Epoxy resin reinforced with nanothin polydopamine-coated carbon nanotubes: a study of the interfacial polymer layer thickness

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) functionalized by a nanothin poly(dopamine) (PDA) layer were produced by a one-pot, nondestructive approach, with direct polymerization of dopamine on the CNT surface.

Effects of silica-coated carbon nanotubes on the curing behavior and properties of epoxy composites

Carbon nanotubes coated with silica and resultant effects on epoxy composites.

Facile synthesis of magnetic hierarchical copper silicate hollow nanotubes for efficient adsorption and removal of hemoglobin

Novel magnetic hierarchical copper silicate hollow nanotubes were synthesized with SiO₂/Fe₃O₄/Ag NWs as templates, which can be used to remove abundant proteins in human blood.

Large-scale fabrication and application of magnetite coated Ag NW-core water-dispersible hybrid nanomaterials

In this work, we report a large scale synthetic procedure that allows attachment of magnetite nanoparticles onto Ag NWs in situ, which was conducted in a triethylene glycol (TREG) solution with iron acetylacetonate and Ag NWs as starting materials. The as-prepared Ag NW/Fe3O4 NP composites are well characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, FT-IR, and VSM techniques. It was found that the mass ratio of iron acetylacetonate to Ag NWs plays a crucial role in controlling the amount of magnetite nanoparticles decorated on the Ag NWs. The resulting Ag NW/Fe3O4 NP composites exhibit superparamagnetic properties at room temperature, and can be well dispersed in aqueous and organic solutions, which is greatly beneficial for their application and functionality. Thus, the as-prepared magnetic silver nanowires show good catalytic activity, using the catalytic reduction of methylene blue (MB) as a model reaction. Furthermore, the Ag NW/Fe3O4 NP composites can be functionalized with polydopamine (Pdop), resorcinol-formaldehyde resin (PFR), and SiO2, respectively, in aqueous/ethanol solution. Meanwhile they can also be coated with polyphosphazene (PZS) in organic solution, resulting in a unique nanocable with well-defined core shell structures. Besides, taking Ag NW/Fe3O4@SiO2 as an example, a hollow magnetic silica nanotube can be obtained with the use of Ag NWs as physical templates and a solution of ammonium and H2O2. These can greatly improve the application of the Ag NW/Fe3O4 NP composites. The as-synthesized above nanocomposites have high potential for applications in the fields of polymers, wastewater treatment, sensors, and biomaterials.

Association between FTO polymorphism in exon 3 with carcass and meat quality traits in crossbred ducks

The fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) is an excellent candidate gene that affects energy metabolism. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in FTO are associated with carcass and meat quality traits in pigs, cattle, and rabbits. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between novel SNPs in the FTO coding region and carcass and meat quality traits in 95 crossbred ducks, using DNA sequencing. We found two transitions G/A (SNP 387 and 473) within exon 3. SNP 387 was a synonymous mutation, whereas SNP 473 was a missense mutation. Association analysis suggested that SNP g.387G>A was significantly associated with all of the carcass traits measured, the intramuscular fat content (IMF), cooking yield (CY), pH values 45 min after slaughter (pH45m), drip losses from the breast muscle, and the leg muscle (P < 0.05). For SNP g.473G>A, the genotype AA exhibited greater leg muscle weight than the genotypes GG or AG (P < 0.05). The D value suggested that the two SNPs exhibited strong linkage disequilibrium. Three haplotypes (G1G2, G1A2, and A1A2) were significantly associated with IMF, CY, the a* value, and all of the carcass traits measured (P < 0.05). The results suggest that FTO is a candidate locus that affects carcass and meat quality traits in ducks.

Fabrication of Au(Ag)/AgCl/Fe3O4@PDA@Au nanocomposites with enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

A novel Au(Ag)/AgCl/Fe₃O₄@Pdop@Au multifunctional nanotube was obtained, which showed obvious near-infrared absorption and exhibited excellent photocatalytic via visible light.

Effect of SiO2 nanoparticles on the reaction-induced phase separation in dynamically asymmetric epoxy/PEI blends

The scaling coefficient α decreases significantly when the epoxy/PEI blend is filled with certain concentration of MEK–SiO₂ nanoparticles, implying that the nanoparticles are forcing the coarsening mechanism towards the diffusion-controlled regime.

Lowered Nudix type 5 expression leads to cellular senescence in IMR-90 fibroblast cells

The molecule 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoGua), an oxidized form of guanine, can pair with adenine or cytosine during nucleic acid synthesis. RNA sequences that contain 8-oxoGua cause translational errors that lead to the synthesis of abnormal proteins. Human Nudix type 5 (NUDT5), a MutT-related protein, catalyzes the hydrolysis of 8-oxoGDP to 8-oxoGMP, thereby preventing the misincorporation of 8-oxoGua into RNA. To investigate the biological roles of NUDT5 in human fibroblast cells, we established cell lines with decreased levels of NUDT5 expression. In NUDT5 knockdown cells, the RNA oxidation levels were significantly higher, the rates of cellular senescence and cell apoptosis were significantly increased, and the cell viability was significantly decreased in comparison with control cells. These results suggested that the NUDT5 protein could play significant roles in the prevention of RNA oxidation and survival in human fibroblast cells.

Formation of fibril structures in polymerizable, rod-coil-oligomer-modified epoxy networks

This paper describes the in situ preparation of fibrils in epoxy networks in which the fibril-like structures are cured polymerizable rod-coil oligomers. The epoxy-terminated alpha,omega-modified PEO oligomers, which are ABA rod-coil-rod oligomers with a poly(ethylene oxide) coil unit and two aromatic azomethine liquid-crystalline rod units, were synthesized and then further blended with an epoxy precursor. Uniform nanoscale columnar structures were observed in the neat rod-coil oligomers as well as in the crosslinked liquid-crystalline state. During the curing of the blends, the supramolecular nanoscale columnar structures of the rod-coil oligomers are transformed into polymeric fibrils where the epoxy functional end groups have co-reacted with epoxy precursors to form a crosslinked network.