Self-transformation synthesis of hierarchically porous benzene-bridged organosilica nanoparticles for efficient drug delivery

Advanced treatment and reuse of dye wastewater using thermo-irreversible on/off switch starch with disruption of dissolution/precipitation dynamic equilibrium

The development of irreversible on/off switching materials is a potential strategy for unidirectional capture and encapsulation of pollutants, preventing the pollutant leakage problem resulting from the reversible dissolution of flocculants. Herein, a thermo-irreversible on/off switch starch (TISS) is prepared through modifying starch by etherification grafting glycidyl phenyl ether and 2,4-bis(dimethylamino)-6-chloro-[1,3,5]-triazine. It breaks the dissolution/precipitation dynamic equilibrium across heating-cooling cycles by thermal-induced irreversible coil-to-globule self-assembly of polymer chains, resulting in a 50-fold decrease in polymer solubility. Particularly, TISS shows a superior double-locking effect on pollutants and flocculants through its unique irreversible conformation memory capability, leading to a high-quality reuse water. 99.9 % of reactive brilliant red dye and 97.9 % of TISS remain fixed within sludge flocs even after prolonged immersion in cold water at 24 °C for 60 days. Furthermore, direct recycling and reuse of dye-bath energy can be realized through the isothermal flocculation and dyeing method, showing a 75 % decrease in energy consumption after three cycles compared to traditional dyeing techniques. This work presents a novel approach to constructing an irreversible pollutant delivery system using thermo-irreversible on/off switch starch, addressing the problems of high energy dissipation and water quality fluctuations during wastewater treatment.

Mesoporous nanoperforators as membranolytic agents via nano- and molecular-scale multi-patterning

Plasma membrane lysis is an effective anticancer strategy, which mostly relying on soluble molecular membranolytic agents. However, nanomaterial-based membranolytic agents has been largely unexplored. Herein, we introduce a mesoporous membranolytic nanoperforators (MLNPs) via a nano- and molecular-scale multi-patterning strategy, featuring a spiky surface topography (nanoscale patterning) and molecular-level periodicity in the spikes with a benzene-bridged organosilica composition (molecular-scale patterning), which cooperatively endow an intrinsic membranolytic activity. Computational modelling reveals a nanospike-mediated multivalent perforation behaviour, i.e., multiple spikes induce nonlinearly enlarged membrane pores compared to a single spike, and that benzene groups aligned parallelly to a phospholipid molecule show considerably higher binding energy than other alignments, underpinning the importance of molecular ordering in phospholipid extraction for membranolysis. Finally, the antitumour activity of MLNPs is demonstrated in female Balb/c mouse models. This work demonstrates assembly of organosilica based bioactive nanostructures, enabling new understandings on nano-/molecular patterns co-governed nano-bio interaction.

Organosilica-based deformable nanopesticides with enhanced insecticidal activity prepared by flash nanoprecipitation

A flash nanoprecipitation technique was developed for the construction of a novel type of deformable hollow organosilica nanoparticle for pesticide delivery.