Colloid and Interface Science Communications最新文献

Metal-based loudspeaker diaphragms show promise for high-frequency audio devices, but they produce sharp and fatiguing sounds. This study aimed to improve high-frequency response by depositing a durable diamond-like carbon (DLC)/W coating on aluminum‑magnesium (Al-Mg) diaphragms. The effect of PECVD deposition bias voltage on the coating's morphology, chemical structure, and mechanical properties was investigated. W-based intermediate layer boosted DLC-substrate adhesive strength by 2.5 times compared to direct DLC deposition. The nanohardness, elastic modulus, and Vickers hardness of DLC/W-coated diaphragms initially increased and then decreased with bias voltage (−100 to −300 V), peaking at −200 V, correlating with sp³ bond content. Compared to uncoated samples, the DLC/W-coated Al-Mg diaphragm loudspeakers expanded bandwidth by 2–5 kHz, improved performance gain by 3.5 dB, suppressed harmonic distortion to <6%, and enhanced subjective auditory experience. These findings hold potential for practical applications, advancing high-frequency loudspeaker technology.

Excessive use of pesticides and therefore the spread of pesticides in the environment with destructive effects on human and animal health is a very great problem in the world. In this study, the removal of three samples of organochlorine pesticides including aldrin, lindane, and endosulfan was investigated using nanofiltration membranes modified with NH₂-MWCNTs. The properties of the prepared membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle, water content, porosity, and mechanical strength. The performance of the membranes was evaluated by analysis of the rejection and flux of pesticide solutions at different pH. The addition of NH₂-MWCNTs to the polymer matrix significantly improved the hydrophilic properties of the membranes and reduced the contact angle. Membrane flux was also improved by increasing the concentration of carbon nanotubes to 0.2 wt%. The highest flux at pH 10 is related to lindane pesticide. The modified membrane with 0.5 wt% functionalized carbon nanotubes showed a 98% rejection for endosulfan at neutral pH compared to the pure membrane. In the pH range experiment, lindane rejection was lower than of other pesticides. The steric hindrance due to the structure and molecular size of pesticides and interaction with membrane surface was very important in membrane efficiency. The M3 membrane with 0.3 wt% NH₂-MWCNTs revealed high antifouling performance.

Boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) with high thermal conductivity (TC) have promising applications in the thermal conduction. However, the preparation of BNNSs is cumbersome and BNNSs are prone to aggregation in the polymer matrix, which reduces the efficient enhancement for the TC of BNNSs/polymer composite. Herein, we propose a one-step method for the simultaneous exfoliation and functionalization of BNNSs with polymer latex as an agent. The obtained WPU-BNNSs displayed as few-layers with sizes of 100-500 nm and were mixed with WPU matrix as filler. The results demonstrated that the BNNSs/WPU composites have higher TC than the h-BN/WPU with the same filler content. When the filler content reached 50%, its TC was 251.4% higher than that of pure WPU. The excellent TC arose from the outstanding dispersion uniformity of WPU-BNNSs in the matrix. This study provides an economical and efficient method of fabricating BNNSs-based thermal conductive composite materials.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a typical cardiovascular disease, causing disability and death worldwide. Exosomes secreted by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) showed remarkable therapeutic effects in MI by restoring cardiac function. However, the application of exosomes remains a challenge because of their low residence rate in the infarcted myocardium. Herein, a fibrin-based cardiac patch was prepared to deliver MSCs-derived exosomes to the infarcted heart using an MI mouse model, aiming at improvement of cardiac functions. The fibrin patch was optimized for size to minimize the mouse mortality rate. The composite patch showed sustained release of exosomes in vitro and could improve the retention of exosomes in the infarcted heart, inhibiting fibrosis and improving cardiac functions in vivo. Therefore, this combination of natural biomaterial-based cardiac patch and MSCs-derived exosomes may have a promising clinical translational potential for the MI treatment.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) combined with chemotherapy has been highly desirable to improve the tumor treatment efficacy. Here, we report a novel controlled release nano-carrier system named Se-PEG-Au NPs-DOX (SePAD) for achieving chemo-photothermal synergistic tumor therapy. In this system, the diselenide-containing co-polymers (mPEG-Se–Se-PEGm) were anchored onto the surface of Au NPs via AuSe interactions and the soluble chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (Dox) was loaded into the monolayers. This structure is proved to be stable in a high biological thiols environment. Strikingly, the SePAD presents an ideal efficient photothermal capability and a controllable Dox release behavior by dynamic AuSe interaction in GSH-rich tumor cells when irradiated under 808 nm NIR laser. Following, the results of in vitro and in vivo experiments all demonstrat the superior antitumor properties of SePAD in murine breast cancer. Thus, this system provides a promising strategy to realize chemo-photothermal synergistic combination therapy for breast tumors.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is an innovative and minimally invasive approach to cancer treatment, which uses photothermal agents to absorb light energy and convert it to heat, causing irreversible cellular damage and tumor cell death. Although current photothermal agents like indocyanine green (ICG), gold nanoparticles, and carbon-based materials have been used, they present challenges in terms of photostability, rapid elimination, and potential toxicity.

Hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells with light absorption and heat conversion properties, has emerged as a potential alternative. In particular, the high concentration of hemoglobin in fixed blood clots, unlike the hemoglobin in fluid blood, can induce an effective photothermal effect. NaOH can be injected into tumors to induce necrosis and promote blood coagulation via strong alkalinization. However, NaOH, being a highly alkaline substance, is rapidly absorbed when administered systemically and can increase systemic pH, leading to toxicity.

To address this, a needle-type sodium hydroxide (NaOH)-loaded starch (NST) implants was developed for the targeted delivery of NaOH directly to the tumor site. The NST implant, prepared by loading NaOH into a starch implant and drying, promotes localized tissue necrosis and subsequent blood clotting at the injection site, while ensuring controlled release of NaOH to reduce toxicity. In contrast to NaOH solution, the NST implant did not exhibit systemic toxicity upon administration and effectively induced thrombosis at the injection site.

Upon laser irradiation of the induced blood clot, the NST implant demonstrated a significant photothermal effect, exceeding 60 °C, and exhibited potent anticancer properties. Consequently, this novel method leverages the photothermal properties of endogenous hemoglobin within induced blood clots for effective tumor treatment. The NST implant approach shows potential as a biodegradable, efficient, and safe PTT method, offering a promising alternative to traditional photothermal agents.

Oily wastewater can have a great impact on human health and the surrounding environment. The current methods for treating oily wastewater mainly included physical methods, chemical methods, membrane separation technology and other mechanical methods. Compared with other methods, membrane separation technology had the advantages of high separation efficiency, low cost, simple operation, energy saving and environmental protection in separating general oil-water emulsions, thus having a wide application prospect. In order to understand the application of membrane materials in oil-water separation, such as improving the structure, mechanical strength and structural stability of membrane materials in aqueous solutions, this paper discussed the separation mechanism of oily wastewater by different membrane materials (inorganic membranes, organic membranes and emerging membrane). The latest research progress of various types of membranes and the strategies and performance of membrane modification were introduced and analyzed. In the end, the future development direction of membrane separation technology was summarized. The future research will be focused on reducing the cost of membrane preparation, reducing the pollution to the environment, using natural membrane materials, developing molecular-level methods for membrane anticontamination, exploring more stable surface modification methods, and quantitatively analyzing the influence of surface structure on membrane surface-water-pollutant interactions at molecular level.

In this study we have produced silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using Serbian traditional tea Bosiljak (Ocimum basilicum L.) extract in a single step without the involvement of toxic chemicals. The method employed is environmentally friendly, simple, and cost-effective, involving the use of an aqueous plant extract that serves as both a reducing and stabilizing agent for AgNPs. The AgNPs were studied using UV–Vis spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light spectroscopy (DLS) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The AgNPs exhibited surface plasmon resonance (SPR) at a wavelength of 344 nm as seen in UV–Vis Spectroscopy. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) result verified that the plant extract functions both as a capping agent and a reducing agent for the AgNPs. The results of FESEM and TEM revealed that the synthesized NPs exhibit an oval shape and possess an average diameter of 55 and 35 nm, respectively. The synthesized AgNPs have cytotoxic effect against the human cervical immortalized (HeLa) cancer cells. The cell viability was observed to decrease in dose dependent manner and the inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) was 21.78 ± 0.68 μg/ml. Moreover, the anticancer potential of AgNPs was explored by observing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and gene expression of apoptotic genes via qRT-PCR technique. Ultimately, this study's findings indicate that the AgNPs derived from the extract of Serbian traditional tea Bosiljak have the potential to be considered for more detailed studies in for the treatment of not only cervical cancer in humans but also as a candidate for atherosclerosis and bacterial infection treatment

With the ongoing advancement of processing technology, one of the hottest subjects is the manufacturing of materials with distinctive surface micro/nanostructures. Among these, femtosecond laser processing has been widely adopted as a high-precision and high-efficiency fabricating technology. When compared to other traditional processing methods, femtosecond laser processing has some advantages in controllable micro/nanostructures processing and can fabricate a wide range of structures, including periodic structures, microporous array structure, three-dimensional structure, composite structures, and so on. They have many applications, including optical anti-counterfeiting, anti-reflection, superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic properties, and so on. This article reviews the simplified mechanism of femtosecond laser processing material, typical surface micro/nanostructures fabricated by femtosecond laser, and typical applications of femtosecond laser-fabricated surface micro/nanostructures. It proves the technical prospect and application potential of femtosecond laser fabrication of surface micro/nanostructures.

Promoting wound repair by external electric field is a proved effective adjuvant but with single effect and needs additional devices. We designed a MXene (Ti₃C₂T_x)-dominated electroactive nanoplatform (named as PM) which could respond to the natural physiological electric signals in the wound site and convert them into microcurrents of multi-intensity. MXene optimized the electrical properties of nanoplatform with charged surface, superior electrical conductivity and permittivity. In vitro studies have demonstrated that PM promotes the activity of functional cells associated with wound repair. In vivo results displayed its promotion equivalent to the applied electric field on both skin and oral mucosal wounds repair by accelerating collagen formation, vascularization and re-epithelization. It was the first time for biomaterials to response to and regulate bio-electric stimulation without external power source, making use of electric signals from the wound itself. This microenvironment-responsive PM with multifunctionality is a promising curative design for maxillofacial soft tissues defects repair.