Transforming Two-Dimensional Carbon Allotropes into Three-Dimensional Ones through Topological Mapping: The Case of Biphenylene Carbon (Graphenylene)

In this work, we propose a new methodology for obtaining three-dimensional (3D) carbon allotrope structures from 2D ones through topological mapping. The idea is to select a 3D target structure and "slice" it along different structural directions, creating a series of 2D structures. As a proof of concept, we chose the tubulane structure 12-hexa(3,3) as a target. Tubulanes are 3D carbon allotropes based on cross-linked carbon nanotubes. One of the obtained 2D "sliced" structures was mapped into the biphenylene carbon (BPC). We showed that compressing BPC in-plane, biaxially, followed by compression along the z direction using different strain rates could generate not only the target tubulane 12-hexa(3,3) structure but also at least two others: bcc-C6 and an unreported member of the tubulane family, which we called tubulane X. The methodology proposed here is entirely general; it can be used coupled with any quantum method. Considering that the 2D biphenylene carbon network, which is closely related to BPC, has been recently synthesized, the approach proposed here opens new perspectives to obtain new 3D carbon allotropes from 2D structures.

P-block atom modified Sn(200) surface as a promising electrocatalyst for two-electron CO2 reduction: a first-principles study

The P-block atom can effectively regulate the activity of two-electron CO2 reduction on Sn(200) surface.

A theorized new class of polyhedral hydrocarbons of molecular formula CnHn and their bottom-up scaffold expansions into hyperstructures

We address the use of Euler's theorem and topological algorithms to design 18 polyhedral hydrocarbons of general formula C_nH_n that exist up to 28 vertexes containing four- and six-membered rings only; compounds we call "nuggets". Subsequently, we evaluated their energies to verify the likelihood of their chemical existence. Among these compounds, 13 are novel systems, of which 3 exhibit chirality. Further, the ability of all nuggets to perform fusion reactions either through their square faces, or through their hexagonal faces was evaluated. Indeed, they are potentially able to form bottom-up derived molecular hyperstructures with great potential for several applications. By considering these fusion abilities, the growth of the nuggets into 1D, 2D, and 3D-scaffolds was studied. The results indicate that nugget_24a (C₂₄H₂₄) is predicted to be capable of carrying out fusion reactions. From nugget_24a, we then designed 1D, 2D, and 3D-scaffolds that are predicted to be formed by favorable fusion reactions. Finally, a 3D-scaffold generated from nugget_24a exhibited potential to be employed as a voxel with a chemical structure remarkably similar to that of MOF ZIF-8. And, such a voxel, could in principle be employed to generate any 3D sculpture with nugget_24a as its level of finest granularity.

Vibrating droplet generation to assemble zwitterion-coated gold-graphene oxide stealth nanovesicles for effective pancreatic cancer chemo-phototherapy

A vibrating nozzle approach was used to produce uniform (∼2 μm) hybrid droplets containing gold-graphene oxide (Au-GO), doxorubicin (DOX), and zwitterionic chitosan (ZC) for assembly of Au-GO@ZC-DOX stealth nanovesicles (NVs) via a single-pass diffusion drying process without any hydrothermal reactions, separations, or purifications. NVs were prepared with a lateral dimension of ∼53.0 nm, a pH-triggered high DOX release profile, and strong photothermal effects. Macrophage opsonization was prevented, resulting in anti-cancer and anti-migration effects, with high intracellular uptake in PANC-1 and MIA PaCa-2 cells. PANC-1 tumor uptake was greater for NVs having the ZC configuration than that for NVs without the ZC configuration, resulting in better anti-tumor effects with minimal toxicities. The vibrating nozzle approach offers significant potential to assemble multi-componential NVs for more efficient anti-tumor treatment and easy user-defined manufacturing of multifunctional nanomedicines.