluorescence brightness of the signal reporter in the LFA. Herein, an ionic AIEgens with a donor-acceptor type was developed as the signal reporter of the LFA for C-reactive protein (CRP).

Discovering Facet-Dependent Formation Kinetics of Key Intermediates in Electrochemical Ammonia Oxidation by a Electrochemiluminescence Active Probe.

Facile evaluation of formation kinetics of key intermediate is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of electrochemical ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) mechanisms and the design of efficient electrocatalysts. Currently, elucidating the formation kinetics of key intermediate associated with rate-determining step is still challenging. Herein, 4-phtalamide-N-(4'-methylcoumarin) naphthalimide (CF) is developed as a molecular probe to detect NH intermediate during AOR via electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and further investigated the formation kinetics of NH on Pt catalysts with different crystal planes.

CuO Nanozymes Catalyze Cysteine and Glutathione Depletion Induced Ferroptosis and Cuproptosis for Synergistic Tumor Therapy.

The latest research identifies that cysteine (Cys) is one of the key factors in tumor proliferation, metastasis, and recurrence. The direct depletion of intracellular Cys shows a profound antitumor effect. However, using nanozymes to efficiently deplete Cys for tumor therapy has not yet attracted widespread attention.

A ratiometric fluorescent probe revealing the abnormality of acetylated tau by visualizing polarity in Alzheimer's disease.

Abnormal neuronal polarity leads to early deficits in Alzheimer's disease (AD) by affecting the function of axons. Precise and rapid evaluation of polarity changes is very important for the early prevention and diagnosis of AD. However, due to the limitations of existing detection methods, the mechanism related to how neuronal polarity changes in AD is unclear.

Photodynamic O Economizer Encapsulated with DNAzyme for Enhancing Mitochondrial Gene-Photodynamic Therapy.

Emerging research suggests that mitochondrial DNA is a potential target for cancer treatment. However, achieving precise delivery of deoxyribozymes (DNAzymes) and combining photodynamic therapy (PDT) and DNAzyme-based gene silencing together for enhancing mitochondrial gene-photodynamic synergistic therapy remains challenging. Accordingly, herein, intelligent supramolecular nanomicelles are constructed by encapsulating a DNAzyme into a photodynamic O economizer for mitochondrial NO gas-enhanced synergistic gene-photodynamic therapy.

Structure and Defect Engineering Synergistically Boost High Solar-to-Chemical Conversion Efficiency of Cerium oxide/Au Hollow Nanomushrooms for Nitrogen Photofixation.

Photocatalytic nitrogen fixation using solar illumination under ambient conditions is a promising strategy for production of the indispensable chemical NH . However, due to the catalyst's limitations in solar energy utilization, loss of hot electrons during transfer, and low nitrogen adsorption and activation capacity, the unsatisfactory solar-to-chemical conversion (SCC) efficiencies of most photocatalysts limit their practical applications. Herein, cerium oxide nanosheets with abundant strain-V defects were anchored on Au hollow nanomushroom through atomically sharp interfaces to construct a novel semiconductor/plasmonic metal hollow nanomushroom-like heterostructure (denoted cerium oxide-AD/Au).

A tube-like Pd@coordination polymer with enhanced solar light harvesting for boosting photocatalytic H production in a wide pH range and seawater.

Coordination polymers (CPs) have emerged as promising candidates for photocatalytic H production owing to their structural tailorability and functional diversity. However, the development of CPs with high energy transfer efficiency for highly efficient photocatalytic H production in a wide pH range still faces many challenges. Here we constructed a novel tube-like Pd(ii) coordination polymer with well-distributed Pd nanoparticles (denoted as Pd/Pd(ii)CPs) based on the coordination assembly of rhodamine 6G and Pd(ii) ions and further photo-reduction under visible light irradiation.

Fabrication of Supramolecular System Derived from Poly β-cyclodextrin Coupling Quinoline Dderivative and Its Fluorescence Sensing of Zinc Ion in Pure Water Environment.

Cyclodextrin (CD) is an important guest material owing to the water solubility and biocompatibility. In the paper, an organic small molecule was synthesized. According to supramolecular self-assembly, the organic molecule was bounded to the cavity of Poly β-cyclodextrin, which was characterized by IR, SEM and TEM et al.

Confinement and passivation of perovskite quantum dots in porous natural palygorskite toward an efficient and ultrastable light-harvesting system in water.

Perovskite quantum dots (QDs) are promising as representative candidates to construct next-generation superior artificial light-harvesting systems (ALHSs). However, their high sensitivity to external environments, especially to water, imposes a stringent limitation for their actual implementation. Herein, by interface engineering and encapsulation with natural palygorskite (PAL), a water-resistant light-harvesting CsPbBr@PAL antenna was prepared.

Simultaneous Sensing of HS and ATP with a Two-Photon Fluorescent Probe in Alzheimer's Disease: toward Understanding Why HS Regulates Glutamate-Induced ATP Dysregulation.

Energy deprivation and reduced levels of hydrogen sulfide (HS) in the brain is closely associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, there is currently no fluorescent probe for precise exploration of both HS and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to directly demonstrate their relationship and their dynamic pattern changes. Herein, we developed a two-photon fluorescent probe, named AD-3, to simultaneously image endogenous HS and ATP from two emission channels of fluorescent signals in live rat brains with AD.

Preparation, characterization and cell labelling of strong pH-controlled bicolor fluorescence carbonized polymer dots.

As a class of important carbon nanomaterial, carbonized polymer dots (CPDs), also called carbon dots (CDs), have aroused wide interest owing to their unique water solubility, fluorescence properties, and rich surface functional groups. However, the directional tuning of the fluorescence properties of CPDs remains incomplete because of the influence of many factors like diameter, solvent and surface groups. Particularly, most carbonized polymer dots are synthesized in a neutral pH environment.

NIR II Light-Response Au Nanoframes: Amplification of a Pressure- and Temperature-Sensing Strategy for Portable Detection and Photothermal Therapy of Cancer Cells.

Quantitative detection of cancer cells using portable devices is promising for the development of simple, fast, and point-of-care cancer diagnostic techniques. However, how to further amplify the detection signal to improve the sensitivity and accuracy of detecting cancer cells by portable devices remains a challenge. To solve the problem, we, for the first time, synthesized folic-acid-conjugated Au nanoframes (FA-Au NFs) with amplification of pressure and temperature signals for highly sensitive and accurate detection of cancer cells by portable pressure meters and thermometers.

Site-Selective Photosynthesis of Ag-AgCl@Au Nanomushrooms for NIR-II Light-Driven O- and O-Evolving Synergistic Photothermal Therapy against Deep Hypoxic Tumors.

Light-driven endogenous water oxidation has been considered as an attractive and desirable way to obtain O and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. However, the use of a second near-infrared (NIR-II) light to achieve endogenous HO oxidation to alleviate tumor hypoxia and realize deep hypoxic tumor phototherapy is still a challenge. Herein, novel plasmonic Ag-AgCl@Au core-shell nanomushrooms (NMs) were synthesized by the selective photodeposition of plasmonic Au at the bulge sites of the Ag-AgCl nanocubes (NCs) under visible light irradiation.

NIR emissive light-harvesting systems through perovskite passivation and sequential energy transfer for third-level fingerprint imaging.

A near-infrared (NIR) emissive artificial light-harvesting system with two-step high-efficiency sequential resonance energy transfers was fabricated based on the growth of MAPbBr quantum dots in the supramolecular self-assembly of a Zn(II) carboxyl-functionalized pillar[5]arene coordination polymer and two different fluorescent dyes, eosin Y and Nile blue. This system could realize NIR fluorescent imaging of the sweat pores of latent fingerprints, opening a new avenue to design perovskite-based NIR emitting artificial light-harvesting systems for third-level fingerprint imaging.

Nitrogen-Doped Chiral CuO/CoO Nanofibers: An Enhanced Electrochemiluminescence Sensing Strategy for Detection of 3,4-Dihydroxy-Phenylalanine Enantiomers.

l-3,4-Dihydroxy-phenylalanine (l-DOPA) is the most effective drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, which plays a very important role in clinical and neurochemistry. However, how to achieve high-sensitivity recognition of l-DOPA still faces challenges. Here, a facile strategy is presented to construct nitrogen-doped chiral CuO/CoO nanofibers (N-CuO/CoO NFs) with nanozyme activity and electrochemiluminescence property, in which CuO/CoO NFs are used as the catalytic activity center and chiral cysteine (Cys) is used as the inducer of chiral recognition, for enantioselective catalysis and sensitive recognition of DOPA enantiomers.

Red-light-responsive coordination polymers nanorods: New strategy for ultrasensitive photothermal detection of targeted cancer cells.

The development of highly sensitive and simple detection methods for cancer cells is an important challenge to achieve early cancer diagnosis and effective treatment. In this paper, folic acid (FA)-conjugated platinum (IV) methylene blue (MB) coordination polymers nanorods (denoted as FA-PtCPs NRs) were developed by the photochemical method. The structure of the PtCPs NRs was investigated using the meta-dynamics and genetic algorithms (MTD-GC) method, and it was found that the coordination bond was formed between platinum (IV) and N atoms of MB.

Spatiotemporally controlled O and singlet oxygen self-sufficient nanophotosensitizers enable the high-yield synthesis of drugs and efficient hypoxic tumor therapy.

Carrying out the syntheses of drugs toxic to tumors based on the specific features of the tumor microenvironment is critical for ensuring specific antitumor efficacy. However, achieving high-yield synthetic toxic drugs from non-toxic agents and reducing their drug resistance in hypoxic tumors remain challenges. Herein we created a tumor-microenvironment-responsive porous Pt/Pt(iv) methylene blue coordination polymer nanoshuttle (Pt/PtMBCPNS) photosensitizer with spatiotemporally controlled O and singlet oxygen (O) self-sufficient for the high-yield synthesis of drugs and efficient hypoxic tumor therapy.

Anisotropic Evaporator with a T-Shape Design for High-Performance Solar-Driven Zero-Liquid Discharge.

Solar-driven evaporation is regarded as a sustainable wastewater treatment strategy for clean water recovery and salt condensation. However, achieving both high evaporation rate and long-term stability remain challenging due to poor thermal management and rapid salt accumulation and blocking. Here, a T-shape solar-driven evaporator, composed of a surface-carbonized longitudinal wood membrane (C-L-wood) is demonstrated as the top "" for solar harvesting/vapor generation/salt collection and another piece of natural L-wood as the support "" for brine transporting and thermally insulating.

Tumor Microenvironment-"AND" Near-Infrared Light-Activated Coordination Polymer Nanoprodrug for On-Demand CO-Sensitized Synergistic Cancer Therapy.

Carbon monoxide (CO) as an emerging treatment holds great promise for inducing the apoptosis of cancer cells. Here coordination assembled strategy is first reported for synthesis of Cu(II)-flavone coordination polymer (NCu-FleCP) CO nanoprodrug that is stable in normal physiological conditions, and yet readily reduces to small size prodrug complex and releases CO on demand under glutathione (GSH) and near infrared (NIR) light. Specifically, after uptaking by cancer cells, local GSH attacked coordination bond within NCu-FleCP, resulting in the release of Cu(I) and free Fle.

Visualization nanozyme based on tumor microenvironment "unlocking" for intensive combination therapy of breast cancer.

Nanozymes as artificial enzymes that mimicked natural enzyme-like activities have received great attention in cancer therapy. However, it remains a great challenge to design nanozymes that precisely exert its activity in tumor without producing off-target toxicity to surrounding normal tissues. Here, we report a synergetic enhancement strategy through the combination between nanozyme and tumor vascular normalization to destruct tumors, which was based on tumor microenvironment (TME) "unlocking.

β-Cyclodextrin Polymerized in Cross-Flowing Channels of Biomass Sawdust for Rapid and Highly Efficient Pharmaceutical Pollutants Removal from Water.

Water pollution arising from pharmaceuticals has raised great concerns about the potential risks for biosphere and human health. However, rapid and efficient removal of pharmaceutical contaminants from water remains challenging. Wood sawdust, a byproduct of the wood-processing industry, is an abundant, cost-effective, and sustainable material with a unique hierarchically porous microstructure.

High-Throughput Metal Trap: Sulfhydryl-Functionalized Wood Membrane Stacks for Rapid and Highly Efficient Heavy Metal Ion Removal.

Heavy metal pollution is a severe problem worldwide. Great efforts have been devoted in developing effective and eco-friendly ways to remove heavy metal ions from contaminated water. However, challenges remain in terms of the high cost, the complex preparation processes required, low efficiency, and difficulties in scaling-up.