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Integrated separation-electrochemical detection device based on wood column for online identification of enantiomer
Nano Research 2024, 17 (3): 1893-1901
Published: 24 August 2023
Downloads:68

Chiral chemicals have attracted significant interest in the pharmaceutical industry, yet the separation methods to get pure enantiomers from racemic mixture are still challenging. To date, the separation of enantiomers still mainly depends on chromatography using high-cost chiral stationary phases. Herein, wood channels were used as the handheld integrated device, and enantiomer separation was simultaneously detected using an electrochemical detector. In this method, a chiral UIO-66 (L-UIO-66) modified enantiomer separation zone and carbonized wood based online detection zone are integrated along a single wood column. Based on the in situ separation results from the chronoamperometry data, the wood device shows excellent separation ability for a wide range of electrochemically active enantiomers, including 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, amino acids, ascorbic acid, carnitine, and penicillamine with high chirality purity. The unbiased molecular dynamic simulations indicate that the excellent chiral recognition and separation are attributed to the different barriers from the bound states to the dissociated state of the enantiomers in the homochiral microenvironment of the framework. This integrated enantiomer separation-electrochemical detection device provides a novel, easy, and low-cost platform for the separation of pure enantiomer from racemic mixture.

Research Article Issue
Engineering tailorable TiO2 nanotubes for NIR-controlled drug delivery
Nano Research 2021, 14 (11): 4046-4055
Published: 10 February 2021
Downloads:15

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria are a global threat to the human health. Here, we propose a solvent "irrigation" technique to endow TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) to precisely modify with functional nanomaterials, and apply them in constructing a near-infrared (NIR) light controlled drug-delivery system for rapid necrosis of bacteria. In this design, the NIR stimuli-responsive functional shell is located on the external tube wall of TiO2 NT; the internal tube wall offers sufficient binding sites for drug loading. Using kanamycin as a model drug, we demonstrate that the reactive oxygen species generated in photocatalysis not only controllably release the loaded drug by scissoring the linked chains, but also effectively compromise bacteria membrane integrity by damaging the cell wall. Benefiting from the damages, antibiotics rapidly enter the bacteria and reach ≥99.9% reduction in Escherichia coli colony within only 2 h. Importantly, such a covalently conjugation-based delivery system can efficiently relieve radical-induced inflammation and cytotoxicity. This study provides an innovative design strategy for engineering delivery systems with tailorable components, enduring stimuli-response by multiple triggers.

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