Micro/nanostructured conducting polymers have received intense interest because of their high conductivity, ease of preparation, good environmental stability, and a large variety of applications in molecular wires, chemical sensors, biosensor, light-emmiting and electronic devices. Three dimensional (3D) conducting polymer microstructures assembled from one dimensional (1D) nanofibers have been required to provide multi-functionality and high performance applications in microelectronics technology. However, the design and synthesis of such novel 3D-microstructures assembled from 1D-nanostructure remain a challenge for materials science. Recently, our researches demonstrated that the cooperation effect of the micelles served as soft-template and the molecular interactions as self-assembly driving forces provides a facile and effective approach to construct conductive and supperhydrophobic functional 3D-micro/nanostructures of conducting polymers assembled from 1D-nanofibers. The trick of this approach is using low surface energy organic acids as the dopants that serve four functions of dopant, soft-template, self-assembly driving force, and deducing superhydrophobicity. Moreover, 3D-microstructures assembled from 2D-nanosheets consisted of 1D-nanofibers of conducting polymer were successfully synthesized by adjusting self-assembled driving force using the relative humidity of enviroment. Our researches also demonstrated that surface wettability of conducting polymer micro/nanostructures could be reversively controlled by means of chemical methods. In liquid/liquid/solid triphase system, the wettability and adhesion of oil droplet on the surface of the conducing polymers can be intelligently controlled by adjusting the electrochemical potentials.

Pressure as a very important dimension independent of temperature and chemical compositions, can effectively change the inter-atomic interaction, induce the formation of high pressure structures with new physical properties, reveal new phenomena and physical rules, and fabricate new materials that can not be synthesized under ambient pressure. At ambient conditions, elements usually adopt simple structures; however, application of pressure induces complex phase transitions with the formation of intriguing high pressure phases, some of which possess novel superconductivity and superhard properties, and even experience metal-insulator transitions. These high pressure phase transitions have attracted worldwide attention. This article reviews the structural transitions of the first 12 light elements in the periodical table under pressure, and discusses novel properties of the new high pressure phases and the corresponding phase transition mechanisms. The prospects of the future experimental and theoretical methods for investigation of high pressure phase transitions are presented.

Spiropyrans, an important class of photochromic compounds that undergo reversible structural isomerization between a colorless spiropyran form and a colored merocyanine, are an attractive starting point in constructions of molecular-level devices with molecular recognition function and signal transduction ability due to their unique molecule binding ability and signal transduction function. The merocyanine may interact with their environment (solvent or matrix) leading to different photochromic responses. By exploiting such characteristics, spiropyrans have been employed not only in materials chemistry for molecular switches, but also in analytical chemistry as molecular sensors. During the past decades, a number of receptors possessing diverse spiropyran skeletons have been designed and utilized for optical sensing of metal ions, some for neutral molecules, such as nucleobases, amino acids, peptide and DNA, and a few for anions. Some work has also been done in eletrochemical sensing using spiropyran-modified electrode. This review summarizes the progress in the study of spiropyran derivatives in analytical chemistry, including their application as spectroscopic sensors for metal ions, anions and organic molecules, and also the application of spiropyran in electrochemical immuno-sensor. Traditional spiropyran derivatives containing crown ether moieties or -NO₂ group, and special kinds of spiropyrans like bis-spiropyran which is more super in binding selectivity, are discussed in detail.

Electrocatalyst is one of the key materials in low-temperature fuel cells, which determines the performance, lifetime and cost of the fuel cells. Very recently, core-shell structured electrocatalysts have attracted increasing attention due to their unique advantages in reducing Pt loading and improving the electrocatalytic activity. This review summarizes the recent development of the core-shell structured electrocatalysts used for low-temperature fuel cells. On the basis of briefly stating the research direction of fuel cell electrocatalysts, we first present an introduction to the preparation methods for the synthesis of core-shell structured electrocatalysts, including the colloid method, thermal decomposition method, displacement method and electrochemical method. Among these methods, the colloid method is the most facile and controllable method, which has already been widely employed in the synthesis. Displacement method and electrochemical method are the two most promising methods that have been developed in very recent years. Then, the composition of core-shell structured electrocatalysts and their effect on the electrocatalytic activity are discussed in details. The core-shell structure does not only yield a significant increase in specific catalytic activity, but the special interaction between Pt and the other metal components also contributes to the activity and stability of the electrocatalyst. Finally, research directions are suggested to advance the future work in this field.

Sulfated zirconia (abbreviated to SZ), recognized as a solid superacid discovered by Holm and Bailey, has attracted much attention because of a lot of applications in many areas of chemical industry. It is well documented that SZ has been used to catalyze many chemical reactions, which include isomerization, alkylation, acylation, cyclization, cracking, esterification, transesterification and so on. Hino and Arata reported that sulfated zirconia could effectively catalyze the isomerization of butane at room temperature in 1979, and the high performance of SZ for this reaction has been ascribed to its super acidity. Consequently, sulfated zirconia was regard as a kind of solid superacid for the first time by them. In light of Hammett acidity indicators (H₀), the acidity of sulfated zirconia is far stronger (about ten thousand times) than that of 100% sulfuric acid. In this review, the progress of sulfated zirconia in the past three decades was illustrated in detail, which mainly focused on the synthesis routes, surface structure models, modification methods and its application especially in catalytic application. Furthermore, some arguments (involved in surface model, super-acid property and alkane isomerization mechanism) were also pointed out, which might be attributed to the differences originated from the synthesis and characterization methods. At last, the development of sulfated zirconia in the future was outlined in brief.

White pollution has become a global environmental issue in recent years. Composite plastics embedding photocatalysts into ploymer matrix has excellent photocatalytic degradation activity. It could be degraded effectively in ambient air under sunlight exposure. So it is an eco-friendly disposal of polymer wastes, and provides a promising way to solve white pollution. In this paper, the latest research progress in solid-phase photocatalytic degradation of waste plastics is reviewed. The solid-phase photocatalytic activity of TiO₂, ZnO, α-FeOOH and H₃PW₁₂O₄₀, as well as the photocatalytic degradation mechanism of various composite plastics are introduced. Many new methods have been used to enhance the solid-phase photocatalytic degradation activity of composite plastics and the utilization efficiency of sunlight. For example, surface modifying photocatalyst by branched macromolecule is used to improve the dispersion of photocatalyst in polymer matrix, modifying photocatalyst by metal ion doping or dye sensitization is used to broaden the region of photoresponse and enhance the visible light activity of photocatalyst. At last,the potential application prospects for photodegradable composite plastics in the field of waste plastic treatment is discussed.

As a new kind of fluorescent material,noble metallic nanoclusters (NMNCs) has recently received increasing attention due to its unique characteristics, which make it good candidate for biological application especially in the field of biological detection. This review first addresses the typical characteristics of NMNCs, and then summarizes the recent developments of preparation methods of NMNCs (i.e. template method, monolayer protected method and ligand etching method) and its applications in the area of biological sensors, biological probes, cell labeling and imaging. Finally, the trends and future perspectives in this research area are outlined.

Over the past three decades, palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling P-C bonds formation reactions attracted much attention in synthesis of medicines, catalyst-ligands, flame-retardants and polymer materials. The recent progress in phosphorus-carbon bond formation via palladium catalyzed cross-coupling reactions to synthesize organophosphorus compounds is reviewed in this paper. Different classes of phosphorus-based nucleophiles used as substrates in these reactions include dialkylphosphites, hypophosphonous esters, hypophosphites, phosphine oxides, primary/secondary phosphines, triaryl phosphines, trialkyl phosphites, phosphorus-silicon/stannum compounds, phosphine-borane complexes, etc.At the same times, electrophiles used in these cross-coupling reactions include alkenyl halides, aryl halides, alkenyltriflate,aryltriflate, vinylboronates and so on. The reaction mechanism, conditions and influence factors is also described in this paper.

Chiral aryl vicinal diols with special functional group are potentially valuable synthetic intermediates for the preparation of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and pheromones. In recent years, the synthesis and application of chiral aryl vicinal diols have attracted intensive attention of chemists. Recent progress in asymmetric synthesis of chiral aryl vicinal diols is reviewed in both biocatalytic and chemocatalytic perspectives. The effects of some factors, including the electronic effects and steric factors of substituted groups, the species of chiral catalysts and the different reaction media, on the yields and optical activity of chiral aryl vicinal diols are summarized. The trends in the asymmetric synthesis of chiral aryl vicinal diols are prospected.

Cyclodextrin(CD) and its derivatives have the special molecular structures with hydrophobic cavities and hydrophilic surfaces, which can form inclusion complexes with many guest molecules. Construction of biomaterials with stability, structural controllability as well as potential applications by supramolecular self-assembly is one of the research focuses in materials and medical fields. This paper introduces the concept of CDs based (pseudo) polyrotaxanes and the driving forces for their self-assembly, mainly reviews the biomedical applications of (pseudo) polyrotaxanes self-assembled from CDs and polymers, including drug carriers (such as supramolecular hydrogels, supramolecular micelles, supramolecular nanocapsules, drug conjugated (pseudo) polyrotaxane and stimuli-responsive (pseudo) polyrotaxane), gene carriers, multifold recognition and targeting, as well as other applications involving shape memory materials, anticoagulant materials, DNA-cleavage reagent and trypsin inhibitor.

As a new type of functional materials, conductive hydrogel has attracted widespread attentions. In accordance with the current research situation, conductive hydrogel could be sorted several types, as polyelectrolyte conductive hydrogel, acid-doped conductive hydrogel, inorganic substance add conductive hydrogel and conductive polymers-based conductive hydrogel etc. In addition, conductive polymer and hydrogel are macromolecular systems which possess special and important properties that make them suitable for a wide range of practical applications. Therefore, in this paper, the progress about the preparation of conductive polymer-based conductive hydrogel is reviewed especially.

Amphiphilic block copolymers can self assemble into micelles containing the outer shell of hydrophilic blocks and inner core of hydrophobic blocks in aqueous solution. These micelles can be used for drug carriers and have attracted much attention. In this article, we review the research progress in amphiphilic block copolymer micelles for medical materials, including species of medical amphiphilic block copolymers, micellization, and carriers of diagnostics, drug release and targeting. Amphiphilic block copolymer micelles as MRI contrast agent carriers are beneficial to tumor diagnosis. These micelles as drug carriers can enhance the solubility of hydrophobic anticancer drugs and extend drug circulation time in vivo. In addition, amphiphilic block copolymer micelles are capable of achieving the target function through either attachment of targeting ligands to the micelle surface or introduction of external fields. Therefore, the amphiphilic block copolymer micelles have broad development prospects in the field of medical materials.

Quantum dots (QDs) are nanometer-sized structures with the remarkable optical characteration, which have widely used in biology, chemistry and physics. Polymeric materials are not only employed as matrices for QDs for optical applications, but also provide mechanical and chemical stability to QDs as well as preventing nanocrystal agglomeration, and offering processability into technologically relevant structures. Using polymers as the modifier of QDs, surface modifications are especially required to permit monodispersion of materials, and further functionalization is necessary to facilitate specific biological and chemical interactions. The present review summarizes recent research in the development of polymer-modified QDs materials, their synthesis and fabrication methods, as well as resulting optical properties and applications. It is briefly described on surface coating of QDs with amphiphilic polymers, multivalent polymerization of QDs surface, synthesis of end-functionalized polymers on the QDs surface and preparation of the dendrimer-quantum dots materials. Surface coating of QDs with amphiphilic polymers would improve water solubility and chemical functionality of the materials. Multidentate polymeric ligands have the ability to retain the luminescence quantum yields, and to simultaneously provide the necessary colloidal stability with chemical functionality. Attachment of end-functionalized polymers to the QDs surface lead to many new applications for such advanced materials. In addition, dendrimer-encapsulated approaches have been used for the controlled synthesis of QDs. Moreover, the perspective and application about the modification are also reviewed.

Discoveries of new materials have significant impact on development of new methods and instrumentation for eletroanalysis. Boron doped diamond (BDD) electrode occupies a special place as an electrode material with interesting applications in electroanalysis because of its superior properties such as a wide potential window,low background current responses, remarkable corrosion stability, an inert surface with low adsorption. BDD electrodes have attracted the interests of many researchers for electrophoresis. The object of this article is to discuss the recent results available in the literature concerning the application of BDD electrodes to electroanalysis such as capillary electrophoresis end-column detection, electrochemical biosensor, anodic stripping voltammetry for trace metal ion detection,modified diamond electrodes and chemical oxygen demand detection.

Because of the increasing demand for blood and the emergence of unsafe issues in allogeneic blood transfusion, blood substitutes are attracting increasing interest in chemistry and medical science. Based on the knowledge of the structure and functions of hemoglobin-a typical natural oxygen carrier, many artificial oxygen carriers have been synthesized and applied to clinical trails. Artificial oxygen carriers include perfluorocarbon, hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier, synthetic heme and its polymer metal complexes. Although most of the perfluorocarbons could not be applied as blood substitutes, their applications as medicine are still continued because of their therapeutic effect. In order to reduce unwanted side-effects of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers, hemoglobin has been modified by many methods, such as chemical modification, microencapsulation, recombinant technology, biomimetic nanotechnology, etc. Among all of the above hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers, the particle size of hemoglobin vesicles (HbV) is relatively larger in the simulation of the structure of the red blood cell. It represents one of the tendency of the progress of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers. Most of synthetic hemes, such as pocket porphyrin metal complexes, are only dissolved in organic solvents. In order to increase their water-solubility, synthetic hemes have been conjugated with albumin, xylitol enzymes and cyclodextrin and so on. The results of animal trial showed that these polymer metal complexes could transport dioxygen in the animal body. Beside to be used as the blood substitutes in clinical trails, artificial oxygen carriers have other potential clinical uses, such as cancer therapy, organ transplantation and prevention of ischemia/reperfusion injury of tissues and organs.

Guanine (G)-rich oligonucleotides can self-assemble into polymorphic G-quadruplexes via stacking of G-quartets which are a biologically relevant alternative of the classical Watson-Crick double helix. Unique molecular recognition properties of G-quadruplex can be utilized to induce orderly organizing of nanoparticles and design nanodevices with stimulu-response functions, which have promising applications in DNA nanotechnology. This article introduced the polymorphism of G-quadruplexes and reviewed the DNA nanotechnology based on structural transition of G-quadruplex, especially focusing on nanomaterials self-organization and nanodevices design, and then illustrated the prospects of its development trend.

As anticancer drugs, ruthenium complexes have received wide attention at home and abroad.In recent years, the design and synthesis of new types of complexes,the regulatory role of complexes in apoptosis, signal transduction, and gene expression have become a new hotspot, and its mechanisms of anticancer activity of metal complexes have been further explained. This paper mainly reviews ruthenium complexes, including their effect to induce the apoptosis of various types of tumor cell and their mechanism that induces apoptosis in current studies. The main text includes the following: the anti-cancer mechanism of the ruthenium complexes which had accessed to clinical (Ⅰ, Ⅱ); the cell cycle arrest induced by ruthenium complexes; the endogenous mitochondrial damage, the endoplasmic reticulum stress and other signal transduction pathway which induced tumor cell apoptosis; regulating the expression of the pathway-related proteins; regulating the expression and activity of these proteins which are related to the cell apoptosis or the cell proliferation.

Polymer solar cell has attracted considerable attention due to its advantages, such as light weight of device, simple process of production, and low-cost fabrication process. Bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell (BHJ-PSC) is one of the device with excellent performance. In this paper, we review the recent progress of the BHJ-PSC. First, we introduce the device structure and the work principle of the BHJ-PSC with the focus on the progress of donor and acceptor material. Furthermore, we discuss several important factors for effecting morphology of the active layer, such as solvents, additives, ratio of donor and accepter, and annealing condition. In addition, tandem cell and inverted cell are also introduced. Finally, the solutions to improve performance of the BHJ-PSC and the application prospects of the BHJ-PSC are presented.

Dye is one of important factor for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Due to the synthetic challenge and precious metals needed for multipyridine ruthenium complex dyes, more and more research focus on the pure organic dyes. Porphyrin derivatives as pure organic dyes attract increasing interests because they have lots of merits, such as short synthetic route, easy modification and strong absorption in visible region. In this paper, with analyzing the influences of electron donor, electron transfer channel and electron acceptor, some important results in recent years for porphyrin derivatives as dyes are reviewed.

Due to its unique nanometer-sized straight channel structure, the b-oriented MFI zeolite films have great potential in separation membranes, membrane reactors, and chemical sensors. Thus, there has been growing interest in the preparation of zeolite films with preferred b-orientation. Recent advances in the preparation process of b-oriented MFI zeolite films are reviewed in this paper. The methods of in situ hydrothermal synthesis and secondary growth are further described in detail. In particular, it is summarized and evaluated for the very recent research results in the modification of the substrate surface, the preparation of b-oriented MFI zeolite arrays, and the regulation of hydrothermal synthesis conditions. Based on the extensive discussion of the merits and demerits of various preparation methods, the trends in the manufacture of b-oriented zeolite films are prospected.

Supported liquid membranes (SLM) is a highly efficient separation technology combining membrane materials and liquid-liquid extraction. During operation, organic extractant tends to diffuse out of the SLM and the membrane materials degrades in organic extractant, leading to declined flux or selectivity. Due to the instable problem, large scale applications have not been realized yet. In this review, the mechanisms leading to the instability in supported liquid membrane are reviewed. Challenges and milestone of membrane materials in stabilizing the supported liquid membranes are discussed. The application of gelation, coating, interfacial polymerization and plasma coating, hydrophilic-hydrophobic composite material, and ion exchange membranes in stabilization of SLM were discussed in detail. The advantages and disadvantages of various materials in terms of stabilization of SLM were compared. Finally, a new type of membrane material, a sufonated polymer was evaluated as the coating polymer for the improvement of membrane permeability and stability. The sulfonated polymer coated composite membrane based membrane contactor system was introduced and the sulfonated polymer-based blend material is proposed as the new development direction for membrane materials to improve the liquid membrane stability. It is envisioned that the new type membrane material would find applications in separation and purification of precious metal ions and energy metal ions.