Biomineralization—the synthesis of inorganic materials using proteins—has recently gained interest as a low cost, green route for the production of metal chalcogenide semiconductor nanocrystals. Typical biomineralization approaches rely on proteins or biomolecules identified from organisms which possess a native biomineralization response. Disclosed herein is an alternative biomineralization approach for synthesizing metal chalcogenide nanocrystals which uses an artificially designed de novo protein. De novo proteins are non-natural proteins, allowing for facile modification of the protein through the tuning of amino acids within the sequence. This de novo protein was employed to produce size-controlled populations of semiconductor nanocrystals, with properties consistent with those produced using traditional routes.

A composition, method, and article of manufacture are disclosed. The composition includes a silica particle with light upconversion molecules bound to its surface. The method includes obtaining silica particles and light upconversion molecules having sidechains with reactive functional groups. The method further includes binding the light upconversion molecules to surfaces of the silica particles. The article of manufacture includes the composition.

Disclosed are a liquid hydrogenated nitrile-butadiene rubber, a preparation method therefor and the use thereof. In the liquid hydrogenated nitrile-butadiene rubber: the content of acrylonitrile is 15-50%; the hydrogenation saturation is 75-99.5%; the weight-average molecular weight (Mw) is 3,000-60,000; the molecular weight polydispersity index (PDI) is 2.0-8.0; and the glass transition temperature (Tg) is lower than −28° C. The liquid hydrogenated nitrile-butadiene rubber is low in molecular weight and wide in molecular weight polydispersity, simultaneously has an excellent fluidity during processing and excellent mechanical properties after curing and has a unique application value in the field of special rubbers; and the preparation method therefor is simple and feasible in terms of the process.

A method of producing a catalytic carbon fiber may include: providing a carbon fiber and an aminated macrocycle, mixing the carbon fiber and the aminated macrocycle with a solvent; and reacting the carbon fiber and the aminated macrocycle to form an amide bond between the carbon fiber and the aminated macrocycle thereby forming the catalytic carbon fiber.

Materials for binding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are disclosed. A fluidic device comprising the materials for detection and quantification of PFAS in a sample is disclosed. The fluidic device may be configured for multiplexed analyses. Also disclosed are methods for sorbing and remediating PFAS in a sample. The sample may be groundwater containing, or suspected of containing, one or more PFAS.

A method for preparing a porous nano-fiber heterostructure photocatalytic filter screen includes: preparing a noble metal nanostructure with tunable spectra and a heterostructure composite photocatalyst of a photocatalytic material; and preparing a large area and multilayer porous nano-fiber filter screen structure, while utilizing a scattering enhancement effect of metal nanoparticles in an porous optical fiber to realize repeated conduction of sunlight in the optical fiber and finally interact with the composite photocatalyst on a surface to improve photocatalytic efficiency. Preparation of the heterostructure composite photocatalyst with a wide spectral response of and tunable visible to infrared band spectra is realized, at the same time, with reference to high adsorbability, high light transmission of nanometer fiber and unique optical characteristics of metal nanoparticles, an air purification filter screen with a high sunlight utilization rate and a high catalytic degradation capability is creatively provided.

Provided is a method of preparing L-homoserine, the method including contacting an L-homoserine derivative with a solid acid catalyst.

Materials for binding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are disclosed. A fluidic device comprising the materials for detection and quantification of PFAS in a sample is disclosed. The fluidic device may be configured for multiplexed analyses. Also disclosed are methods for sorbing and remediating PFAS in a sample. The sample may be groundwater containing, or suspected of containing, one or more PFAS.

A metal organic framework (MOF)-polymer composite for detoxifying a chemical warfare agent (CWA) comprises MOF nanoparticles having catalytically active Lewis acid sites and at least one polymer having catalytically active basic sites. The composite is configured such that the at least one polymer is in surrounding relation to the MOF nanoparticles such that at least a portion of the Lewis acid sites of the MOF nanoparticles are in proximal relation to at least a portion of the basic sites of the at least one polymer thereby forming a plurality of proximal acid-base interfaces thus enabling a bifunctional catalytic mechanism for detoxifying the CWA. The MOF-polymer composite can provide CWA detoxification without the presence of a basic compound.

Proposed are a core-satellite micelle containing a tetra-block copolymer and a preparation method thereof. The core-satellite micelle includes a core, a shell surrounding the core, and a plurality of satellite domains positioned inside the shell. The core-satellite micelle contains a tetra-block copolymer represented by Structural Formula 1 below. The shell includes a first-monomer first block A1 and a first-monomer second block A2, and the satellite domain includes a second-monomer first block B1 and a second-monomer second block B2. The core-satellite micelle is foiled through self-assembly of the tetra-block copolymer, thereby having a larger interfacial contact area than existing block-copolymer micelles. Therefore, the core-satellite micelle can be used in next-generation nanotechnology applications such as drug delivery systems, porous catalyst materials, and sensors.

A1-B1-A2-B2   [Structural Formula 1]

In Structural Formula 1, A1 is a first-monomer first block, B1 is a second-monomer first block, A2 is a first-monomer second block, and B2 is a second-monomer second block.