This work reports preparing thermal responsive poly (N-isovinylcaprolactam) (PNVCL) microgel based films for cell growth and detachment. PNVCL microgels of hydrated size ranging from 386 to 815 nm (25 °C) and different crosslinking degree are prepared. The PNVCL microgels can be rapidly and massively deposited on glass by spin coating method. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and water contact angle (WCA) are used to study the influence of crosslinking degree and particle size on the surface morphology, stability, and hydrophilicity of PNVCL microgel film. The cell activity of the desorbed cells is quantitatively characterized employing human normal lung epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). The results show that BEAS-2B cells can be desorbed quickly from the film in 30 min, and the optical density (OD) value of desorbed cells incubated after 3 d increases by approximately 52% compared to the control group. This study broadens the selection of temperature-sensitive film for cell harvesting, and provides a new tool for the quantitative characterization of desorbed cells.

Treatment of oil spills and oily wastewater still face great challenge such as availability for complex oil state like emulsion, harsh interference factor (e.g. bacteria in oily wastewater, fires in oil spills etc.), and the recycle of the adsorbent to date. To cope with these issues, it is essential to design and prepare multifunctional materials. In this work, antibacterial and nonflammable melamine sponges (MSs) with high throughput are prepared for both oil in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion separation. Coumarin and silver nanoparticles are introduced to MSs for active and passive sterilization respectively, inhibiting effectively the growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Large saturation oil absorption rate (40-94 g/g) and high flux (up to 203,000 L m- 2 h-1) are achieved, indicating great potential in practical application. In addition, the modified MS exhibits better thermal stability and fireproof performance than the commercial one, also ideal for practical applications.

Adsorption is an effective technology widely used in the removal of radioactive and other heavy metal ions, the adsorbent plays critical role and development of novel adsorbents is being in urgent demand. In this work, phytic acid (PA)-modified melamine sponge (MS) adsorbent MS@PDA@PA is prepared conveniently in green solvent water. A wide spectrum of metal ions including radioactive uranyl and transition heavy metal ions can be effectively adsorbed by the MS@PDA@PA due to non-selectivity of phosphoric acid groups in PA. Different factors including pH of aqueous solution, contact time, and initial concentration of ions on the effect of adsorption of the resultant materials are investigated in detail, and the maximum adsorption capacities for U(VI), Pb(II), Cu(II), Cr(III) are 166.7, 168.5, 114.3, and 101.0 mg g-1 respectively at 298 K. It is notable that the MS@PDA@PA is nonflammable due to employment of MS as frame material, and the thermal stability is even improved after incorporation of PA, greatly reduce the risk of the adsorbent in the processes of storage and usage. The green yet simple synthesis and fire resistance of MS@PDA@PA make it a competitive material for practical treatment of wastewater consisting of toxic metal ions. Nonflammable and broad-spectrum adsorbent MS@PDA@PA with high thermal stability based on melamine sponge (MS) is prepared conveniently employing the phytic acid (PA) and polydopamine (PDA) as the modifier and linking agent respectively through a green process. Radioactive uranyl and transition heavy metal ions including Pb(II), Cu(II), Cr(III) can be effectively adsorbed by the material.image

Fluorinated substances are often introduced to enhance the hydrophobicity of surfaces of various materials. In this work, fluorinated macromolecular coupling agents (AB)nA-b-PIPMSAm are prepared via successive step transfer-addition and radical-termination (START) polymerization and photocontrolled iodine-mediated reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) at room temperature, which is then decorated on the surface of silica nanoparticles followed by iodine removal for preparing iodine-free macromolecular fluorinated silica nanoparticles (macro-F-SiNPs-I). Superhydrophobic coatings were produced simply by spin coating of the macro-F-SiNPs-I onto glass or dip coating on cotton substrates. The effect of a variety of parameters on surface superhydrophobicity, such as the solvent for spinning coating, concentration of macro-F-SiNPs-I, size of silica nanoparticles and chemical structures of (AB)nA-b-PIPMSAm, were studied in detail, and the superhydrophobic surfaces with water contact angle (WCA = 172.6 degrees) could be facilely achieved under optimum conditions. In addition, the resultant macro-F-SiNPs-I coatings are quite stable against acidic (pH = 1), basic (pH = 13) or high salty solutions, and their excellent superhydrophobic performance was also confirmed by self-cleaning and oil/ water separation experiments, which displayed fascinating promise in practical applications on a large scale.

Eight new Zn-II-Y-III and Zn-II-Ln(III) heterometallic Schiff base complexes: MZnL2(NO3)(3) (M = Y (1), La (2), Pr (3), Nd (4), Eu (5), Gd (6), Dy (7), Er (8); L = 2-(((2-(imidazo[1,5-a]pyridin-3-yl)phenyl)imino)methyl)-6-methoxyphenol), have been rationally synthesized under solvothermal conditions and characterized by IR, elemental analyses (EA), single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and powder XRD. Furthermore, luminescence in the visible region for solids 1 similar to 8 suggested zinc/ligand-centered emission at room temperature.