Facile Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Sponge with Selective Absorption and Collection of Oil from Water

A simple vapor-phase deposition process has been developed to fabricate a superhydrophobic and superoleophilic sponge using ordinary commercial polyurethane sponges. The simultaneous properties of superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity enable the sponge to float on the water surface and selectively absorb oil from water. Its uptake capacities of different oils (motor oil, lubricating oil, pump oil, silicone oil, and soybean oil) in the oil–water mixtures were all above 20 g/g. The absorbed oil could be collected by squeezing the sponge, and the recovered sponge could be reused in oil–water separation for many cycles while still maintaining a high capacity. This is helpful for realizing the proper disposal of the oil and avoiding secondary pollution. A similar experiment was performed using the as-prepared sponge to remove petroleum from contaminated water. The results suggest that our material might find practical applications in the cleanup of oil spills and the removal of organic pollutants from water surfaces

Facile Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Sponge with Selective Absorption and Collection of Oil from Water

A simple vapor-phase deposition process has been developed to fabricate a superhydrophobic and superoleophilic sponge using ordinary commercial polyurethane sponges. The simultaneous properties of superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity enable the sponge to float on the water surface and selectively absorb oil from water. Its uptake capacities of different oils (motor oil, lubricating oil, pump oil, silicone oil, and soybean oil) in the oil–water mixtures were all above 20 g/g. The absorbed oil could be collected by squeezing the sponge, and the recovered sponge could be reused in oil–water separation for many cycles while still maintaining a high capacity. This is helpful for realizing the proper disposal of the oil and avoiding secondary pollution. A similar experiment was performed using the as-prepared sponge to remove petroleum from contaminated water. The results suggest that our material might find practical applications in the cleanup of oil spills and the removal of organic pollutants from water surfaces

Bio-Inspired Supramolecular Hybrid Dendrimers Self-Assembled from Low-Generation Peptide Dendrons for Highly Efficient Gene Delivery and Biological Tracking

Currently, supramolecular self-assembly of dendrons and dendrimers emerges as a powerful and challenging strategy for developing sophisticated nanostructures with excellent performances. Here we report a supramolecular hybrid strategy to fabricate a bio-inspired dendritic system as a versatile delivery nanoplatform. With a rational design, dual-functionalized low-generation peptide dendrons (PDs) self-assemble onto inorganic nanoparticles <i>via</i> coordination interactions to generate multifunctional supramolecular hybrid dendrimers (SHDs). These SHDs exhibit well-defined nanostructure, arginine-rich peptide corona, and fluorescent signaling properties. As expected, our bio-inspired supramolecular hybrid strategy largely enhances the gene transfection efficiency of SHDs approximately 50 000-fold as compared to single PDs at the same R/P ratio. Meanwhile the bio-inspired SHDs also (i) provide low cytotoxicity and serum resistance in gene delivery; (ii) provide inherent fluorescence for tracking intracellular pathways including cellular uptake, endosomal escape, and gene release; and (iii) work as an alternative reference for monitoring desired protein expression. More importantly, <i>in vivo</i> animal experiments demonstrate that SHDs offer considerable gene transfection efficiency (in muscular tissue and in HepG2 tumor xenografts) and real-time bioimaging capabilities. These SHDs will likely stimulate studies on bio-inspired supramolecular hybrid dendritic systems for biomedical applications both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>

Bioreducible Peptide-Dendrimeric Nanogels with Abundant Expanded Voids for Efficient Drug Entrapment and Delivery

Dendrimer-based nanoplatforms have exhibited wide prospects in the field of nanomedicine for drug delivery, without great success due to many predicaments of cytotoxicity, high cost, and low yield. In this work, we report a feasible strategy on dynamic cross-linkings of low-generation peptide dendrimers into bioreducible nanogels for efficient drug controlled release. With a facile fabrication, the disulfide cross-linking of biocompatible peptide dendrimers successfully possess well-defined and stable nanostructures with abundant expanded voids for efficient molecular encapsulation. More importantly, high reducing condition is capable of triggering the cleavage of disulfide bonds, the disintegration of peptide-dendrimeric nanogels, and stimuli-responsive release of guest molecules. The bioreducible nanogels improve antitumor drug internalization, contribute to endosomal escape, and realize intracellular drug controlled release. The doxorubicin-loaded nanogels afford high antitumor efficiency and reduce the side effects to BALB/c mice bearing 4T1 tumor. Therefore, dynamic cross-linkings of low-generation dendrimers into smart nanogels will be an alternative and promising strategy to resolve the dilemmas of current dendrimer-based nanocarriers as well as develop innovative nanoplatforms

Bioinspired Design of Stereospecific d‑Protein Nanomimics for High-Efficiency Autophagy Induction

Bioinspired Design of Stereospecific d‑Protein Nanomimics for High-Efficiency Autophagy Inductio

Robust and Durable Superhydrophobic Cotton Fabrics for Oil/Water Separation

By introducing the incorporation of polyaniline and fluorinated alkyl silane to the cotton fabric via a facile vapor phase deposition process, the fabric surface possessed superhydrophobicity with the water contact angle of 156° and superoleophilicity with the oil contact angle of 0°. The as-prepared fabric can be applied as effective materials for the separation of water and oil mixture with separation efficiency as high as 97.8%. Compared with other materials for oil/water separation, the reported process was simple, time-saving, and repeatable for at least 30 times. Moreover, the obtained fabric kept stable superhydrophobicity and high separation efficiency under extreme environment conditions of high temperature, high humidity, strong acidic or alkaline solutions, and mechanical forces. Therefore, this reported fabric has the advantages of scalable fabrication, high separation efficiency, stable recyclability, and excellent durability, exhibiting the strong potential for industrial production

Robust and Durable Superhydrophobic Cotton Fabrics for Oil/Water Separation

By introducing the incorporation of polyaniline and fluorinated alkyl silane to the cotton fabric via a facile vapor phase deposition process, the fabric surface possessed superhydrophobicity with the water contact angle of 156° and superoleophilicity with the oil contact angle of 0°. The as-prepared fabric can be applied as effective materials for the separation of water and oil mixture with separation efficiency as high as 97.8%. Compared with other materials for oil/water separation, the reported process was simple, time-saving, and repeatable for at least 30 times. Moreover, the obtained fabric kept stable superhydrophobicity and high separation efficiency under extreme environment conditions of high temperature, high humidity, strong acidic or alkaline solutions, and mechanical forces. Therefore, this reported fabric has the advantages of scalable fabrication, high separation efficiency, stable recyclability, and excellent durability, exhibiting the strong potential for industrial production

Specially-Made Lipid-Based Assemblies for Improving Transmembrane Gene Delivery: Comparison of Basic Amino Acid Residue Rich Periphery

Cationic lipid based assemblies provide a promising platform for effective gene condensation into nanosized particles, and the peripheral properties of the assemblies are vital for complexation and interaction with physical barriers. Here, we report three cationic twin head lipids, and each of them contains a dioleoyl-glutamate hydrophobic tail and a twin polar head of lysine, arginine, or histidine. Such lipids were proven to self-assemble in aqueous solution with well-defined nanostructures and residual amino-, guanidine-, or imidazole-rich periphery, showing strong buffering capacity and good liquidity. The assemblies with arginine (RL) or lysine (KL) periphery exhibited positive charges (∼+35 mV) and complete condensation of pDNA into nanosized complexes (∼120 nm). In contrast, assemblies composed of histidine-rich lipids (HL) showed relatively low cationic electric potential (∼+10 mV) and poor DNA binding ability. As expected, the designed RL assemblies with guanidine-rich periphery enhanced the <i>in vitro</i> gene transfection up to 190-fold as compared with the golden standard PEI_25k and Lipofectamine 2000, especially in the presence of serum. Meanwhile, interaction with cell and endo/lysosome membrane also revealed the superiority of RL complexes, that the guanidine-rich surface efficiently promoted transmembrane process in cellular internalization and endosomal disruption. More importantly, RL complexes also succeeded beyond others <i>in vivo</i> with significantly (∼7-fold) enhanced expression in HepG2 tumor xenografts in mice, as well as stronger green fluorescence protein imaging in isolated tumors and tumor frozen sections

Highly Stable Fluorinated Nanocarriers with iRGD for Overcoming the Stability Dilemma and Enhancing Tumor Penetration in an Orthotopic Breast Cancer

The stability dilemma and limited tumor penetration of nanocarriers in cancer chemotherapy remain two predominant challenges for their successful clinical translation. Herein, the pH-sensitive fluorocarbon-functionalized nanocarriers (SFNs) with a tumor-homing and penetrating peptide iRGD are reported to overcome the stability dilemma and enhance tumor accumulation and penetration in an orthotopic breast cancer. The highly stable SFNs with a low critical association concentration provide a safe and spacious harbor for hydrophobic drugs. Furthermore, the stimulus-responsive evaluation and <i>in vitro</i> drug release study show that the SFNs can balance intracellular dissociation for drug release and extracellular stability in the blood circulation. Additionally, the tumor penetration capacity has been dramatically enhanced in 3D multicellular spheroids, effectively affecting cells far from the periphery. This can be ascribed to the coadministration of iRGD having tumor-penetrating ability and fluorocarbon chains having good cell membrane permeability. The combination of SFNs and iRGD is a viable approach to assist drugs’ effective accumulation in primary and metastasized tumor sites, significantly inhibiting the breast tumor growth and curbing lung and liver metastases in an orthotopic-tumor-bearing mouse model. Taken together, this pH-sensitive fluorinated nanosystem having excellent stability and tumor accumulation and penetration properties paves the way to combat cancer