Themed collection 2013 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Hot Papers

Over the past decades, injectable hydrogels have emerged as promising biomaterials because of their biocompatibility, excellent permeability, minimal invasion, and easy integration into surgical procedures.

Nanoparticles that are made by self-assembly into nonspherical shapes are promising as drug delivery vehicles that interact differently with cells and in flow.

Hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) is a relatively strong, highly directional, and specific noncovalent interaction present in many organic molecules, and notably is responsible for supramolecular ordering in biological systems. This article aims to highlight recent work on the application of nature-inspired H-bonded organic molecules in organic electronic devices.

Bioinspired prospects of graphene and its related properties are reviewed with a focus from biosensing to energy.

Buckycolumn electrodes are less prone to dopamine fouling compared to glassy carbon and boron-doped diamond electrodes.

Charge-regulated synthesis of triangular prisms in aqueous solution using self-assembled polyelectrolyte micelles as templates is described in detail.

Block copolymer lithography is employed to precisely organize proteins at the nanoscale. A low amount of biotinylated poly(ethylene glycol)-block-polystyrene (PEG-b-PS) blended with its non-functionalized counterpart yields a regular pattern of biotin that enables the immobilization of single streptavidin molecules.

A strategy for rapid synthesis of a chemopalette of fluorescent Ag nanoclusters based on efficient directors by only incorporating mutated bases of a C-rich ssDNA as template was proposed and used as a new fluorescence turn-on highly selective and sensitive detection method for cysteine without the interference of GSH and Hcy.

Calcium phosphate is precipitated in the presence of poly(aspartic acid) within the pores of track-etch membranes, as a model of the mineralization of collagen fibrils in vivo.

Aqueous solutions of an acrylamide-based dye-labelled copolymer exhibit characteristic changes in photophysical properties in response to a change in solution temperature, as well as to the presence of an antibody.

A rhodamine based highly selective colorimetric and fluorescent probe for fluoride has been synthesized.

An effective electrochemical method for the preparation of shape-tunable micron-scale surface chemical gradients via click chemistry.

Two β-lactoglobulin (BLG) isoforms, BLGA and BLGB, were used a test bed for the differentiation of proteins using electrostatics.

Near-infrared emission of squaraine dye modified poly(propargyl acrylate) nanoparticles is turned on/off through the interaction of proteins with the dye for contrast-enhanced imaging.

Singlet O₂ can be formed via photosensitization of silver decahedral nanoparticles upon NIR light irradiation, but not by silver nanocubes.

Encapsulation of azidothymidine (AZT) or its phosphorylated derivatives (AZT-MP and AZT-TP) has been performed using nanoparticles of the porous crystalline iron(III) trimesate metal–organic framework MIL-100(Fe).

Theranostic magnetic nanoparticles conjugated with targeting peptide SP94 and the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) are designed for typical magnetic isolation of target cancer cells.

Carboxymethyl-inulin is reported as a potential biocompatible nanoparticle coating.

A novel approach demonstrates the production of 3D aligned nanofibrous tubular constructs by direct electrospinning with several polymeric materials.

A novel method to prevent infectious viral diseases using molecularly imprinted polymers as virus catchers unlike traditional antiviral strategies.

Enzyme partitioning controlled the site and rate of mineralization in a crowded, phase separated aqueous polymer solution.

The simplified schematic structure of the organic–inorganic hybrid and the 2D NMR spectra.

Asymmetric hollow microspheres with PSt-EA semi-spherical cores and Ni-Silicate hierarchical porous shells have been prepared by a facile method and proven to be a potential candidate for storing and delivering bio-molecules.

Rationalization of the most relevant chemical and structural features of a series of microporous functionalized zirconium(IV) terephthalates UiO-66 significantly affecting the biomolecules encapsulation.

The electrochemically assisted bacteria encapsulation in thin hybrid sol–gel films is proposed for the preservation of bacterial viability on the electrode surface.

The layer-by-layer coating of alginate matrices with chitosan and alginate is shown to be a potentially effective oral delivery device for Bifidobacterium breve.

Co-application of magnetic field and temperature dual stimuli leads to considerable improvement in the transfection performance of a nonviral vector.

Using atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, we investigate the structure and energetic of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) assisted solubilisation of single-layer graphene in aqueous medium at room temperature.

Biocompatible reduction-responsive micelles of disulfide-linked methoxyl poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(ε-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine) block copolymers were developed for efficient intracellular drug delivery.