The molecular-level design and controlled synthesis of materials are of key importance for advancing their applications. Based on the special structure of 3-aminophenol, containing both phenol and amine groups, a facile synthesis of highly monodisperse poly­(benzoxazine-co-resol)-based polymer spheres was first reported by the autocatalysis polymerization of 3-aminophenol and formaldehyde without using any catalyst, surfactants, templates, and/or functional dopants at low temperature. The sizes of polymer spheres can be widely tuned from 372 to 1030 nm by changing the initial reaction temperatures and the concentrations of monomers. Based on FTIR, NMR, XPS, and EDX analysis, 3-amoniaphenol was evidenced not only to participate in the polymerization and form the structure of polybenzoxazine but also to catalyze the polymerization. Furthermore, they can be pseudomorphically and uniformly converted to the corresponding carbon spheres in high yield due to the excellent thermal stability of 3-aminophenol–formaldehyde resin.

Fe 3 O 4 @3-aminophenol-formaldehyde (Fe 3 O 4 @APF) core-shell resin polymer magnetic nanocomposites were synthesized using a straightforward surfactant-free methodology. The shell quickly formed within 5 min and could be easily size tunable in the range from 15 to 137 nm by changing the concentrations of 3-aminophenol and formaldehyde. The morphology, composition and magnetic properties of the resulting magnetic microspheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis measurements. The magnetic microspheres were uniform in morphology and can be converted into Fe 3 O 4 @carbon magnetic nanocomposites because of their excellent thermal stability. Moreover, Fe 3 O 4 @APF magnetic microspheres have excelling adsorption properties in the removal of methyl blue.

Facile surfactant-free synthesis of monodisperse polymer and nitrogen-doped carbon nanospheres with controllable sizes less than 200 nm based on the benzoxazine chemistry.

Hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid, a versatile reagent for organic synthesis, has been explored as an effective coreactant for luminol chemiluminescence. Co(2+) can dramatically enhance the chemiluminescence of this system. The sensitive detection of Co(2+), luminol and HOSA, including highly selective Co(2+) detection, is achieved.

Monodisperse bulk boron- and nitrogen-doped carbon nano/microspheres were prepared by pyrolysis of novel boron- and nitrogen-doped resin nano/microspheres and show nice supercapacitor performance.

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Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are regarded as promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in the field of energy, especially in large-scale energy storage systems. Tremendous effort has been put into the electrode research of SIBs, and hard carbon (HC) stands out among the anode materials due to its advantages in cost, resource, industrial processes, and safety. However, different from the application of graphite in LIBs, HC, as a disordered carbon material, leaves more to be completely comprehended about its sodium storage mechanism, and there is still plenty of room for improvement in its capacity, rate performance and cycling performance. This paper reviews the research reports on HC materials in recent years, especially the research process of the sodium storage mechanism and the modification and optimization of HC materials. Finally, the review summarizes the sterling achievements and the challenges on the basis of recent progress, as well as the prospects on the development of HC anode materials in SIBs.

Peptide-based nanoparticles (pep-NPs) are emerging as promising imaging and therapeutic agents against cancer due to their biocompatibility and tunability. Optimized design of the peptide sequence and moderate conjugation of the sequence with extraneous molecules are crucial to the performance of the inherent properties of pep-NPs such as nanostructure formation and ability of drug delivery. Meanwhile, the peptide sequences based on natural/unnatural amino acids could be utilized for designing nanostructures susceptive/resistant to specific enzymes. Herein, we firstly summarize the basic peptide structures to provide a whole image of pep-NPs. Subsequently, the diagnostic strategies based on different imaging modalities and recent therapeutic applications of pep-NPs for cancer are reviewed.