Themed collection 2020 Materials Chemistry Frontiers HOT articles

Poly[N-(2-acetamidoethyl)acrylamide] supramolecular hydrogels with multiple H-bond crosslinking were synthesized and used for embedding the mouse brain slices and expansion microscopy with enhanced optical resolution and preserved structure integrity.

Supramolecular nanoparticles with enhanced aggregation-induced emission are prepared by taking advantage of pillar[5]arene-based host–guest complexation, and are sophisticated nanocarriers for imaging-guided drug delivery.

The plasma arc melting of mixtures of oxygen-mayenite and solid-reductants (aluminum and graphite) enables the scalable synthesis of mayenite-based electrides with treatment times below one minute.

Two enantiomorphic Pb-coordination polymers dictated by the corresponding chiral ligands reveal high chemical stability and a selective uptake of Congo red dye through the hydrogen bonds.

A dual-template approach is used to embed multilevel porosity into poly(ethersulfone) membranes prepared by non-solvent induced phase separation, leading to a 95% increase in permeability.

Four series of novel bis-chalcone compounds with excellent performances have been synthesized and examined for the first time as photoinitiators in combination with an amine and an iodonium salt for the FRP of acrylates and the CP of EPOX.

A conversion-type electrochemical artificial synapse exhibits potential applications for memory enhancement and dendritic integration; ultra-high sensitivity (3 mV) and extremely low-power consumption (32 fW) could be achieved.

A directional crystallization of C8-BTBT-C8 in a temperature gradient reduces film roughness and improves in-plane alignment.

Pyrazoloanthrone functionalized copolymer exhibit high selectivity and sensitivity towards TNP in aqueous medium in presence of other competitive explosive analytes.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are vital hubs for exciting systemic adaptive immune responses.

An AIE-active photosensitizer, TTVPHE, can fast penetrate into cancer cells and efficiently trigger mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathway with self-monitoring ability.

New synthesized pillar[5]arenes form solid lipid nanoparticles with fluorescent dyes that have a distinctive morphology and low toxicity to A549 cells.

The physical and chemical confinement of polysulfides are realized with interlayers combining non-polar acetylene black and polar NiO HoMSs, resulting in a high sulfur utilization, high specific capacity and good cycling stability for Li–S batteries.

Recyclable CPL response in N*-LCs could be observed by using the applied DC electric field with EPT effect through texture change. This kind of “on–off–on” system based on DC electric field can adjust g_em value and direction of CPL in N*-LCs.

Na₃V₂(PO₄)₂F₃@rGO can expose different crystal facets and exhibit excellent electrochemical performance via guiding the crystal growth orientation.

A protein-assisted synthesis method has been proposed for preparing stable covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with both photothermal and photodynamic activity under the excitation of a laser at a single wavelength.

We use nonporous adaptive crystals of perethylated pillar[6]arene to adsorb heterocyclic compounds from a mixture of toluene and heterocyclic compounds with high selectivity, ultimately improving the purity of toluene from 96.78% to 99.00%.

By using a simple and universal process, we successfully synthesized various sulfonated porous organic polymers with high proton conductivity, and therefore this strategy could evolve structural designs for high proton-conductive materials.

Microstructure evolution of BCN systems from graphene oxide is studied using ReaxFF assisted molecular dynamics. The resultant theoretical structures are experimentally verified, and HER activity is studied for different microstructure variations.

The black BiOCl homojunction with oxygen vacancies has a wide absorption range and results in effective separation of photo-generated electron–hole pairs, which contribute to its superior visible-light-driven photo-catalytic degradation and disinfection ability.

IgG–IgM immunochromatographic strip for rapid screening of SARS-CoV-2 infection including confirmed patients, suspect and asymptomatic carriers in 15 min.

Mn is demostrated as a superior dopant for oxide nanosheets, showing significantly enhanced OER activity.

PtRuCu NFs/C exhibited much higher mass activity and specific activity than commercial Pt/C and PtRuCu NPs/C towards the MOR due to the frame nanostructures and the synergistic effect of the trimetallics.

DCPE-TPA exhibits three morphologies with high quantum yields and nanoparticles of DCPE-TPA are utilized for in vivo 3PF imaging, achieving a penetration depth of 300 μm with a high resolution of 1.8 μm and a high signal-to-background ratio of 14.

This work reports multicationic AIEgens for unimolecular photodynamic theranostics, and an investigation of the relationship between their structures and activities, including PDT performance, 2-photon bioimaging, and self-reporting characteristics.

We report an oxide-assisted coating-etching process to remove bio-incompatible capping ligands from the surface of noble metal nanocrystals.

CW invasion by the primary tumor was inhibited by ISI of an LM. DCs were activated by the LM to sustain CR.

Ru and Ni co-doped Co₃O₄ with improved OER activity were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. Ru doping increases the intrinsic activity, while Ni doping creates more oxygen vacancies and exposes more active sites.

We put forward a new strategy for efficient PeLEDs by understanding the effect of ligand conjugation on device performance.

A MOF-derived hollow nanobox with high-density under-coordinated atomic Pt sites exhibits excellent performance in direct C–H bond borylation.

Specific pore size distributions of synthesized methylsilsesquioxane-based network materials stem from a combination of the solvation of monomers and growing oligomers, as well as miscibility of water in tested solvents; enabling specific analyte uptake materials.