Hydrophilic Groups Research Articles

Effect of Embedded g-C3N4 Nanosheets on the Hydration and Thermal Response Behavior of Cross-Linked Thermoresponsive Copolymer Films.

The effect of embedded graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets on hydration and thermal response behavior of cross-linked thermoresponsive poly(di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate-co-oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate), abbreviated as P(MA-co-MA300), thin films is probed by white light interferometry. Compared with that of the cross-linked pure P(MA-co-MA300) films, the surface roughness of the cross-linked hybrid films is slightly increased, which is caused by the minor aggregation of g-C3N4 nanosheets during the spin-coating process. After exposure to a water vapor atmosphere, both cross-linked pure and hybrid films can absorb water and swell. However, the introduction of g-C3N4 not only induces a larger hydration extent but also triggers a nonlinear transition behavior upon heating. This prominent difference might be related to the residual hydrophilic groups (-NH2 and N-H) on the surface of g-C3N4 nanosheets, which enhance the interaction and absorption capability for water molecules in the hybrid films. Upon further increasing the amount of embedded g-C3N4 nanosheets in films, more hydrogen bonds are formed and a larger hydration extent of films is observed. To break all of the hydrogen bonds in films, a higher transition temperature (TT) is required. The observed hydration and transition behaviors of hybrid films can be used to design hydrogel-based films for hydrogen evolution or wastewater treatment.

Swelling inhibition and percolation promotion of PQ-10 on weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ores

Weathered crust elution-deposited rare earth ores (WREOs) are rich in medium and heavy rare earth. In order to improve the in-situ leaching process, which is prone to landslides and poor permeability, cationic hydroxyethyl cellulose (PQ-10) was used as a novel green swelling inhibitor and percolation promoter and was mixed with conventional leaching agent ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) to form a composite leaching agent to study the performance and mechanism of swelling inhibition and percolation promotion. Adding PQ-10 can inhibit the hydration swelling of WREOs, promote the percolation effect of the leaching agent, improve the rare earth (RE) leaching efficiency, and reduce the impurity aluminum (Al) leaching efficiency. Compared with the conventional leaching agent 2 wt% (NH4)2SO4, the percolation time is reduced by 50% by using the composite leaching agent (0.02 wt% PQ-10+2 wt% (NH4)2SO4). PQ-10 has positively charged quaternary ammonium groups and hydrophilic group hydroxyl groups, which makes it easy to adsorb on WREOs multiple sites through electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding, weakening the electrostatic repulsion between mineral particles, reducing the WREOs interlayer spacing, compressing the double electric layer thickness at the solid-liquid interface, weakening the mineral hydration swelling and increasing the percolation rate. The long carbon chains of the polymer entangle and link the fine mineral particles to agglomerate them, increasing their particle size and reducing their hydration dispersion, and preventing blockage of the percolation pores caused by migration of the fine particles through the ore body with the solution. PQ-10 molecules also insert the mineral interlayer and expulsion of the internal water, further inhibiting the swelling of WREOs. Adding PQ-10 reduces the surface tension of (NH4)2SO4 solution, improving the spreading and spreading ability of the solution, reducing the adhesion work between molecules in the solid-liquid phase and the adhesion work reduction factor. It proves that PQ-10 promotes the percolation effect of the leaching process of WREOs. In addition, PQ-10 expands the leaching pore size and seepage channels, further improving the percolation rate.

Chiral Supramolecular Self-Assembly Catalysts with Enhanced Metal Ion Interaction for Higher Enantioselectivity.

Understanding the interaction between metal ions as catalytic centers and supramolecular scaffolds as chiral substrates plays an important role in developing chiral supramolecular catalysts with high enantioselectivity. Herein, we found that compared with l-norleucine chiral amphiphile (l-NorC16), l-methionine chiral amphiphile (l-MetC16) with the only heteroatom of S site difference in the hydrophilic group can form a similar supramolecular chiral nanoribbon (NR) with the bilayer structure through the self-assembly approach; yet, the interaction between the Cu(II) ion catalytic centers and supramolecular scaffolds is reinforced, favoring the chirality transfer and therefore enhancing their catalytic enantioselectivity of Diels-Alder reaction from 23% [l-NorC16-NR-Cu(II)] to 78% [l-MetC16-NR-Cu(II)]. Our work demonstrates a new strategy from the perspective of strengthening the metal ion-supramolecular scaffold interaction for the preparation of chiral supramolecular catalysts with good catalytic enantioselectivity.

Dynamic mechanism of CO2 capture from flue gas via hydrate-based method induced by using IB group transition metal functionalized carbon nanotubes

Capturing CO2 emitted from industrial power plants is the most efficient method for reducing global carbon emissions at present. In this work, the enhanced dynamic mechanism of CO2 capture from flue gas has been investigated through IB group transition metal functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as kinetic accelerators via the hydrate-based approach in combination with theoretical calculations and experiments. The computational results revealed that the both the hydrophilic oxygen-containing group and Cu modified CNTs not only enhanced the CO2 adsorption ability but also exhibited high selectivity towards CO2. Importantly, experiments demonstrated that the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) based accelerators significantly enhanced the dynamic performance of the hydrate formation, substantially increasing gas consumption and CO2 separation efficiency. Particularly, the theoretical selected Cu@FMWCNTs mixed with THF accelerators exhibited superior kinetic indexes during the hydrate formation even under relative low pressure at 1.5 MPa with the largest CO2 separation efficiency of 76.49%, which showed Cu@FMWCNTs to be a potential kinetic accelerator for CO2 capture. This study could provide valuable findings for nanomaterial design of novel hydrate accelerators and facilitate the development of the hydrate-based technology for CO2 capture from the economic perspective of low energy consumption.

Optimization of Synthesizing Conditions for MXene (Ti3C2) Photocatalyst: Effect of LiF:Ti3AlC2 Mass Ratio

The analysis of the proposed work, specifically the development of the MXene photocatalyst, will be described in this chapter. The results of the analysis are useful for comparing the pristine precursor and etched structures of the MXene photocatalyst. A minimally intensive layer delamination (MILD) method will be used to create the MXene photocatalyst which uses lower fluorine content solution (HCl-LiF) creating a safer and easier method. The synthesis parameters for the development of highly efficient MXene photocatalysts, such as LiF:Ti3AlC2 mass ratio will be optimized. FTIR, XRD, SAP, FESEM and DR UV-Vis analysis will be used to characterize the as-developed MXene photocatalyst and its precursor, Ti3AlC2. The hypothesis of this study is etching treatment will increase the hydrophilicity and active functional group such as oxygen (O), fluorine (F) and hydroxyl (-OH) on MXene surfaces. The performance of photocatalytic degradation will be tested with an initial dye concentration of 30 ppm, solution pH at pH7 at room temperature (±27 ̊C). Each photocatalytic degradation study was performed in 50 ml of methylene blue solution with 0.1 g photocatalyst. All developed MXenes will undergo photocatalytic degradation performance to identify the optimized synthesizing conditions. The highest MXene photodegradation performance was found to reach 90% removal within 180 min.

Synthesis of non-modified near-infrared carbon dots for hypochlorite detection and cell membrane imaging

Devising carbon dots with long wavelength emission (red light or near infrared), high selectivity and good bio-compatibility is critical in fluorescence detection and imaging, but achieving this goal remains a great challenge. Herein, near-infrared emissive carbon dots (NIR-CDs) with obvious emission characteristic of 653 nm were synthesized through hydrothermally treatment of toluidine bule and gallic acid. Noticeably, the NIR-CDs exhibited excellent selectivity and sensitivity to hypochlorite (ClO−), and the limit of detection is as low as 42.7 nM. The selective recognition reaction between ClO− and the surface functional groups of NIR-CDs inhibits the fluorescence from NIR-CDs. The quenching mechanism was confirmed by fluorescence lifetime decays, FT-IR spectroscopy and UV–vis absorption spectra. More remarkably, the NIR-CDs have rich hydrophilic groups showed lower cytotoxicity, excellent bio-compatibility and specific cell membrane localization ability. The established spectrofluorometric method based on NIR-CDs has been used to determination of ClO− level in tap water sample, the recoveries were 97.7 %–103.3 %. In addition, the NIR-CDs also has been successfully applied for the imaging of cell membrane. The study provides a novel idea for developing NIR ClO− probe as well as cell membrane localization probe based on CDs, which present bright prospects in real water samples monitoring and cell membrane imaging.

Quantitative Comparison of the Hydration Capacity of Surface-Bound Dextran and Polyethylene Glycol.

We have quantified and compared the hydration capacity (i.e., capability to incorporate water molecules) of the two surface-bound hydrophilic polymer chains, dextran (dex) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), in the form of poly(l-lysine)-graft-dextran (PLL-g-dex) and poly(l-lysine)-graft-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLL-g-PEG), respectively. The copolymers were attached to a negatively charged silica-titania surface through the electrostatic interaction between the PLL backbone and the surface in neutral aqueous media. While the molecular weights of PLL and PEG were fixed, that of dex and the grafting density of PEG or dex on the PLL were varied. The hydration capacity of the polymer chains was quantified through the combined experimental approach of optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (OWLS) and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) to yield a value for areal solvation (Ψ), i.e., mass of associated solvent molecules within the polymer chains per unit substrate area. For the two series of copolymers with comparable stretched chain lengths of hydrophilic polymers, namely, PLL(20)-g-PEG(5) and PLL(20)-g-dex(10), the Ψ values gradually increased as the initial grafting density on the PLL backbone increased or as g decreased. However, the rate of increase in Ψ was higher for PEG than dextran chains, which was attributed to higher stiffness of the dextran chains. More importantly, the number of water molecules per hydrophilic group was clearly higher for PEG chains. Given that the -CH2CH2O- units that make up the PEG chains form a cage-like structure with 2-3 water molecules, these "strongly bound" water molecules can account for the slightly more favorable behavior of PEG compared to dextran in both aqueous lubrication and antifouling behavior of the copolymers.

Fabrication and Characterization of Porous PEGDA Hydrogels for Articular Cartilage Regeneration.

Functional articular cartilage regeneration remains an unmet medical challenge, increasing the interest for innovative biomaterial-based tissue engineering (TE) strategies. Hydrogels, 3D macromolecular networks with hydrophilic groups, present articular cartilage-like features such as high water content and load-bearing capacity. In this study, 3D porous polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogels were fabricated combining the gas foaming technique and a UV-based crosslinking strategy. The 3D porous PEGDA hydrogels were characterized in terms of their physical, structural and mechanical properties. Our results showed that the size of the hydrogel pores can be modulated by varying the initiator concentration. In vitro cytotoxicity tests showed that 3D porous PEGDA hydrogels presented high biocompatibility both with human chondrocytes and osteoblast-like cells. Importantly, the 3D porous PEGDA hydrogels supported the viability and chondrogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (hBM-MSC)-based spheroids as demonstrated by the positive staining of typical cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) (glycosaminoglycans (GAGs)) and upregulation of chondrogenesis marker genes. Overall, the produced 3D porous PEGDA hydrogels presented cartilage-like mechanical properties and supported MSC spheroid chondrogenesis, highlighting their potential as suitable scaffolds for cartilage TE or disease modelling strategies.

Effects of surface wettability and density change during solidification of paraffin phase change materials

Phase change materials (PCMs) are widely used for thermal energy storage and other applications. During the solidification of a PCM, a volume change occurs due to thermal expansion and structural change of the molecules. A concave shape may be created during the solidification shrinkage. This paper investigates the shrinkage profile formed during the solidification of paraffin wax and its relationship with the surface wettability (contact angle), considering the effect of density changes. The contact angle of a paraffin droplet on a surface indicates the extent of adhesion between the solid surface and paraffin. The experimental study examines a mixture of wax with nanoparticles, wax with surfactants, different coatings on the container surface, and different solidification temperatures. Enhanced adhesion and increased shrinkage height are observed due to the non-polar interaction between coated surfaces and paraffin, facilitated by induced dipole-induced dipole forces. The addition of 3% octadecylamine enhances adhesion between paraffin and the container, as driven by dipole–dipole forces between the hydroxyl group on epoxy resin-container surfaces and the hydrophilic amine group of octadecylamine. The shrinkage height increases with a decrease in the contact angle of paraffin on the surface. The shrinkage profile also changes with the solidification temperature. The highest shrinkage profile is achieved for the highest solidification temperature.

Indopolycarbocyanine dyes as perspective analytical reagents for spectrophotometric determination of nitrite by radical nitration

A spectrophotometric method for the quantitative determination of nitrite was developed, based on the radical nitration of indopolycarbocyanine dyes in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl (TEMPO). The rate of the reaction of the studied dyes with nitrite increases with the lengthening of the polymethine chain and the presence of hydrophilic sulfo groups in the side chain of the dye. TEMPO acts as a co-reagent, significantly accelerating the reaction rate and increasing the sensitivity of nitrite determination. The proposed reaction mechanism is supported by spectrophotometric and HPLC/MS studies. For Ind2 (tetramethine indocarbocyanine cationic dye), the limit of detection for nitrite is 0.50 µM within a linearity range of 1–13 µM. The developed method is sensitive, with a LOD 130 times lower than the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of nitrite in drinking water (65 μM), as specified by the WHO. The method is of low-toxicity and good selectivity, as the determination of nitrite is not significantly affected by the main components of water. The method was successfully applied for the analysis of nitrite in natural and bottled water.

Effect of lipid composition on the characteristics of liposomes prepared using the polyol dilution method

Polyol dilution (PD) is a liposome preparation method suitable for mass production in the cosmetics industry. For PD-liposomes, lecithin is the primary material of choice because of its cost advantage. However, despite the importance of understanding the effect of lipid composition on the physicochemical properties of PD-liposomes in terms of formulation design, this has not yet been elucidated. In this study, PD-liposomes were prepared using hydrogenated egg yolk lecithin (EL) and its main components, 1,2-distearoyl-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC), 1,2-dipalmitoyl-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC), and 1,2-distearoyl-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DSPE). The compound 1,3-butylene glycol (BG), which is widely used in the cosmetics industry, was used as a representative polyol. Herein, we aimed to clarify the effect of lipid composition on PD-liposomes. The results showed that the particle size, dispersion stability, shape, and phase state of the lipid bilayer in PD-liposomes could be controlled by changing the composition of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups of the lipids. In particular, when PE was added to a system consisting of PC molecules, a significant decrease in particle size, improvement in dispersion stability, and shape changes were observed, indicating a significant effect on the physicochemical properties of the PD-liposomes. In addition, adding BG induced the formation of an interdigitated structure in the lipid bilayer when PC was the only hydrophilic group component; adding even a small amount of PE suppressed the formation of this structure. Furthermore, we confirmed that premixing BG and lipids enhanced the miscibility of different types of lipid molecules. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the design of highly functional PD-liposomes by enabling the selection and design of appropriate lipid compositions for practical applications.

Enhancement of CO2 separation efficiency in mixed matrix membranes through zinc ion modified g‐C3N4 nanosheets

AbstractThis study employed modified graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) nanosheets and polyether block amide (Pebax) to prepare mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) aiming to enhance CO2 separation efficiency. Through sulfonation and zinc ion (Zn2+) modification of g‐C3N4 nanosheets, high Zn2+ loaded nanofillers (SCN‐Zn2+) were synthesized. Compared to g‐C3N4, MMMs with SCN‐Zn2+ as nanofiller showed a CO2 permeance of 462 Barrer as well as the CO2/N2 selectivity of 47.5 at the feed gas pressure of 2 bar, which surpassed the 2008 Robeson upper bound. Additionally, the Pebax/SCN‐Zn2+(30) membrane was subjected to continuous gas permeability experiments for 70 h and showed good stability. The results showed that SCN‐Zn2+ nanosheets played an important role in enhancing the gas selectivity of the membranes. SEM confirmed that the SCN‐Zn2+ nanosheets had good compatibility with the Pebax substrate and the presence of hydrophilic sulfonic acid groups effectively suppressed the interfacial defects. The increase in the free volume fraction of the membranes as well as the solubility and diffusion coefficient suggested that the introduction of g‐C3N4 nanosheets led to more tortuous gas transport paths, which enhanced the permeability and selectivity of CO2.

Weakly Hydrated Solute of Mixed Hydrophobic-Hydrophilic Nature.

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a commonly used and invaluable tool in studies of solvation phenomena in aqueous solutions. Concurrently, density functional theory calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations deliver the solvation shell picture at the molecular detail level. The mentioned techniques allowed us to gain insights into the structure and energy of the hydrogen bonding network of water molecules around methylsulfonylmethane (MSM). In the hydration sphere of MSM, there are two types of populations of water molecules: a significant share of water molecules weakly bonded to the sulfone group and a smaller share of water molecules strongly bonded to each other around the methyl groups of MSM. The very weak hydrogen bond of water molecules with the hydrophilic group causes the extended network of water hydrogen bonds to be not "anchored" on the sulfone group, and consequently, the MSM hydration shell is labile.

Enhancing cell cryopreservation with acidic polyamino acids integrated liquid marbles

Cryopreservation is highly desired for long-term maintenance of the viability of living biosamples, while effective cell cryopreservation still relies heavily on the addition of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and fetal bovine serum (FBS). However, the intrinsic toxicity of DMSO is still a bottleneck, which could not only cause the clinical side effect but also induce cell genetic variants. In the meantime, the addition of FBS may bring potentially the risk of pathogenic microorganism contamination. The liquid marbles (LMs), a novel biotechnology tool for cell cryopreservation, which not only have a small volume system that facilitated recovery, but the hydrophobic shell also resisted the harm to cells caused by adverse environments. Previous LM-based cell cryopreservation relied heavily on the addition of FBS. In this work, we introduced acidic polyaspartic acid and polyglutamic acid as cryoprotectants to construct LM systems. LMs could burst in an instant to facilitate and achieve ultrarapid recovery process, and the hydrophilic carboxyl groups of the cryoprotectants could form hydrogen bonds with water molecules and further inhibit ice growth/formation to protect cells from cryoinjuries. The L929 cells could be well cryopreserved by acidic polyamino acid-based LMs. This new biotechnology platform is expected to be widely used for cell cryopreservation, which has the potential to propel LMs for the preservation of various functional cells in the future.

Self-supporting NiCo carbonate hydroxyl nanosheet for ultra-high energy density and stable supercapacitors

Carbonates and hydroxides are common hydrophilic oxygen-containing functional groups, which are conducive to complete contact with aqueous solution, thus expanding the active area and improving the electrochemical performance of materials. Here, we propose a new synthesis method using nickel foam as the sole nickel source to prepare dense and ultra-thin self-supporting cobalt carbonate hydroxide nanosheets, which are rich in many hydrophilic functional groups. This method goes beyond the traditional layered double hydroxides by combining CO32− and OH− groups, thus promoting more efficient interaction with the electrolyte and creating a larger contact area between the electrode and the electrolyte. When applied in an asymmetric supercapacitor, this material attains an ultrahigh energy density of 9.69 mWh cm−3 at a power density of 43.29 mW cm−3 (even at elevated power densities, e.g., 4.14 mWh cm−3 at 425.52 mW cm−3), with 90 % capacity retention over 5000 cycles at 100 mA cm−2.

Nickel atom-clusters nanozyme for boosting ferroptosis tumor therapy

The translation of Fe-based agents for ferroptosis tumor therapy is restricted by the unstable iron valence state, the harsh catalytic environment, and the complex tumor self-protection mechanism. Herein, we developed a stable nickel-based single-atom-metal-clusters (NSAMCs) biocatalyst for efficient tumor ferroptosis therapy. NSAMCs with a nanowire-like nanostructure and hydrophilic functional groups exhibit good water-solubility, colloidal stability, negligible systemic toxicity, and target specificity. In particular, NSAMCs possess excellent peroxidase-like and glutathione oxidase-like activities through the synergistic influence between metal clusters and single atoms. The dual-enzymatic performance enables NSAMCs to synergistically promote efficient ferroptosis of cancer cells through lipid peroxidization aggregation and glutathione peroxidase 4 inactivation. Importantly, NSAMCs highlight the boost of ferroptosis tumor therapy via the synergistic effect between single-atoms and metal clusters, providing a practical and feasible paradigm for further improving the efficiency of ferroptosis tumor treatment.

Preparation and characterization of high‐solid carboxylate/sulfonate waterborne polyurethane and its application in novel water‐based superfine fiber synthetic material

AbstractWith isophorone diisocyanate and polytetrahydrofuran as basic raw materials, dimethylolpropionic acid and 2,3‐dihydroxypropanesulfonic acid triethylamine salt (DHPSTEA) as chain extension agents, trimethylolpropane as crosslinking agent, N, N‐dimethylethanolamine as neutralizer, the high‐solid carboxylate/sulfonate waterborne polyurethane (SC‐HWPU) was synthesized. The effect of COO−/SO3− molar ratio on the properties of SC‐HWPU was studied. Fourier transform infrared and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy results demonstrated that the SC‐HWPU molecular chain contained carboxylate and sulfonate groups. The results of thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, and mechanical properties of SC‐HWPU film indicated that higher DHPSTEA content was favorable for the thermostability and mechanical properties when the total dosage of hydrophilic groups was invariable. When the mole ratio of COO−/SO3− is 8:2, the solid content of the prepared SC‐HWPU3 emulsion can reach to 51.6%, which has excellent storage stability and alkali resistance stability. Subsequently, the application of SC‐HWPU emulsion on the fixed‐island type polyamide/polyethylene terephthalate copolymer superfine fiber non‐woven fabric single‐coating process was analyzed, and the water‐base superfine fiber non‐woven fabric was prepared. Scanning electron microscopy showed that there was still a large amount of SC‐HWPU filled in the superfine fiber gap after alkali‐decrement, indicating that SC‐HWPU has excellent alkali resistance.

Qualitative analysis of hydrophilic headgroup water molecular space dependence and wetting effects of solution systems on polluting coal dust

The hydrophilic head groups of the surfactants affect the interfacial tension of surfactant solutions and the internal micelle structure of the bulk surfactants. Because of this, investigating the effect of the hydrophilic head groups on the adsorption performance of surfactants is helpful in terms of revealing the wetting mechanism of surfactants on coal at the molecular level. In this work we combine molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemistry calculations with a collection of experiments to analyze the interaction patterns between sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDSO), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether carboxylate (SSN), and sodium lauryl phosphate (LSN) with coal. The radial distribution results show that SDSO formed the closest first peak of the hydrated layer at 1.31 Å, with a probability peak of 3.92, which exhibited strong hydrogen bonding interactions that are consistent with the relative concentration and average azimuthal shift trends obtained from molecular trajectory simulations. The priority interaction types between four surfactants and water molecules were determined using the energy difference of molecular orbitals in quantum mechanics. The weak interaction between hydrophilic head groups and water molecules was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed using the Independent Gradient Model (IGMH), and the fundamental reasons affecting the wetting of long flame coal were obtained.

Self-Assembled Nanocomposite DOX/TPOR4@CB[7]4 for Enhanced Synergistic Photodynamic Therapy and Chemotherapy in Neuroblastoma.

DOX/TPOR4@CB[7]4 was synthesized via self-assembly, and its physicochemical properties and ability to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) were evaluated. The impact of photodynamic therapy on SH-SY5Y cells was assessed using the MTT assay, while flow cytometry analysis was employed to detect cell apoptosis. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was utilized to observe the intracellular distribution of DOX/TPOR4@CB[7]4 in SH-SY5Y cells. Additionally, fluorescence imaging of DOX/TPOR4@CB[7]4 in nude mice bearing SH-SY5Y tumors and examination of the combined effects of photodynamic and chemical therapies were conducted. The incorporation of CB[7] significantly enhanced the optical properties of DOX/TPOR4@CB[7]4, resulting in increased ROS production and pronounced toxicity towards SH-SY5Y cells. Moreover, both the apoptotic and mortality rates exhibited significant elevation. In vivo experiments demonstrated that tumor growth inhibition was most prominent in the DOX/TPOR4@CB[7]4 group. π-π interactions facilitated the binding between DOX and photosensitizer TPOR, with TPOR's naphthalene hydrophilic groups encapsulated within CB[7]'s cavity through host-guest interactions with CB[7]. Therefore, CB[7] can serve as a nanocarrier to enhance the combined application of chemical therapy and photodynamic therapy, thereby significantly improving treatment efficacy against neuroblastoma tumors.

Regulating room temperature phosphorescence of carbazole quaternization pyridine in polymer through Hofmeister effect

AbstractHofmeister effect is a famous physical chemistry phenomenon that was reported a hundred years ago, which firstly refers to the action of certain salts to decrease the solubility of proteins while others increase. The Hofmeister effect on the luminescent properties of cationic organic fluorophore is still obscure, especially for their room temperature phosphorescence (RTP). Herein, hydrophilic groups (quaternization pyridine) were introduced into carbazole molecules to obtain a series of carbazole derivatives (named CZ‐Py+) with different counter anions in the Hofmeister series. These carbazole derivatives displayed tunable fluorescent color from cyan to yellow in the solid state following the Hofmeister sequence and anti‐Hofmeister behavior in an aqueous solution. Moreover, RTP material with tunable emission color and lifetime was achieved by doping CZ‐Py+ with Hofmeister series anion in polymethyl methacrylate and polyvinyl alcohol, which displayed good performance in time getting information encryption and anti‐counterfeiting.