Synthesis of indano[60]fullerene thioketone and its application in organic solar cells.

Evaporable indano[60]fullerene ketone (FIDO) was converted to indano[60]fullerene thioketone (FIDS) in high yield by using Lawesson's reagent. Three compounds with different substituents in para position were successfully converted to the corresponding thioketones, showing that the reaction tolerates compounds with electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents. Computational studies with density functional theory revealed the unique vibrations of the thioketone group in FIDS. The molecular structure of FIDS was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray analysis. Bulk heterojunction organic solar cells using three evaporable fullerene derivatives (FIDO, FIDS, C60) as electron-acceptors were compared, and the open-circuit voltage with FIDS was 0.16 V higher than that with C60.

Physical and biological properties of a novel anti-adhesion material made of thermally cross-linked gelatin film: Investigation of the usefulness as anti-adhesion material.

To create more useful, effective and safer anti-adhesion materials, we developed a thermally cross-linked gelatin film. In this study, we examined the physical properties of the film such as the physical strength and the adhesiveness to reveal the handling properties and biological properties, such as the anti-adhesion effect, the influence on cell proliferation, and the cytotoxicity to reveal the anti-adhesion mechanism, especially in comparison with the conventional hyaluronic acid and carboxymethylcellulose film (the conventional film). A tensile test under dry and wet conditions and shearing stress test showed that the gelatin film has significant higher maximum tensile stress and fracture strain than the conventional film. In the study using a rat model of cecum adhesion, the anti-adhesion effect of the gelatin film was significantly superior to that of the conventional film. In the cell proliferation test, the number of fibroblast cells on the gelatin film increased at each time point, while no cell proliferation was observed on the conventional film. Furthermore, in the cytotoxicity test using a colony assay and Live/Dead assay, the extract of the gelatin film had no cytotoxicity, while the extract of the conventional film had cytotoxicity considerably. These results suggest that the gelatin film provides better handling than the conventional film, due to better physical strength and ductility of the film. In addition, the gelatin film has a significantly greater anti-adhesion effect than the conventional film without any cytotoxicity. Therefore, the gelatin film is quite favorable as an anti-adhesion material. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 689-696, 2018.