Three-Dimensionally Printed Bioinspired Superhydrophobic Packings for Oil-in-Water Emulsion Separation.

The separation of oil-water emulsions has attracted considerable attention in recent years. The main challenge is to find new cost-effective ways to develop a separation technology that has the potential for scaling up treatment. In this study, benefitting from the idea in traditional chemical engineering processes, we report on three-dimensionally printed superhydrophobic poly(lactic acid) (PLA) packings for oil-in-water emulsion separation. Superhydrophobicity was achieved through a bioinspired modification process including selective solvent etching and nanoparticle decoration. The obtained superhydrophobic PLA packing has an air-water contact angle of 150° and a water adhesion force of 22 µN. A maximum separation efficiency of 95% was achieved while retaining a relatively high flux of 7.5 kL m-2 h-1 by tailoring the internal geometry. Our approach demonstrates a promising method to fabricate packings with user-defined and functional features. The relatively low-cost and efficient fabrication process is beneficial in industrial applications.

Construction of Supramolecular Nanostructures with High Catalytic Activity by Photoinduced Hierarchical Co-Assembly.

Inspired by natural enzymes, hierarchical catalytic supramolecular nanostructures were developed by the co-assembly of hemin and glucose oxidase (or Au NPs) with the photosensitive ferrocene-tyrosine (Fc-Y) molecule. Illuminated by white light, the Fc-Y molecules are polymerized and co-assemble with hemin into truncated polyhedrons. The Au NPs grew in situ at the surface of the co-assembled polyhedrons, achieving ordered supramolecular nanostructures. Because the Au NPs can serve as an artificial glucose oxidase and the hemin could act as a peroxidase mimic, the supramolecular hybrid nanostructures were used to mimic natural enzymes and catalyze the glucose conversion cascade reaction. The hybrid Au NPs@Fc-Y&hemin polyhedrons showed superior catalytic activity, good reusability, and maintained the catalytic activity over a wide temperature and pH range. The study demonstrates a feasible strategy to construct hierarchical co-assembled supramolecular nanostructures as multi-enzyme mimics, with potential applications in biocatalysis and biosensing.

In situ fabrication of multifunctional gold-amino acid superstructures based on self-assembly.

A facial strategy to construct multifunctional gold-amino acid superstructures is reported. The ferrocene-tryptophan conjugate could self-assemble into three-dimensional microflowers. What's more, gold nanoparticles could be biomineralized on the surface of the microflowers, achieving gold-amino acid superstructures. The formed superstructures exhibited significant photothermal effects and catalytic activity.