Self-healing Elastomers and Coatings via Metal Coordination Bonds.

Self-healing materials can recover the material from physical damage, and extend the life of equipment. Metal coordination bonds are supramolecular interactions with tunable stability and sensitivity to external stimuli, which are crucial for developing self-healing materials. Incorporating metal coordination bonds into elastomers and coatings can give materials the ability to repair damage and improve the material performance.

A series of tetraphenylene-acetonitrile AIE compounds with D-A-D' structure for drugs delivery systems of paclitaxel: Synthesis, structure-activity relationship and anti-tumors effect.

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials are attracting great attention in biomedical fields such as sensors, bioimaging, and cancer treatment, et al. due to their strong fluorescence emission in the aggregated state. In this contribution, a series of tetraphenylene-acetonitrile AIE compounds with D-A-D' structures were synthesized by Suzuki coupling reaction and Knoevenagel condensation, and their relationship of chemical structure and fluorescence properties was investigated in detail, among which TPPA compound was selected as the monomer owing to the longest emission wavelength at about 530 nm with low energy band gap ΔE 3.

Synthesis of an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) dye with pH-sensitivity based on tetraphenylethylene-pyridine for fluorescent nanoparticles and its applications in bioimaging and in vitro anti-tumor effect.

In this contribution, a novel AIE monomers 2-(4-styrylphenyl)- 1,2-diphenylvinyl)styryl)pyridine (SDVPY) with smart fluorescent pH-sensitivity basing on tetraphenylethylene-pyridine were successfully synthesized for the first time, subsequently, a series of amphiphilic copolymers PEG-PY were achieved by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of SDVPY and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA), which would self-assemble in water solution to form core-shell nanoparticles (PEG-PY FONs) with about 150 nm diameter. The PEG-PY FONs showed obvious fluorescence response to Fe, HCO and CO ions in aqueous solution owing to their smart pH-sensitivity and AIE characteristics, and their maximum emission wavelength could reversibly change from 525 nm to 624 nm. The as-prepared PEG-PY FONs showed also prospective application in cells imaging with the variable fluorescence for different pH cells micro-environment.

Liquid Crystalline Nanoparticles via Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly: Morphology Evolution and Function Regulation.

Liquid crystalline nanoparticles (LC NPs) are a kind of polymer NPs with LC mesogens, which can form special anisotropic morphologies due to the influence of LC ordering. Owing to the stimuli-responsiveness of the LC blocks, LC NPs show abundant morphology evolution behaviors in response to external regulation. LC NPs have great application potential in nano-devices, drug delivery, special fibers and other fields.

Automatically Predicting Material Properties with Microscopic Images: Polymer Miscibility as an Example.

Many material properties are manifested in the morphological appearance and characterized using microscopic images, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Polymer miscibility is a key physical quantity of polymer materials and is commonly and intuitively judged using SEM images. However, human observation and judgment of the images is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and hard to be quantified.

Colloidal crystals of monodisperse fluoro-nanoparticles by aqueous polymerization-induced self-assembly.

Here, we prepared monodisperse fluorinated nanospheres with the diameter regulated from 100 to 200 nm and PDI of the diameter lower than 0.05 polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). Mono/multilayered 2D and large-scale ordered 3D lattices were formed by solvent evaporation-induced colloidal self-assembly.

A Versatile Theranostic Nanoplatform with Aggregation-Induced Emission Properties: Fluorescence Monitoring, Cellular Organelle Targeting, and Image-Guided Photodynamic Therapy.

Photosensitizers (PSs) play a key role in the photodynamic therapy (PDT) of tumors. However, commonly used PSs are prone to intrinsic fluorescence aggregation-caused quenching and photobleaching; this drawback severely limits the clinical application of PDT, necessitating new phototheranostic agents. Herein, a multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform (named TTCBTA NP) is designed and constructed to achieve fluorescence monitoring, lysosome-specific targeting, and image-guided PDT.

Super solvent of cellulose with extra high solubility for tunable cellulose structure with versatile application.

Low-temperature two-step concentrated HSO was discovered to be a solvent with high cellulose solubility [>300 g/L (17 wt%)], fast cellulose dissolution, high regeneration yield (>0.92 g/g), and cellulose being mouldable during regeneration. The superior performance was enabled by the much better compatibility of cellulose with lower concentrated HSO at low temperature, compared with that of high concentrated HSO.

generation and evolution of polymer toroids by liquid crystallization-assisted seeded dispersion polymerization.

An effective method is presented for preparing high solid content azobenzene-containing triblock copolymer toroidal assemblies by liquid crystallization-assisted seeded dispersion polymerization. Vesicles are prepared polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA), and used as seeds for further chain extension. By introducing smectic liquid crystalline (LC) ordering into the core-forming block, toroids are formed during the polymerization.

Stimuli-Responsive Pickering Emulsions Regulated via Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly Nanoparticles.

With the development of reversible deactivated radical polymerization techniques, polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is emerging as a facile method to prepare block copolymer nanoparticles in situ with high concentrations, providing wide potential applications in different fields, including nanomedicine, coatings, nanomanufacture, and Pickering emulsions. Polymeric emulsifiers synthesized by PISA have many advantages comparing with conventional nanoparticle emulsifiers. The morphologies, size, and amphiphilicity can be readily regulated via the synthetic process, post-modification, and external stimuli.

Prevalence and Genetic Analysis of β-Thalassemia in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of the Yunnan Province, China.

β-Thalassemia is the most common monogenetic hemolytic hemoglobin-associated disease in the south of China; the distribution of genetic mutations associated with this condition varies according to geographic regions. This study investigated the prevalence and distribution of β-thalassemia-associated mutations across different ethnic groups in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of the Yunnan Province, China. This cross-sectional study included 4723 participants (15-45 years old) who volunteered for thalassaemia screening from the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture from May 2017 to October 2020.

observation of heterogeneous catalytic organic reactions aggregation-induced emission luminogens.

Herein, we demonstrated for the first time that customized aggregation-induced emission luminogens can be utilized to directly visualize heterogeneous catalytic organic reactions, which further enables catalyst screening. We used the retro-Diels-Alder reaction as a model reaction for illustration, and identified montmorillonite K10 as the best catalyst in our catalyst screening.

In Situ Visualization of Reversible Diels-Alder Reactions with Self-Reporting Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens.

The dynamic reversible Diels-Alder (DA) reactions play essential roles in both academic and applied fields. Currently, in situ visualization and direct monitoring of the formation and cleavage of covalent bonds in DA reactions are hampered by finite compatibility and expensive precise instruments, especially limited in solid reactions. We herein report a fluorescence system capable of in situ visualization by naked eyes and monitoring DA/retro-DA reactions.

Polymeric nanostructures based on azobenzene and their biomedical applications: synthesis, self-assembly and stimuli-responsiveness.

Amphiphilic polymers can self-assemble to form nanoparticles with different structures under suitable conditions. Polymer nanoparticles functionalized with aromatic azo groups are endowed with photo-responsive properties. In recent years, a variety of photoresponsive polymers and nanoparticles have been developed based on azobenzene, using different molecular design strategies and synthetic routes.

Recent advances in electrospinning supramolecular systems.

Electrospinning is one of the simple, versatile, and convenient techniques for producing nanofibers that have found numerous applications in the fields of biomedical engineering, surface materials, and catalysis. Despite the great achievements, the electrospinning compounds are still limited to the utilization of polymers with high molar mass which are regarded as an indispensable element for the production of nanofibers. It is found that electrospinning chemicals based on supramolecular systems can avoid the use of high molecular weight polymers, and it is emerging as a powerful route to generate fibers in the nano-scale size.

Host-guest complexation modulated aqueous polymerization-induced self-assembly for monodisperse hierarchical nanoflowers.

This work presents a one-step synthesis of monodisperse nanoflowers by aqueous polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA), modulated by host-guest interactions. Owing to the low monomer swelling of nanoparticles restricted by host-guest complexation, hierarchical surficial micellar structures were generated at the outer surface of the vesicles, forming fractal nanoflowers with a diameter polydispersity as low as 1.01.

Intrinsic hydroquinone-functionalized aggregation-induced emission core shows redox and pH sensitivity.

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) fluorophores exhibit strong fluorescence in an aggregated state but emit no or weak fluorescence in dilute solutions. This emerging class of AIE optical materials comprise a variety of functionalities. Here an AIE luminescence core, 1-hydroquinol-1,2,2-triphenylethene (HQTPE), has been designed and synthesized.

Gas-Responsive Self-Assemblies for Mimicking the Alveoli.

In human body, alveoli are the primary sites for gas exchange which are formed by the dilation and protrusion of bronchioles at the end of the lung, and the rapid gas-exchanging process in the alveoli ensures normal life activities. Based on the unique structures and functions of alveoli, it is necessary to study the regulation mechanism of its formation, respiration, and apoptosis. Herein, a class of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)-derived amphiphilic triblock copolymers, PEO-b-P(DEAEMA-co-FMA)-b-PS is designed and synthesized.

Multidimensional Information Encryption and Storage: When the Input Is Light.

The issue of information security is closely related to every aspect of daily life. For pursuing a higher level of security, much effort has been continuously invested in the development of information security technologies based on encryption and storage. Current approaches using single-dimension information can be easily cracked and imitated due to the lack of sufficient security.

Multifunctional Organic Fluorescent Probe with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics: Ultrafast Tumor Monitoring, Two-Photon Imaging, and Image-Guide Photodynamic Therapy.

The development of multifunctional photosensitizers (PSs) with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties plays a critical role in promoting the progress of the photodynamic therapy (PDT). In this work, a multifunctional PS (named DSABBT NPs) with AIE activity has been designed and prepared to carry out ultrafast staining, excellent two-photon bioimaging, and high-efficiency image-guided PDT. Simply, DSABBT with AIE characteristic was synthesized by one-step Schiff reaction of 4-(diethylamino)-salicylaldehyde (DSA) and 4,7-bis(4-aminophenyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BBT).

Organelle-Specific Photoactivation of DNA Nanosensors for Precise Profiling of Subcellular Enzymatic Activity.

Understanding of the functions of enzymes in diverse cellular processes is important, but the design of sensors with controllable localization for in situ imaging of subcellular levels of enzymatic activity is particularly challenging. We introduce herein a spatiotemporally controlled sensor technology that permits in situ localization and photoactivated imaging of human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) within an intracellular organelle of choice (e.g.

An Adaptable Cryptosystem Enabled by Synergies of Luminogens with Aggregation-Induced-Emission Character.

The strong emission in the solid state and the feasibility of introducing stimuli responsiveness make aggregation-induced-emission luminogens promising for optical information encryption. Yet, the vast majority of previous reports rely on subtle changes in the molecular conformation or intermolecular interactions, limiting the robustness, multiplicity, capacity, and security of the resulting cryptosystems. Herein, a versatile cryptographic system is presented based on three interconnected and orthogonal covalent transformations concerning a tetraphenylethylene-maleimide conjugate.

Cellulosic sponges with pH responsive wettability for efficient oil-water separation.

To obtain efficient oil-water separation materials with responsiveness, cellulosic porous materials with switchable wettability in response to pH changes were developed by reacting cellulose acetoacetate sponges with alkylamines of varying carbon chain length via dynamic covalent enamine bonds. The resulting sponges reversibly changed between being superhydrophilic (θ = 0°) and highly hydrophobic (maximal θ = 146°) under suitable pH conditions while maintained the favorable porous structures. Notably, the functionalized sponges exhibited high and selective oil absorption capacity (40-80 g/g) and satisfying desorption ability of 80%, and could efficiently separate oil-water mixtures and emulsions with extremely high efficiency (> 99%) in a controllable manner.

Carnosine-Modified Fullerene as a Highly Enhanced ROS Scavenger for Mitigating Acute Oxidative Stress.

Fullerenes are known as highly efficient scavengers for reactive oxygen species (ROSs). In this study, a carnosine-modified fullerene derivative (C-Car) was synthesized via a one-step nucleophilic addition reaction. C-Car forms nanoparticles (NPs) readily in water at neutral pH and room temperature through self-assembly.