Photoenzymatic Activity of Artificial-Natural Bienzyme Applied in Biodegradation of Methylene Blue and Accelerating Polymerization of Dopamine

Metal-Coordination-Mediated H-Aggregates of Cyanine Dyes for Effective Photothermal Therapy

Integration of cyanine dyes and metal ions into one nanoplatform via metal-coordination interactions is an effective strategy to build multimodality phototheranostics. The multifunctionalities of the formed nanoscale metal-organic particles (NMOPs) have been widely explored. However, the effect of metal-coordination interaction on the aggregation behavior of cyanine dyes is rarely reported. Herein, we reported the H-aggregation behavior of cyanine dye Cy-3COOH induced by different metal ions M (Fe2+ or Mn2+ ). Moreover, the extent of H-aggregates varied with different metal-coordination interactions. Upon NIR irradiation, H-aggregates of Cy-3COOH remarkably promoted photothermal conversion efficiency. Interestingly, we also find that H-aggregates of Cy-3COOH induced by metal ions can generate the reactive oxygen species (ROS) involving singlet oxygen (1 O2 ) and superoxide anion radical (O2 - ⋅) upon light irradiation. In addition, the ROS efficiency varies depending on the extent of H-aggregates. Additionally, the photoinduced ROS could disassemble aggregates and decompose cyanine dye Cy-3COOH, which limits the photothermal capability of Cy-3COOH/M NPs. Therefore, the photothermal performance of Cy-3COOH/M NPs could be manipulated by the degree of H-aggregation. This would provide a new insight to develop efficient phototheranostics NMOPs for cancer treatment.

Multifunctional composite coatings with hydrophobic, UV-resistant, anti-oxidative, and photothermal performance for healthcare

Personal protective textiles have attracted extensive interest since Corona Virus Disease 2019 has broken out. Moreover, developing eco-friendly, multifunctional waterproof, and breathable surface is of great importance but still faces enormous challenges. Notably, good hydrophobicity and breathability are necessary for protective textiles, especially protective clothing and face masks for healthcare. Herein, the multifunctional composite coatings with good UV-resistant, anti-oxidative, hydrophobic, breathable, and photothermal performance has been rapidly created to meet protective requirements. First, the gallic acid and chitosan polymer was coated onto the cotton fabric surface. Subsequently, the modified silica sol was anchored on the coated cotton fabric surface. The successful fabrication of composite coatings was verified by RGB values obtained from the smartphone and K/S value. The present work is an advance for realizing textile hydrophobicity by utilizing fluorine-free materials, compared with the surface hydrophobicity fabricated with conventional fluorinated materials. The surface free energy has been reduced from 84.2 to 27.6 mJ/m² so that the modified cotton fabric could repel the ethylene glycol, hydrochloric acid, and sodium hydroxide solutions, respectively. Besides, the composite coatings possesses lower adhesion to deionized water. After 70 cycles of the sandpaper abrasion, the fluorine-free hydrophobic coatings still exhibits good hydrophobicity with WCA of 124.6 ± 0.9°, with overcoming the intrinsic drawback of the poor abrasion resistance of hydrophobic surfaces. Briefly, the present work may provide a universal strategy for rapidly creating advanced protective coatings to meet personal healthcare, and a novel method for detecting RGB values of composite coatings by smartphone.

Study on the photocatalytic properties differences between the 1-D and 3-D W18O49 particles†

The morphology of W₁₈O₄₉ catalysts has a significant effect on their photocatalytic performance. Herein, we successfully prepared two commonly used W₁₈O₄₉ photocatalysts just by changing the reaction temperature in the hydrothermal system, namely 1-D W₁₈O₄₉ nanowires (1-D W₁₈O₄₉) and 3-D urchin-like W₁₈O₄₉ particles (3-D W₁₈O₄₉), and evaluated the difference of their photocatalytic performances by taking the degradation of methylene blue (MB) as an example. Remarkably, 3-D W₁₈O₄₉ exhibited an impressive photocatalytic degradation performance towards MB with photocatalytic reaction rates of 0.00932 min⁻¹, which was about 3 times higher than that of 1-D W₁₈O₄₉. The comprehensive characterization and control experiments could further reveal that the hierarchical structure of 3-D W₁₈O₄₉ brought higher BET surface areas, stronger light harvesting, faster separation of photogenerated charges and so on, which was the main reason for its better photocatalytic performance. ESR results confirmed that the main active substances were superoxide radicals (˙O₂⁻) and hydroxyl radicals (˙OH). This work aims to explore the intrinsic relationship between the morphology and photocatalytic properties of W₁₈O₄₉ catalysts, so as to provide a theoretical basis in the morphology selection of W₁₈O₄₉ or its composite materials in the field of photocatalysis.

Comprehensive characterization and control experiments were used to deeply explore the intrinsic relationship between the morphology and photocatalytic properties of W₁₈O₄₉ catalysts.

Improving the sensitivity for hydrogen peroxide determination with active V2O5 nanocubes incorporated on mesoporous TiO2

The capacity to generate a constant signal response from an enzyme on an electrode surface has been a fascinating topic of research from the past three decades. To nourish the enzymatic activity during electrochemical reactions, the immobilization of dual enzymes on the electrode surface could prevent the enzymatic loss without denaturation and thus long-term stability can be achieved. For effective immobilization of dual enzymes, mesoporous materials are the ideal choice because of its numerous advantages such as 1. The presence of porous structure facilitates high loading of enzymes 2. The formation of protective environment can withstand the enzymatic activity even at acidic or basic pH values and even at elevated temperatures. Herein, we develop bienzymatic immobilization of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) on mesoporous V₂O₅-TiO₂ based binary nanocomposite for effective sensing of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in presence of redox mediator hydroquinone (HQ). The utilization of redox mediator in second-generation biosensing of H₂O₂ can eliminate the interference species and reduces the operating potential with higher current density for electrochemical reduction reaction. Using this mediator transfer process approach at HRP/ChOx/V₂O₅-TiO₂ modified GC, the H₂O₂ can be determined at operating potential (-0.2 V) with good linear range (0.05-3.5 mM) higher sensitivity (1040 μAμM^-1 cm^-2) and lower detection limit of about 20 μM can be attained, which is due to higher mediation of electrons were transferred to the enzyme cofactors. These interesting characteristics could be due to mesoporous structure of V₂O₅-TiO₂ can induce large immobilization and facilitate higher interaction with enzymes for wide range of biosensing applications.

Extension of the alkyl chain length to adjust the properties of laccase-mimicking MOFs for phenolic detection and discrimination

2-Methylimidazole (MIM) is a classic organic ligand that shows excellent thermal stability and chemical robustness and is widely used in ZIFs. Recently, transformations of MOFs have been realized by using metals or ligands. In this study, we propose a new strategy-adjusting MIM by extending the alkyl chain length -to change the properties of related MOFs. Furthermore, we used copper as the metal core to replace zinc to mimic the active sites of laccases (electron transfer between copper and imidazole ring). As a result, the nanostructures transformed from nanoleaves to nanovesicles, which changed the Cu(II)/Cu(I) ratio from 3.7 to 1.7, as well as the lattice constant (decreased the diffraction angle) and enzyme-like activity (inhibition). In addition, we revealed that superoxidase anions were the main factors responsible for its laccase-like activity. We applied it to detect and discriminate phenolics. Laccase-mimicking activity was best at pH 7.0. When compared to protein laccase, the Cu-MeIm nanozyme had a greater Vmax at the same mass concentration. It was used to identify and distinguish phenolics. In the presence of Cu-MeIm nanozymes, the linear range is 0.1-2 mM and the detection limit of 2,4-DCP is 0.034 mM.

Fiber-based photothermal, UV-resistant, and self-cleaning coatings fabricated by silicon grafted copolymers of chitosan derivatives and gallic acid

Superhydrophobic and hydrophobic properties are generally created by adopting low surface free energy materials. Therefore, most studies have focused on creating surface hydrophobicity by using hydrophobic or fluorinated materials. However, few studies are reported on realizing surface hydrophobicity by directly introducing hydrophilic molecules, which is also a challenge. Herein, with platinum nanozyme as the catalyst, the novel hydrophobic coatings have been rapidly gained via anchoring the polymer of hydrophilic gallic acid and chitosan or chitosan quaternary ammonium salt onto cotton fabric surface. Notably, the novel hydrophobic coatings exhibit significant advances compared with conventional hydrophobic ones created by utilizing fluorinated or hydrophobic materials, which breaks the limitation of employing low surface energy materials for gaining surface hydrophobicity. Subsequently, the sodium methyl silicate was grafted on the polymer's coatings to strengthen surface hydrophobicity and the abrasion resistance of hydrophobicity. Interestingly, the heating could induce the hydrophilicity of cotton fabric to recover to hydrophobicity. Moreover, the hydrophobic coatings also possess good photothermal conversion, UV resistance, and anti-oxidation activity for self-cleaning application and oil water separation. Briefly, the present work may open a new direction for preparing novel hydrophobic coatings by combining gallic acid and chitosan-based macromolecular carbohydrates.

Hybrid Enzymatic/Photocatalytic Degradation of Antibiotics via Morphologically Programmable Light-Driven ZnO Microrobots

Antibiotics are antimicrobial substances that can be used for preventive and therapeutic purposes in humans and animals. Their overdose usage has led to uncontrolled release to the environment, contributing significantly to the development of antimicrobial resistance phenomena. Here, enzyme-immobilized self-propelled zinc oxide (ZnO) microrobots are proposed to effectively target and degrade the released antibiotics in water bodies. Specifically, the morphology of the microrobots is tailored via the incorporation of Au during the synthetic process to lead the light-controlled motion into having on/off switching abilities. The microrobots are further modified with laccase enzyme by physical adsorption, and the immobilization process is confirmed by enzymatic activity measurements. Oxytetracycline (OTC) is used as a model of veterinary antibiotics to investigate the enzyme-immobilized microrobots for their removal capacities. The results demonstrate that the presence of laccase on the microrobot surfaces can enhance the removal of antibiotics via oxidation. This concept for immobilizing enzymes on self-propelled light-driven microrobots leads to the effective removal of the released antibiotics from water bodies with an environmentally friendly strategy.