Multienzyme mimetic activities of holey CuPd@H-C3N4 for visual colorimetric and ultrasensitive fluorometric discriminative detection of glutathione and glucose in physiological fluids.

Nanozymes with multiple activities have drawn immense interest owing to their great prospect in biochemical analysis. Fabricating nanomaterials-based artificial enzymes for multiple-enzyme mimetic activity is a significant challenge. This paper reports a sensitive biosensing platform to mimic the peroxidase, oxidase, and catalase-like activity by bimetallic CuPd embedded holey carbon nitride (CuPd@H-C3N4). Owing to the combination of porous H-C3N4 and bimetallic CuPd nanoparticles, the CuPd@H-C3N4 exhibited a large specific surface area, extremely high mobility and catalytic activity of electrons, resulting in remarkable triple-enzyme mimetic activity. Owing to the excellent oxidase/peroxidase-like activities of CuPd@H-C3N4, a visual colorimetric and ultrasensitive fluorometric biosensing platform was established for the discriminatory detection of glutathione (linear range: 2-40 µM) and glucose (linear range: 0.1-40 µM) in physiological fluids, respectively. The fluorescence detection system showed ultrahigh sensitivity toward H2O2, with a linear range of 30-1500 nM. In addition, a one-step glucose detection strategy was proposed to replace the traditional, complicated two-step detection method, which simplifies the operation steps and improves the detection efficiency. The assay presented in this paper offers an effective multiple-enzymes mimicking detection platform that broaden its promising applications in biomedicine analysis and monitoring.

Comparison between Fe2O3/C and Fe3C/Fe2O3/Fe/C Electrocatalysts for N2 Reduction in an Alkaline Electrolyte.

Cost-effective and nonprecious iron-based catalysts were synthesized, evaluated, and compared for electrocatalytic N2 reduction reaction (NRR) under alkaline conditions in the potential range from -0.4 to 0.1 V [vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)] at low temperature (≤60 °C) and atmospheric pressure. The tested H-type cell was separated by an anion exchange membrane in 6 M KOH alkaline electrolyte (pH = over 14) in order to minimize hydrogen evolution reaction and to directly form NH3 gas. The amount of ammonia synthesized was quantified using an indophenol blue method and cross-checked with 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and ion chromatography using both 14N2 and 15N2 gases. Because of the synergistic effect between the Fe3C, Fe2O3, and Fe composites in the NRR, both the ammonia formation rate and faradaic efficiency in Fe3C/Fe2O3/Fe/C were approximately fourfold higher than those in Fe2O3/C at 60 °C and 0.1 V (vs RHE). These results can provide insights into designing Fe-based electrocatalysts for NRR at atmospheric pressure.

Preparation and evaluation of a green solvent-based molecularly imprinted monolithic column for the recognition of proteins by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A protein-based molecularly imprinted monolithic column was synthesized based on ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) in a stainless steel column (50 mm × 4.6 mm id). An IL (1-allyl-3-butylimidazolium Br) and acrylamide were used as dual monomers. Another type of IL (1,2-bis [N,N'-vinylimidazolium] ethane bis Br) and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide were used as dual cross-linking agents, and the DES (choline chloride : ethylene glycol 1 : 2) was used as a porogen in the preparation of a monolithic polymer. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme (Lyz), which differ greatly in molecular size, isoelectric point, and charge, were selected for imprinting templates to evaluate the recognition property of the green solvent-based MIP monolithic column. Some important factors, such as template-monomer molar ratio, total monomer concentration, and cross-linking density, were investigated systematically. Under optimal conditions, the MIP monolithic column obtained showed higher binding affinity for the templates than its corresponding non-imprinted (NIP) monolithic column.