Size Effect of Micro-Sized Graphene Oxide on Self-Healing and Photothermal Anti-icing Coatings.

Microsized graphene oxide (GO) is promising for the development of efficient anti-icing coatings due to its excellent anti-icing activity, remarkable photothermal property, mature industrialization and easy availability. However, the size effect of microsized GO on the performance of anti-icing coatings remains unknown. Herein, a series of microsized GO with different sizes are incorporated into a supramolecular polymeric matrix to study the GO size effect and develop the self-healable and photothermal anti-icing coatings.

Globular Antifreeze Protein-Inspired Nanoparticle-Based Large-Scale T-Cell Cryoprotection System for Lymphoma Immunotherapy.

Large-scale biosafe T-cell cryopreservation is required to bring T-cell therapies to the market, but it remains challenging due to the cytotoxicity of common cryoprotectants [e.g., dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)] and unavoidable ice injuries to cells.

Zwitterionic-hydrogel-based sensing system enables real-time ROS monitoring for ultra-long hypothermic cell preservation.

Hypothermic preservation (HP) is highly desired for the maintenance of the viability of living cell specimens, e.g. rare cells in whole-blood samples or therapeutic cells, in an unfrozen state.

Highly Stretchable, Self-Healing, and Sensitive E-Skins at -78 °C for Polar Exploration.

Ultralow temperature-tolerant electronic skins (e-skins) can endow polar robots with tactile feedback for exploring in extremely cold polar environments. However, it remains a challenge to develop e-skins that enable sensitive touch sensation and self-healing at ultralow temperatures. Herein, we describe the development of a sensitive robotic hand e-skin that can stretch, self-heal, and sense at temperatures as low as -78 °C.

2D nanomaterial-based 3D network hydrogels for anti-infection therapy.

Two-dimensional nanomaterials (2D NMs) refer to nanomaterials that possess a planar topography with a thickness of one or several atomic layers. Due to their large specific surface areas, atomic thickness, rough edges, and electron confinement in two dimensions, they have emerged as promising antimicrobial agents over antibiotics in combating bacterial infections. However, 2D NMs encounter issues such as low bio-safety, easy aggregation, and limited tissue penetration efficiency.

Reusable Zwitterionic Porous Organic Polymers for Bilirubin Removal in Serum.

Herein, we report a straightforward strategy to construct reusable, hemocompatible, and highly efficient bilirubin adsorbents by installing zwitterionic modules into a porous organic polymer (POP) for hemoperfusion application. Three types of zwitterions with different amounts are used to evaluate their impacts on the characteristics of POPs, including carboxybetaine methacrylate (CB), sulfobetaine methacrylate (SB), and 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC). Results show that zwitterions can improve hemocompatibility, hydrophilicity, and bilirubin uptake of the POP.

Zwitterionic microgel preservation platform for circulating tumor cells in whole blood specimen.

The immediate processing of whole blood specimen is required in circulating tumor cell-based liquid biopsy. Reliable blood specimen stabilization towards preserving circulating tumor cells can enable more extensive geographic sharing for precise rare-cell technology, but remains challenging due to the fragility and rarity of circulating tumor cells. Herein, we establish a zwitterionic magnetic microgel platform to stabilize whole blood specimen for long-term hypothermic preservation of model circulating tumor cells.

Low-Gradient Magnetophoresis of Nanospheres and Nanorods through a Single Layer of Paper.

The possible magnetophoretic migration of iron oxide nanoparticles through the cellulosic matrix within a single layer of paper is challenging with its underlying mechanism remained unclear. Even with the recent advancements of theoretical understanding on magnetophoresis, mainly driven by cooperative and hydrodynamics phenomena, the contributions of these two mechanisms on possible penetration of magnetic nanoparticles through cellulosic matrix of paper have yet been proven. Here, by using iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), both nanospheres and nanorods, we have investigated the migration kinetics of these nanoparticles through grade 4 Whatman filter paper with a particle retention of 20-25 μm.

Zwitterionic Biomaterials.

The term "zwitterionic polymers" refers to polymers that bear a pair of oppositely charged groups in their repeating units. When these oppositely charged groups are equally distributed at the molecular level, the molecules exhibit an overall neutral charge with a strong hydration effect via ionic solvation. The strong hydration effect constitutes the foundation of a series of exceptional properties of zwitterionic materials, including resistance to protein adsorption, lubrication at interfaces, promotion of protein stabilities, antifreezing in solutions, etc.

Development of Organogels for Live Encapsulation.

Encapsulation of cells/microorganisms attracts great attention in many applications, but current studies mainly focus on hydrophilic encapsulation materials. Herein, we develop a new class of hydrophobic and lipophilic organogels for highly efficient encapsulation of , an oleaginous yeast, by a mild and nonsolvent photopolymerization method. The organogels allow free diffusion of hydrophobic molecules that oleaginous yeasts require to survive and function.

A Degradable-Renewable Ionic Skin Based on Edible Glutinous Rice Gel.

Traditional wearable devices are commonly nonrecyclable and nondegradable, resulting in energy waste and environmental pollution. Here, a household degradable and renewable ionic skin based on edible glutinous rice gel is developed for a strain, temperature and salivary enzyme activity sensor. This gel depends on intermolecular and intramolecular H-bonds among amylopectin and amylose, and this presents excellent skin-like properties, including stretchability, self-healing property, and adhesion to various substrates.

Antifouling Fibrous Membrane Enables High Efficiency and High-Flux Microfiltration for Water Treatment.

Membrane biofouling has long been a major obstacle to highly efficient water treatment. The modification of the membrane surface with hydrophilic materials can effectively enhance biofouling resistance. However, the water flux of the membranes is often compromised for the improvement of antifouling properties.

A Zwitterionic-Aromatic Motif-Based ionic skin for highly biocompatible and Glucose-Responsive sensor.

Electronic skins that can sense external stimuli have been of great significance in artificial intelligence and smart wearable devices in recent years. However, most of current skin materials are unable to achieve high biocompatibility and anti-bacterial activity, which are particularly critical to wearable sensors for neonatal/premature monitoring or tissue-interfaced biosensors (such as electronic wound dressing and smart contact lens). Herein, a zwitterionic-aromatic motif-based conductive hydrogel with electrostatic and π-π interactions is designed for the development of ionic skin sensors.

Amphiphilic Marine Antifouling Coatings Based on a Hydrophilic Polyvinylpyrrolidone and Hydrophobic Fluorine-Silicon-Containing Block Copolymer.

The development of environmentally friendly and highly efficient antifouling coatings is vastly desirable in the marine industry. Herein, we prepared a novel amphiphilic block copolymer that combined hydrophilic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with hydrophobic poly(1-(1,1,2,2-perfluorodecyloxy)-3-(3,6,9-trioxadecyloxy)-propan-2-yl acrylate) (PFA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The amphiphilic copolymer (PVP-PFA-PDMS) was blended into a cross-linked PDMS matrix to form a set of controlled surface composition and surface-renewal coatings with efficient antifouling and fouling-release properties.

MOF-Based Antibiofouling Hemoadsorbent for Highly Efficient Removal of Protein-Bound Bilirubin.

A metal-organic framework (MOF)-based antibiofouling hemoadsorbent (PCB-MIL101) was developed through a facile encapsulation of MIL-101(Cr) in zwitterionic poly carboxybetaine (PCB) hydrogel. PCB-MIL101 possessed strong mechanical strength and superior hemocompatibility, ensuring its safety in hemoperfusion applications. In addition, it showed efficient and effective adsorption toward bilirubin (BR), and its maximum adsorption capacity was ∼583 mg g.

Metal-Organic Framework Traps with Record-High Bilirubin Removal Capacity for Hemoperfusion Therapy.

Adsorption-based hemoperfusion has been widely used to remove toxins from the blood of patients suffering acute liver failure (ALF). However, its detoxification effect has been severely hampered by the unsatisfactory adsorption performance of clinically used porous adsorbents, such as activated carbon (AC) and adsorption resin. Herein, two cage-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), PCN-333 (constructed from 4,4,4-s-triazine-2,4,6-triyl-tribenzoic acid (HTATB) ligands and Al metal clusters) and MOF-808 (constructed from 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid (HBTC) ligands and Zr metal clusters), are introduced for highly efficient hemoperfusion.

Hemocompatible hemoadsorbent for effective removal of protein-bound toxin in serum.

Resin hemoperfusion is a life-saving treatment for drug intoxication or hepatic failure of patients. However, current resin adsorbents exhibit a limited hemocompatibility or low adsorption efficiency, representing a major roadblock to successful clinical applications. In this work, we developed a hemocompatible and effective hemoadsorbent based on polystyrene resin (H103) microparticles encapsulated in anti-biofouling zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine) (PCB) hydrogels.

In Situ Encapsulation of Postcryopreserved Cells Using Alginate Polymer and Zwitterionic Betaine.

Currently, the state-of-the-art cryoprotectants for cell cryopreservation have bottleneck problems (such as cytotoxicity), which place enormous logistical limitations to the development of regenerative medicine. In this work, a first alginate polymer-based approach for human chondrocyte cryopreservation is reported. Combined with zwitterionic betaine, a natural osmoprotectant to offer intracellular protection, this alginate polymer-based approach can achieve ∼90% cryopreservation efficiency.

A Robust Cotton Textile-Based Material for High-Flux Oil-Water Separation.

PDMS-based materials have been extensively studied in oil-water separation. However, their successful application is commonly limited by low efficiency, vulnerability to acid/alkali, complex processing procedures, incapability for emulsion separation, etc. Here, a highly durable and robust separation material is developed by coating PDMS-based copolymers on cotton textiles with a facile sol-gel approach.

Betaine Combined with Membrane Stabilizers Enables Solvent-Free Whole Blood Cryopreservation and One-Step Cryoprotectant Removal.

Cryopreservation of red blood cells (RBCs) is fundamentally important to modern transfusion medicine. Currently, organic solvent glycerol is utilized as the state-of-the-art cryoprotectant (CPA) for RBC cryopreservation. However, glycerol must be removed before RBC transfusion to avoid intravascular hemolysis via a time-consuming deglycerolization process with specialized equipment (e.

Facile modification of electrospun fibrous structures with antifouling zwitterionic hydrogels.

Electrospinning technology can easily produce different shaped fibrous structures, making them highly valuable to various biomedical applications. However, surface contamination of biomolecules, cells, or blood has emerged as a significant challenge to the success of electrospun devices, especially artificial blood vessels, catheters and wound dressings etc. Many efforts have been made to resist the surface non-specific biomolecules or cells adsorption, but most of them require complex pre-treatment processes, hard-to-remove metal catalysts or rigorous reaction conditions.

Antifouling zwitterionic hydrogel coating improves hemocompatibility of activated carbon hemoadsorbent.

Activated carbon has been widely used in hemoperfusion treatments. However, its performance has been significantly compromised by their poor hemocompatibility. In this work, we developed a novel antifouling adsorbent based on zwitterionic poly-carboxybetaine (PCB) hydrogel and powdered activated carbon (PAC) to improve hemocompatibility.

Organic selenium resin in solid phase synthesis and its application in constructing medicinally relevant small organic molecules.

Heterocyclic compounds are of high importance in constructing active drug intermediates library. The emergence of solid-phase and combinatorial chemistry has led to renewed interest in using organoselenium resins to library drug-like production. In this mini review, we summarize the construction of heterocyclic compounds libraries such as isoxazoles, oxadiazoles, triazoles, pyrimidines, pyrrolines, indolines, benzopyrans, furans etc.