Nanoarchitectured conducting polymers: Rational design and relative activity for next-generation supercapacitors

Abstract A rational design of an efficient and inexpensive electrocatalyst for water splitting still remains a challenge. Porous conducting polymers are attractive materials which not only provide a high surface area for electrocatalysis but also absorb light which can be harnessed in photoelectrocatalysis. Here, a novel and inexpensive electrochemical approach is developed to obtain nanoporous conducting copolymers with tunable light absorbance and porosity. By fine-tuning the copolymer composition and upon heat treatment, an excellent electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was achieved in alkaline solution with an overpotential of just 77 mV to obtain a current density of 10 mA cm−2. Such an overpotential is remarkably low compared with other reported values for polymers in an alkaline medium. The nanoporous copolymer developed here shows a great promise of using metal-free electrocatalysts and brings about new avenues for exploitation of these porous conducting polymers.

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Rational Design of MOF-Based Materials for Next-Generation Rechargeable Batteries

Nano-Micro Letters ◽

10.1007/s40820-021-00726-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Zhengqing Ye ◽

Ying Jiang ◽

Li Li ◽

Feng Wu ◽

Renjie Chen

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Rational Design ◽

Metal Organic Framework ◽

Rechargeable Batteries ◽

High Porosity ◽

Next Generation ◽

Battery System ◽

Lithium Sulfur Batteries ◽

Metal Organic ◽

Lithium Oxygen Batteries

AbstractMetal–organic framework (MOF)-based materials with high porosity, tunable compositions, diverse structures, and versatile functionalities provide great scope for next-generation rechargeable battery applications. Herein, this review summarizes recent advances in pristine MOFs, MOF composites, MOF derivatives, and MOF composite derivatives for high-performance sodium-ion batteries, potassium-ion batteries, Zn-ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, lithium–oxygen batteries, and Zn–air batteries in which the unique roles of MOFs as electrodes, separators, and even electrolyte are highlighted. Furthermore, through the discussion of MOF-based materials in each battery system, the key principles for controllable synthesis of diverse MOF-based materials and electrochemical performance improvement mechanisms are discussed in detail. Finally, the major challenges and perspectives of MOFs are also proposed for next-generation battery applications.

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Orthosteric-allosteric dual inhibitors of PfHT1 as selective anti-malarial agents

10.1101/2020.08.25.260232 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jian Huang ◽

Yafei Yuan ◽

Na Zhao ◽

Debing Pu ◽

Qingxuan Tang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plasmodium Falciparum ◽

Rational Design ◽

Glucose Transporter ◽

Blood Stage ◽

Host Cells ◽

Sugar Uptake ◽

Hexose Transporter ◽

Next Generation ◽

Malaria Parasites ◽

Glucose Transporter 1

AbstractArtemisinin-resistant malaria parasites have emerged and been spreading, posing a significant public health challenge. Anti-malarial drugs with novel mechanisms of action are therefore urgently needed. In this report, we exploit a “selective starvation” strategy by selectively inhibiting Plasmodium falciparum hexose transporter 1 (PfHT1), the sole hexose transporter in Plasmodium falciparum, over human glucose transporter 1 (hGLUT1), providing an alternative approach to fight against multidrug-resistant malaria parasites. Comparison of the crystal structures of human GLUT3 and PfHT1 bound to C3361, a PfHT1-specific moderate inhibitor, revealed an inhibitor binding-induced pocket that presented a promising druggable site. We thereby designed small-molecules to simultaneously block the orthosteric and allosteric pockets of PfHT1. Through extensive structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies, the TH-PF series was identified to selectively inhibit PfHT1 over GLUT1 and potent against multiple strains of the blood-stage P. falciparum. Our findings shed light on the next-generation chemotherapeutics with a paradigm-shifting structure-based design strategy to simultaneously targeting the orthosteric and allosteric sites of a transporter.Significance statementBlocking sugar uptake in P. falciparum by selectively inhibiting the hexose transporter PfHT1 kills the blood-stage parasites without affecting the host cells, indicating PfHT1 as a promising therapeutic target. Here, we report the development of novel small-molecule inhibitors that are selectively potent to the malaria parasites over human cell lines by simultaneously targeting the orthosteric and the allosteric binding sites of PfHT1. Our findings established the basis for the rational design of next-generation anti-malarial drugs.

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Rapid chemiexcitation of phenoxy-dioxetane luminophores yields ultrasensitive chemiluminescence assays

Chemical Science ◽

10.1039/c8sc04280b ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 1380-1385 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Nir Hananya ◽

Jolene P. Reid ◽

Ori Green ◽

Matthew S. Sigman ◽

Doron Shabat

Keyword(s):

Rational Design ◽

Next Generation ◽

Increased Sensitivity

Rational design of phenoxy-dioxetane luminophores with rapid chemiexcitation is described; these next generation luminophores yielded chemiluminescent probes with considerably increased sensitivity.

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