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1.
ACS Nano ; 18(19): 12276-12283, 2024 May 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38700494

ABSTRACT

Two-dimensional (2D) tetragonal FeSe has sparked extensive research interest owing to its tunable superconductivity, providing valuable insights into the design of high-temperature superconductors. Currently, the intricate Fe-Se phase diagram poses a challenge to the controlled synthesis of superconducting 2D FeSe in a pure tetragonal phase. Here, we exploit the ion-exchange property of fluorophlogopite mica to devise a straightforward approach for the phase-controlled synthesis of tetragonal FeSe on an Fe-enriched mica surface within a molten salt environment. This method successfully produces highly crystalline FeSe in a pure tetragonal phase with adjustable thickness. We investigated the surface composition of the postgrowth mica substrate using various microscopic and spectroscopic characterizations to highlight the importance of the Fe-enriched growth interface in the phase-selective synthesis of 2D tetragonal FeSe. The obtained 2D FeSe exhibited 2D superconductivity, comparable to that of FeSe mechanically exfoliated from bulk crystals, confirming the high quality of our samples. Beyond tetragonal FeSe, 2D antiferromagnetic FeTe and superconducting FeSxSeyTe1-x-y have been phase-selectively synthesized via this approach. Our study elucidates the significance of the growth interface on the phase-selective synthesis of 2D materials and presents potential opportunities for the phase-controlled synthesis of 2D multiphase materials via the rational design of the growth interface.

2.
Plant Physiol Biochem ; 209: 108526, 2024 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38537383

ABSTRACT

Drought stress inhibits seed germination, plant growth and development of tobacco, and seriously affects the yield and quality of tobacco leaves. However, the molecular mechanism underlying tobacco drought stress response remains largely unknown. In this study, integrated analysis of transcriptome and metabolome was performed on the germinated seeds of a cultivated variety K326 and its EMS mutagenic mutant M28 with great drought tolerance. The result showed that drought stress inhibited seed germination of the both varieties, while the germination rate of M28 was faster than that of K326 under drought stress. Besides, the levels of phytohormone ABA, GA19, and zeatin were increased by drought stress in M28. Five vital pathways were identified through integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis, including zeatin biosynthesis, aspartate and glutamate synthesis, phenylamine metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and phenylpropanoid synthesis. Furthermore, 20 key metabolites in the above pathways were selected for further analysis of gene modular-trait relationship, and then four highly correlated modules were found. Then analysis of gene expression network was carried out of Top30 hub gene of these four modules, and 9 key candidate genes were identified, including HSP70s, XTH16s, APX, PHI-1, 14-3-3, SCP, PPO. In conclusion, our study uncovered some key drought-responsive pathways and genes of tobacco during seeds germination, providing new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of tobacco drought stress response.


Subject(s)
Germination , Transcriptome , Germination/genetics , Droughts , Zeatin/metabolism , Seeds/metabolism , Metabolome , Gene Expression Regulation, Plant , Stress, Physiological/genetics
4.
Nanomedicine (Lond) ; 19(5): 413-429, 2024 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38275168

ABSTRACT

Kidney transplantation is a crucial treatment option for end-stage renal disease patients, but challenges related to graft function, rejection and immunosuppressant side effects persist. This review highlights the potential of nanotechnology in addressing these challenges. Nanotechnology offers innovative solutions to enhance organ preservation, evaluate graft function, mitigate ischemia-reperfusion injury and improve drug delivery for immunosuppressants. The integration of nanotechnology holds promise for improving outcomes in kidney transplantation.


Subject(s)
Kidney Transplantation , Reperfusion Injury , Humans , Kidney Transplantation/adverse effects , Organ Preservation , Immunosuppressive Agents/therapeutic use , Reperfusion Injury/drug therapy , Kidney
5.
Int J Nanomedicine ; 18: 7287-7304, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38076730

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Insufficient tumor permeability and inadequate nanoparticle retention continue to be significant limitations in the efficacy of anti-tumor drug therapy. Numerous studies have focused on enhancing tumor perfusion by improvement of tumor-induced endothelial leakage, often known as the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. However, these approaches have produced suboptimal therapeutic outcomes and have been associated with significant side effects. Therefore, in this study, we prepared tumor cell membrane-coated gold nanorods (GNR@TM) to enhance drug delivery in tumors through homogeneous targeting of tumor cell membranes and in situ real-time photo-controlled therapy. Methods: Here, we fabricated GNR@TM, and characterized it using various techniques including Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer, particle size analysis, potential measurement, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of GNR@TM were analyzed by flow cytometry, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), TEM, CCK8 assay and live/dead staining. Tissue drug distribution was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and immunofluorescence staining. Furthermore, to evaluate the therapeutic effect, mice bearing MB49 tumors were intravenously administered with GNR@TM. Subsequently, near-infrared (NIR) laser therapy was performed, and the mice's tumor growth and body weight were monitored. Results: The tumor cell membrane coating endowed GNR@TM with extended circulation time in vivo and homotypic targeting to tumor, thereby enhancing the accumulation of GNR@TM within tumors. Upon 780 nm laser, GNR@TM exhibited excellent photothermal conversion capability, leading to increased tumor vascular leakage. This magnification of the EPR effect induced by NIR laser further increased the accumulation of GNR@TM at the tumor site, demonstrating strong antitumor effects in vivo. Conclusion: In this study, we successfully developed a NIR-triggered nanomedicine that increased drug accumulation in tumor through photo-controlled therapy and homotypic targeting of the tumor cell membrane. GNR@TM has been demonstrated effective suppression of tumor growth, excellent biocompatibility, and significant potential for clinical applications.


Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents , Hyperthermia, Induced , Nanotubes , Neoplasms , Mice , Animals , Photothermal Therapy , Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology , Neoplasms/therapy , Drug Delivery Systems/methods , Gold/chemistry , Nanotubes/chemistry , Cell Line, Tumor
7.
Nat Mater ; 22(12): 1499-1506, 2023 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37770677

ABSTRACT

Recently, the increasing demand for data-centric applications is driving the elimination of image sensing, memory and computing unit interface, thus promising for latency- and energy-strict applications. Although dedicated electronic hardware has inspired the development of in-memory computing and in-sensor computing, folding the entire signal chain into one device remains challenging. Here an in-memory sensing and computing architecture is demonstrated using ferroelectric-defined reconfigurable two-dimensional photodiode arrays. High-level cognitive computing is realized based on the multiplications of light power and photoresponsivity through the photocurrent generation process and Kirchhoff's law. The weight is stored and programmed locally by the ferroelectric domains, enabling 51 (>5 bit) distinguishable weight states with linear, symmetric and reversible manipulation characteristics. Image recognition can be performed without any external memory and computing units. The three-in-one paradigm, integrating high-level computing, weight memorization and high-performance sensing, paves the way for a computing architecture with low energy consumption, low latency and reduced hardware overhead.

8.
Chin Med ; 18(1): 104, 2023 Aug 22.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37608369

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The combination of Xiaozheng decoction with postoperative intravesical instillation has been shown to improve the prognosis of bladder cancer patients and prevent recurrence. However, the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of this herbal formula remain largely unclear. This research aims to identify the important components of Xiaozheng decoction and explore their anti-bladder cancer effect and mechanism using network pharmacology-based experiments. METHODS: The chemical ingredients of each herb in the Xiaozheng decoction were collected from the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) database. Network pharmacology was employed to predict the target proteins and pathways of action. Disease databases were utilized to identify target genes associated with bladder cancer. A Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network was constructed to illustrate the interaction with intersected target proteins. Key targets were identified using Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional enrichment analysis. A compound-target-pathway network was established after molecular docking predictions. In vitro experiments with bladder cancer cell lines were conducted using core chemical components confirmed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-qTOF-MS) to verify the conclusions of network pharmacology. RESULTS: 45 active compounds were extracted, and their relationships with Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) and protein targets were presented, comprising 7 herbs, 45 active compounds, and 557 protein targets. The intersection between potential TCM target genes and bladder cancer-related genes yielded 322 genes. GO and KEGG analyses indicated that these targets may be involved in numerous cancer-related pathways. Molecular docking results showed that candidate compounds except mandenol could form stable conformations with the receptor. In vitro experiments on three bladder cancer cell lines demonstrated that quercetin and two other impressive new compounds, bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) and kumatakenin, significantly promoted cancer cell apoptosis through the B-cell lymphoma 2/Bcl-2-associated X (Bcl-2/BAX) pathway and inhibited proliferation and migration through the glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3ß)/ß-catenin pathway. CONCLUSION: By employing network pharmacology and conducting in vitro experiments, the mechanism of Xiaozheng decoction's effect against bladder cancer was tentatively elucidated, and its main active ingredients and targets were identified, providing a scientific basis for future research.

9.
BMC Urol ; 23(1): 10, 2023 Jan 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36709279

ABSTRACT

Bladder cancer, one of the most prevalent malignant cancers, has high rate of recurrence and metastasis. Owing to genomic instability and high-level heterogeneity of bladder cancer, chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs sensitivity and lack of prognostic markers, the prognosis of bladder cancer is unclear. Necroptosis is a programmed modality of necrotic cell death in a caspase-independent form. Despite the fact that necroptosis plays a critical role in tumor growth, cancer metastasis, and cancer patient prognosis, necroptosis-related gene sets have rarely been studied in bladder cancer. As a result, the development of new necroptosis-related prognostic indicators for bladder cancer patients is critical. Herein, we assessed the necroptosis landscape of bladder cancer patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and classified them into two unique necroptosis-related patterns, using the consensus clustering. Then, using five prognosis-related genes, we constructed a prognostic model (risk score), which contained 5 genes (ANXA1, DOK7, FKBP10, MAP1B and SPOCD1). And a nomogram model was also developed to offer the clinic with a more useful prognostic indicator. We found that risk score was significantly associated with clinicopathological characteristics, TIME, and tumor mutation burden in patients with bladder cancer. Moreover, risk score was a valid guide for immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted drugs. In our study, DOK7 was chosen to further verify our prognosis model, and functional assays indicated that knockdown the expression of DOK7 could prompt bladder cancer proliferation and migration. Our work demonstrated the potential role of prognostic model based on necroptosis genes in the prognosis, immune landscape and response efficacy of immunotherapy of bladder cancer.


Subject(s)
Necroptosis , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms , Humans , Prognosis , Necroptosis/genetics , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/genetics , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/therapy , Immunotherapy , Nomograms
10.
BMC Urol ; 22(1): 142, 2022 Sep 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36057655

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignancies of the genitourinary system. Animal models offer an important tool to explore tumour initiation, progression, and therapeutic mechanisms. Our aim is to construct an optimized orthotopic BC model which is predictable, reproducible, and convenient. METHODS: The optimized orthotopic BC model was constructed in male C57BL/6 mice utilizing microsyringes to inoculate them with a murine BC cell line (MB49). Anesthetised mice were inoculated with an MB49 cell suspension (10 µL) at approximately 5 × 106/mL. The whole process of modelling was observed and monitored every 3 days for 21 days utilizing HE staining and transabdominal ultrasonography (TUS). RESULTS: In this study, the model showed excellent success rates for tumour formation (96.67%) and metastatic rate (89.66%). Compared to the control group (sham operation), mice in the modelling group had serous cachexia, visible haematuresis and weight loss (all P < 0.05). The lungs, liver, ureter and kidneys were found to have tumour metastasis. Moreover, the average survival time (19.73 ± 1.69 d) of modelling mice was significantly shorter than that of the control mice (P < 0.05), which remained alive. CONCLUSION: Our study established a method using microsyringes to inject murine BC cells into the bladder wall, creating a stable transplantable BC model in mice.


Subject(s)
Urinary Bladder Neoplasms , Animals , Cell Line, Tumor , Disease Models, Animal , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Urinary Bladder/pathology , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/pathology
11.
J Transl Med ; 20(1): 315, 2022 07 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35836227

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Enolase is an essential enzyme in the process of glycolysis and has been implicated in cancer progression. Though dysregulation of ENOs has been reported in multiple cancers, their prognostic value and specific role in bladder cancer (BLCA) remain unclear. METHODS: Multiple databases were employed to examine the expression of ENOs in BLCA. The expression of ENO1 was also validated in BLCA cell lines and tissue samples by western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Kaplan-Meier analysis, ROC curve, univariate and multivariate Cox regression were performed to evaluate the predictive capability of the ENO1. Gene ontology (GO) and Gene Set Enrichment Analyses (GSEA) analysis were employed to perform the biological processes enrichment. Function experiments were performed to explore the biological role of ENO1 in BLCA. The correlation of ENO1 with immune cell infiltration was explored by CIBERSORT. RESULTS: By analyzing three ENO isoforms in multiple databases, we identified that ENO1 was the only significantly upregulated gene in BLCA. High expression level of ENO1 was further confirmed in BLCA tissue samples. Aberrant ENO1 overexpression was associated with clinicopathological characteristics and unfavorable prognosis. Functional studies demonstrated that ENO1 depletion inhibited cancer cell aggressiveness. Furthermore, the expression level of ENO1 was correlated with the infiltration levels of immune cells and immune-related functions. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results indicated that ENO1 might serve as a promising prognostic biomarker for prognosticating prognosis associated with the tumor immune microenvironment, suggesting that ENO1 could be a potential immune-related target against BLCA.


Subject(s)
Urinary Bladder Neoplasms , Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics , Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism , DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Kaplan-Meier Estimate , Phosphopyruvate Hydratase/genetics , Prognosis , Tumor Microenvironment , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/genetics , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/genetics , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/pathology
12.
Front Mol Biosci ; 9: 815290, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35558555

ABSTRACT

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) is a leading cause of death from malignancy, with significant heterogeneity in the immunotherapeutic responsiveness of advanced status. Pyroptosis, a newly discovered inflammatory programmed cell death, is confirmed to play an indispensable role in tumorigenesis and anti-tumor activity. However, the effect of pyroptosis on the tumor-immune landscape remodeling and immunotherapy in BC remains elusive. Methods: We comprehensively evaluated the mRNA expression and genomic alterations of 33 pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in BC and evaluated the patterns of pyroptosis in publicly available BC datasets. An unsupervised clustering method was used to classify patients into distinct patterns. Then, we established a pyroptosis-related signature score (PS-score) model to quantify the pyroptosis-related patterns of individual BC patients using principal component analysis. Furthermore, we correlated the patterns with the immune landscape and response efficacy of immunotherapy. Results: Two pyroptosis-related patterns were identified in BC, and distinct patterns showed various immune characteristics. Patterns with a high expression level of PRGs exhibited a survival advantage and showed higher infiltration of cytotoxic lymphocytes. Tumors with a low PS-score were characterized by high tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and considered "hot." Further analysis revealed that the PS-score was an independent prognostic factor and could predict the response to immunotherapy for patients with advanced BC. We found a significant positive association between AHNAK2, AHNAK nucleoprotein 2, expression, and PS-score. Functional assays showed that AHNAK2 knockdown was correlated with attenuated invasive ability. Conclusion: This work comprehensively demonstrated the potential function of pyroptosis-related patterns in the bladder tumor-immune landscape and identified their therapeutic liability in immunotherapy. Our study enhanced our understanding of the immune landscape and provided a new approach toward more effective immunotherapy strategies.

13.
Front Plant Sci ; 13: 1067076, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36743571

ABSTRACT

Drought stress usually causes huge economic losses for tobacco industries. Drought stress exhibits multifaceted impacts on tobacco systems through inducing changes at different levels, such as physiological and chemical changes, changes of gene transcription and metabolic changes. Understanding how plants respond and adapt to drought stress helps generate engineered plants with enhanced drought resistance. In this study, we conducted multiple time point-related physiological, biochemical,transcriptomic and metabolic assays using K326 and its derived mutant 28 (M28) with contrasting drought tolerance. Through integrative analyses of transcriptome and metabolome,we observed dramatic changes of gene expression and metabolic profiles between M28 and K326 before and after drought treatment. we found that some of DEGs function as key enzymes responsible for ABA biosynthesis and metabolic pathway, thereby mitigating impairment of drought stress through ABA signaling dependent pathways. Four DEGs were involved in nitrogen metabolism, leading to synthesis of glutamate (Glu) starting from NO-3 /NO-2 that serves as an indicator for stress responses. Importantly, through regulatory network analyses, we detected several drought induced TFs that regulate expression of genes responsible for ABA biosynthesis through network, indicating direct and indirect involvement of TFs in drought responses in tobacco. Thus, our study sheds some mechanistic insights into how plant responding to drought stress through transcriptomic and metabolic changes in tobacco. It also provides some key TF or non-TF gene candidates for engineering manipulation for breeding new tobacco varieties with enhanced drought tolerance.

14.
Front Genet ; 13: 1082691, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36685947

ABSTRACT

Bladder cancer (BC) ranks the tenth in the incidence of global tumor epidemiology. LncRNAs and cuproptosis were discovered to regulate the cell death. Herein, we downloaded transcriptome profiling, mutational data, and clinical data on patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). High- and low-risk BC patients were categorized. Three CRLs (AL590428.1, AL138756.1 and GUSBP11) were taken into prognostic signature through least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression. Worse OS and PFS were shown in high-risk group (p < 0.05). ROC, independent prognostic analyses, nomogram and C-index were predicted via CRLs. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis indicated IncRNAs play a biological role in BC progression. Immune-related functions showed the high-risk group received more benefit from immunotherapy and had stronger immune responses, and the overall survival was better (p < 0.05). Finally, a more effective outcome (p < 0.05) was found from clinical immunotherapy via the TIDE algorithm and many potential anti-tumor drugs were identified. In our study, the cuproptosis-related signature provided a novel tool to predict the prognosis in BC patients accurately and provided a novel strategy for clinical immunotherapy and clinical applications.

15.
Front Cell Dev Biol ; 9: 783050, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34977026

ABSTRACT

Urinary bladder cancer (UBC) is a common malignant tumor with high incidence. Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease demand the identification of novel therapeutic targets. Multiple studies demonstrated that PDE4B level was upregulated in malignancies and high PDE4B expression was correlated with poor outcomes. Herein, we identified that PDE4B was a potential therapeutic target in UBC. We confirmed that PDE4B expression was correlated with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics and unfavorable prognosis. Functional studies demonstrated that ectopic expression of PDE4B promoted UBC cells proliferation, migration and invasion, whereas PDE4B depletion suppressed cancer cell aggressiveness. We also identified CBX7 as a regulator of PDE4B to suppress the expression of PDE4B at the transcription level in a PRC1-dependent manner. Moreover, our results indicated that PDE4B induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in UBC cells via ß-catenin pathway, whereas inhibition of PDE4B by its small molecule inhibitor, rolipram, effectively reversed the PDE4B overexpression-induced effects. To sum up, our results indicated that PDE4B acts as an oncogene by promoting UBC cell migration and invasion via ß-catenin/EMT pathway.

16.
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol ; 319(6): C1020-C1028, 2020 12 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32936696

ABSTRACT

Myoblast differentiation is a crucial process for myogenesis. Mitochondria function as an energy-providing machine that is critical to this process, and mitochondrial dysfunction can prevent myoblasts from fusing into myotubes. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the dynamic regulation of mitochondrial networks remain poorly understood. In the present study, we found that the PTEN induced kinase 1 (PINK1)/Parkin (an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase) pathway is activated at the early stage of myoblast differentiation. Moreover, downregulation of mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) and increased dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) resulted in loosely formed mitochondria during this period. Furthermore, selective knockdown of the mitochondrial matrix protein Lon peptidase-1 (LonP1) at the early stage of myoblast differentiation induced mitochondrial depolarization and suppressed the PINK1/Parkin pathway and reduced Mfn2 and Drp1 levels, which blocked mitochondrial remodeling and myoblast differentiation. Overall, these data demonstrate that LonP1 promotes myoblast differentiation by regulating PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitochondrial remodeling.


Subject(s)
ATP-Dependent Proteases/metabolism , Cell Differentiation/physiology , Mitochondria/metabolism , Mitochondrial Proteins/metabolism , Myoblasts/metabolism , Protein Kinases/metabolism , Signal Transduction/physiology , Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases/metabolism , Animals , Mice , Microtubule-Associated Proteins/metabolism , Muscle Development/physiology
17.
Sensors (Basel) ; 20(12)2020 Jun 16.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32560050

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a feature termed as the postpeak value is proposed for the pulsed eddy current technique (PECT). Moreover, a method using the postpeak value is proposed to classify surface and reverse defects. A PECT system is built for verification purposes. Experiment results prove that the postpeak feature value has better performance than that of the traditional peak value in the case of reverse defect detection. In contrast, the peak value is better than the postpeak value in the case of surface defect detection. Experiment results also validate that the proposed classification algorithm has advantages: classification can be achieved in real time, the calculation process and results are easy to understand, and supervised training is unnecessary.

18.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces ; 11(27): 24027-24036, 2019 Jul 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31246391

ABSTRACT

Two-dimensional (2D) layer-structured titanium carbide MXenes (e.g., 2D Ti3C2 MXene) have received tremendous attention owing to their excellent properties and unique 2D planar topology. Nevertheless, there are still several challenges to be addressed for well dispersibility and easy separation from a heterogeneous system, hindering the practical applications. Herein, 2D Ti3C2 MXene, as the most typical member of 2D MXenes, is functionalized with magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles via an in situ growth approach (designated as MXene@Fe3O4), which exhibits the intriguing phenomenon on methylene blue (MB) adsorption in the environmental remediation realm. The maximum adsorption capacity of the MXene@Fe3O4 composites for MB is calculated to be 11.68 mg·g-1 by a Langmuir isotherm model. A thermodynamic study of the adsorption demonstrates that the reaction process is exothermic and entropy-driven. Attractively, the removal process is a pH-independent process, and the optimal MB adsorption capacity is achieved at pH = 3 or 11, which is ascribed to electrostatic interactions and the hydrogen bond effect. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculation results reveal that the adsorption process is based on a combination of Ti-OH···N bonding, electrostatic attraction, and reductivity. Furthermore, multiple cycle runs demonstrate an excellent stability and reusability of MXene@Fe3O4 composites. This study provides a promising approach for the alternative removal of MB and broadens the potential application of 2D MXene for the treatment of practical acidic or alkaline wastewater.

19.
Adv Mater ; 31(16): e1808088, 2019 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30843279

ABSTRACT

2D organic-inorganic lead iodide perovskites have recently received tremendous attention as promising light absorbers for solar cells, due to their excellent optoelectronic properties, structural tunability, and environmental stability. However, although great efforts have been made, no 2D lead iodide perovskites have been discovered as ferroelectrics, in which the ferroelectricity may improve the photovoltaic performance. Here, by incorporating homochiral cations, 2D lead iodide perovskite ferroelectrics [R-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethylammonium]2 PbI4 and [S-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethylammonium]2 PbI4 are successfully obtained. The vibrational circular dichroism spectra and crystal structural analysis reveal their homochirality. They both crystalize in a polar space group P1 at room temperature, and undergo a 422F1 type ferroelectric phase transition with transition temperature as high as 483 and 473.2 K, respectively, showing a multiaxial ferroelectric nature. They also possess semiconductor characteristics with a direct bandgap of 2.34 eV. Nevertheless, their racemic analogue adopts a centrosymmetric space group P21 /c at room temperature, exhibiting no high-temperature phase transition. The homochirality in 2D lead iodide perovskites facilitates crystallization in polar space groups. This finding indicates an effective way to design high-performance 2D lead iodide perovskite ferroelectrics with great application prospects.

20.
J Am Chem Soc ; 141(4): 1781-1787, 2019 01 30.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30615437

ABSTRACT

Quasi-spherical molecules have recently been developed as promising building blocks for constructing high-performance molecular ferroelectrics. However, although the modification of spherical molecules into quasi-spherical ones can efficiently lower the crystal symmetry, it is still a challenge to precisely arouse a low-symmetric polar crystal structure. Here, by introducing directional hydrogen-bonding interactions in the molecular modification, we successfully reduced the cubic centrosymmetric Pm3̅ m space group of [quinuclidinium]ClO4 at room temperature to the orthorhombic polar Pna21 space group of [3-oxoquinuclidinium]ClO4. Different from the substituent groups of -OH, -CH3, and ═CH2, the addition of a ═O group with H-acceptor to [quinuclidinium]+ forms directionally N-H···O═C hydrogen-bonded chains, which plays a critical role in the generation of polar structure in [3-oxoquinuclidinium]ClO4. Systematic characterization indicates that [3-oxoquinuclidinium]ClO4 is an excellent molecular ferroelectric with a high Curie temperature of 457 K, a large saturate polarization of 6.7 µC/cm2, and a multiaxial feature of 6 equiv ferroelectric axes. This work demonstrates that the strategy of combining quasi-spherical molecule building blocks with directional intermolecular interactions provides an efficient route to precisely design new eminent molecular ferroelectrics.

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