Motorized Photomodulator: Making A Non-photoresponsive Supramolecular Gel Switchable by Light.

Introducing photo-responsive molecules offers an attractive approach for remote and selective control and dynamic manipulation of material properties. However, it remains highly challenging how to use a minimal amount of photo-responsive units to optically modulate materials that are inherently inert to light irradiation. Here we show the application of a light-driven rotary molecular motor as a "motorized photo-modulator" to endow a typical H-bond-based gel system with the ability to respond to light irradiation and create a reversible sol-gel transition.

Hysteresis Nanoarchitectonics with Chiral Gel Fibers and Achiral Gold Nanospheres for Reversible Chiral Inversion.

Intelligent control over the handedness of circular dichroism (CD) is of special significance in self-organized biological and artificial systems. Herein, we report a chiral organic molecule (R1) containing a disulfide unit self-assembles into M-type helical fibers gels, which undergoes chirality inversion by incorporating gold nanospheres due to the formation of Au-S bonds between R1 and gold nanospheres. Upon heating at 80 °C, the aggregation of gold nanospheres results in a disappearance of the Au-S bond, allowing the reversible switching back to M-type helical fibers.

Core Structure Engineering in Hole-Transport Materials to Achieve Highly Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.

In this work, the thiadiazolopyridine (PT) unit was introduced as the core structure, with N ,N ,N ,N -tetrakis(4-methoxyphenyl)-9-phenyl-9 H-carbazole-3,6-diamine as the peripheral group, to obtain a new compound, JY8, for use as a hole-transport material (HTM) in planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Compared with the previously reported JY5 with benzothiadiazole as the core structure, the PT unit with stronger electron-withdrawing ability enhanced the intermolecular dipole-dipole interaction. Moreover, the introduction of the PT unit made the central part in JY8 more planar than its analogue JY5, which is conducive to charge transport.

Spontaneously hierarchical self-assembly of nanofibres into fluorescent spherical particles: a leap from organogels to macroscopic solid spheres.

The spontaneous hierarchical self-assembly of organic small molecules into macroscopic architectures with excellent photophysical properties and highly-ordered structures has rarely been reported to date. In this work, we find that the organogel of SY1 formed in ethyl acetate could spontaneously assemble into macroscopic spherical particles with a unique morphology and photophysical properties. Upon increasing the aging time, the gel gradually collapsed and then transformed into many macroscopic spheres (SY1-balls) with an average diameter of ca.

Toxic Metals Increase Serum Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Levels, Modified by Essential Elements and Different Types of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Promoter Single-nucleotide Polymorphisms.

Background: Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) could cause health issues through oxidative stress that is indicated in the elevated tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). However, some of the essential elements-selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co), and copper (Cu)-are cofactors or structural components of antioxidant enzymes. It is suggested that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TNF-α gene have different TNF-α responses.

Replacement of Biphenyl by Bipyridine Enabling Powerful Hole Transport Materials for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.

Here, 2,2'- and 3,3'-bipyridine are introduced for the first time as the core structure to get two new hole transport materials (HTMs), namely F22 and F33. The electron-withdrawing nature of bipyridine lowers the HOMO level of the new compounds and enhances the open-circuit voltage of perovskite solar cells. Especially for F33, the better planarity leads to better conjugation in the whole molecule and the molecular interaction is enhanced.

High-Efficiency Perovskite Solar Cells Based on New TPE Compounds as Hole Transport Materials: The Role of 2,7- and 3,6-Substituted Carbazole Derivatives.

In this work, four tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-centered hole transport materials (HTMs), with 2,7- or 3,6-substituted carbazole derivatives as periphery groups are deliberately synthesized and characterized. Their photophysical properties, energy levels, and photovoltaic performances are systematically investigated, and their performances as HTMs are discussed with respect to the different substituent positions on the carbazole moiety. It is interesting to find that the TPE-based HTMs with 2,7-carbazole substituents rival the 3,6-carbazole substituents in hole mobility and hole extraction ability.