Evaluation of Drying Characteristics and Quality Attributes for Microwave Vacuum Drying of Pork Skin Crisps.

As an important by-product of pork, pork skin can be processed into meat-based leisure food products to improve its utilization. In this study, microwave vacuum drying (MVD) technology was used to investigate the effects of microwave powers (600, 700, and 800 W) and processing duration on the drying characteristics and quality attributes of pork skin crisps (PSC). Five classical drying models were used to non-linearly fit the experimental data, and the Midilli et al.

White circularly polarized luminescence from a dual-component emitter induced by FRET between tetraphenylene and PDI derivatives.

A chiral agent, TPE-ASP, incorporating aspartic acid as the chiral source and tetraphenylene derivatives as chromophores, was designed and synthesized. The chiral agent was self-assembled into regular spherical nanoparticles with a maximum luminescence asymmetry factor of |2.41 × 10| at 460 nm which is attributed to TPE-ASP.

Facile synthesis of sulfur quantum dots with red light emission: Implications for electrochemiluminescence analysis application.

Sulfur quantum dots (SQDs) have been reported as a potential candidate due to their low toxicity and high luminescent performance. Here, SQDs with red light fluorescence (FL) emission were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method using NaCO as an etching agent, using sublimed sulfur powder as a sulfur source, and using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a stabilizer. The choice of etching agent (NaOH or NaCO) realized the tuning of SQDs' FL emission with blue and red light.

Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic PDI and NDI Derivatives with Opposite Thermoresponsive Fluorescent Behaviors in Aqueous Solution.

This work presents a study of the thermally induced aggregation of perylene diimide (PDI) and naphthalene diimide (NDI) derivatives modified with oligo ethylene glycol (OEG) chains in aqueous solution. Water-soluble and flexible OEG side chains were introduced into the π-core of glutamate-modified NDI and PDI structures, and the aggregation process was modulated by heating or cooling in water. Interestingly, a rare opposite temperature response of fluorescent behavior from the two amphiphilic chromophores was revealed, in which the PDI exhibited fluorescent enhancement, while fluorescent quenching upon temperature increase was observed from the NDI assembly.

A Fluorescence Biosensor Based on Carbon Quantum Dots Prepared from Pomegranate Peel and T-Hg-T Mismatch for Hg Detection.

Mercury ions (Hg) can cause damage to human health, and thus, the study of the detection of Hg is extraordinarily important in daily life. This work reported a fluorescence biosensor for the detection of Hg. The key point of this strategy was that the fluorescence of carbon quantum dots made from pomegranate peel (P-CQDs) was quenched by hemin, and restored after G-quadruplex binding with hemin.

Boosting the Faraday Efficiency of Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis via the Strain Effect Induced by Interfacial Hybrid Formation between BN and Carbon Nanotubes.

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) is a highly promising alternative to the Haber-Bosch (H-B) process, but its commercial development is limited by the high bond energy of N molecules and the presence of the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, a metal-free composite electrocatalyst of boron nitride (h-BNNs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was explored through the interfacial hybridization of h-BNNs and CNTs, which showed a highly improved eNRR Faraday efficiency (FE) of 63.9% and an NH yield rate of 36.

Heat-Set Supramolecular Hydrogelation by Regulating the Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance for a Tunable Circularly Polarized Luminescent Switch.

Heat-set supramolecular gels exhibited totally opposite phase behaviors of dissolution upon cooling and gelation on heating. They are commonly discovered by chance and their rational design remains a great challenge. Herein, a rational design strategy is proposed to realize heat-set supramolecular hydrogelation through regulation of the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of the system.

Elucidation of interactions between myofibrillar proteins and κ-carrageenan as mediated by NaCl level: Perspectives on multiple spectroscopy and molecular docking.

The present study was aimed to investigate the intermolecular interaction between myofibrillar proteins (MP) and κ-carrageenan (KC) as mediated by KC concentration (0.1, 0.2, 0.

Supramolecular Adhesives with Extended Tolerance to Extreme Conditions via Water-Modulated Noncovalent Interactions.

Development of supramolecular adhesives with strong tolerance to extreme conditions has emerged as an important research area. In this study, by balancing supramolecular interactions such as hydrogen bonding interactions, electrostatic interactions, π-π stacking interactions, and cation-π interactions, we designed and prepared a series of two-component supramolecular adhesives derived from small organic molecules. Highly efficient interfacial adhesion with maximum adhesion strength of ≈10.

Strong Dynamic Interfacial Adhesion by Polymeric Ionic Liquids under Extreme Conditions.

Interfacial adhesion under extreme conditions has attracted increasing attention owing to its potential application of stopping leakages of oil or natural gas. However, interfacial adhesion is rarely stable at ultralow temperatures and in organic solvents, necessitating the elucidation of the molecular-level processes. Herein, we used the intermolecular force-control strategy to prepare four linear polymers by tuning the proportion of hydrogen bonding and the number of electrostatic sites.

Tuning Rheological Behaviors of Supramolecular Aqueous Gels via Charge Transfer Interactions.

Rheological properties are critical for determining real applications of supramolecular gels in various fields. Correspondingly, the modulation of gel rheology will be very important for meeting real requirements. In this aspect, a few strategies were applied to tune the rheological behaviors of supramolecular gels, but some specific interactions like charge transfer (CT) interactions were less explored at the molecular level.

Evaluation and Treatment Analysis of Air Quality Including Particulate Pollutants: A Case Study of Shandong Province, China.

At present, China's air pollution and its treatment effect are issues of general concern in the academic circles. Based on the analysis of the development stages of air pollution in China and the development history of China's air quality standards, we selected 17 cities of Shandong Province, China as the research objects. By expanding China's existing Air Quality Index System, the air quality of six major pollutants including PM and PM in 17 cities from February 2017 to January 2020 is comprehensively evaluated.

Functionalized Superwettable Fabric with Switchable Wettability for Efficient Oily Wastewater Purification, in Situ Chemical Reaction System Separation, and Photocatalysis Degradation.

In view of the increasing serious water environmental and human health issues caused by oily wastewater, functional superwetting materials with controllable wettability, high durability, and scale preparation methods are highly desired for efficient oil/water separation. In this respect, a pH-responsive multifunctional fabric with switchable surface wettability, favorable mechanical durability, and self-repairing property has been developed via decorating the modified TiO nanoparticles of special surface compositions onto the fabric surface. By virtue of the intelligent surface wettability, the resulted superwettable fabric can be used for controllable separation of multiple oil/water mixtures, particularly the complicated oil/water/oil ternary mixtures, showing excellent separation efficiency and high filtration flux even under extreme pH conditions, which is comparable to most of the commercial and currently reported functionalized membranes.

Assembly of Copper Phthalocyanine on TiO Nanorod Arrays as Co-catalyst for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting.

A photoelectrochemical device was achieved by interfacial self-assembly of macrocyclic π-conjugated copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) on surface of TiO nanorod arrays (NRs). The photocurrent density of the elegant TiO@CuPc NRs photoanode reaches 2.40 mA/cm at 1.

(R)-Binaphthyl derivatives as chiral dopants: substituent position controlled circularly polarized luminescence in liquid crystals.

A series of nonbridged axially chiral binaphthyl derivatives were synthesized and used as chiral dopants for chiral nematic liquid crystals (N*-LCs). It was found that binaphthyl derivatives substituted at 3,3' positions or 2,2' positions of binaphthyl rings could induce N*-LCs to show opposite circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) signals, despite having the same configuration. Additionally, a CPL switch could be constructed in these N*-LCs regulated by the applied electric field.

Homochiral nanotubes from heterochiral lipid mixtures: a shorter alkyl chain dominated chiral self-assembly.

It is an important topic to achieve homochirality both at a molecular and supramolecular level. While it has long been regarded that "majority rule" guides the homochiral self-assembly from an enantiomer mixture, it still remains a big challenge to manipulate the global homochirality in a complex system containing chiral species that are not enantiomers. Here, we demonstrate a new example wherein homochiral nanotubes self-assembled from a mixture of heterochiral lipids that deviated from the "majority rule".

Optically Active Upconverting Nanoparticles with Induced Circularly Polarized Luminescence and Enantioselectively Triggered Photopolymerization.

In this work, lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) showing upconverted circularly polarized luminescence were demonstrated in an organic-inorganic co-assembled system. Achiral UCNPs (NaYF:Yb/Er or NaYF:Yb/Tm) can be encapsulated into chiral helical nanotubes through the procedure of co-gelation. These co-gel systems display intense upconverted circularly polarized luminescence (UC-CPL) ranging from ultraviolet (UV, 300 nm) to near-infrared (NIR, 850 nm) wavelength.

Long-Persistent Circularly Polarized Phosphorescence from Chiral Organic Ionic Crystals.

Long-persistent circularly polarized phosphorescence (LPCPP) is achieved for the first time in chiral organic ionic crystals at room temperature. The co-crystal composed of terephtalic acid (TPA) and chiral α-phenylethyamines (PEAs) gave rise to LPCPP with lifetimes up to 862 ms and large dissymmetric factor (g ). The hybridization of TPA with chiral PEAs allows circular polarization of the generated long-persistent phosphorescence.

Endowing Perovskite Nanocrystals with Circularly Polarized Luminescence.

Perovskite nanocrystals are attracting great interest due to their excellent photonic properties. Here, through a supramolecular self-assembly approach, the perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) with a novel circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) are successfully endowed. It is found that the achiral perovskite NCs can coassemble with chiral gelator in nonpolar solvents, in which the gelator molecules modify the surface of the perovskite NCs.

Solvent-Regulated Self-Assembly of an Achiral Donor-Acceptor Complex in Confined Chiral Nanotubes: Chirality Transfer, Inversion and Amplification.

A chiral gelator was designed and found to form chiral nanotwists and nanotubes in toluene and DMSO, respectively, which could serve as host chiral matrices for fabricating functional soft materials. Achiral, π-conjugated donor and acceptor guests were doped into the gel, and solvent-regulated self-assembly was observed. Although both the DMSO and toluene gels containing three components look similar as transparent gels, it was clarified microscopically that, whereas achiral dopants self-assemble in the confined nanotubes in the DMSO gel, they only dissolve in the liquid phase in the toluene gel.

Hierarchically branched Fe2O3@TiO2 nanorod arrays for photoelectrochemical water splitting: facile synthesis and enhanced photoelectrochemical performance.

Highly photoactive and durable photoanode materials are the key to photoelectrochemical water splitting. In this paper, hierarchically branched Fe2O3@TiO2 nanorod arrays (denoted as Fe2O3@TiO2 BNRs) composed of a long Fe2O3 trunk and numerous short TiO2 nanorod branches were fabricated and used as photoanodes for water splitting. Significant improvement of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance was observed based on Fe2O3@TiO2 BNRs.

Construction of inorganic-organic 2D/2D WO₃/g-C₃N₄ nanosheet arrays toward efficient photoelectrochemical splitting of natural seawater.

Hydrogen production from seawater and solar energy based on photoelectrochemical cells is extremely attractive due to earth-abundance of seawater and solar radiation. Herein, we report the successful fabrication of novel inorganic-organic 2D/2D WO3/g-C3N4 nanosheet arrays (WO3/g-C3N4 NSAs) grown on a FTO substrate via a facile hydrothermal growth and deposition-annealing process, and their application in natural seawater splitting. The results indicate that the WO3/g-C3N4 NSAs exhibit a photocurrent density of 0.

Microstructured graphene arrays for highly sensitive flexible tactile sensors.

A highly sensitive tactile sensor is devised by applying microstructured graphene arrays as sensitive layers. The combination of graphene and anisotropic microstructures endows this sensor with an ultra-high sensitivity of -5.53 kPa(-1) , an ultra-fast response time of only 0.

Optoelectronics of organic nanofibers formed by co-assembly of porphyrin and perylenediimide.

Organic nanofibers are formed by simple ionic co-assembly of positively charged porphyrin (electron donor) and negatively charged perylenediimide (electron acceptor) derivatives in aqueous solution. Two kinds of electron transfer routes between electron donor and electron acceptor under light excitation in nanofibers are confirmed by DFT calculations and experimental data.

A synergistic capture strategy for enhanced detection and elimination of bacteria.

Despite the advanced detection and sterilization techniques available today, the sensitive diagnosis and complete elimination of bacterial infections remain a significant challenge. A strategy is reported for efficient bacterial capture (ca. 90%) based on the synergistic effect of the nanotopography and surface chemistry of the substrate on bacterial attachment and adhesion.