Green Synthesis of Curcumin-Loaded Bacterial Nanocellulose for Topical Application: Preparation and In vivo Study.

Background: Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is typically produced through fermentation using Hestrin Schramm (HS) médium. However, its high cost limits its use in industry. Moreover, curcumin, as a model substance, is a potential bioactive compound but has low bioavailability.

Revealing the Dual Role of Ammonia in the Hydroxide Co-Precipitation Synthesis of Cobalt-Free Nickel-Rich LiNiMnAlO (NMA955) Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Nickel-rich cobalt-free LiNiMnAlO (NMA955) is considered a promising cathode material to address the scarcity and soaring cost of cobalt. Particle size and elemental composition significantly impact the electrochemical performance of NMA955 cathodes. However, differences in precipitation rates among metal ions coveys a challenge in obtaining cathode materials with the desired particle size and composition via hydroxide co-precipitation synthesis.

Tau‑targeting multifunctional nanocomposite based on tannic acid-metal for near-infrared fluorescence/magnetic resonance bimodal imaging-guided combinational therapy in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is hallmarked by amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) neurofibrillary tangles. While Aβ-centric therapies have shown promise, the complex pathology of AD requires a multifaceted therapeutic approach. The weak association between Aβ levels and cognitive decline highlights the need for alternative theranostic strategies.

Improving the Mechanical Properties of Glass Ionomer Cement With Nanocrystalline Cellulose From Rice Husk.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of incorporating nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) sourced from rice husk on the mechanical properties of a commercial glass ionomer cement (GIC). NCC was isolated through acid hydrolysis, and its crystallinity, chemical structure, and morphology were characterized through x-ray diffractometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Various concentrations of NCC (0%, 0.

A High-Performance, Low Defected, and Binder-Free Graphene-Based Supercapacitor Obtained via Synergistic Electrochemical Exfoliation and Electrophoretic Deposition Process.

An integrated electrochemical exfoliation and electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method is developed to achieve a high-performance graphene supercapacitor. The electrochemical delamination of graphite sheet has obtained a low-defected few-layer graphene adorned with oxygen-containing functional groups. Then, the EPD process produced a binder-free electrode to alleviate the graphene restacking problem.

Stable FAPbI Perovskite Solar Cells via Alkylammonium Chloride-Mediated Crystallization Control.

α-Phase formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have garnered significant attention, owing to their remarkable efficiency. Methylammonium chloride (MACl), a common additive, is used to control the crystallization of FAPbI, thereby facilitating the formation of the photoactive α-phase. However, MACl's high volatility raises concerns regarding its stability and potential impact on the stability of the device.

High Volumetric Energy Density Supercapacitor of Additive-Free Quantum Dot Hierarchical Nanopore Structure.

The high surface-area-to-volume ratio of colloidal quantum dots (QDs) positions them as promising materials for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes. However, the challenge lies in achieving a highly accessible surface area, while maintaining good electrical conductivity. An efficient supercapacitor demands a dense yet highly porous structure that facilitates efficient ion-surface interactions and supports fast charge mobility.

Regulating Functional Groups Enhances the Performance of Flexible Microporous MXene/Bacterial Cellulose Electrodes in Supercapacitors.

Ultrathin MXene-based films exhibit superior conductivity and high capacitance, showing promise as electrodes for flexible supercapacitors. This work describes a simple method to enhance the performance of MXene-based supercapacitors by expanding and stabilizing the interlayer space between MXene flakes while controlling the functional groups to improve the conductivity. TiCT MXene flakes are treated with bacterial cellulose (BC) and NaOH to form a composite MXene/BC (A-M/BC) electrode with a microporous interlayer and high surface area (62.

Effect of Ag and Ni-Doped Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles on the Formation of ROS and Evaluation as an Alternative Physical Sunscreen Material.

CeO nanoparticles (nanoceria) were proposed as an alternative physical sunscreen agent with antioxidant properties and comparable UV absorption performance. Green synthesis of nanoceria with Ag and Ni dopants resulted in doped nanoceria with lower catalytic activity and biologically-safe characteristics. The doped nanoceria was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Rancimat Instrument, and UV-Vis Spectrophotometer for SPF (Sun Protection Factor) determination.

Flower like-novel nanocomposite of Mg(TiSn)Odecorated on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with high capacitive behavior as supercapacitor electrodes.

In this study, ceramic materials of Mg(TiSn)Owere synthesized and decorated on reduced graphene oxide, forming a nanocomposite of rGO/Mg(TiSn)O(rGO/MTS001). The successful synthesis results were confirmed by XRD, UV-vis analysis, FT-IR, and SEM-EDS. The MTS001 has a flower-like morphology from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, and the nanocomposites of rGO/MTS001 showed MTS001 particles decorated on the rGO's surface.

One-Dimensional HKUST-1-Decorated Glassy Carbon Electrode for the Sensitive Electrochemical Immunosensor of NS1 Dengue Virus Serotype-3.

In this work, simple and sensitive detection of dengue virus serotype-3 (DENV-3) antigen was accomplished by a one-dimensional (1D) HKUST-1-functionalized electrochemical sensor. 1D HKUST-1 was synthesized via a coprecipitation method using triethanolamine (TEOA) as pH modulator and structure-directing agent. The structure, morphology, and sensing performance of the HKUST-1-decorated carbon electrode were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV).

Development of Flexible Medical Electrodes Using Carrageenan-Based Bioplastics with the Addition of Conductive Hybrid Materials Graphite and Silver Nanoparticles.

Electrodes are crucial in medical devices, specifically health monitoring devices for biopotential measurements such as electrocardiography, electromyography (EMG), and electroencephalography. The commonly used rigid electrodes have limitations in their skin-electrode contact quality since they cannot conform to the skin's surface area and body contours. Flexible electrodes have been developed to better conform to the body's surface contours, improving ion transfer and minimizing motion artifacts, thereby enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

Spectroscopic Evidence of Localized Small Polarons in Low-Dimensional Ionic Liquid Lead-Free Hybrid Perovskites.

Rational design is an important approach to consider in the development of low-dimensional hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs). In this study, 1-butyl-1-methyl pyrrolidinium (BMP), 1-(3-aminopropyl)imidazole (API), and 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium (BMI) serve as prototypical ionic liquid components in bismuth-based HOIPs. Element-sensitive X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements of BMPBiBr and APIBiBr reveal distinct resonant excitation profiles across the N K-edges, where contrasting peak shifts are observed.

Curcumin-derived carbon-dots as a potential COVID-19 antiviral drug.

Even entering the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, only a small number of COVID-19 antiviral drugs are approved. Curcumin has previously shown antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid, but its poor bioavailability limits its clinical uses. Utilizing nanotechnology structures, curcumin-derived carbon-dots (cur-CDs) were synthesized to increase low bioavailability of curcumin.

Porphyrin-derived carbon dots for an enhanced antiviral activity targeting the CTD of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid.

Background: Since effective antiviral drugs for COVID-19 are still limited in number, the exploration of compounds that have antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 is in high demand. Porphyrin is potentially developed as a COVID-19 antiviral drug. However, its low solubility in water restricts its clinical application.

ABPbI (A = BA, PEA; B = MA; = 1, 2): Engineering Quantum-Well Crystals for High Mass Density and Fast Scintillators.

Quantum-well (QW) hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite (HOIP) crystals, e.g., APbX (A = BA, PEA; X = Br, I), demonstrated significant potentials as scintillating materials for wide energy radiation detection compared to their individual three-dimensional (3D) counterparts, e.

Novel strategy for high-performance supercapacitors through the polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-assisted growth of FeS.

Iron disulfide or pyrite (FeS) has emerged as a promising transition metal sulfide-based supercapacitor owing to its abundance and superb electrochemical properties. However, FeS still faces major hurdles in realizing its full potential, such as a low energy density and poor conductivity. In this study, we report a high-performance FeS supercapacitor synthesized by a direct one-step process with the help of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP).

Soft-hard interface design in super-elastic conductive polymer hydrogel containing Prussian blue analogues to enable highly efficient electrochemical deionization.

The poor cycling stability of faradaic materials owing to volume expansion and stress concentration during faradaic processes limits their use in large-scale electrochemical deionization (ECDI) applications. Herein, we developed a "soft-hard" interface by introducing conducting polymer hydrogels (CPHs), that is, polyvinyl alcohol/polypyrrole (PVA/PPy), to support the uniform distribution of Prussian blue analogues (, copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF)). In this design, the soft buffer layer of the hydrogel effectively alleviates the stress concentration of CuHCF during the ion-intercalation process, and the conductive skeleton of the hydrogel provides charge-transfer pathways for the electrochemical process.

Chitosan-Based Smart Biomaterials for Biomedical Applications: Progress and Perspectives.

Over the past decade, smart and functional biomaterials have escalated as one of the most rapidly emerging fields in the life sciences because the performance of biomaterials could be improved by careful consideration of their interaction and response with the living systems. Thus, chitosan could play a crucial role in this frontier field because it possesses many beneficial properties, especially in the biomedical field such as excellent biodegradability, hemostatic properties, antibacterial activity, antioxidant properties, biocompatibility, and low toxicity. Furthermore, chitosan is a smart and versatile biopolymer due to its polycationic nature with reactive functional groups that allow the polymer to form many interesting structures or to be modified in various ways to suit the targeted applications.

Cinnamoyl Dipyrromethenes as Fluorescence Zinc(II) Ion Sensor.

Friedel-Crafts acylation of dipyrromethane with cinnamoyl chloride was conducted to obtain dicinnamoyl dipyrromethane compounds 3 and 4. Both compounds were subsequently oxidized by DDQ to produce dicinnamoyl dipyrromethene ligands (DC-1 and DC-2). A large bathochromic shift compared to dipyromethene (D) was observed at 95 nm for DC-1 and 67 nm for DC-2.

The revelation of glucose adsorption mechanisms on hierarchical metal-organic frameworks using a surface plasmon resonance sensor.

The gold layer on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor chip cannot detect small molecules, such as glucose without the use of specific receptors. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are useful in biosensing technologies for capturing and co-localizing enzymes and receptors with the target biomolecule. In many previous studies, the properties of the MOFs were often ignored, with these studies focusing on the selection of appropriate receptors.

Revealing the incorporation of an NH group into the edge of carbon dots for HO sensing the C-N⋯H hydrogen bond interaction.

We investigated hydrogen peroxide (HO) sensing on NH-functionalized carbon dots (Cdots) for three different -NH positions, and the N atom was found to be the active site using a quantum computational approach. B3LYP and 6-31G(d,p) were used for density functional theory (DFT) ground state calculations, whereas CAM-B3LYP and the same basis set were used in time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) excited state calculations. Structural optimization showed that the HO is chemisorbed on 1-sim a C-N⋯H hydrogen bond interaction with an adsorption energy of -10.

Development of a Single-Chain Variable Fragment of CR3022 for a Plasmonic-Based Biosensor Targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein.

Two years after SARS-CoV-2 caused the first case of COVID-19, we are now in the "new normal" period, where people's activity has bounced back, followed by the easing of travel policy restrictions. The lesson learned is that the wide availability of accurate and rapid testing procedures is crucial to overcome possible outbreaks in the future. Therefore, many laboratories worldwide have been racing to develop a new point-of-care diagnostic test.

Revealing the synergetic interaction between amino and carbonyl functional groups and their effect on the electronic and optical properties of carbon dots.

Nitrogen and oxygen-based functionalized carbon dot (CDs) surfaces have attracted significant attention due to their ability to tailor the optical and electronic properties of CDs. However, the complex synthesis process and structure of the functionalized CDs hinder an in-depth understanding of their mechanism, limiting their potential applications. Herein, we report CDs functionalized with amino and carbonyl functional groups and reveal the mechanism of interaction between the amino and carbonyl groups and the CDs' optical and electronic properties.