Micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) and their potential toxicological outcomes: State of science, knowledge gaps and research needs.

Plastic waste has been produced at a rapidly growing rate over the past several decades. The environmental impacts of plastic waste on marine and terrestrial ecosystems have been recognized for years. Recently, researchers found that micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs), micron (100 nm - 5 mm) and nanometer (1 - 100 nm) scale particles and fibers produced by degradation and fragmentation of plastic waste in the environment, have become an important emerging environmental and food chain contaminant with uncertain consequences for human health.

Texture or Linker? Competitive Patterning of Receptor Assembly toward Ultra-Sensitive Impedimetric Detection of Viral Species at Gold-Nanotextured Titanium Surfaces.

In this work, we study the electrodes with a periodic matrix of gold particles pattered by titanium dimples and modified by 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) followed by CD147 receptor grafting for specific impedimetric detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral spike proteins. The synergistic DFT and MM/MD modeling revealed that MPA adsorption geometries on the Au-Ti surface have preferential and stronger binding patterns through the carboxyl bond inducing an enhanced surface coverage with CD147. Control of bonding at the surface is essential for oriented receptor assembling and boosted sensitivity.

Transformation of bimetallic Ag-Cu thin films into plasmonically active composite nanostructures.

Formation of plasmonically active silver, copper and composite silver-copper nanostructures were studied in this paper. Metallic nanostructures were fabricated by thermal disintegration, so called dewetting, of the thin films in an argon atmosphere. The formation process of the nanostructures was in-situ observed by a novel method, based on resistance measurements.

Carboxymethyl chitosan-quercetin conjugate: A sustainable one-step synthesis and use for food preservation.

Bioactive polysaccharide, carboxymethyl chitosan-quercetin (CMCS-q) was prepared by a one-step reaction utilizing Schiff base chemistry. Notably, the presented conjugation method involves neither radical reactions nor auxiliary coupling agents. Physicochemical properties and bioactivity of the modified polymer were studied and compared to those of the pristine carboxymethyl chitosan, CMCS.

Application of nonmetallic frustrated cations in the activation of small molecules.

The concept of nonmetallic frustrated cations has been used in small molecule activation. The generated ambiphilic phosphinoborinium cation activated phenyl isocyanate, diisopropylcarbodiimide, and acetonitrile under very mild conditions without any catalyst, yielding single-, double-, or mixed-activation products. Furthermore, the mechanisms of the reactions of the phosphinoborinium cation with small molecules were elucidated using density functional theory calculations.

Do Phenyl Substituents Affect the Properties of Azobenzocrown Derivatives?

New products of photo- and thermal rearrangements of 19-membered azoxybenzocrown with phenyl substituents in benzene rings in the para positions to oligooxyethylene fragments are characterized in this work. The yields of photochemical transformations depend on the solvent. Para-hydroxyazocrown is formed with yields over 50 % in propan-2-ol.

Oligochitosan and oxidized nucleoside-based bioderived hydrogels for wound healing.

Herein, we report biocompatible hydrogel for wound healing that was prepared using nature-sourced building blocks. For the first time, OCS was employed as a building macromolecule to form bulk hydrogels along with the nature-sourced nucleoside derivative (inosine dialdehyde, IdA) as the cross-linker. A strong correlation was obtained between the mechanical properties and stability of the prepared hydrogels with a cross-linker concentration.

High-throughput coating with biodegradable antimicrobial pullulan fibres extends shelf life and reduces weight loss in an avocado model.

Food waste and food safety motivate the need for improved food packaging solutions. However, current films/coatings addressing these issues are often limited by inefficient release dynamics that require large quantities of active ingredients. Here we developed antimicrobial pullulan fibre (APF)-based packaging that is biodegradable and capable of wrapping food substrates, increasing their longevity and enhancing their safety.

Merging Proline:Xylitol Eutectic Solvent in Crosslinked Chitosan Pervaporation Membranes for Enhanced Water Permeation in Dehydrating Ethanol.

The scope of this research aims at merging a new deep eutectic mixture (DES) into a biopolymer-based membrane for a pervaporation application in dehydrating ethanol. Herein, an L-proline:xylitol (at 5:1) eutectic mixture was successfully synthesized and blended with chitosan (CS). A complete characterization of the hybrid membranes, in terms of morphology, solvent uptake, and hydrophilicity, has been conducted.

Fluorinated Antimony(V) Tetraarylporphyrins as High-Valent Electron Acceptors with Unparalleled Reduction Potentials.

A series of fluorinated antimony(V) porphyrins, SbTPP(OMe)·PF, SbTPP(OTFE)·PF, SbT(4F)PP(OMe)·PF, SbT(35F)PP(OMe)·PF, SbT(345F)PP(OMe)·PF, SbT(4CF)PP(OMe)·PF, SbT(35CF)PP(OMe)·PF, and SbT(35CF)PP(OTFE)·PF, have been synthesized with phenyl [P], 4-fluorophenyl [(4F)P], 3,5-difluorophenyl [(35F)P], 3,4,5-difluorophenyl [(345F)P], 4-trifluoromethylphenyl [(4CF)P], and 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl [(35CF)P], in the meso-positions. Additionally, the SbTPP(OTFE)·PF and SbT(35CF)PP(OTFE)·PF carry trifluoroethoxy units in their axial-positions. The fluorination on the porphyrin peripherals ranges from zero fluorine atoms in SbTPP(OMe)·PF to 30 fluorine atoms in SbT(35CF)PP(OTFE)·PF.

Cross-Linking, Morphology, and Physico-Mechanical Properties of GTR/SBS Blends: Dicumyl Peroxide vs. Sulfur System.

In this work, ground tire rubber and styrene-butadiene block copolymer (GTR/SBS) blends at the ratio of 50/50 wt%, with the application of four different SBS copolymer grades (linear and radial) and two types of cross-linking agent (a sulfur-based system and dicumyl peroxide), were prepared by melt compounding. The rheological and cross-linking behavior, physico-mechanical parameters (i.e.

Evaluation of electrosynthesized reduced graphene oxide-Ni/Fe/Co-based (oxy)hydroxide catalysts towards the oxygen evolution reaction.

In this work, the specific role of the addition of graphene oxide (GO) to state-of-the-art nickel-iron (NiFe) and cobalt-nickel-iron (CoNiFe) mixed oxides/hydroxides towards the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is investigated. Morphology, structure, and OER catalytic activity of the catalysts with and without GO were studied. The catalysts were fabricated via a two-step electrodeposition.

Exfoliated graphite with spinel oxide as an effective hybrid electrocatalyst for water splitting.

The aim of the conducted research was to develop hybrid nanostructures formed from MnCoO and exfoliated graphite. Carbon added during the synthesis allowed for obtaining a well-distributed MnCoO particle size with exposed active sites contributing to the increased electric conductivity. The influence of the weight ratios of carbon to a catalyst for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions was investigated.

A Novel Platform for Root Protection Applies New Root-Coating Technologies to Mitigate Soil-Borne Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus Disease.

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) is a soil-borne virus showing a low percentage of ca. 3% soil-mediated infection when the soil contains root debris from a previous 30-50 day growth cycle of ToBRFV-infected tomato plants. We designed stringent conditions of soil-mediated ToBRFV infection by increasing the length of the pre-growth cycle to 90-120 days, adding a ToBRFV inoculum as well as truncating seedling roots, which increased seedling susceptibility to ToBRFV infection.

Sustainable Flame-Retardant Additives for Polymers: Future Perspectives.

The increased use of plastics, particularly in terms of the use of polymers in electronics and electrical devices commonly used in homes, offices, schools, restaurants, and vehicles, has caused increased fire risks [...

Processing, Mechanical and Morphological Properties of GTR Modified by SBS Copolymers.

In this work, ground tire rubber (GTR) was thermo-mechanically treated in the presence of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) copolymers. During preliminary investigation, the effects of different SBS copolymer grades, the variable content of SBS copolymer on the Mooney viscosity, and the thermal and mechanical properties of modified GTR were determined. Subsequently, GTR modified by SBS copolymer and cross-linking agents (sulfur-based system and dicumyl peroxide) was characterized by assessment of rheological, physico-mechanical, and morphological properties.

Reactivity of triphosphinoboranes towards HB·SMe: access to derivatives of boraphosphacycloalkanes with diverse substituents.

Triphosphinoboranes activated the B-H bond in the BH molecule without any catalysts at room temperature. Hydroboration reactions led to boraphosphacyloalkanes with diverse structures. The outcomes of reactions depend on the size of the phosphanyl substituent on the boron atom of the parent triphosphinoborane, where derivatives of boraphosphacyclobutane and boraphosphacyclohexane were obtained.

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from glycerol-water mixture under visible light over zinc indium sulfide (ZnInS) nanosheets grown on bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) microplates.

ZnInS (ZIS) is one of the widely studied photocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution applications due to its prominent visible light response and strong reduction ability. However, its photocatalytic glycerol reforming performance for hydrogen evolution has never been reported. Herein, the visible light driven BiOCl@ZnInS (BiOCl@ZIS) composite was synthesized by growth of ZIS nanosheets on a template-like hydrothermally pre-prepared wide-band-gap BiOCl microplates using simple oil-bath method to be used for the first time for photocatalytic glycerol reforming for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm).

Integrating structure annotation and machine learning approaches to develop graphene toxicity models.

Modern nanotechnology provides efficient and cost-effective nanomaterials (NMs). The increasing usage of NMs arises great concerns regarding nanotoxicity in humans. Traditional animal testing of nanotoxicity is expensive and time-consuming.

Ingested Polystyrene Nanospheres Translocate to Placenta and Fetal Tissues in Pregnant Rats: Potential Health Implications.

Recent studies in experimental animals found that oral exposure to micro- and nano-plastics (MNPs) during pregnancy had multiple adverse effects on outcomes and progeny, although no study has yet identified the translocation of ingested MNPs to the placenta or fetal tissues, which might account for those effects. We therefore assessed the placental and fetal translocation of ingested nanoscale polystyrene MNPs in pregnant rats. Sprague Dawley rats (N = 5) were gavaged on gestational day 19 with 10 mL/kg of 250 µg/mL 25 nm carboxylated polystyrene spheres (PS25C) and sacrificed after 24 h.

Simple colorimetric copper(II) sensor - Spectral characterization and possible applications.

New o-hydroxyazocompound L bearing pyrrole residue was obtained in the simple synthetic protocol. The structure of L was confirmed and analyzed by X-ray diffraction. It was found that new chemosensor can be successfully used as copper(II) selective spectrophotometric regent in solution and can be also applied for the preparation of sensing materials generating selective color signal upon interaction with copper(II).

The Role of Molecular Structure in Monte Carlo Simulations of the Secondary Electron Yield and Backscattering Coefficient from Methacrylic Acid.

In this paper, we show the influence of the chemical structure of four different conformers on the secondary electron emission and backscattering of an electron beam from a gel of methacrylic acid. The conformers have different permanent dipole moments, which determines the cross sections for elastic collisions with electrons. The cross sections are used in Monte Carlo simulations of an electron beam, which enters the gel of methacrylic acid.

Multiple Reprocessing of Conductive PLA 3D-Printing Filament: Rheology, Morphology, Thermal and Electrochemical Properties Assessment.

Additive manufacturing technologies are gaining more and more attention, resulting in the development or modification of 3D printing techniques and dedicated materials. On the other hand, economic and ecological aspects force the industry to develop material recycling strategies. In this work, the multiple reprocessing of a commercially available PLA conductive composite with carbon black filler, dedicated to 3D printing, was investigated.

Detection of the UV-vis silent biomarker trimethylamine-N-oxide via outer-sphere interactions in a lanthanide metal-organic framework.

Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) is a biomarker of the cardiovascular disease that is one of the leading causes of worldwide death. Facile detection of TMAO can significantly improve the survival rate of this disease by allowing early prevention. However, the UV-vis silent nature of TMAO makes it intricated to be detected by conventional sensing materials or analytical instruments.

Recycling and Processing of Waste Materials.

Just a few days ago, the world population, as expected, surpassed 8 billion [...