Superparamagnetic photonic crystals with DNA probes for rapid visual detection of mercury.

A novel superparamagnetic photonic crystal DNA probe (Fe3O4@SiO2@amino@DNA SPC) was developed to enable rapid visual detection of Hg2+. This unique photonic crystal (PC) was synthesized by combining superparamagnetic nanospheres with DNA probes. The DNA probe, rich in thymine (T), detects mercury ions through base mismatch, resulting in the formation of T-Hg2+-T loop hairpin structures. With the binding of Hg2+ to the probe attached to superparamagnetic nanospheres, the PC structure assembled by these nanospheres, formed by the magnetic field, was changed. This change enhanced the reflection intensity; it could be quantified using a fiber optic spectrometer and was visible to the naked eye. The Fe3O4@SiO2@amino@DNA SPC, specific to Hg2+, exhibited a reflection peak at 679 nm, which intensified with increasing Hg2+ concentration. The reflection intensity increased by 132.58 a.u., and the PC color shifted from red to yellow as the Hg2+ concentration increased from 0.1 µg/L to 1 mg/L.

Cytosine-rich mismatched DNA aptamer combined with superparamagnetic photonic crystal sensing material for the specific visual detection of silver ions.

DNA aptamer superparamagnetic photonic crystals (DSPCs), enriched with a highly selective cytosine-rich mismatched single-stranded DNA aptamer (CRDA), were successfully employed in a novel visual detection strategy for the detection of silver ions (Ag+). The technologies of superparamagnetic colloidal nanospheres (SCNs), DNA aptamer, and photonic crystals were combined to fabricate DPSCs. The aptamer was immobilized via electrostatic adsorption with amino groups that were chemically introduced on the surface of the SCNs, forming D-NH-SCNs. The detection is achieved by forming an Ag+ complex (C-Ag+-C) between Ag+ and D-NH-SCN. The DSPCs assembled under a magnetic field by D-NH-SCNs effectively detected Ag+ in the range of 1 µg/L to 5 mg/L, corresponding to the critical concentration range for heavy metals in drinking water. During the detection, the DSPC exhibited a wavelength blueshift from 652.8 nm to 626.4 nm (26.4 nm), as well as changes in reflection intensity. Notably, when detecting Ag+, a change in DSPC color from orange to yellow was observed. In summary, the developed visual detection material facilitates direct Ag + sensing. In the future, different DNA aptamers will be modified further to detect various targets in the fields of medicine, environmental monitoring, and food safety.

Single-phase ultrathin holey nanoflower Ni5P4 as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for efficient water splitting.

Designing efficient non-precious electrocatalysts to boost water splitting for green energy is a worthy and crucial objective, while it is still an enormous challenge. Herein, single-phase Ni5P4 ultrathin porous nanosheets grown on Ni foam constructed using the three-dimensional single-phase hierarchical nanoflower Ni5P4 (defined as 3D SHF-Ni5P4) were assembled via a simple hydrothermal and phosphating process in an enclosed space. Benefitting from the special structure and morphology of 3D hierarchical porous ultrathin nanosheets, as well as their increasing number of active sites, the 3D SHF-Ni5P4 exhibited outstanding performance with low overpotentials of 180 mV and 106 mV for achieving a current density of 10 mA cm-2 in 1 M KOH toward both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and the Tafel slopes were 54 mV dec-1 and 79 mV dec-1, respectively. The overall water separation setup, using 3D SHF-Ni5P4 as both the cathode and anode in 1.0 M KOH, achieved a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at a low voltage of 1.47 V, which surpasses that of the commercial Pt C/NF||RuO2/NF (1.52 V). This work highlights an achievable strategy for the controllable fabrication of a 3D single-phase hierarchical nanoflower Ni5P4 electrocatalyst, constructed with ultrathin porous nanosheets containing plenty of active sites. It provided new insights into developing cost-effective single-phase electrocatalysts towards green energy by water splitting.

A novel opal closest-packing photonic crystal for naked-eye glucose detection.

A novel opal closest-packing (OCP) photonic crystal (PC) is successfully prepared for naked-eye glucose detection. This PC is fabricated via a vertical convective self-assembly method with a new type of monodisperse microsphere polymerized by co-monomers, namely, methyl methacrylate (MMA), N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA), and 3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid (AAPBA). The OCP PC has high stability and periodically-ordered structure, showing the desired structural color. The proposed PC material displays a red shift and reduced reflection intensity when detecting glucose molecules. The red-shift wavelength reaches 75 nm, which clearly changes the structural color from brilliant blue to emerald green. This visually distinguishable color change facilitates the detection of the glucose concentrations from 3 to 20 mm, which demonstrates the potential of the opal PC material for naked-eye detection. Thus, the novel PMMA­NIPA­AAPBA OCP PC is a simply prepared and sensitive material, which shows promising use in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and in real-time monitoring of diabetes. Different types of appropriated recognition groups are expected to be introduced into the 3D OCP PC to form new functional materials or chemical sensors, which will extensively broaden the PC material application.

Encoded protein from ycbR gene of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 associated with adherence to HEp-2 cells.

Adhesion is one of the significant virulence factors in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 pathogenesis. It is regulated by specific loci in the genome sequence. This study mainly focused on investigating the influence of ycbR gene and its encoded YCBR protein on the adhesion of EHEC O157:H7 to HEp-2 cells. In the first part, mutants of EHEC O157:H7 were constructed through TnphoA mutagenesis and assayed for adherent ability. Six mutant strains with lost adherence to HEp-2 cells were isolated and then sequenced using a primer that hybridized to phoA sequence downstream of the fusion joint. The sequencing results indicated that the gene of eae and ycbR, between the initiation codon and the -10 sequence of Z4182, yciI, ARAC-type regulator protein, and high-affinity gluconate transporter of EHEC were all possibly related to adhesion. Of the six genes, the ycbR gene was cloned to the pET28a vector to analyze its function further. Recombinant YCBR protein fused to a His tag (YCBR-His) was expressed under IPTG induction and purified by Ni-NTA column. The purified protein was subcutaneously injected to rabbits to prepare antisera. The results of an adherence assay in the presence of anti-YCBR-His antibodies indicated that antibodies blocked the adherence of EHEC O157:H7 to HEp-2 cells. These observations suggested that ycbR encoded a novel adherence-associated determinant of EHEC O157:H7, which could contribute to the adhesive capacity of the bacteria.