Carbon-Based Nanomaterials Electrodes of Ionic Soft Actuators: From Initial 1D Structure to 3D Composite Structure for Flexible Intelligent Devices.

With the rapid development of autonomous and intelligent devices driven by soft actuators, ion soft actuators in flexible intelligent devices have several advantages over other actuators, including their light weight, low voltage drive, large strain, good flexibility, fast response, etc. Traditional ionic polymer metal composites have received a lot of attention over the past decades, but they suffer from poor driving performance and short service lives since the precious metal electrodes are not only expensive, heavy, and labor-intensive, but also prone to cracking with repeated actuation. As excellent candidates for the electrode materials of ionic soft actuators, carbon-based nanomaterials have received a lot of interest because of their plentiful reserves, low cost, and excellent mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical properties. This research reviewed carbon-based nanomaterial electrodes of ion soft actuators for flexible smart devices from a fresh perspective from 1D to 3D combinations. The design of the electrode structure is introduced after the driving mechanism of ionic soft actuators. The details of ionic soft actuator electrodes made of carbon-based nanomaterials are then provided. Additionally, a summary of applications for flexible intelligent devices is provided. Finally, suggestions for challenges and prospects are made to offer direction and inspiration for further development.

Fluorescent Quinolinium Derivative as Novel Mitochondria Probe and Function Modulator by Targeting Mitochondrial RNA.

Mitochondria have a crucial role in regulating energy metabolism and their dysfunction has been linked to tumorigenesis. Cancer diagnosis and intervention have a great interest in the development of new agents that target biomolecules within mitochondria. However, monitoring and modulating mitochondria RNA (mtRNA), an essential component in mitochondria, in cells is challenging due to limited functional research and the absence of targeting agents. In this study, we designed and synthesized a fluorescent quinolinium derivative, QUCO-1, which actively lit up with mtRNA in both normal and cancer cells in vitro. Additionally, we evaluated the function of QUCO-1 as an mtRNA ligand and found that it effectively induced severe mitochondrial dysfunction and OXPHOS inhibition in RKO colorectal cancer cells. Treatment with QUCO-1 resulted in apoptosis, cell cycle blockage at the G2/M phase, and the effective inhibition of cell proliferation. Our findings suggest that QUCO-1 has great potential as a promising probe and therapeutic agent for mtRNA, with the potential for treating colorectal cancer.

Adsorption and Removal of Antibiotic Pollutants using CuO-Co3 O4 Co-modified Porous Boron Nitride Fibers in Aqueous Solution.

The presence of antibiotic contaminants in aqueous environment already poses significant risks to ecological sustainability, biodiversity and human public health and safety. Therefore, it is urgent to develop practical water pollution control technologies and new materials. Here, we prepared CuO-Co3 O4 co-modified porous boron nitride fibers (P-BNFs) for the adsorption and removal of tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) in aqueous environment. The prepared adsorbents were characterized by XRD, FTIR, XPS, SEM, TEM and BET, and the adsorption behavior was explored by batch experiments. The results show that the removal percentage for doxycycline (DC) reaches 98.68 %, which was much higher than that of P-BNFs, and the modification results of P-BNFs with CuO or Co3 O4 alone. After five regeneration cycles, the removal rate of DC by CuO-Co3 O4 /P-BNFs was still as high as 89.33 %. This is promising and indicates that the prepared CuO-Co3 O4 /P-BNFs adsorbent has good renewable recycling performance and practical application prospects.

Discovery of a Novel G-Quadruplex and Histone Deacetylase (HDAC) Dual-Targeting Agent for the Treatment of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

The development of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is highly associated with G-quadruplex (G4); thus, targeting G4 is a potential strategy for TNBC therapy. Because concomitant histone deacetylases (HDAC) inhibition could amplify the impact of G4-targeting compounds, we designed and synthesized two novel series of G4/HDAC dual-targeting compounds by connecting the zinc-binding pharmacophore of HDAC inhibitors to the G4-targeting isaindigotone scaffold (1). Among the new compounds, a6 with the potent HDAC inhibitory and G4 stabilizing activity could induce more DNA G4 formation than SAHA and 1 in TNBC cells. Remarkably, a6 caused more G4-related DNA damage and G4-related differentially expressed genes, consistent with its effect on disrupting the cell cycle, invasion, and glycolysis. Furthermore, a6 significantly suppresses the proliferation of various TNBC cells and the MDA-MB-231 xenograft model without evident toxicity. Our study suggests a novel strategy for TNBC therapeutics through dual-targeting HDAC and G4.

Highly Multifunctional and Thermoconductive Performances of Densely Filled Boron Nitride Nanosheets/Epoxy Resin Bulk Composites.

In the development of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN)-based polymeric composites with high thermal conductivity, it is always challenging to achieve a dense filling of h-BN fillers to form a desired high-density thermal transfer network. Here, a series of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs)/epoxy resin (EP) bulk composites filled with ultrahigh BNNSs content (65-95 wt %) is successfully constructed through a well-designed mechanical-balling prereaction combined with a general pressure molding method. By means of this method, the highly filled BNNSs fillers are uniformly dispersed and strongly bonded with EP within the composites. As a result, the densely BNNSs-filled composites can exhibit multiple performances. They have excellent mechanical properties, and their maximum compression strength is 30-97 MPa. For a BNNSs/EP composite with filling ultrahigh BNNSs fraction up to 90 wt %, its highly in-plane thermal conductivities (TC) are 6.7 ± 0.1 W m-1 K-1 (at 25 °C) to 8.7 ± 0.2 W m-1 K-1 (200 °C), respectively. In addition, the minimum coefficient of thermal expansion of BNNSs/EP composites is 4.5 ± 1.3 ppm/°C (only ∼4% of that of the neat EP), while their dielectric constants are basically located between 3-4 along with their dielectric loss tangent values exceptionally <0.3 in the ultrahigh frequency range of 12-40 GHz. Additionally, these BNNSs/EP composites exhibit remarkable cycle stability in heat transfer during heating and cooling processes because of their structural robustness. Thus, this type of densely BNNSs-filled BNNSs/EP composite would have great potential for further practical thermal management fields.