Article
Polymer Science
Mingliang Li, Kefeng Xie, Guozhi Wang, Jing Zheng, Yingnan Cao, Xiang Cheng, Ziwei Li, Feng Wei, Hailing Tu, Jinyao Tang
Summary: This work focuses on preparing polymeric self-assembled monolayer (SAM) sensors for detecting trace volatile nitroaromatic compound (NAC) explosives by fluorescence quenching. By utilizing a typical aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogen 1,1,2,2-tetraphenylethene (TPE) polymerized into PTPE to increase fluorescence intensity in the SAMs, the sensors achieved low detection limits for TNT, DNB, and NB on inorganic testing paper. The high sensitivity and stability of SAMs, along with the high fluorescence intensity and wire effect of the conjugated polymers, contribute to the success of the sensors.
MACROMOLECULAR RAPID COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ting Gu, Hao Li, Tongyue Wu, Xiaoyu Li, Hongpeng Li, Hongxin Zhao, Yunlong Xiao, Jianbin Huang, Yun Yan
Summary: Transient structures play vital roles in biological systems and can be constructed with functional properties through host-guest interaction. Their lifespan can be easily modulated by various factors, allowing for the creation of living patterns resembling plant growth.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Deshuai Zhu, Zhenghui Yang, Jianying Zhao, Haiquan Guo, Lianxun Gao
Summary: In this study, a nanofiller composed of GO and HT was fabricated and incorporated into the PI matrix to prepare superior nanocomposite films with high energy storage density. Through electrostatic self-assembly, the contact area between graphene oxides was reduced, inhibiting the formation of conductive networks and increasing the energy storage density of the nanocomposite films.
CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Amir Norouzy, Alexandra Lazar, Mohammad Hossein Karimi-Jafari, Rohoullah Firouzi, Werner M. Nau
Summary: The pK(a) values of homorepeat hexapeptides with a DBO chromophore attached at the peptide C termini were determined using a fluorescence-based method. The ionization of the side chains resulted in decreased pK(a) values compared to the free amino acid forms. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the protonation of side chains led to structural expansion of the peptides.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Anup Pandith, Yongyang Luo, Yul Jang, Jeehyeon Bae, Youngmi Kim
Summary: In this study, a fluorogenic probe CV2 was developed for the selective monitoring of G-quadruplex (G4) structures in living cells. CV2 specifically recognizes parallel G4 DNA and forms self-assembled nanoaggregates with red excimer-emitting fluorescence. The specific binding of CV2 to G4s triggers its disassembly into monomeric dyes, leading to a significant fluorescence enhancement. Moreover, CV2 can selectively stain G4s in mitochondria, making it useful for investigating the potential roles of mitochondrial DNA G4s in diseases involving mitochondrial dysfunction.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Florencia A. Gulotta, Veronica Paz Zanini, Beatriz A. Lopez de Mishima, Debora M. Martino, Omar E. Linarez Perez, Nancy F. Ferreyra
Summary: In this study, self-assembled structures of gold nanoparticles were built using a new polyelectrolyte. The optical and electrochemical properties of the structure were explored for potential sensor applications. Surface plasmon resonance and atomic force microscopy revealed the distribution and electromagnetic coupling of the AuNPs in different polymer forms.
JOURNAL OF ELECTROANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xin Huang, Huijuan Jing, Xiaojing Du, Li Wang, Xingran Kou, Zhonghua Liu, Shijia Wu, Hongxin Wang
Summary: A novel filamentous sodium alginate (SA) / epsilon-polylysine (PL) fiber with excellent properties and controllable sizes is prepared in an environmentally friendly manner. The SA/PL fiber exhibits antibacterial activity, low cytotoxicity, anti-hemolysis, bioadhesion, and environmental friendliness. In vivo experiments have shown that the SA/PL fiber promotes wound healing by resisting pathogen infection, reducing inflammation, and preventing allergies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shangjun Chen, Lijun Chen, Yunsong Cai, Wei-Hong Zhu
Summary: In this study, photoswitchable fluorescent supramolecular metallacycles with high fatigue-resistance were constructed by coordination-driven self-assembly using bithienylethene with dipyridyl units as a coordination donor and a fluorescent di-platinum(II) as a coordination acceptor. The reversible transformation between ring-open and ring-closed forms, along with the exceptional photostability of the metallacycles, suggests their potential promising applications in optical switching, image storage, and super-resolution microscopy.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Tanmay Bharadwaj, Shreya Chrungoo, Devendra Verma
Summary: Chitosan-based thermosensitive bioink has great potential for bone tissue engineering due to its excellent biocompatibility and gelation at physiological temperature without the need for crosslinkers. However, it has limitations in terms of low mechanical strength, poor printability, and low post-printing cell viability. This study incorporated self-assembled nanofibrous aggregates and nanohydroxyapatite into chitosan-based bioinks to improve their printability, mechanical properties, and cell viability. The optimized nanocomposite bioink showed good printability, high cell viability, low water uptake, and degradation in the presence of lysozyme. The bioink also exhibited a suitable elastic modulus and enhanced cellular activity in osteogenic media.
CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS
(2024)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Guozhi Wang, Mingliang Li, Qianhui Wei, Yuhua Xiong, Jie Li, Ziwei Li, Jinyao Tang, Feng Wei, Hailing Tu
Summary: This study designed a series of TPE-PA-n molecules for detecting NAC explosives, with the fluorescence and sensing performance of SAMs being influenced by the length of the alkyl chains. Functional molecules with a chain length of 8 were selected for NAC sensors based on comparison, showing good stability, reversibility, selectivity, and sensitivity for detecting trinitrotoluene, dinitrotoluene, and nitrobenzene.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Zhaocai He, Yuke Gu, Huaifei Liu, Yating Sun, Gonggang Liu, Shanshan Chang, Yuanjuan Bai, Jinbo Hu
Summary: In recent years, wood has attracted increasing attention as a structural functional material, thanks to its unique porous structure, renewability, low cost, and easy processing. However, carbonization treatment, commonly used to improve wood conductivity, sacrifices its mechanical strength. This study presents a method to improve wood conductivity using reduced graphene oxide as a conductive coating, without the need for carbonization.
JOURNAL OF POROUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Seon-Min Oh, Cheon-Seok Park, Young-Rok Kim, Moo-Yeol Baik
Summary: The ability of starches from different botanical sources to form Short Chain Glucan Aggregates (SCGAs) and the physicochemical characteristics of the produced SCGAs were investigated. SCGAs were obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis and centrifugation, showing a spherical shape with high agglomeration and a main constituent of B1 chain. The SCGAs displayed improved thermal stability and increased colloidal dispersion stability with varying amylose content and crystallinity.
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yuqiong Xia, Chunzhong Xu, Keyun Wu, Jun Wang, Chenhui Cui, Yankun Wu, Cairu Li, Xianghan Zhang
Summary: Near-infrared fluorophores are widely used in tumor imaging due to their superior resolution, sensitivity, penetration depth, and low auto-fluorescence. However, the efficacy of these fluorophores in tumor imaging is often hindered by background signals and delivery efficiency. The self-quenched liposomal probes DiR-LP-C and DiR-LP-B have been developed as tumor-specific imaging probes with a cellular on/off system, showing potential for tumor imaging and phototherapy.
MATERIALS TODAY COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Wai Kian Tan, Takaya Kuwana, Atsushi Yokoi, Go Kawamura, Atsunori Matsuda, Hiroyuki Muto
Summary: By controlling the formation of composite particles, improved laser absorbance and reduced volume shrinkage during the sintering process can be achieved, providing a key platform for ceramic material fabrication through the directed energy deposition route.
ADVANCED POWDER TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Xiqi Ma, Xiaojuan Wang, Cai Liu, Baosheng Ge, Hua He, Qi Dai, Zhixiong Zhang, Jinyi Yu, Werner M. Nau, Fang Huang
Summary: HBMA is a novel heparanase degradable heparin-based microcarrier developed for specific staining, targeting, and inhibiting tumor cells with high metastatic potential. Results from various assays demonstrate that HBMA effectively suppresses the proliferation and migration of selectively targeted tumor cells, highlighting its potential as a promising cancer theranostic agent to prevent tumor metastasis.
MATERIALS & DESIGN
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Fabrizio Roncaglia, Marcello Romagnoli, Simone Incudini, Elena Santini, Manuel Imperato, Luca Spinelli, Alessandro di Bona, Roberto Biagi, Adele Mucci
Summary: This study presents an experimental method for preparing graphite-epoxy composites suitable for manufacturing bipolar plates in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. Wet mixing was found to be advantageous in achieving good electrical and mechanical properties, with the addition of a small percentage of carbon black as a secondary filler. Modeling the effects of molding parameters on a fixed-composition graphite-epoxy composite provided valuable information for future improvements, resulting in conductivity values exceeding US DOE requirements.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2021)
Article
Biophysics
Carlo Cifani, Silvia Alboni, Adele Mucci, Cristina Benatti, Luca Botticelli, Nicoletta Brunello, Maria Vittoria Micioni Di Bonaventura, Valeria Righi
Summary: The study investigated binge-like eating behavior in female rats induced by intermittent food restrictions/refeeding and frustration stress through analyzing the metabolic profile obtained from serum of rats using NMR spectroscopy. The results identified O- and N-acetyl glycoproteins as main biomarkers for discrimination of restriction effects. NMR-based metabolomics was suggested as a suitable approach to detect biomarkers related to binge-eating behavior.
NMR IN BIOMEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Simone Vitiello, Monica Caselli, Giorgia Pavesi, Matteo Santucci, Stefania Ferrari, Maria Paola Costi, Glauco Ponterini
Summary: Protein intrinsic fluorescence, including spectra, time decays, and anisotropies, can be used to monitor the interchange of different functional forms in real time. By utilizing these features, researchers have sketched the fluorometric profiles of two functional forms of human thymidylate synthase, offering a new inhibition mechanism to avoid the onset of drug resistance in anticancer therapy.
Article
Polymer Science
Niccolo Braidi, Mirko Buffagni, Franco Ghelfi, Francesca Parenti, Armando Gennaro, Abdirisak A. Isse, Elena Bedogni, Luisa Bonifaci, Gianfranco Cavalca, Angelo Ferrando, Aldo Longo, Ida Morandini
Summary: The study describes a method for the polymerization of styrene from EDCP catalyzed by CuCl2/TPMA in ethyl acetate/ethanol. The activation mechanism involves the contributions of both ethanol and TPMA to the regeneration of the catalyst, leading to improved control over polymerization. The oxidative degradation of TPMA causes a gradual decrease in the free radical concentration, impacting the polymerization rate.
JOURNAL OF MACROMOLECULAR SCIENCE PART A-PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Cecilia Pozzi, Matteo Santucci, Gaetano Marverti, Domenico D'Arca, Lorenzo Tagliazucchi, Stefania Ferrari, Gaia Gozzi, Lorena Losi, Giusy Tassone, Stefano Mangani, Glauco Ponterini, Maria Paola Costi
Summary: This study suggests that X-ray crystallography can provide structural indicators for designing drug combinations targeting enzymes, accelerating their preclinical research and therapeutic application.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fabrizio Poletti, Alessandra Scida, Barbara Zanfrognini, Alessandro Kovtun, Vitaliy Parkula, Laura Favaretto, Manuela Melucci, Vincenzo Palermo, Emanuele Treossi, Chiara Zanardi
Summary: Exfoliating graphite into graphene sheets allows the researchers to produce graphene paper, which is conductive, flexible, and processable. Graphene paper is used for electronic applications, demonstrating superior performance in antennas, electronics, and sensing. The stable deposition of enzymes on the electrode surface shows the potential applicability of graphene paper in biosensing.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Andrea Cornia, Adele Mucci, Matteo Briganti, Nathalie Bridonneau, Andrea Nava, Alessio Nicolini
Summary: The study investigates the diamagnetic analogue of tetrametallic, propeller-like single-molecule magnets [Ga-4(L4-Py)(2)(dpm)(6)] in EtOH. Through H-1 NMR spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations, it was found that the two enantiomers interconvert slowly. The solid-state structure suggests the existence of a lower symmetry stereoisomer, which needs to be clearly identified through NMR spectra.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Sara Righi, Luca Forti, Roberto Simonini, Valentina Ferrari, Daniela Prevedelli, Adele Mucci
Summary: This study used analytical chemistry techniques to investigate the natural products produced by Mediterranean specimens of the amphinomid fireworm, Hermodice carunculata. It identified and characterized eight novel compounds, named carunculines. The study also conducted preliminary investigations into the adaptive features of these compounds and found a correlation between their abundance and the evolutionary history of the worms.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Laura Pigani, Cristina Rioli, Barbara Zanfrognini, Juan Jose Garcia-Guzman, Jose Maria Palacios-Santander, Laura Maria Cubillana-Aguilera
Summary: Reusable Sonogel-Carbon electrodes with carbon black were used for electrochemical analysis of caffeic acid in standard solutions and instant coffees, showing high sensitivity and low detection limit. The inclusion of CB nanostructures improved performance compared to pristine SNGC electrodes. SBGC-CB electrodes proved to be a simple and cost-effective tool for rapid assessment of caffeic acid-related molecules in instant coffees through comparison with electrochemical, chromatographic, and spectroscopic methods.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Francesca Parenti, Raffaella Capelli, Adele Mucci, Cecilia Mortalo, Guido Paolicelli, Laura Pigani, Davide Vanossi, Monica Caselli
Summary: This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of a new alkoxy benzodithiophene-based small molecule, BDTCOR, which has two stereocenters and two end-capping acetyl groups. The spectroscopic properties and computational data suggest that BDTCOR is a candidate for optoelectronic applications due to its broad UV-Vis absorption spectrum and suitable fluorescence properties. Thin films of BDTCOR were deposited on SiO2 and PMMA substrates, and it was found that enantiopure BDTCOR shows different film morphology compared to the stereoisomeric mixture, indicating a tendency to generate supramolecular well-ordered structures. Additionally, the electronic circular dichroism spectra showed intense Cotton effect in vapor-deposited films, suggesting a synergic role of chirality and deposition technique on molecular order.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giacomo Setti, Valeria Righi, Adele Mucci, Lucia Panari, Giuditta Bernardelli, Elisabetta Tarentini, Anna Gambini, Ugo Consolo, Luigi Generali, Cristina Magnoni, Marco Meleti, Gilda Sandri, Pierantonio Bellini
Summary: The aim of this study is to compare the salivary metabolomes of pSS patients with healthy controls using NMR analysis. About 50 metabolites were detected and assigned, and the results indicated that the metabolite composition of saliva can effectively differentiate pSS patients from healthy controls.
Article
Polymer Science
Niccolo Braidi, Francesca Parenti, Giulia Scurani, Francesco Tassinari, Mirko Buffagni, Luisa Bonifaci, Gianfranco Cavalca, Nicolo Pettenuzzo, Franco Ghelfi
Summary: Ascorbic acid is a promising regenerating agent for ARGET ATRP due to its sustainability and environmental friendliness, especially its anion form that exhibits a higher kinetic rate constant of reduction toward the copper catalyst. However, in the polymerization of hydrophobic monomers, the neutralization of ascorbic acid with inorganic bases leads to a heterogeneous system that is not suitable for industrial applications.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Arsen Raza, Adele Mucci, Alessio Nicolini, Andrea Cornia
Summary: Lithium oligo-alpha-pyridylamides are useful intermediates in coordination chemistry, and can be used to synthesize extended metal atom chains with variable coordination numbers.
CHEMISTRY-SWITZERLAND
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Elena Castellini, Fabrizio Bernini, Lorenzo Sebastianelli, Beatrice Bighi, Claro Ignacio Sainz-Diaz, Adele Mucci, Daniele Malferrari, Antonio Ranieri, Giulio Gorni, Carlo Marini, Maria Franca Brigatti, Marco Borsari
Summary: Chemical gardens grown from different copper salts were characterized, with different main crystalline phases observed. All materials showed efficient and rapid uptake of ammonia, with copper nitrate and copper chloride releasing water and becoming wet after a period of time, while only copper sulfate remained dry.
