Cunninghamottosen1207

The functionalization of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with peptidic moieties can prevent their aggregation and facilitate their use for applications both in vitro and in vivo. To date, no peptide-based coating has been shown to stabilize GNPs larger than 30 nm in diameter; such particles are of interest for applications including vaccine development, drug delivery, and sensing. Here, GNPs with diameters of 20, 40, and 100 nm are functionalized with peptide amphiphiles. Using a combination of transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering, we show that GNPs up to 100 nm in size can be stabilized by these molecules. Moreover, we demonstrate that these peptide amphiphiles form curvature-dependent, ordered structures on the surface of the GNPs and that the GNPs remain disperse at high-salt concentrations and in the presence of competing thiol-containing molecules. These results represent the development of a peptide amphiphile-based coating system for GNPs which has the potential to be beneficial for a wide range of biological applications, in addition to image enhancement and catalysis.High-performance thermal management materials are essential in miniaturized, highly integrated, and high-power modern electronics for heat dissipation. In this context, the large interface thermal resistance (ITR) that occurs between fillers and the organic matrix in polymer-based nanocomposites greatly limits their thermal conductive performance. Herein, through-plane direction aligned three-dimensional (3D) MXene/silver (Ag) aerogels are designed as heat transferring skeletons for epoxy nanocomposites. Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were in situ decorated on exfoliated MXene nanosheets to ensure good contact, and subsequent welding of ice-templated MXene/Ag nanofillers at low temperature of ∼200 °C reduced contact resistance between individual MXene sheets. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that thermal interficial resistance (R0) of the MXene/Ag-epoxy nanocomposite was 4.5 × 10-7 m2 W-1 K-1, which was less than that of the MXene-epoxy nanocomposite (Rc = 5.2 × 10-7 m2 W-1 K-1). Furthermore, a large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator was employed to calculate the interfacial resistance. It was found that RMXene = 2.4 × 10-9 m2 K W-1, and RMXene-Ag = 2.0 ×10-9 m2 K W-1, respectively, indicating that the Ag NP enhanced the interfacial heat transport. At a relatively low loading of 15.1 vol %, through-plane thermal conductivity reached a value as high as 2.65 W m-1 K-1, which is 1225 % higher than that of pure epoxy resin. Furthermore, MXene/Ag-epoxy nanocomposite film exhibits an impressive thermal conductive property when applied on a Millet 8 and Dell computer for heat dissipation.Achieving the spontaneous evolution of fuel from integrated devices by solar-driven water splitting is an attractive method for renewable energy conversion. However, their widespread implementation is hindered by their immature architectures and inferior performances. Here, we propose a real integrated device consisting of two series-connected perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and two CoP catalyst electrodes, which can be immersed into the aqueous solution directly for solar-driven water splitting. Benefiting from the low-cost and facile encapsulation technique, this integrated device possesses a compact structure and well-connected circuits for the process of charge carriers generation, transfer, and storage. Moreover, although all expensive components in this integrated device are eliminated, the two series-connected carbon-based PSCs still exhibit a high solar-to-electric efficiency of 10.6% as well as the integrated devices display a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of as high as 6.7%. This integrated device serves as a model architecture toward future development and optimization of the integrated device that can be immersed into the aqueous solution directly for water splitting.Li-air  batteries operated in ambient air are imperative toward real practical applications. However, the passivation of lithium metal anodes induced by attacking air hinders their long-term running, accelerating the degradation of Li-air batteries. Herein, a hydrogel-derived hierarchical porous carbon (HDHPC) layer with superhydrophobicity is proved as an effective Li-protective layer for a Li-air battery that suppresses the H2O attack and lithium dendrite formation during cycling. Accordingly, the HDHPC protective layer-based Li-air cell exhibits eminent cycling stability in ambient air [relative humidity (RH) of ∼40%], which is far better than that of the Li-air cell without the HDHPC protective layer. It is also demonstrated that the conversion of O2/Li2O2 in Li-air batteries adversely affects the decomposition of the byproduct and electrolyte. APR-246 chemical structure The usage of the HDHPC protective layer pioneers a new avenue of developing high-performance Li-air batteries in ambient air.We report on the assembly of gold nanorods functionalized with poly(ethylene glycol) in aqueous suspensions by electrostatic control and hydrogen bonds provided by polyelectrolyte linkers (i.e., interpolymer complexation processes). Small-angle X-ray scattering reveals that the quality and stability of the assemblies into the hexagonal columnar phases increase with temperature. Our study shows that the lattice constant of the ordered structures is tunable over a wide range of values by the interplay between electrostatic and hydrophobic effects.Pt-Ru nanocrystals are promising electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation in fuel cells. However, owing to the lattice mismatch and high reduction potential of Ru, the shape-controlled synthesis of Pt-Ru nanocrystals faces great challenges. Herein, we employ a galvanic replacement method to synthesize tunable hollow Pt@Ru dodecahedra via controlling the precursor concentration. Two typical structures, hollow Pt@Ru dodecahedra (h-Pt@Ru) and deformed hollow Pt@Ru dodecahedra (d-Pt@Ru), are obtained to exhibit superior electrocatalytic activities for methanol oxidation. The optimal d-Pt@Ru dodecahedra present a mass activity of 0.80 A mgPt-1 and a specific activity of 1.61 mA cmPt-2, which are 5.25 and 7.78 times higher than those of the commercial Pt/C, respectively. Remarkably, both h-Pt@Ru and d-Pt@Ru show lower oxidation potentials and higher CO-poisoning resistance for methanol oxidation than PtRu nanoparticles (NPs) and commercial Pt/C. This is attributed to the hollow dodecahedron structures with optimal spatial elemental distributions, leading to high utilization of Pt at edges and corners and the exposure of abundant Pt-Ru interfaces.