The flexible metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) materials, also called soft porous crystals which combine the crystalline order of the underlying coordination network with cooperative structural transformability, have been extensively studied as promising materials for various applications such as sensing, drug delivery, catalysis, host-guest complex etc. Among them MOFs is effectively used as a carrier for drug delivery. Herein, a flexible metal-organic framework MIL-53(Fe) functionalized with polyethyleneglycol (PEG) was successfully fabricated by ultrasonication. The prepared material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmittance electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and infrared spectroscopy (IR). The effect of the PEG content on the morphology and particles size of the MIL-53 was investigated in detail. The resultant flexible MIL-53(Fe)-PEG materials were seen to be homogeneous with the morphology of hexagonal bipyramidal structure, approximately 700 nm in length and 400 nm in diameter. Furthermore, we investigated loading of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) drug and its release in vitro conditions by employing MIL-53(Fe)-PEG. The results showed that in vitro condition, only 31% of the drug released after 3 h, and released completely after approximately 6 days. Thus, we believe that use of MIL-53(Fe)-PEG may overcome current issue of sustain release.[a] Prof.

Porphyrin nanostructures with well-controlled size, shape and functionality can be used for visible-light photocatalysis. In this work, a graphene@porphyrin nanofibre composite was successfully fabricated via arginine-mediated self-assembly of tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP) on graphene nanoplates (GNPs). The formation and crystallisation of the graphene@porphyrin nanofibre composite was fully characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) and fluorescence spectroscopy. The assembled TCPP nanofibers were 50-200 nm in diameter with length in micrometers long, which were densely and uniformly distributed on the surface of graphene. The GNPs@TCPP nanofibers showed enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity in comparison with free-standing TCPP nanorods for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO). The possible photodegradation mechanism of these dyes by the GNPs@TCPP nanofiber photocatalyst was proposed.

No abstract

The porous metal–organic complexes are emerging as novel carriers for effective and safe delivery of drugs for cancer treatment, minimizing the side effect of drug overuse during cancer treatment. This study fabricated the Fe–BTC–PEG metal–organic complex from Fe ions, trimesic acid, and poly(ethylene glycol) as precursors using an ultrasonic-assisted method. The morphology and crystallinity of the resultant complex were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. FTIR spectroscopy was employed to investigate the functional groups on the surface of the Fe–BTC–PEG complex. The result showed that the prepared Fe–BTC–PEG complex was in particle form with low crystallinity and diameter ranging from 100 to 200 nm. The obtained Fe–BTC–PEG complex exhibited a high loading capacity for the 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) anticancer drug with a maximal capacity of 364 mg/g. The releasing behavior of 5-fluorouracil from the 5-FU-loaded Fe–BTC–PEG complex was studied. Notably, the acute oral toxicity of the Fe–BTC–PEG metal–organic complex was also carried out to evaluate the safety of the material in practical application.

No abstract

In this work, graphene nanoplates (GNPs) were successfully prepared via direct chemical exfoliation from natural graphite. The properties of prepared GNPs were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The resultant GNPs had a low bulk density of 0.015 g mL−1, C content of 99.6%, a lateral diameter of 5–15 µm, and thickness of <15 nm, respectively. The absorption capacity of the GNPs for a range of oils and organic solvents including pump oil, polydimethylsiloxane oil (PDMS), dioctyl phthalates (DOP) oil, olive oil, bean oil, mazut oil, xylene, ethanol, and ethylene glycol (EG) was evaluated. The effects of the sorption conditions such as the absorption time (sorption kinetics), temperature, and aging manner (static, stirring, and ultrasonic) on the absorption capability of the GNPs were also investigated. It could be seen that the GNPs revealed extremely high absorption capacities for oil and organic solvents, reaching 21–42 times their own weight only after 2 min of absorption at room temperature, which were found to be much higher than those shown by various commercially available absorbents.

No abstract

Metal–organic complexes are one of the most studied materials in the last few decades, which are fabricated from organic ligands and metal ions to form robust frameworks with porous structures. In this work, iron-1,4-benzenedicarboxylic-polyethylene glycol (Fe-BDC-PEG) with a porous structure was successfully constructed by an iron(III) benzene dicarboxylate and polyethylene glycol diacid. The drug-delivery properties of the resultant Fe-BDC-PEG were tested for the loading and release of the 5-fluorouracil compound. The maximal loading capacity of Fe-BDC-PEG for 5-fluorouracil was determined to be 348.22 mg/g. The drug release of 5-fluorouracil-loaded Fe-BDC-PEG after 7 days was 92.69% and reached a maximum of 97.52% after 10 days. The 7 day and acute oral toxicity of Fe-BDC-PEG in mice were studied. The results show that no reasonable change or mortality was observed upon administration of Fe-BDC-PEG complex in mice at 10 g/kg body weight. When the uptake of Fe-BDC-PEG particles in mice was continued for 7 consecutive days, the mortality, feed consumption, body weight, and daily activity were negligibly changed.