Diabetes affects millions of people worldwide and the number of diagnoses continues to climb annually. Though several effective medications and therapeutic methods have been developed to treat type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 (T2DM) diabetes mellitus, direct insulin injection remains the only effective treatment for insulin resistant (IR) diabetes patients. Here, we immobilize insulin in a crystalline mesoporous metal-organic framework (MOF), NU-1000, and obtain a high loading of ∼40 wt % in only 30 min. The acid-stable MOF capsules are found to effectively prevent insulin from degrading in the presence of stomach acid and the digestive enzyme, pepsin. Furthermore, the encapsulated insulin can be released from NU-1000 under simulated physiological conditions.
Practical applications
involving the magnetic bistability of single-molecule
magnets (SMMs) for next-generation computer technologies require nanostructuring,
organization, and protection of nanoscale materials in two- or three-dimensional
networks, to enable read-and-write processes. Owing to their porous
nature and structural long-range order, metal–organic frameworks
(MOFs) have been proposed as hosts to facilitate these efforts. Although
probing the channels of MOF composites using indirect methods is well
established, the use of direct methods to elucidate fundamental structural
information is still lacking. Herein we report the direct imaging
of SMMs encapsulated in a mesoporous MOF matrix using high-resolution
transmission electron microscopy. These images deliver, for the first
time, direct and unambiguous evidence to support the adsorption of
molecular guests within the porous host. Bulk magnetic measurements
further support the successful nanostructuring of SMMs. The preparation
of the first magnetic composite thin films of this kind furthers the
development of molecular spintronics.
At
the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state, the U.S.
Department of Energy intends to treat 56 million gallons of legacy
nuclear waste by encasing it in borosilicate glass via vitrification.
This process ineffectively captures radioactive pertechnetate (TcO4
–) because of the ion’s volatility, thereby requiring
a different remediation method for this long-lived (t
1/2 = 2.1 × 105 years), environmentally
mobile species. Currently available sorbents lack the desired combination
of high uptake capacity, fast kinetics, and selectivity. Here, we
evaluate the ability of the chemically and thermally robust Zr6-based metal–organic framework (MOF), NU-1000, to capture
perrhenate (ReO4
–), a pertechnetate simulant,
and pertechnetate. Our material exhibits an excellent perrhenate uptake
capacity of 210 mg/g, reaches saturation within 5 min, and maintains
perrhenate uptake in the presence of competing anions. Additionally,
experiments with pertechnetate confirm perrhenate is a suitable surrogate.
Single-crystal X-ray diffraction indicates both chelating and nonchelating
perrhenate binding motifs are present in both the small pore and the
mesopore of NU-1000. Postadsorption diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier
transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) further elucidates the uptake mechanism
and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller
(BET) surface area analysis confirm the retention of crystallinity
and porosity of NU-1000 throughout adsorption.
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