Discrimination of -diol-containing molecules using fluorescent boronate affinity probes by principal component analysis.

Fluorescent boronate affinity molecules have gained increasing attention in the field of fluorescence sensing and detection due to their selective recognition capability towards -diol-containing molecules (-diols). However, the conventional fluorescent boronate affinity molecules face a challenge in differentiating the type of -diol only by their fluorescence responses. In this study, a simple method was used to discriminate different types of -diols, including nucleosides, nucleotides, sugars, and glycoproteins based on the phenylboronic acid-functionalized fluorescent molecules combined with principal component analysis (PCA).

Synthesis of fluorescent artificial receptors with high specificity for simultaneous detection of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Development of multiple detection methods to monitor non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in food is an effective way to protect human health. Here, we aimed to synthesize fluorescent artificial receptors by molecular imprinting technique to construct a simultaneous detection system targeting NSAIDs. Rhodamine B and fluorescein-functionalized silanes were employed as the fluorescence signal reporters for naproxen and ketoprofen, respectively.

Advances in functional photonic crystal materials for the analysis of chemical hazards in food.

Chemical contaminants in food generally include natural toxins (mycotoxins, animal toxins, and phytotoxins), pesticides, veterinary drugs, environmental pollutants, heavy metals, and illegal additives. Developing a low-cost, simple, and rapid detection technology for harmful substances in food is urgently needed. Analytical methods based on different advanced materials have been developed into rapid detection methods for food samples.

A microfluidic approach for rapid and continuous synthesis of glycoprotein-imprinted nanospheres.

Many strategies have been reported for the preparation of glycoproteins imprinted polymers, but they take a long time and cannot produce imprinted polymers continuously. Herein, a microfluidic synthesis approach was developed to make glycoproteins imprinted nanospheres rapidly and continuously. By using ovalbumin as a model template and a synthesized phenylboronic acid-tagged silane reagent as the functional monomer, the synthetic conditions including the polymerization contents, the flow rate and the microfluidic reactor size were comprehensively studied.

A simple approach to prepare fluorescent molecularly imprinted nanoparticles.

Fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymers (FMIPs) are gaining increasing attention in analytical and medical sciences, particularly silica-based FMIPs due to their low cost, environmentally friendly nature and good biocompatibility. However, at present, silica-based FMIPs are usually prepared through several steps and displayed low selectivity. Here, a simple approach was utilized for preparing silica-based FMIP nanoparticles.

Dual roles of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane in preparing molecularly imprinted silica particles for specific recognition of target molecules.

3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) is a silane widely used to supply amino groups for further modifications on various materials, but it is less studied as a catalyst to catalyze sol-gel silica polymerization. Here, by using APTES as the catalyst instead of the conventional basic catalysts, a novel strategy was developed to prepare silica-based molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Meanwhile, APTES was employed as the functional monomer to create imprinted nanocavities for specific recognition of target molecules.

Uniaxial tension-induced fracture in gold nanowires with the dependence on size and atomic vacancies.

Atomic vacancies play an important role in the deformation and fracture processes of a metallic nanowire subjected to uniaxial tension. However, it is a great challenge to explore such evolution by experimental methods. Here, molecular dynamics simulations were used to study the deformation, fracture mechanism and mechanical character of gold nanowires with different atomic vacancies and sizes.

Shock-induced breaking of the nanowire with the dependence of crystallographic orientation and strain rate.

The failure of the metallic nanowire has raised concerns due to its applied reliability in nanoelectromechanical system. In this article, the breaking failure is studied for the [100], [110], and [111] single-crystal copper nanowires at different strain rates. The statistical breaking position distributions of the nanowires have been investigated to give the effects of strain rate and crystallographic orientation on micro-atomic fluctuation in the symmetric stretching of the nanowires.

Shock-induced breaking in the gold nanowire with the influence of defects and strain rates.

Defects in metallic nanowires have raised concerns about the applied reliability of the nanowires in nanoelectromechanical systems. In this paper, molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the deformation and breaking failure of the [100] single-crystal gold nanowires containing defects at different strain rates. The statistical breaking position distributions of the nanowires show mechanical shocks play a critical role in the deformation of nanowires at different strain rates, and deformation mechanism of the nanowire containing defects is based on a competition between shocks and defects in the deformation process of the nanowire.

Nanoscale interface of metals for withstanding momentary shocks of compression.

The failure of the nanoscale metallic interface has raised concerns owing to the effect interfacial amalgamation has on its application in nanoelectronic devices. Single crystal copper [110] and [100], which are set as two components of [110]‖[100] nanocrystalline copper, are used to simulate the interfacial properties using molecular dynamics simulations. Repeated tension and compression cycles show that the two components of the interface can come into contact and separate without interfacial amalgamation.

Theoretical investigation on the influence of temperature and crystallographic orientation on the breaking behavior of copper nanowire.

In this paper, molecular dynamics simulations have been conducted to study the mechanical stretching of copper nanowires which will finally lead to the formation of suspended liner atomic chains. A total of 2700 samples have been investigated to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the influence of temperature and orientation on the formation of linear atomic chains. Our results prove that linear atomic chains do exist for [100], [111] and [110] crystallographic directions.