Insights into ESIPT-induced multicolor fluorescence emission in 2-(2'-hydroxy-5'-bromo)phenylbenzimidazole: a spectroscopic and TDDFT study.

Although multicolor luminescent materials are widely used in information encryption and decryption based on the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) reaction, there remains a significant gap in the mechanistic understanding of how solvent and pH conditions influence the ESIPT process. Owing to their ability to avoid self-absorption as well as provide large Stokes' shift and strong emission properties, ESIPT-generated molecules (ESIPT gens) have recently emerged as highly potential fluorophores. Herein, the ESIPT mechanism of bromine-based (2'-hydroxy-5'-bromo)phenylbenzimidazole (HBI-pBr) was investigated in solvents using spectroscopic measurements and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations.

Tandem Rh(ii)-catalyzed 1,3-acyloxy migration/intermolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition of electron-deficient propargylic esters with alkenes and alkynes.

Transition metal-catalyzed 1,3-acyloxy migration of propargylic esters represents one of the most straightforward routes to access allene intermediates, which could engage in various fascinating subsequent transformations. However, this process is often limited to propargylic esters with electron-donating groups due to intrinsic electronic bias, and the subsequent intermolecular reactions are quite limited. Herein, we disclosed an unprecedented Rh(ii)-catalyzed 1,3-acyloxy migration of electron-deficient propargylic esters, followed by intermolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition with readily available alkenes and alkynes, and a large array of valuable alkylidenecyclobutane/ene scaffolds could be obtained facilely in one pot.

Synthesis of MoS/MoO nano-heterojunction towards enhanced photocatalytic activity under LED light irradiation oxidation sintering.

The MoS/MoO nano-heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized the oxidation sintering method. The properties of the samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, UV-vis, PL, FT-IR, BET and electrochemical techniques. The MoS/MoO nano-heterojunction (MS-400) exhibited significantly better photocatalytic activity toward Rhodamine B degradation (0.

Synthesis and characterization of non-ionic flame-retardant waterborne polyurethane.

Waterborne polyurethane (WPU) offers many advantages and is widely used in coatings, leathers, adhesives, biomaterials, and other consumer products. However, WPU is highly flammable. Many reactive flame retardants have been developed, but their char formation efficiency is still unsatisfactory, and the melt dripping during combustion has not been effectively suppressed.

Strategies to boost the electrochemical performance of bismuth anodes for potassium-ion batteries.

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are considered potential candidates for large-scale energy storage systems due to the abundant resources of potassium. Among various reported anode materials, bismuth anodes with the advantages of high theoretical specific capacity, low cost, and nontoxicity have attracted widespread attention. However, bismuth anodes experience significant volume changes during the charge/discharge process, leading to unsatisfactory cycling stability and rate performance.

Construction of hydrocarbon belts based on macrocyclic arenes.

Hydrocarbon belts have garnered significant attention due to their intriguing structures, unique properties, and potential applications in supramolecular chemistry and materials science. However, their highly inherently strained structures pose challenges in their synthesis, and the resulting tedious synthesis strategies hinder their large-scale applications. Utilizing unstrained macrocyclic arenes as precursors presents an efficient strategy, allowing for a strain-induction step that mitigates the energy barrier associated with building strain in the formation of these belts.

Dual-strategy engineered nickel phosphide for achieving efficient hydrazine-assisted hydrogen production in seawater.

Electrocatalytic hydrogen production in seawater to alleviate freshwater shortage pressures is promising, but is hindered by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction and detrimental chloride electrochemistry. Herein, a dual strategy approach of Fe-doping and CeO-decoration in nickel phosphide (Fe-NiP/CeO) is rationally designed to achieve superior bifunctional catalytic performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR) in seawater. Notably, the two-electrode Fe-NiP/CeO-based hybrid seawater electrolyzer realizes energy-efficient and chlorine-free hydrogen production with ultralow cell voltages of 0.

Impacts of polyethylene glycol (PEG) dispersity on protein adsorption, pharmacokinetics, and biodistribution of PEGylated gold nanoparticles.

PEGylated gold nanoparticles (PEG-AuNPs) are widely used in drug delivery, imaging and diagnostics, therapeutics, and biosensing. However, the effect of PEG dispersity on the molecular weight ( ) distribution of PEG grafted onto AuNP surfaces has been rarely reported. This study investigates the effect of PEG dispersity on the distribution of PEG grafted onto AuNP surfaces and its subsequent impact on protein adsorption and pharmacokinetics, by modifying AuNPs with monodisperse PEG methyl ether thiols (mPEG -HS, = 36, 45) and traditional polydisperse mPEG2k-SH ( = 1900).

Emerging high voltage V/V redox reactions in NaV(PO)-based cathodes for sodium-ion batteries.

NaV(PO) (NVP) cathode materials with the advantages of long cycle life and superior thermal stability have been considered promising cathode candidates for SIBs. However, the unsatisfactory energy density derived from low theoretical capacity and operating voltage (3.35 V Na/Na, based on the V/V redox couple) inevitably limits their practical application.

Quantitative analysis of sweat evaporation loss in epidermal microfluidic patches.

Sweat analysis is identified as a promising biochemical technique for the non-invasive assessment of human health status. Epidermal microfluidic patches are the predominant sweat sampling and sensing devices. However, the sweat stored inside the patches may suffer from evaporation loss of moisture, which can increase the concentration of biomarkers and cause the biochemical analysis results of sweat to deviate from the actual results.

Self-standing bacterial cellulose-reinforced poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(4-styrenesulfonate) doped with graphene oxide composite electrodes for high-performance ionic electroactive soft actuators.

Flexible electrode films with good film-forming properties, large deformation ability, high conductivity, and strong charge and discharge capabilities are crucial for ionic electroactive polymer soft actuators. However, there are still challenges in preparing high-quality electrode films that can combine well with the intermediate polyelectrolyte to form high-performance soft actuators. Herein, we propose an advanced sandwich ionic electroactive actuator utilizing self-standing bacterial cellulose (BC) reinforced poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PP) doped with graphene oxide (GO) conductive composite electrodes and a Nafion ion-exchange membrane a hot-pressing method.

One-pot synthesis of an NS-ligand co-doped metal-organic framework for the enhanced adsorption-assisted photocatalytic decontamination of metronidazole.

Doping active agents into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is widely sought after owing to its potential to enhance adsorption and photocatalytic efficiency, surpassing the potential of bare frameworks. This study incorporated a catalytically active NS-ligand (1,2-benzisothiazolin-3-one) into a very stable and porous PCN-600 MOF an synthesis approach. The NS-ligand, which matched with the host ligands of PCN-600, enabled the highly efficient synthesis of NS-co-doped MOFs.

A flexible pH sensor based on polyaniline@oily polyurethane/polypropylene spunbonded nonwoven fabric.

To fabricate a two-electrode flexible pH sensor based on polypropylene spunbonded nonwoven fabric (PP SF), oily polyurethane (OPU) was first coated on the surface of PP SF to obtain OPU/PP SF. Then, silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) paste, used as the reference electrode and conductive carbon (C) paste were transferred to the OPU/PP SF surface through screen printing. Polyaniline (PANI) was deposited on the surface of the C paste to form a sensing working electrode the electro-chemical deposition method.

Preparation of high-performance monoazo disperse dyes bearing ester groups based on benzisothiazole and their dyeing performance on polyester fabrics.

To obtain high-performance disperse dyes, a series of azo disperse dyes containing different kinds of ester groups based on benzisothiazole were synthesized by the coupling reaction of diazotization of 3-amino-5-nitro [2,1] benzisothiazole with -substituted aniline compounds bearing different ester moieties. The structures of the synthesized dyes were evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance techniques (H-NMR), and MS analysis. UV-Vis spectrophotometry methods were applied to study absorption maxima, molar extinction coefficients, and solvatochromic behaviors of the dyes, and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) simulations were applied to reveal the nature of the absorption spectrum properties.

A highly sensitive flexible humidity sensor based on conductive tape and a carboxymethyl cellulose@graphene composite.

Flexible humidity sensors have found new applications in diverse fields including human healthcare, the Internet of Things, and so on. In this paper, a highly sensitive humidity sensor based on carboxymethyl cellulose@graphene and conductive adhesive tape was developed. The sensor was constructed on conductive tape which acted as both of the flexible substrate and the electrode to transmit electronic signals.

Recent advances in permeable polymersomes: fabrication, responsiveness, and applications.

Polymersomes are vesicular nanostructures enclosed by a bilayer-membrane self-assembled from amphiphilic block copolymers, which exhibit higher stability compared with their biological analogues ( liposomes). Due to their versatility, polymersomes have found various applications in different research fields such as drug delivery, nanomedicine, biological nanoreactors, and artificial cells. However, polymersomes prepared with high molecular weight components typically display low permeability to molecules and ions.

Microfluidic fabrication of X-ray-visible sodium hyaluronate microspheres for embolization.

Catheter embolization is a minimally invasive technique that relies on embolic agents and is now widely used to treat various high-prevalence medical diseases. Embolic agents usually need to be combined with exogenous contrasts to visualize the embolotherapy process. However, the exogenous contrasts are quite simply washed away by blood flow, making it impossible to monitor the embolized location.

Rugby ball-shaped magnetic microcapsule for tumor hyperthermia.

Magnetic hyperthermia (MH) induced by magnetic particles has been widely used to treat tumors. However, the limited heating conversion efficiency inspires the design and synthesis of versatile magnetic materials for enhancing the performance of MH. Herein, we developed rugby ball-shaped magnetic microcapsules as efficient MH agents.

Upcycling waste expanded polystyrene into UV-excited dual-mode multicolor luminescent electrospun fiber membranes for advanced anti-counterfeiting.

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is causing severe environmental problems due to its high consumption and non-biodegradability. Upcycling waste EPS into high value-added functional materials is highly advisable in terms of sustainability and environmental concerns. Meanwhile, it is imperative to develop new anti-counterfeiting materials with high security against increasingly high-tech counterfeiting.

Fabrication and desired properties of conductive hydrogel dressings for wound healing.

Conductive hydrogels are platforms recognized as constituting promising materials for tissue engineering applications. This is because such conductive hydrogels are characterized by the inherent conductivity properties while retaining favorable biocompatibility and mechanical properties. These conductive hydrogels can be particularly useful in enhancing wound healing since their favorable conductivity can promote the transport of essential ions for wound healing the imposition of a so-called transepithelial potential.

Ru-based monolithic catalysts for the catalytic oxidation of chlorinated volatile organic compounds.

A series of cordierite monolithic catalysts with Ru species supported on different available low-cost carriers were prepared and investigated for the elimination of CVOCs. The results suggest that the monolithic catalyst with Ru species supported on anatase TiO carrier with abundant acidic sites exhibited the desired catalytic activity for DCM oxidation with the value of 368 °C. In addition, a pseudo-boehmite sol used as binder was introduced into the preparation of the monolithic catalysts to further improve the adhesion between the powder catalysts and cordierite honeycomb carrier.

Fabrication of photo-Fenton self-cleaning PVDF composite membrane for highly efficient oil-in-water emulsion separation.

The anti-fouling performance of membranes is an important performance in the separation of oil/water. However, the membrane with anti-fouling performance will also have surface scaling phenomenon when it runs for a long time. Therefore, there is still a great demand for stain-resistant membranes with good self-cleaning ability and high flux recovery rate.

Hybrid nanostructures for electrochemical potassium storage.

The wide availability and low cost of potassium resources have made electrochemical potassium storage a promising energy storage solution for sustainable decarbonisation. Research activities have been rapidly increasing in the last few years to investigate various potassium batteries such as K-ion batteries (KIBs), K-S batteries and K-Se batteries. The electrode materials of these battery technologies are being extensively studied to examine their suitability and performance, and the utilisation of hybrid nanostructures has undoubtedly contributed to the advancement of the performance.

The effective removal of Pb by activated carbon fibers modified by l-cysteine: exploration of kinetics, thermodynamics and mechanism.

Herein, we developed a low-cost fabrication route to prepare chemically grafted activated carbon fibers, which effectively removed Pb from solution. Multiple characteristic results indicated that l-cyst-ACF had abundant nitrogen-containing and sulfur-containing functional groups. Based on the XPS and EDS analyses, the capture of Pb was attributed to the abundant adsorption sites on the fiber surface.