Li‐CO2 batteries are regarded as next‐generation high‐energy‐density electrochemical devices. However, the greatest challenge arises from the formation of the discharge product, Li2CO3, which would ...accumulate and deactivate heterogenous catalysts to cause huge polarization. Herein, Ru(bpy)3Cl2 was employed as a solution‐phase catalyst for Li‐CO2 batteries and proved to be the most effective one screened so far. Spectroscopy and electrochemical analyses elucidate that the RuII center could interact with both CO2 and amorphous Li2C2O4 intermediate, thus promoting electroreduction process and delaying carbonate transformation. As a result, the charge potential is reduced to 3.86 V and over 60 discharge/charge cycles are achieved with a fixed capacity of 1000 mAh g−1 at a current density of 300 mA g−1. Our work provides a new avenue to improve the electrochemical performance of Li‐CO2 batteries with efficient mobile catalysts.
Ru(bpy)3Cl2 was applied as the first ruthenium‐based mobile catalyst to enhance the electrochemical performance of Li‐CO2 batteries. The RuII catalyst was discovered to interact with both CO2 molecules and amorphous Li2C2O4 intermediate, thus promoting CO2RR and delaying carbonate formation and consequently leading to lowered overpotential, enlarged capacity, and prolonged cyclability of the batteries.
The development of a unique and universal strategy for the simultaneous quantification of different types of biomolecules (i.e., nucleic acids and proteins) in living cells is extremely challenging. ...Herein, a two-signal platform, based upon surface-enhanced Raman scattering and upconversion, for the ultrasensitive and quantitative in situ detection of microRNA (miR)-21 and telomerase in living cells is reported. In the presence of miR-21 and telomerase, the hybridization of miR-21 with a molecular beacon leads to the separation of 3,3'-diethylthiocarbamyl cyanine iodide-modified Au NR dimers, resulting in a decrease in Raman signal. Also, the target telomerase triggers elongation of the telomerase primer strands, followed by substitutional hybridization and release of upconversion nanoparticles, leading to an increase in luminescence. A linear relationship between the Raman intensities and logarithmic concentration of intracellular miR-21 between 0.021 and 22.36 amol/ng
is observed, and the limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be 0.011 amol/ng
. The luminescence data show a linear response between 0.6 × 10
and 31 × 10
IU for logarithmic concentration of intracellular telomerase with a LOD of 3.2 × 10
IU. These results are in good agreement with Raman and confocal imaging. Importantly, the ultrasensitive detection of miR-21 was possible due to strong plasmonic "hot spots". This innovative two-signal approach can be utilized for the quantitative and precise detection of many types of signaling molecules in living cells and to understand the chemistry within cellular systems and its application in the diagnosis of disease.
A new dicationic diboronic acid structure, DBA2+, was designed to exhibit good affinity (Kd≈1 mm) and selectivity toward glucose. Binding of DBA2+ to glucose changes the pKa of DBA2+ from 9.4 to 6.3, ...enabling opportunities for detection of glucose at physiological pH. Proton release from DBA2+ is firmly related to glucose concentrations within the physiologically relevant range (0–30 mm), as verified by conductimetric monitoring. Negligible interference from other sugars (for example, maltose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, and galactose) was observed. These results demonstrate the potential of DBA2+ for selective, quantitative glucose sensing. The nonenzymatic strategy based on electrohydrodynamic effects may enable the development of stable, accurate, and continuous glucose monitoring platforms.
Sugar resistance: A diboronic acid, DBA2+, was prepared, which shows good affinity and selectivity toward glucose and changeable pKa upon binding. DBA2+ was applied to the non‐enzymatic, conductimetric monitoring of glucose. With negligible interference from other sugars, DBA2+ shows potential for selective, quantitative, and continuous glucose sensing.
With the frequent occurrence of food scandals, food safety has become a topical issue throughout society. Various contaminants present in food can cause foodborne illnesses, posing a serious threat ...to human health, so an efficient and reliable method for the assessment of food is urgently required. Recently, nanoparticle (NP)-based sensors have emerged as a potential alternative or complementary analytical tool to conventional detection methods, which are time consuming and laborious. NPs such as gold, silver, and magnetic nanoparticles have attracted much attention to amplify the detection signal and provide higher sensitivity. This review summarizes the various NP-based sensors, explaining their principles and discussing their applications in the detection of pesticides, metals, pathogens, antibiotics, and mycotoxins in terms of their sensitivity and multiplexing capabilities. The limitations and challenges of NP-based technology in the rapid and reliable monitoring of food are also considered.
•This review summarizes the various NP-based sensors explaining their principles.•It has been demonstrated the applications of NP-based sensors in the detection of pesticides, metals, pathogens, antibiotics, and mycotoxins.•The limitations and challenges of NP-based technology in the rapid and reliable monitoring of food are also considered.
Chiral self-assembled nanomaterials with biological applications have attracted great interest. In this study, DNA-driven gold-upconversion nanoparticle (Au-UCNP) pyramids were fabricated to detect ...intracellular microRNA (miRNA) in real time. The Au-UCNP pyramids are doubly optically active, displaying strong plasmonic circular dichroism (CD) at 521 nm and significant luminescence in 500-600 nm, and therefore can be monitored by both of them. CD will decrease while the luminescence intensity increases in the presence of miRNA. The experimental results show that the CD intensity had an outstanding linear range from 0.073 to 43.65 fmol/10 μg(RNA) and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.03 fmol/10 μg(RNA), whereas the luminescence intensity ranged from 0.16 to 43.65 fmol/10 μg(RNA) with a LOD of 0.12 fmol/10 μg(RNA). These data indicate that the CD signal is much more sensitive to the concentration of miRNA than the luminescent signal, which is attributed to the strong CD intensity arising from the spin angular momentum of the photon interaction with chiral nanostructures and the plasmonic enhancement of the intrinsic chirality of DNA molecules in the pyramids. This approach opens up a new avenue to the ultrasensitive detection and quantification of miRNA in living cells.
•AI promotes the sustainability development in higher education.•A soft-computing technique extracts key factors from large amounts of data.•DEMATEL analysis accounts for dependence and feedback ...among factors.•A framework of AI-enabled Higher Education was proposed.•“Intelligent instructional systems” is the most important criterion.
The application of AI in higher education has greatly increased globally in the dynamic digital age. The adoption of developmentally appropriate practices using AI-enabled techniques for facilitating the performance of teaching and learning in the higher education domain is thus a necessary task, especially in the COVID 19 pandemic era. The development and implementation of such techniques involve many factors and are related to the classical multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) issue; however, these factors surrounding supervisors will confuse them and may result in misjudgment. To clarify the relevant issues and illustrate the cause-and-effect relationships among factors, a hybrid soft-computing technique (i.e., the fuzzy rough set theory (FRST) with ant colony optimization (ACO)) and a DEMATEL approach was proposed in this study, which can help decision makers capture the best model necessary for achieving aspiration-level in a higher education management strategy. In the results submitted, the improvement priority for dimensions is based on the measurement of the influences, running in order of tutors for learners (A), skills and competences (B), interaction data to support learning (C), and universal access to global classrooms (D), and which can serve as a reference for the plan of AI-enabled teaching/learning for higher education.
In this study, via a simple one‐step method, chiral copper sulfide quantum dots (d/l‐QDs) were prepared using d‐/l‐penicillamine (d‐/l‐Pen). The anisotropy factor of d/l‐QDs was as high as 0.01. The ...d/l‐QDs can be used as photocatalysts to cleave proteins. Notably, the l‐QDs displayed the highest catalytic performance under left‐circularly polarized light irradiation. Mechanistic investigations indicate the generation of hydroxyl radicals as the reactive species that cause the cutting of proteins.
The chirality of novel Cu2−xS quantum dots (QDs) arises from the d‐/l‐penicillamine ligands used in the synthesis. The resulting chiral QDs displayed unexpected photocatalytic activity upon irradiation with circularly polarized light and selective photocleavage of proteins.
•A new hapten of diclazuril was synthesized successfully.•A sensitive and specific monoclonal antibody against diclazuril was developed.•A lateral-flow strip was assembled for detection of diclazuril ...in chicken samples.•Detection took only 15 min, and the quantitative LOD for diclazuril was 1.08 μg/kg.•The strip assay can be applied in on-site monitoring of chicken samples.
In this study, we produced a sensitive and specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) against diclazuril based on a new hapten. The mAb, which belongs to the IgG2 subclass, had a 50%-inhibitory concentration of 0.36 ng/mL. A cross reactivity test revealed that the mAb had good specificity for diclazuril. A gold nanoparticle-based lateral-flow strip was assembled for the rapid screening of diclazuril in raw chicken breast and thigh samples. The strip assay had a visual limit of detection (LOD) of 2 μg/kg and a cut-off value of 20 μg/kg for diclazuril in chicken samples when evaluated with the naked eye. With the aid of a strip scan reader, the proposed assay obtained a quantitative measurement for diclazuril with an LOD of 1.08 μg/kg. Therefore, this gold nanoparticle-based lateral-flow strip assay represents a potentially useful tool for on-site detection and rapid initial screening of diclazuril in chicken samples.
Assemblies of nanomaterials for biological applications in living cells have attracted much attention. Herein, graphene oxide (GO)–gold nanoparticle (Au NP) assemblies are driven by a splint DNA ...strand, which is designed with two regions at both ends that are complementary with the DNA sequence anchored on the surface of the GO and the Au NPs. In the presence of microRNA (miR)‐21 and epithelial cell‐adhesion molecule (EpCAM), the hybridization of miR‐21 with a molecular probe leads to the separation of 6‐fluorescein‐phosphoramidite‐modified Au NPs from GO, resulting in a decrease in the Raman signal, while EpCAM recognition reduces circular dichroism (CD) signals. The CD signals reverse from negative in original assemblies into positive when reacted with cells, which correlates with two enantiomer geometries. The EpCAM detection has a good linear range of 8.47–74.78 pg mL−1 and a limit of detection (LOD) of 3.63 pg mL−1, whereas miR‐21 detection displays an outstanding linear range of 0.07–13.68 amol ng−1RNA and LOD of 0.03 amol ng−1RNA. All the results are in good agreement with those of the Raman and confocal bioimaging. The strategy opens up an avenue to allow the highly accurate and reliable diagnosis (dual targets) of clinic diseases.
Controllable chiral graphene oxide–gold assemblies are fabricated, which display dual strong optical signals with characteristic plasmonic circular dichroism (CD) at 521 nm and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) at 1711.29 cm−1. Based on dual signals of plasmonic CD and SERS, for the first time, the quantitative monitoring of EpCAM and miR‐21 in living cells is achieved. Significantly, it is found that the CD signals reverse from negative in the original assemblies into positive when reacted with cell‐related biological components.
Designing chiral materials to manipulate the biological activities of cells has been an important area not only in chemistry and material science, but also in cell biology and biomedicine. Here, we ...introduce monolayer plasmonic chiral Au nanoparticle (NP) films modified with L- or D-penicillamine (Pen) to be developed for cell growth, differentiation, and retrieval. The monolayer films display high chiroptical activity, with circular dichroism values of 3.5 mdeg at 550 nm and 26.8 mdeg at 775 nm. The L-Pen-NP films accelerate cell proliferation, whereas the D -Pen-NP films have the opposite effect. Remote irradiation with light is chosen to noninvasively collect the cells. The results demonstrate that left circularly polarized light improves the efficiency of cell detachment up to 91.2% for L-Pen-NP films. These findings will facilitate the development of cell culture in biomedical application and help to understand natural homochirality.
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