Supramolecular assembly of benzophenone alanine and copper presents high laccase-like activity for the degradation of phenolic pollutants

Laccases are multicopper oxidases of significant importance for the degradation of phenolic pollutants. Because of the inherent defects of natural laccases in practical applications, herein, we discovered highly effective and non-cytotoxic laccase-like metallo-nanofibers based on the supramolecular assembly of single unnatural amino acid, benzophenone-alanine (BpA), in combination with copper ions. Structural analysis revealed that the catalytic BpA-Cu nanofibers possess a Cu(I)-Cu(II) electron transfer system similar to that in natural laccase. Our BpA-Cu nanofibers exhibit 4 times higher substrate affinity and 24% higher catalytic efficiency than the well-known high-performance industrialized laccase (Novozym 51003) in 2,4-dichlorophenol degradation. In addition, the BpA-Cu nanofibers were demonstrated to be stable (>75% residual activity) in long-term storage at a wide range of pH, ionic strength, temperature, ethanol, and water sample, and to be readily recovered for pollutant degradation, keeping 83% of the laccase activity after 10 catalytic recycles. Remarkably, the nanofibers displayed a wide substrate spectrum, detecting and degrading a variety of phenolic pollutants with high activity than other laccase mimics reported in the literature. Furthermore, the biocompatibility of the material was proved with cultured cells. These findings demonstrated the potential of BpA-Cu nanofibers in mimicking laccases for environmental remediation.

Zero area thermal expansion of honeycomb layers via double distortion relaxation in (PPh4)[Cu2(CN)3]

The zero area TE of cyanide-bridged honeycomb layers occurs by complementary structural changes in the cation and anion counterparts.

Theoretical Study on the Adhesion Interaction between Epoxy Resin Including Curing Agent and Plated Gold Surface

In this study, the adhesive interaction between gold and epoxy resin is theoretically investigated. These materials make up crucial components of a wide range of electronic devices. The objectives of the study are (1) to elucidate the bonding mechanism between epoxy resin and a realistic gold surface, and (2) to obtain a device-design guideline for superior adhesion, thus reducing the bonding breakage that may potentially cause device failure. Die pad surfaces used in chip attachment methods for microelectronics are usually fabricated using an electrolytic plating technique. This technique involves ionic gold solutions like K[Au(CN)₂]. The combined theoretical and experimental studies previously carried out by the authors have revealed that the CN^- counteranion of the gold cation has a high affinity for gold and is likely to remain on the realistic gold surface generated by plating. However, the cyano group content on the surface of the plated gold is still unknown. Therefore, gold surfaces embedded with cyano groups with various coverages are constructed. The effect of the varying coverage of the cyano groups on the adhesion strength is inspected using first-principles density functional theory calculations. As the number of cyano groups on the surface increases, the direct interaction between the gold surface and the epoxy resin is hindered, but the hydroxy and amino groups in the epoxy resin and hardener form more hydrogen bonds with the cyano groups adsorbed on the surface. It is found that the surface with intermediate cyano coverage (about 33%) yields the highest adhesive strength.

Magnetostructural characterization of copper(II) hydroxide dimers and coordination polymers coordinated to apical isothiocyanate and cyanide-based counteranions

Five Cu(II) hydroxo-bridged complexes of the type [Cu2(μ-OH)2(L)2][A]x·yH2O (where L = 1,10-phenanthroline, A = NCS–, x = 2, y = 2 (1); L = 2,2′-bipyridine, A = NCS–, x = 2, y = 1 (2); L = 2,2′-bipyridine, A = [Au(CN)4]–, x = 2, y = 0 (3) and 2 (4); L = N,N,N′,N′-teteramethylethylenediamine, A = [Pt(SCN)4]2–, x = 1, y = 0 (5)) have been prepared and have been characterized by elemental analysis, IR and Raman spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and SQUID magnetometry. Complexes 1 and 2 consist of five-coordinate Cu(II) hydroxo-bridged dinuclear units bound to two NCS– anions in the apical positions, 3 and 4 are pseudo-polymorphs of a Cu(II) hydroxo-bridged dimer core with [Au(CN)4]– counteranions, and 5 is a coordination polymer of Cu(II) hydroxo-bridged dimers with trans-bridging [Pt(SCN)4]2– anions coordinated in the apical position of the five-coordinate Cu(II) centres. The magnetic susceptibility versus temperature for each system was measured, fit to obtain J-coupling values (which range from –0.37 to 17.8 cm−1), and qualitatively compared to known magnetostructural correlation parameters.