Donghua University

About: Donghua University is a education organization based out in Shanghai, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Fiber & Nanofiber. The organization has 21155 authors who have published 21841 publications receiving 393091 citations. The organization is also known as: Dōnghuá Dàxué & China Textile University.

Lactobionic acid-modified dendrimer-entrapped gold nanoparticles for targeted computed tomography imaging of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract: Development of novel nanomaterial-based contrast agents for targeted computed tomography (CT) imaging of tumors still remains a great challenge. Here we describe a novel approach to fabricating lactobionic acid (LA)-modified dendrimer-entrapped gold nanoparticles (LA-Au DENPs) for in vitro and in vivo targeted CT imaging of human hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, amine-terminated poly(amidoamine) dendrimers of generation 5 pre-modified with fluorescein isothiocyanate and poly(ethylene glycol)-linked LA were employed as templates to form Au nanoparticles. The remaining dendrimer terminal amines were subjected to an acetylation reaction to form LA-Au DENPs. The prepared LA-Au DENPs were characterized via different methods. Our results reveal that the multifunctional Au DENPs with a Au core size of 2.7 nm have good stability under different pH (5-8) and temperature (4-50 °C) conditions and in different aqueous media, and are noncytotoxic to normal cells but cytotoxic to the targeted hepatocarcinoma cells in the given concentration range. In vitro flow cytometry data show that the LA-Au DENPs can be specifically uptaken by a model hepatocarcinoma cell line overexpressing asialoglycoprotein receptors through an active receptor-mediated targeting pathway. Importantly, the LA-Au DENPs can be used as a highly effective nanoprobe for specific CT imaging of hepatocarcinoma cells in vitro and the xenoplanted tumor model in vivo. The developed LA-Au DENPs with X-ray attenuation property greater than clinically employed iodine-based CT contrast agents hold a great promise to be used as a nanoprobe for targeted CT imaging of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Sulfur-Deficient Bismuth Sulfide/Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanofibers as Advanced Free-Standing Electrode for Asymmetric Supercapacitors.

Abstract: The use of free-standing carbon-based hybrids plays a crucial role to help fulfil ever-increasing energy storage demands, but is greatly hindered by the limited number of active sites for fast charge adsorption/desorption processes. Herein, an efficient strategy is demonstrated for making defect-rich bismuth sulfides in combination with surface nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (dr-Bi2 S3 /S-NCNF) as flexible free-standing electrodes for asymmetric supercapacitors. The dr-Bi2 S3 /S-NCNF composite exhibits superior electrochemical performances with an enhanced specific capacitance of 466 F g-1 at a discharge current density of 1 A g-1 . The high performance of dr-Bi2 S3 /S-NCNF electrodes originates from its hierarchical structure of nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers with well-anchored defect-rich bismuth sulfides nanostructures. As modeled by density functional theory calculation, the dr-Bi2 S3 /S-NCNF electrodes exhibit a reduced OH- adsorption energy of -3.15 eV, compared with that (-3.06 eV) of defect-free bismuth sulfides/surface nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber (df-Bi2 S3 /S-NCNF). An asymmetric supercapacitor is further fabricated by utilizing dr-Bi2 S3 /S-NCNF hybrid as the negative electrode and S-NCNF as the positive electrode. This composite exhibits a high energy density of 22.2 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 677.3 W kg-1 . This work demonstrates a feasible strategy to construct advanced metal sulfide-based free-standing electrodes by incorporating defect-rich structures using surface engineering principles.

Assembly of Poly(dopamine) Films Mixed with a Nonionic Polymer

Abstract: Poly(dopamine) (PDA) coatings have recently attracted considerable interest for a variety of applications. Here, we investigate the film deposition of dopamine mixed with a nonionic polymer (i.e., poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP)) onto silica substrates using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and quartz crystal microbalance. Furthermore, we assess the possibility of coating silica colloids to yield polymer capsules and liposomes with these mixtures. We found that mixed PDA/PEG and PDA/PVA films are deposited without the need for a covalent linker such as an amine or thiol. We also discovered the first material, namely, PVP, that can suppress PDA film assembly. These fundamental findings give further insight into PDA film properties and contribute to establish PDA as a widely applicable coating.