Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are closely associated with the progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) and can be regarded as one of its early biomarkers. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is emerging as a powerful tool for the detection of cardiac abnormalities, but the sensitive and direct ROS-response MRI probe remains to be developed. This restricts the early diagnosis of DCM and prevents timely clinical interventions, resulting in serious and irreversible pathophysiological abnormalities. Herein, a novel ROS-response contrast-enhanced MRI nanoprobe (RCMN) is developed by multi-functionalizing fluorinated carbon nanosheets (FCNs) with multi-hydroxyl and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl groups. RCMNs capture ROS and then gather in the heart provisionally, which triggers MRI signal changes to realize the in vivo detection of ROS. In contrast to the clinical MRI agents, the cardiac abnormalities of disease mice is detected 8 weeks in advance with the assistance of RCMNs, which greatly advances the diagnostic window of DCM. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first ROS-response metal-free T 2 -weighted MRI probe for the early diagnosis of DCM mice model. Furthermore, RCMNs can timely scavenge excessively produced ROS to alleviate oxidative stress.
Aluminum (Al) particles, especially nanosized Al (n-Al),
are extremely
liable to deteriorate when exposed to air during the preparation and
storage process, which seriously threatens their inherent energy density
and limits their combustion behavior. Until now, it is really challenging
and urgent to improve the combustion performance without sacrificing
the original high energy density. Here, in situ direct fluorination
by utilizing F2/N2 mixed gas as a fluorinating
agent was first applied to modify n-Al particles, and the nonenergetic
Al2O3 shell with a high melting point was converted
into a partially fluorinated metal oxide (aluminum oxyfluoride, AlO
x
F
y
) shell. The results
indicated that surficial direct fluorination equipped n-Al particles
with a much better corrosion resistance to oxygen and moisture. Especially,
regarding the problem of aqueous corrosion, the corrosion rate of
fluorinated samples surprisingly decreased up to 4.46 mil/year from
68.69 mil/year of raw samples. More importantly, AlO
x
F
y
was readily decomposed by
being heated and the produced AlF3 easily vaporized due
to its lower boiling point in comparison with Al2O3, which effectively promoted the oxidation behavior of fluorinated
n-Al particles. Furtherly, the improved energy release in ignition
experiments confirmed the synergistically enhanced long-term effectiveness
and combustion performance of the fluorinated n-Al samples. Therefore,
a feasible strategy was demonstrated to enhance ultimate energy release
performance of n-Al particles, and its advantages of high efficiency
and solvent-free procedure highlight its great potential in practical
applications.
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