Developing low-cost, efficient, and bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an appealing yet challenging task. Herein, for the first time, a NiS microsphere film was grown in situ on Ni foam (NiS/Ni foam) via a sulfurization reaction as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting with superior activity and good durability. This NiS/Ni foam electrode delivers 20 mA cm(-2) at an overpotential of 158 mV for the HER and 50 mA cm(-2) at an overpotential of 335 mV for the OER in 1.0 M KOH. This bifunctional electrode also enables a high-efficiency alkaline water electrolyzer with 10 mA cm(-2) at a cell voltage of only 1.64 V, which could be promising in water splitting devices for large-scale hydrogen production.

A prerequisite for exploiting most proposed applications for MoS2 is the availability of water-dispersible functionalized MoS2 nanosheets in large quantities. Here we report one-step synthesis and surface functionalization of MoS2 nanosheets by a facile ionic liquid assisted grinding method in the presence of chitosan. The selected ionic liquid with suitable surface energy could efficiently overcome the van der Waals force between the MoS2 layers. Meanwhile, chitosan molecules bind to the plane of MoS2 sheets non-covalently, which prevents the reassembling of exfoliated MoS2 sheets and facilitates the exfoliation progress. The obtained chitosan functionalized MoS2 nanosheets possess favorable stability and biocompatibility, which renders them as promising and biocompatible near-infrared agents for photothermal ablation of cancer. This contribution provides a facile way for the green, one-step and large-scale synthesis of advanced functional MoS2 materials.

Biologically, MoS2-based nanostructures have been intensely applied for the photothermal therapy of cancer, but rarely for antibacterial uses. In this contribution, a multifunctional chitosan (CS) functionalized magnetic MoS2 (abbreviated to CFM) was constructed to nonspecifically combat bacterial infection by integrating bacterial conjugation and enrichment, and NIR-triggered photothermal sterilization. Owing to the abundant introduced amino groups, the CFM complex offers a significantly enhanced conjugation efficiency without obvious specificity towards both Gram-positive and -negative bacteria compared to amino-free magnetic MoS2. The magnetic properties of CFM obtained from iron oxide facilitate the enrichment of a CFM-bacteria conjugate, improving the photothermal efficiency of CFM as a photothermal antibacterial agent. Specifically, after being trapped together with bacteria cells, CFM shows an enhanced in vitro photothermal sterilization ability. In vivo S. aureus-induced abscess treatment studies show faster healing when CFM is used as subcutaneous nano-localized heating sources with the assistance of an external magnet to concentrate the CFM-bacteria conjugate. This work establishes an innovative solution and a novel antimicrobial agent for combating bacterial infections without the use of antibiotics, which may open a new area of application and research for MoS2-based nanostructures.

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Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a key role in various energy conversion and storage technologies, such as water electrolysis, regenerative fuel cells, and rechargeable metal-air batteries. However, the slow kinetics of OER limit the performance and commercialization of such devices. Herein, we report on NiFe LDH@Au hybrid nanoarrays on Ni foam for much enhanced OER. By hybridization of electronegative Au and NiFe LDH with intrinsic remarkable OER catalytic activity, this modular electrode could drive an overall ultrahigh-performance and robust OER in base with the demand of overpotentials of only 221, 235, and 270 mV to afford 50, 100, and 500 mA cm, respectively. Also, it exhibits superior catalytic activity and durability toward OER in 30 wt % KOH.

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Selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) possess well-known excellent biological activities and low toxicity, and have been employed for numerous applications except as inhibitors to protein glycation. Herein, the present study is carried out to investigate the inhibitory effect of Se NPs on protein glycation in a bovine serum albumin (BSA)/glucose system. By measuring the amount of glucose covalently bound onto BSA, the formation of fructosamine and fluorescent products, it is found that Se NPs can hinder the development of protein glycation in a dose-dependent but time-independent manner under the selected reaction conditions (55 °C, 40 h). And after comparing the increase of inhibitory rate in different stages, it is observed that Se NPs show the greatest inhibitory effect in the early stage, then in the advanced stage, but no effect in the intermediate stage. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy characterization of Se NPs collected after glycation and determination of ·OH influence and glyoxal formation show that the mechanism for the inhibitory efficacy of Se NPs is related to their strong competitive activity against available amino groups in proteins, their great scavenging activity on reactive oxygen species and their inhibitory effect on α-dicarbonyl compounds' formation. In addition, it is proved that Se NPs protect proteins from structural modifications in the system and they do not exhibit significant cytotoxicity towards BV-2 and BRL-3A cells at low concentrations (10 and 50 μg mL(-1)). Consequently, Se NPs may be suitable for further in vivo studies as novel anti-glycation agents.

Nanoceria (cerium oxide nanoparticles) exhibits excellent catalytic activity towards chromogenic substrate 3,3,5,5-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), which has been reported. However, the understanding on the interaction between H 2 O 2 and nanoceria is far from complete. Herein, we further studied the interaction between H 2 O 2 and dextran-coated nanoceria and found that H 2 O 2 plays a dual role on nanoceria's oxidase activity both as an inhibitor and a promoter, depending on its concentration. In millimolar levels, H 2 O 2 can promote nanoceria's oxidase activity, however, micromolar concentration of H 2 O 2 could inhibit its catalytic activity. In addition, this inhibiting effect is linearly dependent on the concentration of H 2 O 2 . Based on these findings, a simple, rapid and highly sensitive colorimetric method was established for the determination of H 2 O 2 with a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.5 µM (3σ/slope) and a linear range from 4−40 µM. When coupled with glucose oxidase, glucose can be detected down to 2 µM in the linear range of 4−40 µM. Furthermore, this method was successfully applied for the determination of glucose in mouse serum samples. With the new understanding of the interaction between H 2 O 2 and nanoceria, applications of nanoceria-based sensors in engineering, biotechnology and environmental chemistry can be further exploited.