Bioadsorption of proteins on large mesocage-shaped mesoporous alumina monoliths

Multifunctional Nanoparticles and Nanopesticides in Agricultural Application

The unscientific application of pesticides can easily cause a series of ecological environmental safety issues, which seriously restrict the sustainable development of modern agriculture. The great progress in nanotechnology has allowed the continuous development of plant protection strategies. The nanonization and delivery of pesticides offer many advantages, including their greater absorption and conduction by plants, improved efficacy, reduced dosage, delayed resistance, reduced residues, and protection from natural enemies and beneficial insects. In this review, we focus on the recent advances in multifunctional nanoparticles and nanopesticides. The definition of nanopesticides, the types of nanoparticles used in agriculture and their specific synergistic mechanisms are introduced, their safety is evaluated, and their future application prospects, about which the public is concerned, are examined.

Recycling protein selective adsorption on fluorine-modified surface through fluorine-fluorine interaction

Low surface energy materials with micro-nano structures have been widely developed to prevent non-specific adhesion of biomolecules. Herein we put forward a new approach based on the antifouling and self-assembly properties of fluorine components, to construct a non-specific protein resistance surface with selective protein adsorption property. Briefly, the antifouling surface (SN-F) was obtained by a simple one-step modification on silicon nanowire arrays (SiNWAs) with fluorine coupling agent 1 H,1 H,2 H,2 H-perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane (FAS). And protein was fluorinated by conjugation with an amphiphilic fluoro-copolymer, produced from 2-methacrylamido glucopyranose (MAG) and trifluoroethyl methacrylate (TFEMA) via RAFT polymerization. The properties of the materials were characterized by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), water contact angle, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) etc., and protein adsorption was investigated by protein content measurement, fluorescence detection, and electrophoresis. It was observed that the adsorption for native proteins on SN-F was at an extremely low level, while the adsorption for the fluoro-copolymer conjugated protein (PFG-BSA) was significantly increased. When the percentage of TFEMA in the fluoro-copolymer was as high as 52.0%, the fluorinated protein adsorbed on SN-F was more than 35 times of native proteins on the surface. Moreover, the platform could resist IgG adhesion in serum after the adsorption of fluorinated protein, and it could be recycled three times after 75% ethanol treatment. In conclusion, SN-F showed non-specific protein resistance through low surface energy and specific protein adsorption by fluorine-fluorine self-assembly. The fluorinated nanostructured platform has a great potential in controlling protein adsorption and release.

Engineering nanoscale hierarchical morphologies and geometrical shapes for microbial inactivation in aqueous solution

Here, we study the effect of hierarchical and one-dimensional (1D) metal oxide nanorods (H-NRs) such as γ-Al₂O₃, β-MnO₂, and ZnO as microbial inhibitors on the antimicrobial efficiency in aqueous solution. These microbial inhibitors are fabricated in a diverse range of nanoscale hierarchical morphologies and geometrical shapes that have effective surface exposure, and well-defined 1D orientation. For instance, γ-Al₂O₃ H-NRs with 20 nm width and ˂0.5 μm length are grown dominantly in the [400] direction. The wurtzite structures of β-MnO₂ H-NRs with 30 nm width and 0.5-1 μm length are preferentially oriented in the [100] direction. Longitudinal H-NRs with a width of 40 nm and length of 1 μm are controlled with ZnO wurtzite structure and grown in [0001] direction. The antimicrobial efficiency of H-NRs was evaluated through experimental assays using a set of microorganisms (Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus thuriginesis, and Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria. Minimal inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC) were determined. These 1D H-NRs exhibited antibacterial activity against all the used strains. The active surface exposure sites of H-NRs play a key role in the strong interaction with the thiol units of vital bacterial enzymes, leading to microbial inactivation. Our finding indicates that the biological effect of the H-NR surface planes on microbial inhibition is decreased in the order of [400]-γ-Al₂O₃ > [100]-β-MnO₂ > [0001]-ZnO geometrics. The lowest key values including MIC (1.146 and 0.250 μg/mL), MBC (1.146, 0.313 μg/mL), and MIC/MFC (0.375 and 0.375 μg/mL) are achieved for [400]-plane γ-Al₂O₃ surfaces when tested against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, respectively. Among the three H-NRs, the smallest diameter size and length, the largest surface area, and the active exposure [400] direction of γ-Al₂O₃ H-NRs could provide the highest microbial inactivation.

Progress in biomimetic leverages for marine antifouling using nanocomposite coatings

Because of the environmental and economic casualties of biofouling on maritime navigation, modern studies have been devoted toward formulating advanced nanoscale composites in the controlled development of effective marine antifouling self-cleaning surfaces.

Monolith columns for liquid chromatographic separations of intact proteins: A review of recent advances and applications

In this article we survey 256 references (with an emphasis on the papers published in the past decade) on monolithic columns for intact protein separation. Protein enrichment and purification are included in the broadly defined separation. After a brief introduction, we describe the types of monolithic columns and modes of chromatographic separations employed for protein separations. While the majority of the work is still in the research and development phase, papers have been published toward utilizing monolithic columns for practical applications. We survey these papers as well in this review. Characteristics of selected methods along with their pros and cons will also be discussed.

3D-Ridge Stocked Layers of Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon Nanosheets for Ultrasensitive Monitoring of Dopamine Released from PC12 Cells under K+ Stimulation

3D-ridge nanosheets of N-doped mesoporous carbon (NMCS)-based electrodes are fabricated as ultrasensitive biosensors for in vitro monitoring of dopamine (DA) released from living cells. The large-scale ranges of dense-layered sheets are arranged linearly with a thickness of <10 nm, soft tangled edges, stocked layer arrangements, and tunable mesoporous frameworks with 3D orientations. The intrinsic features of the active interfacial surface of the electrode based on NMCS along with polarized surfaces, dense surface-charged matrices, fast electron transfer, and easy molecular diffusion, are present in the highly active electrode for biosensing applications. The designed electrode based on the NMCS shows high sensitivity and selectivity for DA sensing even in the presence of physiological interference molecules, such as ascorbic acid and/or uric acid, at a low applied potential of 0.25 V versus Ag/AgCl. The large-scale NMCS-based electrode shows low detection limits as low as 10 nmol L^-1 , wide linear range up to 0.5 mmol L^-1 , long-term stability for more than 15 d (relative standard deviation (RSD)= 5.8%), and a low cytotoxicity with high biocompatibility. The findings demonstrated that the NMCS-based electrode is a reliable modified electrode for ultratrace sensitivity of DA, which is secreted normally from dopaminergic cells (PC12) or under a stimulating agent (K⁺ ).

Facile synthesis of microporous sulfur-doped carbon spheres as electrodes for ultrasensitive detection of ascorbic acid in food and pharmaceutical products

The active interfacial surface of S-doped microporous carbon spheres strongly binds with ascorbic acid in food and pharmaceutical products.

Antifungal activity of fabricated mesoporous alumina nanoparticles against root rot disease of tomato caused by Fusarium oxysporium

BACKGROUND

The present work involved the synthesis and characterisation of mesoporous alumina sphere (MAS) nanoparticles to evaluate their biological activity against tomato root rot caused by Fusarium oxysporium, as compared with the recommended fungicide, tolclofos-methyl, under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. The effects of MAS nanoparticles on the growth of tomato plants were also evaluated and compared with those of tolclofos-methyl.

RESULTS

The physical characteristics and structural features of MAS nanoparticles, such as their large surface-area-to-volume ratio, active surface sites and open channel pores, caused high antifungal efficacy against F. oxysporium. MAS nanoparticles presented an antifungal potential similar to that of tolclofos-methyl and much greater than that of the control under both laboratory and greenhouse conditions. The highest growth parameters were recorded in tomato plants treated with MAS nanoparticles, followed by those treated with tolclofos-methyl.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated the possible use of cylindrically cubic MAS nanoparticles as an effective alternative for the control of Fusarium root rot in tomato. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Radially oriented nanostrand electrodes to boost glucose sensing in mammalian blood

Architecture of nanoscale electrochemical sensors for ultra-trace detection of glucose in blood is important in real-life sampling and analysis. To broaden the application of electrochemical sensing of glucose, we fabricated, for the first time, a glucose sensor electrode based on radially oriented NiO nanostrands (NSTs) onto 3D porous Ni foam substrate for monitoring, as well as selective and sensitive sensing of glucose in mammalian blood. The simple, scalable one-pot fabrication of this NST-Ni sensor design enabled control of the pattern of radially oriented NSTs onto 3D porous Ni foam substrate. The radial orientation of NST-Ni electrode onto the interior of the 3D porous substrate with controlled crystal structure size and atomic arrangement along the axis of the strands, intrinsic surface defects, and superior surface properties, such as hydrophilicity, high surface energy, and high density led to highly exposed catalytic active sites. The hierarchical NST-Ni electrode was used to develop a sensitive and selective sensor over a wide range of glucose concentrations among actively competitive ions, chemical species and molecular agents, and multi-cyclic sensing assays. The NST-Ni electrode shows significant glucose sensing performance in terms of unimpeded diffusion pathways, a wide range of concentration detection, and lower limit of detection (0.186 µM) than NiO nanosheet (NS)-Ni foam electrode pattern, indicating the effectiveness of the shape-dependent structural architecture of NST-Ni electrode. In this study, the NST-Ni electrode is fabricated to develop a simple, selective method for detecting glucose in physiological fluids (e.g., mammalian blood).

Nanomembrane Canister Architectures for the Visualization and Filtration of Oxyanion Toxins with One-Step Processing

Nanomembrane canister-like architectures were fabricated by using hexagonal mesocylinder-shaped aluminosilica nanotubes (MNTs)-porous anodic alumina (PAA) hybrid nanochannels. The engineering pattern of the MNTs inside a 60 μm-long membrane channel enabled the creation of unique canister-like channel necks and cavities. The open-tubular canister architecture design provides controllable, reproducible, and one-step processing patterns of visual detection and rejection/permeation of oxyanion toxins such as selenite (SeO3(2-)) in aquatic environments (i.e., in ground and river water sources) in the Ibaraki Prefecture of Japan. The decoration of organic ligand moieties such as omega chrome black blue (OCG) into inorganic Al2O3@tubular SiO2/Al2O3 canister membrane channel cavities led to the fabrication of an optical nanomembrane sensor (ONS). The OCG ligand was not leached from the canister as observed in washing, sensing, and recovery assays of selenite anions in solution, which enabled its multiple reuse. The ONS makes a variety of alternate processing analyses of selective quantification, visual detection, rejection/permeation, and recovery of toxic selenite quick and simple without using complex instrumentation. Under optimal conditions, the ONS canister exhibited a high selectivity toward selenite anions relative to other ions and a low-level detection limit of 0.0093 μM. Real analytical data showed that approximately 96% of SeO3(2-) anions can be recovered from aquatic and wastewater samples. The ONS canister holds potential for field recovery applications of toxic selenite anions from water.

One-pot layer casting-guided synthesis of nanospherical aluminosilica@organosilica@alumina core–shells wrapping colorant dendrites for environmental application

Wrapping of dendritic colorant aggregates around core–double shell cavities afforded a container vehicle tracking architecture for recovering toxins in environments.