Continuous-Flow and Scalable Synthesis of Pd@Pt Core-Shell Nanocrystals with Enhanced Activity toward Oxygen Reduction.

We report a scalable method based on continuous-flow reactors for conformally coating the surfaces of facet-controlled Pd nanocrystals with uniform, ultrathin shells made of Pt. The key to the success of such an approach is the identification of a proper polyol to generate the Pt atoms at a relatively slow rate to ensure adequate surface diffusion and thus the formation of uniform shells in a layer-by-layer fashion. We first demonstrate the concept using the production of Pd@Pt (n = 2-5) core-shell icosahedral nanocrystals and then have the strategy successfully extended to the syntheses of Pd@Pt cubic and octahedral nanocrystals.

A facile and green route to fabricate fiber-reinforced membrane for removing oil from water and extracting water under slick oil.

Except the good separation performance, the membranes used for oil-water mixture separation should be fabricated with as little wastewater produced as possible. Thus, we proposed a green tactic--water vapor induced phase inversion to prepare the high-strength and superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic nonwoven fabric-based cotton/PA6/PAN membranes which is based on the polymer/solvent/nonsolvent ternary system analysis. Differing from adding additives in polymer solution or coagulation bath, above proposed strategy has an "subtractive effect" with the advantages of constructing three-dimensional porous structure and greatly reducing the organic wastewater produced during preparation process.

One-Pot Synthesis of Pd@Pt Core-Shell Icosahedral Nanocrystals in High Throughput through a Quantitative Analysis of the Reduction Kinetics.

The rational design and implementation of a one-pot method is reported for the facile synthesis of Pd@Pt (nL denotes the number of Pt atomic layers) core-shell icosahedral nanocrystals in a single step. The success of this method relies on the use of Na PdCl and Pt(acac) as the precursors to Pd and Pt atoms, respectively. Our quantitative analysis of the reduction kinetics indicates that the Pd and Pt precursors are sequentially reduced with a major gap between the two events.

Platinum Cubic Nanoframes with Enhanced Catalytic Activity and Durability Toward Oxygen Reduction.

We report the synthesis and electrocatalytic properties of Pt cubic nanoframes with ultrathin ridges less than 2 nm in thickness. The nanoframes were synthesized through site-selected deposition of Pt onto the corner and edge sites of Pd nanocubes, followed by selective removal of the Pd cores via chemical etching. The Br ions chemisorbed on the side faces of a Pd nanocube played a critical role in enabling the siteselected deposition.

Quantitative Analysis of the Reduction Kinetics Responsible for the One-Pot Synthesis of Pd-Pt Bimetallic Nanocrystals with Different Structures.

We report a quantitative understanding of the reduction kinetics responsible for the formation of Pd-Pt bimetallic nanocrystals with two distinctive structures. The syntheses involve the use of KBr to manipulate the reaction kinetics by influencing the redox potentials of metal precursor ions via ligand exchange. In the absence of KBr, the ratio between the initial reduction rates of PdCl4(2-) and PtCl4(2-) was about 10.

Therapeutic application of injectable thermosensitive hydrogel in preventing local breast cancer recurrence and improving incision wound healing in a mouse model.

Many drug delivery systems (DDSs) have been investigated for local targeting of malignant disease with the intention of increasing anti-tumor activity and minimizing systemic toxicity. An injectable thermosensitive hydrogel was applied to prevent locoregional recurrence of 4T1 breast cancer in a mouse model. The presented hydrogel, which is based on poly(ethyleneglycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-PCL-PEG, PECE), flows freely at normal temperature, forms a gel within seconds in situ at body temperature, and eventually releases the drug in a consistent and sustained fashion as it gradually biodegrades.

Effect of endostatin on preventing postoperative progression of distant metastasis in a murine lung cancer model.

Aims And Background: The relapse and metastasis of cancer remain a predominant cause of death after surgical removal of the primary tumor. There is a positive linkage between the postoperative upregulation of systemic angiogenic activity and distant tumor metastasis. In the present study, we established a spontaneous metastasis model and investigated whether antiangiogenic therapy using endostatin could prevent the progression of distant metastasis after removal of the primary tumor.

[Detection of anisakid nematodes by an SYBR green I real-time PCR].

Objective: To establish an SYBR Green I real-time quantitative PCR method for the detection of anisakid nematodes with zoonotic potential from Taiwan Strait.

Methods: Anisakid larvae of six species (Anisakis simplex, A. physeteris, Raphidascaris trichiura, Contracaecum aduncum, C.