A ratiometric fluorescent nanoprobe based on terbium functionalized carbon dots (CDs) was designed to detect dipicolinic acid (DPA) as an anthrax biomarker with high selectivity and sensitivity. CDs were generated by one-step synthesis using an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid precursor, and served as a scaffold for coordination with Tb(3+) and a fluorescence reference.

The dynamic interactions of membranes, particularly their fusion and fission, are critical for the transmission of chemical information between cells. Fusion is primarily driven by membrane tension built up through membrane deformation. For artificial polymersomes, fusion is commonly induced via the external application of a force field. Herein, fusion-promoted development of anisotropic tubular polymersomes (tubesomes) was achieved in the absence of an external force by exploiting the unique features of aqueous ring-opening metathesis polymerization-induced self-assembly (ROMPISA). The out-of-equilibrium tubesome morphology was found to arise spontaneously during polymerization, and the composition of each tubesome sample (purity and length distribution) could be manipulated simply by targeting different core-block degrees of polymerization (DPs). The evolution of tubesomes was shown to occur via fusion of “monomeric” spherical polymersomes, evidenced most notably by a step-growth-like relationship between the fraction of tubular to spherical nano-objects and the average number of fused particles per tubesome (analogous to monomer conversion and DP, respectively). Fusion was also confirmed by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies to show membrane blending and confocal microscopy imaging to show mixing of the polymersome lumens. We term this unique phenomenon polymerization-induced polymersome fusion, which operates via the buildup of membrane tension exerted by the growing polymer chains. Given the growing body of evidence demonstrating the importance of nanoparticle shape on biological activity, our methodology provides a facile route to reproducibly obtain samples containing mixtures of spherical and tubular polymersomes, or pure samples of tubesomes, of programmed length. Moreover, the capability to mix the interior aqueous compartments of polymersomes during polymerization-induced fusion also presents opportunities for its application in catalysis, small molecule trafficking, and drug delivery.

We herein present a simple methodology to systematically expand the scope of maleimide-based dyes and also provide an insight into the relationship between substitution pattern and optical properties.

Fluorescent barcoding is a pivotal technique for the investigation of the microscale world, from information storage to the monitoring of dynamic biochemical processes. Using fluorescence lifetime as the readout modality offers more reproducible and quantitative outputs compared to conventional fluorescent barcoding, being independent of sample concentration and measurement methods. However, the use of fluorescence lifetime in this area has been limited by the lack of strategies that provide spatiotemporal manipulation of the coding process. In this study, we design a two-component photo-switchable nanogel that exhibits variable fluorescence lifetime upon photoisomerization-induced energy transfer processes through light irradiation. This remotely manipulated fluorescence lifetime property could be visually mapped using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), allowing selective storage and display of information at the microscale. Most importantly, the reversibility of this system further provides a strategy for minimizing the background influence in fluorescence lifetime imaging of live cells and sub-cellular organelles.

The advantages of existing ordered mesoporous materials have not yet been fully realized, due to their limited accessibility of in‐pore surface and long mass‐diffusion length. A general, controllable, and scalable synthesis of a family of two‐dimensional (2D) single‐layer ordered mesoporous materials (SOMMs) with completely exposed mesopore channels, significantly improved mass diffusion, and diverse framework composition is reported here. The SOMMs are synthesized via a surface‐limited cooperative assembly (SLCA) on water‐removable substrates of inorganic salts (e.g., NaCl), combined with vacuum filtration. As a proof of concept, the obtained CeO2‐based SOMMs show superior catalytic performance in CO oxidation with high conversion efficiency, ≈33 times higher than that of conventional bulk mesoporous CeO2. This SLCA is a promising approach for developing next‐generation porous materials for various applications.

The creation of nanoparticles with controlled and uniform dimensions and spatially defined functionality is a key challenge. The recently developed living crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA) method has emerged as a promising route to one-dimensional (1D) and 2D core–shell micellar assemblies by seeded growth of polymeric and molecular amphiphiles. However, the general limitation of the epitaxial growth process to a single core-forming chemistry is an important obstacle to the creation of complex nanoparticles with segmented cores of spatially varied composition that can be subsequently exploited in selective transformations or responses to external stimuli. Here we report the successful use of a seeded growth approach that operates for a variety of different crystallizable polylactone homopolymer/block copolymer blend combinations to access 2D platelet micelles with compositionally distinct segmented cores. To illustrate the utility of controlling internal core chemistry, we demonstrate spatially selective hydrolytic degradation of the 2D platelets—a result that may be of interest for the design of complex stimuli-responsive particles for programmed-release and cargo-delivery applications.

A novel amide type ligand benzyl-N,N-bis[(2'-furfurylaminoformyl)phenoxyl)ethyl]-amine (L) has been designed and applied for the self-assembly generation of homodinuclear lanthanide coordination compounds [Ln2(μ2-L)2(NO3)6(EtOH)2] [Ln = Eu (1), Tb (2), and Gd (3)] and a heterodinuclear derivative [EuTb(μ2-L)2(NO3)6(EtOH)2] (4). All the complexes have been characterized by the X-ray single-crystal diffraction analyses. They are isostructural, crystallize in a monoclinic space group P21/c, and form [2 + 2] rectangular macrocycle structures. Compound 4 is the first example of a [2 + 2] rectangular macrocycle heterodinuclear EuTb complex assembled from an amide type ligand. In 4, the discrete 0D dimeric [EuTb(μ2-L)2(NO3)6(EtOH)2] units are extended, via the multiple N-H···O hydrogen bonds, into a 2D supramolecular network that has been topologically classified as a uninodal 4-connected underlying net with the sql [Shubnikov tetragonal plane net] topology. The triplet state ((3)ππ*) of L studied by the Gd(III) complex 3 demonstrated that the ligand beautifully populates Tb(III) emission (Φ = 52%), whereas the corresponding Eu(III) derivative 1 shows weak luminescence efficiency (Φ = 0.7%) because the triplet state of L has a poor match with (5)D1 energy level of Eu(III). Furthermore, the photoluminescent properties of heterodinuclear complex 4 have been compared with those of the analogous homodinuclear compounds. The quantum yield and lifetime measurements prove that energy transfer from Tb(III) to Eu(III) is being achieved, namely, that the Tb(III) center is also acting to sensitize the Eu(III) and enhancing Eu(III) emission in 4.

Cow milk-derived carbon dots (CMCD) were separated using a simple and cheap "gradient extraction" method, which was applied for the first time in nanomaterials' separation. The surface polarity of the extracted CMCD correlates well with the polarity of the extraction solvent. Interestingly, the surface polarity also affects the photoluminescence (PL) of CMCD: a red-shift of PL was observed as the surface polarity increased, which was attributed to the increasing amount of polar functional groups on the surface as auxochromes which are bound to graphitic sp 2 clusters and reduce their energy gaps.Furthermore, as the surface polarity of CMCD increases, their PL exhibits longer lifetimes and a stronger excitation-dependency, which are attributed to the more efficient "internal" energy transfer from the auxochrome-poor sp 2 clusters to the auxochrome-rich sp 2 clusters of the CMCD.