Five novel interesting d(10) metal coordination polymers, [Zn(PDCO)(H2O)2]n (PDCO = pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid N-oxide) (1), [Zn2(PDCO)2(4,4'-bpy)2(H2O)2.3H2O]n (bpy = bipyridine) (2), [Zn(PDCO)(bix)]n (bix = 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene) (3), [Zn(PDCO)(bbi).0.5H2O]n (bbi = 1,1'-(1,4-butanediyl)bis(imidazole)) (4), and [Cd(PDCO)(bix)(1.5).1.5H2O]n (5), have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and structurally characterized. Polymer 1 possesses a one-dimensional (1D) helical chainlike structure with 4(1) helices running along the c-axis with a pitch of 10.090 Angstroms. Polymer 2 has an infinite chiral two-dimensional (2D) brick-wall-like layer structure in the ac plane built from achiral components, while both 3 and 4 exhibit an infinite 2D herringbone architecture, respectively extended in the ac and ab plane. Polymer 5 features a most remarkable and unique three-dimensional (3D) porous framework with 2-fold interpenetration related by symmetry, which contains channels in the b and c directions, both distributed in a rectangular grid fashion. Compounds 1-5, with systematic variation in dimensionality from 1D to 2D to 3D, are the first examples of d(10) metal coordination polymers into which pyridinedicarboxylic acid N-oxide has been introduced. In addition, polymers 1, 4, and 5 display strong blue fluorescent emissions in the solid state. Polymer 3 exhibits a strong SHG response, estimated to be approximately 0.9 times that of urea.

A set of identical CoO nanosheets with different oxygen vacancy amounts are rationally designed by varied reduction treatments and comparison of their properties. Remarkably, the oxygen-vacancy-rich CoO nanosheets (OVR-CoO NSs) exhibit excellent electrochemical performance for their potential use as a promising candidate for the next generation of supercapacitors.

Proton-exchange membranes (PEMs), characterized by selectively permitting the transfer of protons and acting as a separator in electrochemical devices, have attracted immense attention. The composite membrane, fabricated from organic polymer matrix and high proton-conducting metal-organic framework (MOF), integrates the excellent physical and chemical performances of the polymer and MOF, achieving collective properties for good-performance PEMs. In this study, we demonstrate that MOF-801 shows remarkable proton conductance with σ = 1.88 × 10 S cm at 298 K and 98% relative humidity (RH), specifically, together with extra stability to hydrochloric acid or diluting sodium hydroxide aqueous solutions and boiling water. Furthermore, the composite membranes (denoted MOF-801@PP- X, where X represents the mass percentage of MOF-801 in the membrane) have been fabricated using the sub-micrometer-scale crystalline particles of MOF-801 and blending the poly(vinylidene fluoride)-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) matrix, and these PEMs display high proton conductivity, with σ = 1.84 × 10 S cm at 325 K 98% RH. A composite membrane as PEM was assembled into H/O fuel cell for tests, indicating that these membrane materials have vast potential for PEM application on electrochemical devices.

In this study, a simple one-pot method was used to prepare a multifunctional platform for synergistic chemo- and photothermal therapy,, which is composed of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) as drug nanocarriers and the embedded graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as local photothermal seeds. The structure, drug release behavior, photothermal effect, and synergistic therapeutic efficiency of the ZIF-8/GQD nanoparticles were systematically investigated. Using doxorubicin (DOX) as a model anticancer drug, the results showed that monodisperse ZIF-8/GQD nanoparticles with a particle size of 50–100 nm could encapsulate DOX during the synthesis procedure and trigger DOX release under acidic conditions. The DOX-loaded ZIF-8/GQD nanoparticles could efficiently convert near-infrared (NIR) irradiation into heat and thereby increase the temperature. More importantly, with breast cancer 4T1 cells as a model cellular system, the results indicated that the combined chemo- and photothermal therapy with DOX-ZIF-8/GQD nanoparticles exhibited a significant synergistic effect, resulting in a higher efficacy to kill cancer cells compared with chemotherapy and photothermal therapy alone. Hence, ZIF-8/GQD nanoparticles would be promising as versatile nanocarriers for synergistic cancer therapy.

In this study, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have been successfully capped with graphene quantum dots (GQDs) to form multifunctional GQD-MSNs with the potential for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy. The structure, drug-release behavior, photothermal effect, and synergistic therapeutic efficiency of GQD-MSNs to 4T1 breast cancer cells were investigated. The results showed that GQD-MSNs were monodisperse and had a particle size of 50-60 nm. Using doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) as a model drug, the DOX-loaded GQD-MSNs (DOX-GQD-MSNs) not only exhibited pH- and temperature-responsive drug-release behavior, but using near-infrared irradiation, they efficiently generated heat to kill cancer cells. Furthermore, GQD-MSNs were biocompatible and were internalized by 4T1 cells. Compared with chemotherapy and photothermal therapy alone, DOX-GQD-MSNs were much more effective in killing the 4T1 cells owing to a synergistic chemo-photothermal effect. Therefore, GQD-MSNs may have promising applications in cancer therapy.

In this work, ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets (MoS2 NSs) with defect-rich structure were prepared and used as catalysts for the reduction of p-nitropheonol. Also, thanks to the defect sites, noble metal (Au, Ag, Pd, Pt) nanoparticles (NPs) can be successfully deposited on the MoS2 NSs via a facile and efficient one-step photochemical reduction process without the assistance of a stabilizer. The morphology and crystal structure of as-synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and N2 physisorption mearurements. Catalytic results demonstrate that as-prepared MoS2 NSs and noble metal modified MoS2 NSs (NM/MoS2 NSs) effectively catalyze the reduction of p-nitrophenol (p-NP) to p-aminophenol (p-AP) with NaBH4. The Pd/MoS2 NSs shows the best catalytic performance, exhibiting an apparent rate constant (κapp) of 0.386 min–1 even with moderate chemical stability. Interestingly, the activity of MoS2 NSs is comparable to and even higher than previously studied noble metal-based catalysts. Moreover, the good reusability without significant activity loss suggests that MoS2 NSs can be a strong candidate for sustainable chemical catalysis. The origins of the high catalytic activity are also discussed and a probable reaction mechanism is suggested. The present work opens up new opportunities for the future design and fabrications of versatile MoS2-based composite materials.

Three novel interesting coordination polymers, [Cd3(SIP)2(bbi)5·3H2O] n (1), [Co3(SIP)2(bix)4(2H2O)·2H2O] n (2), and [Cd(2,5-pydc)2(bix)1.5·H2O] n (3) (SIP = 5-sulfoisophthalic acid monosodium salt; bbi = 1,1‘-(1,4-butanediyl)bis(imidazole); bix = 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)-benzene; 2,5-pydc = pyridine-2,5-dicarboxylic acid), have been isolated under hydrothermal conditions and structurally characterized. Polymer 1 has a 3D complicated framework comprised of an infinite 1D ladder-like chain and 2D layer structure. Polymer 2 features a 3D hydrated framework with uncoordinated water molecules trapped in the pores. Polymer 3 is a 2D infinite layer framework, which is further interconnected by hydrogen-bond interactions to lead to a 3D supramolecular architecture. Compounds 1 and 3 exhibit medium-strong fluorescent emissions in the solid state at room temperature and could be significant in the field of photoactive materials.

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