Partial thermal atomization of residual Ni NPs in single-walled carbon nanotubes for efficient CO electroreduction.

CO electroreduction (CORR) is an important solution for converting inert CO into high value-added fuels and chemicals under mild conditions. The decisive factor lies in the rational design and preparation of cost-effective and high-performance electrocatalysts. Herein, we first prepare a novel f-SWNTs-650 catalyst a facile partial thermal atomization strategy, where the residual Ni particles in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are partially converted into atomically dispersed NiN species.

Novel process for high value utilization of high-alumina fly ash: valuable metals recovery and mesoporous silica preparation.

Extraction of valuable metals besides silica from high-alumina fly ash is one of the most important high-value utilization pathways. However, it is difficult to realize high-efficiency extraction due to the stable structure of quartz and mullite. In this paper, mineral phase transformation for valuable metal recovery and mesoporous silica preparation from fly ash by a selective acid leaching method was proposed.

Spontaneous generation of singlet oxygen on microemulsion-derived manganese oxides with rich oxygen vacancies for efficient aerobic oxidation.

Developing innovative catalysts for efficiently activating O into singlet oxygen (O) is a cutting-edge field with the potential to revolutionize green chemical synthesis. Despite its potential, practical implementation remains a significant challenge. In this study, we design a series of nitrogen (N)-doped manganese oxides (N-MnO, where represents the molar amount of the N precursor used) nanocatalysts using compartmentalized-microemulsion crystallization followed by post-calcination.

Perfect cubic metallo-borospherenes TMB (TM = Ni, Pd, Pt) as superatoms following the 18-electron rule.

Transition-metal (TM)-doped metallo-borospherenes exhibit unique structures and bonding in chemistry which have received considerable attention in recent years. Based on extensive global minimum searches and first-principles theory calculations, we predict herein the first and smallest perfect cubic metallo-borospherenes TMB (TM = Ni (1), Pd (2), Pt (3)) and NiB (1) which contain eight equivalent TM atoms at the vertexes of a cube and six quasi-planar tetra-coordinate face-capping boron atoms on the surface. Detailed canonical molecular orbital and adaptive natural density partitioning bonding analyses indicate that TMB (1/2/3) as superatoms possess nine completely delocalized 14c-2e bonds following the 18-electron principle (1S1P1D), rendering spherical aromaticity and extra stability to the complex systems.

pH-Sensitive nanodiamond co-delivery of retinal and doxorubicin boosts breast cancer chemotherapy.

Herein for the first time we take the advantage of nanodiamonds (NDs) to covalently immobilize all-trans retinal (NPA) by an imine bond, allowing pH-mediated drug release. DOX is then physically adsorbed onto NPA to form an NPA@D co-loaded double drug in the sodium citrate medium, which is also susceptible to pH-triggered DOX dissociation. The cytotoxicity results showed that NPA@D could markedly inhibit the growth of DOX-sensitive MCF-7 cells in a synergetic way compared to the NP@D system of single-loaded DOX, while NPA basically showed no cytotoxicity and weak inhibition of migration.

Retraction: Self-association of L-periaxin occurs its acidic domain and NLS2/NLS3, and affects its trafficking in RSC96 cells.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1039/C7RA06853K.].

Controlled hierarchical self-assembly of networked coordination nanocapsules the use of molecular chaperones.

Supramolecular chaperones play an important role in directing the assembly of multiple protein subunits and redox-active metal ions into precise, complex and functional quaternary structures. Here we report that hydroxyl tailed -alkylpyrogallol[4]arene ligands and redox-active Mn ions, with the assistance of proline chaperone molecules, can assemble into two-dimensional (2D) and/or three-dimensional (3D) networked nanocapsules. Dimensionality is controlled by coordination between the exterior of nanocapsule subunits, and endohedral functionalization within the 2D system is achieved chaperone guest encapsulation.

A reconstructed porous copper surface promotes selectivity and efficiency toward C products by electrocatalytic CO reduction.

Electrocatalytic synthesis of multicarbon (C) products from CO reduction suffers from poor selectivity and low energy efficiency. Herein, a facile oxidation-reduction cycling method is adopted to reconstruct the Cu electrode surface with the help of halide anions. The surface composed of entangled Cu nanowires with hierarchical pores is synthesized in the presence of I, exhibiting a C faradaic efficiency (FE) of 80% at -1.

An aptasensor for the label-free detection of thrombin based on turn-on fluorescent DNA-templated Cu/Ag nanoclusters.

A highly sensitive thrombin aptasensor was constructed based on the alteration of the aptamer conformation induced by the target recognition and the turn-on fluorescence due to the proximity of two darkish DNA-templated copper/silver nanoclusters (DNA-Cu/Ag NCs). Two DNA templates were designed as the functional structures consisting of the Cu/Ag NC-nucleation segment located at two termini or one terminus and the aptamer segment in the middle of a DNA template. Two darkish DNA-Cu/Ag NCs came close to each other when the aptamer combined with the target due to the conformational alteration of the aptamer structure, resulting in an increased fluorescence signal readout.

Correction: A sensitive OFF-ON-OFF fluorescent probe for the cascade sensing of Al and F ions in aqueous media and living cells.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D0RA02848G.].

A sensitive OFF-ON-OFF fluorescent probe for the cascade sensing of Al and F ions in aqueous media and living cells.

A simple Schiff-base ligand 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde semicarbazone (HNS) was synthesized and characterized. Based on the combined effect of inhibition of CH[double bond, length as m-dash]N isomerization and chelation-enhanced fluorescence (CHEF), HNS functions as a fluorescence "turn on" sensor for Al in buffered aqueous media. Based on the strong affinity of Al to F ions, the generated Al-HNS complex can also be utilized as an effective chemosensor for F sensing by metal displacement approach, ensuing quenching of fluorescence by the reversible return of HNS from Al-HNS complex.

Enhanced chemical sensing for Cu based on composites of ZIF-8 with small molecules.

Two organic molecules, pyridoxal hydrazide (PAH) and salicylaldehyde based Rhodamine B hydrazone (RBS) were integrated into zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) to give composites, namely PAH/ZIF-8 and RBS/ZIF-8. The organic molecules and ZIF-8 are proposed to be assembled hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking in the composites. The mass fraction of PAH and RBS in the composites was calculated to be 21.

Azugraphene: a new graphene-like hexagonal carbon allotrope with Dirac cones.

Classic two-dimensional graphene possesses outstanding properties due to Dirac cone structures so that many Dirac cone materials had been predicted. Using the first principle symmetric search algorithm, a new graphene-like carbon allotrope with 6̄2 space group, named azugraphene, was predicted and its 38 atoms in the unit cell can be fragmented into three 5-7 rings of azulene, one hexagon, and two remainder atoms. Azugraphene is a low-energy graphene-like hexagonal carbon allotrope with six Dirac cones in the first Brillouin zone.

A novel highly fluorescent S, N, O co-doped carbon dots for biosensing and bioimaging of copper ions in live cells.

In this study, novel highly fluorescent sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen co-doped carbon dots (S, N, O-CDs) were prepared from -phenylenediamine and sulfamide by using the hydrothermal method. The prepared S, N, O-CDs show high doping rate and fluorescence yield as well as long-term fluorescence stability. In addition, S, N, O-CDs show good fluorescence response towards Cu over a concentration range of 2-60 μM with a detection limit of 0.

Nucleic acid probe based on DNA-templated silver nanoclusters for turn-on fluorescence detection of tumor suppressor gene p53.

In this paper, we construct a fluorescence nucleic acid probe based on DNA-templated silver nanoclusters (DNA-Ag NCs) for the detection of the p53 gene. The fluorescence biosensing of the "turn-on" model is successfully implemented as a result of the target-triggered configurational change in the hairpin DNA probe and the synthesis of fluorescent Ag NCs. With this biosensor, the limit of detection (LOD) for the p53 gene is 3.