Fungal melanin as a biocompatible broad-spectrum sunscreen with high antioxidant activity.

Melanin is considered a bio-inspired dermo-cosmetic component due to its high UV absorption and antioxidant activity. Among various melanin sources, fungal melanin is a promising candidate for sunscreen because of its sustainability and scalability; however, quantitative assessment of its function has not yet been sufficiently explored. In this study, melanin samples derived from were prepared, followed by the evaluation of their sunscreen performance, antioxidant activity, and cytotoxicity.

Rapid Exciton Migration and Amplified Funneling Effects of Multi-Porphyrin Arrays in a Re(I)/Porphyrinic MOF Hybrid for Photocatalytic CO Reduction.

A porphyrinic metal-organic framework () known as PCN-222(Zn) was chemically doped with a molecular Re(I) catalyst-bearing carboxylate anchoring group to form a new type of metal-organic framework (MOF)-Re(I) hybrid photocatalyst. The porphyrinic MOF-sensitized hybrid () was prepared with an archetypical CO reduction catalyst, (L)Re(CO)Cl (Re(I); L = 4,4'-dicarboxylic-2,2'-bipyridine), in the presence of 3 vol % water produced CO with no leveling-off tendency for 59 h to give a turnover number of ≥1893 [1070 ± 80 μmol h (g MOF)]. The high catalytic activity arises mainly from efficient exciton migration and funneling from photoexcited porphyrin linkers to the peripheral Re(I) catalytic sites, which is in accordance with the observed fast exciton (energy) migration (≈1 ps) in highly ordered porphyrin photoreceptors and the effective funneling into Re(I) catalytic centers in the Re(I)-doped sample.

Vision-Based Suture Tensile Force Estimation in Robotic Surgery.

Compared to laparoscopy, robotics-assisted minimally invasive surgery has the problem of an absence of force feedback, which is important to prevent a breakage of the suture. To overcome this problem, surgeons infer the suture force from their proprioception and 2D image by comparing them to the training experience. Based on this idea, a deep-learning-based method using a single image and robot position to estimate the tensile force of the sutures without a force sensor is proposed.

Organic-inorganic hybrid photocatalyst for carbon dioxide reduction.

Efficient hybrid photocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction were developed from dye-sensitized TiO nanoparticles and their catalytic performance was optimized by ternary organic/inorganic components. Thus, the hybrid system consists of (E)-2-cyano-3-(5'-(5''-(p-(diphenylamino)phenyl)thiophen-2''-yl)thiophen-2'-yl)-acrylic acid as a sensitizer and fac-[Re(4,4'-bis(diethoxyphosphorylmethyl)-2,2'-bipyridine)(CO)Cl] as a reduction catalyst (ReP), both of which have been fixed onto TiO semiconductors (s-TiO, h-TiO, d-TiO). Mott-Schottky analysis on flat-band potential (E) of TiO mesoporous films has verified that E can be finely modulated by volume variation of water (0 to 20 vol%).

Widely Controllable Syngas Production by a Dye-Sensitized TiO Hybrid System with Re and Co Catalysts under Visible-Light Irradiation.

Visible-light irradiation of a ternary hybrid catalyst prepared by grafting a dye, an H evolving Co catalyst and a CO-producing Re catalyst on TiO have been found to produce both H and CO (syngas) in CO -saturated N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF)/water solution containing a 0.1 m sacrificial electron donor. The H /CO ratios are effectively controlled by changing either the water content of the solvent or the molar ratio of the Re and Co catalysts ranging from 1:2 to 15:1.

Highly Robust Hybrid Photocatalyst for Carbon Dioxide Reduction: Tuning and Optimization of Catalytic Activities of Dye/TiO2/Re(I) Organic-Inorganic Ternary Systems.

Herein we report a detailed investigation of a highly robust hybrid system (sensitizer/TiO2/catalyst) for the visible-light reduction of CO2 to CO; the system comprises 5'-(4-[bis(4-methoxymethylphenyl)amino]phenyl-2,2'-dithiophen-5-yl)cyanoacrylic acid as the sensitizer and (4,4'-bis(methylphosphonic acid)-2,2'-bipyridine)Re(I)(CO)3Cl as the catalyst, both of which have been anchored on three different types of TiO2 particles (s-TiO2, h-TiO2, d-TiO2). It was found that remarkable enhancements in the CO2 conversion activity of the hybrid photocatalytic system can be achieved by addition of water or such other additives as Li(+), Na(+), and TEOA. The photocatalytic CO2 reduction efficiency was enhanced by approximately 300% upon addition of 3% (v/v) H2O, giving a turnover number of ≥570 for 30 h.