[Effect of Pinch-3 gene interference of glomerular podocytes on cell morphology and cell traction force].

Pinch-3 protein is an important constituent of cell membranes, which directly affects the cell morphology and mechanical properties. We observed and compared the change of morphology and cell traction force of glomerular podocytes before and after Pinch-3 gene inhibition by gene interference technology in this experiment. We found that a number of pores appeared on the cell surface, and the cell projected area were increased at the same time, with an approximate average about an increase of 40% after Pinch-3 gene inhibition. The results showed that the cell traction force of glomerular podocytes was significantly reduced, with an approximate average decrease of 40%, the maximum value of the cell traction force was reduced and the distribution of cell traction force became dispersive. All this suggested that after Pinch-3 gene inhibition, some pores created on the cell surface influenced the physical properties of glomerular podocytes and then affected the cell projected area and influenced the formation and distribution of cell traction force of the glomerular podocytes as well.

Fluorescent conjugated microporous polymers containing pyrazine moieties for adsorbing and fluorescent sensing of iodine.

Two kinds of fluorescent conjugated microporous polymers containing pyrazine moieties were prepared by the polymerization reaction of 2,5-di-triphenylamine-yl-pyrazine (DTPAPz) and N,N,N',N'-tetrapheny-2,5-(diazyl) pyrazine (TDPz) with 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine (TCT) through Friedel-Crafts reaction using the methanesulfonic acid as a catalysts. Both CMPs have high thermal stability and decomposition temperature reaches above 596 and 248 °C under nitrogen atmosphere, respectively. By right of porous morphology and electron-donating nitrogen, as well as electron-rich π-conjugated structures, the adsorption performance for iodine vapor on the CMPs is very excellent, which can reach 441% and 312%. In addition, fluorescence studies showed that the two CMPs exhibited high fluorescence sensitivity to electron-deficient iodine, o-nitrophenol (o-NP), and picric acid (PA) via fluorescence quenching.

Polyaniline nanorods random assembly on sugarcane bagasse pith-based carbon sheets with promising capacitive performance.

Polyaniline (PANI) nanorods were randomly deposited on oxidized 2D sugarcane pith-based porous carbon nanosheets by using dilute polymerization methods. The random stacked morphology of the PANI nanorods on the oxidized pith-based porous carbon nanosheets (SPCN) can be effectively controlled by simply changing the molar mass of aniline monomer. When the molar mass of the aniline monomer is increased to 0.02 M, the PANI nanorods can be randomly and uniformly stacked on the oxidized SPCN. Most of these stacked pores derived from random stack of the PANI nanorods on the oxidized SPCN are mesopore and macropore. These stacked pores not only facilitate the diffusion of ions in the stacked layer of the PANI nanorods, but also mitigate mechanical deformation of the PANI nanorods during the doping/dedoping process. Furthermore, the relationship between the properties of the oxidized SPCN/PANI-X (X represents the molar mass of aniline monomer) electrode materials and molar mass of aniline monomer is explored in detail. The oxidized SPCN/PANI-0.02 exhibits the best electrochemical performance in 1 M H2SO4. The largest specific electrode capacitance is up to 513 F g-1 at a current density of 0.25 A g-1. The oxidized SPCN/PANI-0.02 also exhibits excellent electrochemical cycling stability.

Heteroatom-doped porous carbons derived from moxa floss of different storage years for supercapacitors.

Two novel carbons (MCs) derived from moxa floss of different storage years have been prepared by two low-cost and facile approaches, which are hydrothermal carbonization at a low temperature (200 °C) and direct pyrolysis at a moderate temperature (500 °C) followed by potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation strategy at a high temperature (800 °C), respectively. The physicochemical properties of MCs are investigated by Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. Results show that MCs derived from moxa floss of different storage years by two facile approaches possess different morphologies: MCs by hydrothermal carbonization (denoted as MC-1, MC-2 and MC-3) exhibit porous nanosheet structures, the highest specific surface area is about 1788.6 m2 g-1, and the largest total pore volumes is around 0.8170 cm3 g-1, while MCs by direct pyrolysis (denoted as MC-4, MC-5 and MC-6) have basically blocky and rod-like morphologies, the highest specific surface area is about 1628.0 m2 g-1, and the largest total pore volume is around 0.7058 cm3 g-1. However, despite the different morphologies, all MCs possess a similar hierarchical porous structure, numerous heteroatom groups and good electrical conductivity. Therefore, these low-cost, biomass-derived porous carbons with promising capacitive performance are used for supercapacitors application with high performance, for example, the as-assembled supercapacitor based on MC-5 exhibits a high specific capacitance of 288.3 F g-1 at 0.25 A g-1, an excellent rate performance of 243.5 F g-1 even at 30 A g-1 with 84.5% capacitance retention of its initial specific capacitance, and an outstanding long-term cycling stability with 98.7% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles at 5 A g-1. Furthermore, the maximum energy density for these supercapacitors with an aqueous electrolyte in a two-electrode system is about 10.0 W h kg-1 at a power density of 70.3 W kg-1. Therefore, this work opens up a whole new field for the applications of moxa floss and this novel concept of moxa floss use is an extremely promising strategy for developing high-performance carbons with porous structures and heteroatom-doping from renewable sources.

Cellulose nanofiber/single-walled carbon nanotube hybrid non-woven macrofiber mats as novel wearable supercapacitors with excellent stability, tailorability and reliability.

Non-woven macrofiber mats are prepared by simply controlling the extrusion patterns of cellulose nanofiber/single-walled carbon nanotube suspensions in an ethanol coagulation bath, and drying in air under restricted conditions. These novel wearable supercapacitors based on non-woven macrofiber mats are demonstrated to have excellent tailorability, electrochemical stability, and damage reliability.

Cellulose nanofibril based graft conjugated polymer films act as a chemosensor for nitroaromatic.

A cellulose nanofibril film is modified by chemical assembly of boronate-terminated conjugated polymer chains at its specific sites, C-6 carboxyl groups. The modified cellulose nanofibril film is used as a fluorescent sensor for nitroaromatic vapor. Thanks to the specific reactive sites, numerous loose cavities or pathways located in the film sensor's out-layer have been formed, and the fraction of easily accessible cavities of the novel fluorescent film sensor is up to 0.97, which could benefit the penetration and diffusion of analyte vapor. Therefore, the novel fluorescent film sensor exhibits high sensitivity toward nitroaromatic vapor with a fast response. The fluorescence quenching efficiency of the chemical-assembly film sensor is about 3 times larger than that of the spin-cast film sensor using the same conjugated polymer for 600 s exposure to DNT vapor. In addition, the novel fluorescent film sensor shows good reversibility.

Surface molecular-imprinting engineering of novel cellulose nanofibril/conjugated polymer film sensors towards highly selective recognition and responsiveness of nitroaromatic vapors.

We designed and synthesized two conjugated polymer-grafted cellulose nanofibril film sensors via surface molecular-imprinting. These two surface TNT- or DNT-imprinted film sensors exhibit highly selective recognition and fast response towards target explosive vapor.