A triple-layered TFC nanofiltration (NF) membrane consisting of a polyamide (PA) top layer covered on a poly(ether sulfone) microfiltration membrane with a carbon nanotube (CNT) interlayer was fabricated via interfacial polymerization. The structure and properties of the PA active layer could be finely tailored by tuning the interfacial properties and pore structure of the CNT interlayer, including its surface pore size and thickness, thus improving its NF performance. This TFC NF membrane exhibited a high divalent salt rejection (the rejection of Na 2 SO 4 and MgSO 4 solution >98.3%) and dye rejection (the rejection of methyl violet (MV) >99.5%) with a high pure water flux of around 21 L m −2 h −1 bar −1 . Excitingly, this membrane also showed excellent selectivity to both mono/divalent salt ion (the selectivity of Cl − /SO 4 2− is as high as 85.5) and NaCl/dye solution (the selectivity of NaCl/MV is more than 123.5), which are much higher than most of other commercial and reported NF membranes. Moreover, this membrane also showed a good separation performance and long-term stability during a continuous NF process for a salt/dye mixture solution. This triple-layered TFC NF membrane showed a great promise for applications in both wastewater treatment and dyes recycling.

Targeting of nanoparticles to distant diseased sites after oral delivery remains highly challenging due to the existence of many biological barriers in the gastrointestinal tract. Here we report targeted oral delivery of diverse nanoparticles in multiple disease models, via a "Trojan horse" strategy based on a bioinspired yeast capsule (YC). Diverse charged nanoprobes including quantum dots (QDs), iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), and assembled organic fluorescent nanoparticles can be effectively loaded into YC through electrostatic force-driven spontaneous deposition, resulting in different diagnostic YC assemblies. Also, different positive nanotherapies containing an anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin (IND) or an antitumor drug paclitaxel (PTX) are efficiently packaged into YC. YCs containing either nanoprobes or nanotherapies may be rapidly endocytosed by macrophages and maintained in cells for a relatively long period of time. Post oral administration, nanoparticles packaged in YC are first transcytosed by M cells and sequentially endocytosed by macrophages, then transported to neighboring lymphoid tissues, and finally delivered to remote diseased sites of inflammation or tumor in mice or rats, all through the natural route of macrophage activation, recruitment, and deployment. For the examined acute inflammation model, the targeting efficiency of YC-delivered QDs or IONPs is even higher than that of control nanoprobes administered at the same dose via intravenous injection. Assembled IND or PTX nanotherapies orally delivered via YCs exhibit remarkably potentiated efficacies as compared to nanotherapies alone in animal models of inflammation and tumor, which is consistent with the targeting effect and enhanced accumulation of drug molecules at diseased sites. Consequently, through the intricate transportation route, nanoprobes or nanotherapies enveloped in YC can be preferentially delivered to desired targets, affording remarkably improved efficacies for the treatment of multiple diseases associated with inflammation.

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) from permeabilized brewer's yeast was immobilized on derived attapulgite nanofibers via glutaraldehyde covalent binding. The effect of immobilization on ADH activity, optimum temperature and pH, thermal, pH and operational stability, reusability of immobilized ADH, and bioreduction of ethyl 3-oxobutyrate (EOB) to ethyl(S)-3-hydroxybutyrate ((S)-EHB) by the immobilized ADH were investigated. The results show the immobilized ADH retained higher activity over wider ranges of pH and temperature than those of the free. The optimum temperature and pH were 7.5 and 35 degrees C, respectively, and 58% of the original activity was retented after incubation at 35 degrees C for 32 h. More importantly, in bioreduction of EOB mediated by immobilized ADH, the conversion of substrate and enantiomeric excess (ee) of product reached 88% and 99.2%, respectively, within 2 h and retained about 42% of the initial activity after eight cycles.

Using 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTESE) as a single precursor, a uniform, defect-free and perm-selective organosilica layer was successfully deposited onto porous polysulfone ultrafiltration (PSF-UF) supports via a simple sol-gel spin-coating and thermal-treatment process. The layered hybrid membranes, where BTESE-derived SiO2 is deposited on polymer supports, were applied to the vapor permeation dehydration of isopropanol-water (90/10 wt%) solutions at 105 ºC, and demonstrated a water flux of 1.6 kg/(m 2 h) and a separation factor of 315 with no selectivity for a PSF-UF support. Long-term stability testing of vapor permeation also confirmed the excellent stability of these BTESE/PSF-UF layered hybrid membranes. Moreover, compared with porous PSF-UF supports, this layered hybrid membrane also showed improved gas separation performance and a moderate (≈10) separation factor for H2/N2.