Preparation of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanostructures with both high sensitivity as well as high reproducibility has always been difficult and costly for routine SERS detection. Here we demonstrate air-stable metallic glassy nanowire arrays (MGNWAs), which were prepared by a cheap and rapid die nanoimprinting technique, could exhibit high SERS enhancement factor (EF) as well as excellent reproducibility. It shows that Pd40.5Ni40.5P19 MGNWA with nanowires of 55 nm in diameter and 100 nm in pitch possesses high SERS activity with an EF of 1.1 × 105, which is 1–3 orders of magnitudes higher than that of the reported crystal Ni-based nanostructures, and an excellent reproducibility with a relative standard deviation of 9.60% measured by 121 points over an area of 100 μm*100 μm. This method offers an easy, rapid, and low-cost way to prepare highly sensitive and reproducible SERS substrates and makes the SERS more practicable.

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Micro-/nanofibers (MNFs) are optical fibers with diameters close to or below the wavelength of the guided light. These tiny fibers can offer engineerable waveguiding properties including optical confinement, fractional evanescent fields, and surface intensity, which is very attractive to optical sensing on the micro-/nano scale. In this review, we first introduce the basics of MNF optics and MNF optical sensors from physical and chemical to biological applications and review the progress and current status of this field. Then, we review and discuss hybrid MNF structures for advanced optical sensing by merging MNFs with functional structures including chemical indicators, quantum dots, dye molecules, plasmonic nanoparticles, 2-D materials, and optofluidic chips. Thirdly, we introduce the emerging trends in developing MNF-based advanced sensing technology for ultrasensitive, active, and wearable sensors and discuss the future prospects and challenges in this exciting research field. Finally, we end the review with a brief conclusion.

Improving intrinsic reactivity is one of the key requirements in applying zero-valent iron in the field.

The development of environmental-friendly materials for the highly-efficient purification of dye-containing wastewater is important and attractive. In this work, Fe-B amorphous alloy ribbons were fabricated and employed to degrade the azo dye, Direct Blue 6. It shows that Fe-B binary amorphous alloys possess low reaction activation energy (25.43 kJ mol À1 ) and much higher degrading efficiency than their crystalline counterparts and the commercial iron powders. Under the same experimental conditions (25 C, initial pH ¼ 7), the surface area normalized reaction rate constant of Fe 84 B 16 amorphous alloy is approximately 1.8 and 89 times as that of its crystalline alloy and the 300 mesh iron powders, respectively. It indicates that the homogeneous amorphous structure is beneficial to the degradation rate of the zero valent iron. It has been found that boron plays an important role in enhancing the degradation rate because it contributes to the formation of an incompact oxide layer at the metal-water interface. Unlike the dense oxide layer formed on the surface of iron powders, this incompact layer would benefit iron atoms' movement and promote the reduction of contaminants. The present results provide a new amorphous zero valent iron material and a new way of designing proper iron-based alloys for waste-water remediation.

Antimicrobial resistance is a public health emergency and warrants coordinated global efforts. Challenge is that no alternative molecular platform has been identified for discovery of abundant antimicrobial hit compounds. Xanthene libraries have been screened for bioactive compounds. However, the potentially accessible chemistry space of xanthene dyes is limited by the existing xanthene synthesis. Herein we report a mild one-step synthesis, which permits late-stage introduction of a xanthene moiety onto i.e. natural products, pharmaceuticals, and bioactive compounds and construction of a focused library of rhodamine dyes exhibiting facile functional, topographical and stereochemical diversity. In vitro screening yields 37 analogs with mid-to-high bactericidal activity against WHO priority drug-resistant pathogens. These findings suggest that synthetic dye libraries exhibiting high structural diversity is a feasible chemical space combating antibacterial resistance, to complement the natural sources.

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Optical micro/nanofibers (MNFs) can be applied for ultrasensitive tactile sensing with fast response and compact size, which are attractive for restoring tactile information in minimally invasive robotic surgery and tissue palpation. Herein, we present a compact tactile sensor (CTS) with a diameter of 1.5 mm enabled by an optical MNF. The CTS provides continuous readouts for high-fidelity transduction of touch and pressure stimuli into interpretable optical signals, which permit instantaneous sensing of contact and pressure with pressure-sensing sensitivity as high as 0.108 mN −1 and a resolution of 0.031 mN. Working in pressing mode, the CTS can discriminate the difference in the hardness of two poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) slats (with shore A of 36 and 40) directly, a hardness resolving ability even beyond the human hands. Benefitting from the fast response feature, the CTS can also be operated in either scanning or tapping mode, making it feasible for hardness identification by analyzing the shape of the response curve. As a proof of concept, the hardness discrimination of a pork liver and an adductor muscle was experimentally demonstrated. Such MNF-enabled compact tactile sensors may pave the way for hardness sensing in tissue palpation, surgical robotics, and object identification.