Kinetically Controlled Synthesis of Nonspherical Polystyrene Nanoparticles with Manipulatable Morphologies.

The morphology of nanoparticles plays a critical role in determining their properties and applications. Herein, we report a versatile approach to the fabrication of nonspherical polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles with controlled morphologies on the basis of kinetically controlled seed-mediated polymerization. By manipulating parameters related to the reaction kinetics including the concentration of monomers, injection rate of reactants, and reaction temperature, the monomers could be directed to polymerize on the selective sites of PS seeds, and after the removal of the second polymer, nonspherical nanoparticles with a variety of thermodynamically unfavored morphologies could be synthesized.

Static-Dynamic Fluorescence Patterns Based on Photodynamic Disulfide Reactions for Versatile Information Storage.

Dynamic fluorescence patterns with variable output in response to external stimulus can make the current information storage technologies more flexible and intelligent. Yet it remains a great challenge to create such dynamic patterns because of the complicated synthesis process, high cost, limited stability, and biocompatibility of the functional fluorophores. Herein, a facile approach is presented for creating dynamic fluorescence patterns using the photodynamic surface chemistry based on disulfide bonds.

Programmable Liquid Adhesion on Bio-Inspired Re-Entrant Structures.

Surfaces combining antispreading and high adhesion can find wide applications in the manipulation of liquid droplets, generation of micropatterns and liquid enrichment. To fabricate such surfaces, almost all the traditional methods demand multi-step processes and chemical modification. And even so, most of them cannot be applied for some liquids with extremely low surface energy.

Fast Strategy to Functional Paper Surfaces.

Paper, with advantages of low-cost, easy fabrication and disposal, flexibility and renewability, is a suitable substrate material for various applications. Functionalization and patterning on paper substrates are commonly required in many applications. Although many methods have been developed to achieve this, they typically suffer from some drawbacks such as time-consuming process, specific device dependence, lack of flexibility, low patterning resolution, and so forth.

Disposable Morpho menelaus Based Flexible Microfluidic and Electronic Sensor for the Diagnosis of Neurodegenerative Disease.

Rapid early disease prevention or precise diagnosis is almost impossible in low-resource settings. Natural ordered structures in nature have great potential for the development of ultrasensitive biosensors. Here, motivated by the unique structures and extraordinary functionalities of ordered structures in nature, a biosensor based on butterfly wings is presented.

Hepatocyte Aggregate Formation on Chitin-Based Anisotropic Microstructures of Butterfly Wings.

Scaffold nanotopography plays the most significant role in the mimicry of the in vivo microenvironment of the hepatocytes. Several attempts have been made to develop methods and substrates suited to growing hepatocytes into aggregates. Functional biomaterials, particularly biodegradable polymers, have been used in several studies aimed to develop improved scaffolds with ordered geometry and nanofibrous architecture for tissue engineering.

Statistical investigation on the role of supporting electrolytes during NTA degradation on BDD anodes.

This work reported a comparative study on the electrochemical incineration of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) in the presence of different supporting electrolytes (Na2SO4 and NaCl). Galvanostatic electrolyses were conducted in an undivided electrochemical cell containing boron-doped diamond (BDD) anode and platinum cathode. Initial solution pH, flow rate, applied current density, and supporting electrolyte concentration were selected as variables, besides the mineralization efficiency of NTA that was selected as response.

Chemometric study on the electrochemical incineration of nitrilotriacetic acid using platinum and boron-doped diamond anode.

This study investigated the electrochemical incineration of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) at boron-doped diamond (BDD) and platinum (Pt) anodes. Trials were performed in the presence of sulfate electrolyte media under recirculation mode. The parameters that influence the degradation efficiency were investigated, including applied current density, flow rate, supporting electrolyte concentration and reaction time.