Herein we demonstrate a bioinspired method involving macromolecular assembly of anionic polypeptide with cationic peptide-oligomer that allows for in situ encapsulation of antibiotics like tetracycline in CaCO3 microstructure. In a single step one-pot process, the encapsulation of the drug occurs under desirable environmentally benign conditions resulting in drug loaded CaCO3 microspheres. While this tetracycline-loaded sample exhibits pH dependent in vitro drug-release profile and excellent antibacterial activity, the encapsulated drug or the dye-conjugated peptide emits fluorescence suitable for optical imaging and detection, thereby making it a multitasking material. The efficacy of tetracycline loaded calcium carbonate microspheres as pH dependent drug delivery vehicles is further substantiated by performing cell viability experiments using normal and cancer cell lines (in vitro). Interestingly, the pH-dependent drug release enables selective cytotoxicity toward cancer cell lines as compared to the normal cells, thus having the potential for further development of therapeutic applications.
A bio-inspired approach for the fabrication of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) embedded ZnO nanostructure has been attempted to address issues pertaining to charge recombination and photocorrosion in ZnO for application as an effective photocatalyst. Herein we demonstrate the synthesis of rGO-ZnO nanostructures in a single step using polyamines, which simultaneously aid in the mineralization of ZnO nanostructures from zinc nitrate, reduction of graphene oxide (GO), and finally their assembly to form rGO-ZnO composite structures under environmentally benign conditions. The interspersed nanocomponents in the assembled heterostructures result in enhanced photocatalytic activity under UV light, indicating an effective charge separation of the excited electrons. Furthermore, the composite structure provides stability against photocorrosion for efficient recyclability of the catalyst.
Additive manufacturing industries have been focusing on the development of novel ink formulation strategies, that can incorporate functional materials for printing high-efficient electronic patterns for flexible devices. As such printed...
The advents in flexible and smart technology like wearable electronics have accelerated the demand for high‐performance energy‐storage devices. These devices could significantly reduce the size of the next‐generation wearable smart electronics. A selection of suitable printing technology and its product typically offer a reasonable manufacturing pathway like high deposition rate, low materials waste, scalable fabrication, and high‐performance production. Therefore, the production of novel functional inks with desirable rheological properties that authorize high‐resolution printing, are some major challenges of this technology. This work has an emphasis on the recent advancements in supporting and utilizing liquid metals chemistry to synthesis high‐quality and scalable 2D nanomaterials by liquid‐phase free exfoliation and facile sonication‐assisted methods. These are novel concepts in synthesizing 2D nanomaterials particularly for those which either have not intrinsic layered crystal structures or those with strong interaction between their crystal layers which are difficult to synthesized using conventional approaches. It also provides some potentials to make sustainable ink formulation of such 2D nanostructures for the fabrication of high‐quality screen‐printed patterns for sustainable energy applications. Subsequently, it deals with the possibilities and challenges of printing such 2D nanomaterials (namely, 2D metal oxides) for micro‐supercapacitor and micro‐battery applications on an industrially viable scale.
We demonstrate a bio‐inspired multi‐component assembly method to design oriented composite structures for application as visible‐light sensitive plasmon‐induced photocatalysts. Similar to the role of polypeptides in the formation of intricately designed structures of biominerals, we utilize spermine to simultaneously mineralize and assemble the photocatalytic system consisting of ZnO, Ag nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide under mild reaction conditions. With an appropriately assembled interfacial structure and composition, the resulted material exhibits efficient catalytic activity under visible‐light irradiation. The activity of this ternary system is higher by more than one order compared with that for the binary and the ternary systems prepared via alternative methods. These results with detailed analyses reveal the importance of the interfacial assembly in creating synergistic interactions among the components. Furthermore, this interaction allows the photocatalyst to remain active and stable in the reaction addressing the issues pertaining to the charge recombination and photo‐corrosion known in plasmon‐induced ZnO‐based catalytic systems.
Herein, we report a polyamine-mediated assembly to integrate graphene oxide (GO) sheets with Ag/AgCl to fabricate a hybrid nanocomposite (GO-Ag/AgCl) at nearly neutral pH and ambient temperature. Inspired by the role of polyamines in the excellent integration of components to generate hierarchical nanostructures in biominerals such as diatoms, we showed that our strategy enabled the fabrication of GO-semiconductor composites with a well-integrated structure. The polyamines not only facilitated the in situ generation of Ag/AgCl, but also simultaneously allowed their interaction with GO suitable for visible light active photocatalysis, as revealed by the detailed characterization of the synthesized materials. Consequently, the GO-Ag/AgCl exhibited nearly 5 times higher photocatalytic activity and better photostability than Ag/AgCl under visible light irradiation. The nanocomposite reached its highest activity at the graphene content of 4.16 wt%. Thus, the assembly process represented an effective way to design hybrid composites. Moreover, as a sustainable photocatalyst, it facilitates effective separation of the photogenerated charge carriers at the interface, thereby improving activity and stability.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.