2 research outputs found
Janus Liposomes: Gel-Assisted Formation and Bioaffinity-Directed Clustering
This article reports
a high-yield procedure for preparing microsized
(giant) Janus liposomes via gel-assisted lipid swelling and clustering
behavior of these liposomes directed by biotin-avidin affinity binding.
Confocal fluorescence microscopy reveals in detail that these new
lipid colloidal particles display broken symmetry and heterogeneous
surface chemistry similar to other types of Janus particles. An optimized
formation procedure is presented, which reproducibly yields large
liposome populations dominated by a single-domain configuration. This
work further demonstrates that biotin-conjugated 1,2-dioleoyl-<i>sn</i>-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine preferentially partitions
into the liquid-disordered phase of the lipid matrix, rendering these
Janus liposomes asymmetrical binding capacity toward avidin. This
affinity binding drives irreversible and domain-specific cluster formation
among Janus liposomes, whose structure and size are found to depend
on the domain configuration of individual liposomes and incubation
time
Rational Design of Wide Spectral-Responsive Heterostructures of Au Nanorod Coupled Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance
Noble
metallic nanomaterials with surface plasmon resonance (SPR)
effects and hot electron cell effects open new opportunities for designing
efficient visible-light-driven hybrid photocatalysts. In this work,
we reported a broadband visible-light responsive photocatalyst by
incorporating Au nanorods (AuNRs) into Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> nanostructures. The longitudinal plasma of AuNRs enabled AuNRs/Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> heterostructures to harvest light energy up
to 800 nm. The obtained AuNRs/Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> hybrid
exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency toward the degradation
of rhodamine B (RhB) under solar irradiation. Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub>, RhB, and AuNRs played different roles according to the distinct
optical properties of each individual component. The dominant photocatalytic
process in the different light regions were divided as follows: direct
excitation of Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> for λ ≥ 420
nm, RhB sensitization for λ ≥ 550 nm, and SPR effect
for λ ≥ 600 nm. The relationship between the pathway
of charge transfer and the photocatalytic activity of the AuNRs/Ag<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> heterostructures was investigated systematically,
revealing the specific role of AuNRs in regulating the photocatalytic
activity. This work presents an innovative strategy for determining
the comprehensive function of the SPR effect in relevant semiconductor-based
photocatalysis and functional nanodevices with a broadband light responses