Synthesis of Mesoporous Yolk-Shell Magnetic Prussian Blue Particles for Multi-Functional Nanomedicine.

Mesoporous magnetic Prussian Blue (PB) particles are good condidates for theragnostic nanomedicine. However, there are lack of efficient methods for fabrication of such materials. Here, we reported the synthesis of the mesoporous yolk-shell Fe3O4@PB particles by one-pot coordination replication and etching. Time-dependent transmission electron microscopy illustrated that the PB crystals nucleated and grew on the surface of Fe3O4 spheres by coordination replication with the help of protons. The extra protons in the reaction medium further disassociated the Fe3O4 and PB, leading to mesoporous particles. The mesoporous yolk-shell Fe3O4@PB particles showed enhanced efficacy for loading cisplatin. The release of the drug molecules could be facilitated by increasing temperature. Both photo irradiation and alternating magnetic fields could trigger the release of heat from the composite. The obtained materials could delivery cisplatin to kill cancer cell intracellularly.

Rational Synthesis of Hollow Prussian Blue Analogue Through Coordination Replication and Controlled-Etching for Cs-Ion Removal.

Radioactive cesium pollution have received considerable attention due to the increasing risks in development of the nuclear power plants in the world. Although various functional porous materials are utilized to adsorb Cs+ ions in water, Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) are an impressive class of candidates because of their super affinity of Cs+ ions. The adsorption ability of the PBAs strongly relate to the mesostructure and interstitial sites. To design a hollow PBA with large number of interstitial sites, the traditional hollowing methods are not suitable owing to the difficulty in processing the specific PBAs with large number of interstitial sites. In this work, we empolyed a rational strategy which was to form a "metal oxide"@"PBA" core-shell structure via coordination replication at first, then utilized a mild etching to remove the metal oxide core, led to hollow PBA finally. The obtained hollow PBAs were of high crystallinity and large number of interstitial sites, showing a super adsorption performance for Cs+ ions (221.6 mg/g) within a short period (10 min).

Three-dimensional hierarchical Prussian blue composed of ultrathin nanosheets: enhanced hetero-catalytic and adsorption properties.

Three-dimensional hierarchical Prussian blue composed of ultrathin nanosheets was successfully synthesized by employing a self-aggregation and oriented attachment strategy. The unique structure highly increases the exposure of micropores and metal sites of Prussian blue to guests, thus significantly enhancing its hetero-catalysis and adsorption properties compared to cubic and commercial counterparts.

Synthesis, Characterization and Adsorption Properties of Magnetic γ-Fe2O3/C Nanocomposite.

γ-Fe2O3/C nanocomposite was prepared through a convenient method by which one-pot synthesized Fe3O4/Starch was oxidized and carbonized by calcining at 250 °C. The γ-Fe2O3/C displayed strong magnetism and could adsorb organic molecules from aqueous solution effectively, thus it showed promising application in the dislodgement of organic pollutants in sewage. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics of methylene blue (MB) onto γ-Fe2O3/C were studied in a batch system. The adsorption process reached equilibrium in about 15 min, and the maximum adsorption capacity of MB was found to be 64.9 mg g-1 at 303 K. Adsorption isotherms were well fitted to Langmuir model and the adsorption kinetics could be described by the pseudo-second order kinetic equation. The findings of the present work highlight a new facile method to fabricate magnetic carbon-based composites and the obtained γ-Fe2O3/C with excellent magnetic property and adsorption performance hold great promise for practical application in water treatment.

A versatile strategy to construct multifunctional metal oxide@cyanometallate-based coordination polymer heterostructures.

We have developed one versatile spatially confined self-assembly strategy to integrate cyanometallate-based coordination polymers with functional metal oxides into well-defined core@shell heterostructures. The structure, composition, size and morphology of the heterostructures could be facilely controlled. The obtained Fe3O4@Prussian blue heterostructure was evaluated as an appealing multifunctional thermal ablation agent exhibiting response to both magnetic field and light irradiation.

Three-dimensionalization of ultrathin nanosheets in a two-dimensional nano-reactor: macroporous CuO microstructures with enhanced cycling performance.

Three-dimensional (3D) macroporous CuO structures composed of ultrathin nanosheets were successfully synthesized by employing a liquid-liquid interface as a two-dimensional (2D) nano-reactor. The macroporous structure helped CuO to retain the exposed surface during reactions, thus significantly enhancing the long term cycling performance both in photocatalysis and lithium ion batteries.

Monocrystalline mesoporous metal oxide with perovskite structure: a facile solid-state transformation of a coordination polymer.

Monocrystalline mesoporous BiFeO3 crystals were obtained via a multi-step single-crystal to single-crystal transformation of a coordination polymer, Bi[Fe(CN)6]·4H2O. This unique transformation process significantly decreased the crystallization temperature of perovskite oxide without losing high crystallinity.

Coordination polymers for catalysis: enhancement of catalytic activity through hierarchical structuring.

We utilized a novel strategy, hierarchical structuring, to enhance the catalytic activity of coordination polymers. Hierarchical Prussian white crystals with hollow structures and kinked surfaces were synthesized by using a self-aggregation and etching strategy. The hierarchical structure significantly enhanced the catalytic activity of Prussian white in the degradation of methylene blue in comparison to the non-hierarchical Prussian white crystals.

One-step hydrothermal synthesis of Fe3O4@C nanoparticles with great performance in biomedicine.

Core-shell structured Fe3O4@C nanoparticles were fabricated by a facile one-pot hydrothermal route. The structure and component of the nanoparticles were fully characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, magnetometry and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area measurements. The obtained Fe3O4@C nanoparticles possessed favorable dispersibility, high saturation magnetization (61.4 emu g-1) that could quickly respond to external magnetic field and excellent biocompatibility. Excitingly, the experiments of the Fe3O4@C nanoparticles as drug carriers revealed an efficient drug-loading as high as 1.08 mg mg-1. More importantly, the drug loading composite exhibited pH-responsive release profiles and the duration was as long as 200 h; at the pH value of 5.8 and 7.4, the release rate was 93.7% and 33.6%, respectively. Furthermore, the obtained Fe3O4@C nanoparticles had good magneto-thermal ability. All these positive attributes make the as-prepared Fe3O4@C nanoparticles a promising platform for further biomedical evaluations.