Defect-induced synthesis of nanoscale hierarchically porous metal-organic frameworks with tunable porosity for enhanced volatile organic compound adsorption

Nanoscale hierarchically porous metal-organic frameworks(NH-MOFs)synergistically combine the advantages of nanoscale MOFs and hierarchically porous MOFs,resulting in remarkable characteristics such as increased specific surface area,greater porosity,and enhanced exposure of active sites.Herein,nanoscale hierarchically porous UIO-66(UIO-66_X)was synthesized using a defect-induced strategy that employed ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid(EDTA)as a modulator.The introduced EDTA occupies the coordination sites of organic ligands,promoting the formation and growth of UIO-66 crystal nuclei and inducing defects during synthesis.The as-synthesized UIO-66_X crystals exhibit a uniform distribution with an average size of approximately 100 nm.In addition,the total pore volume attains a remarkable value of 0.95 cm^(3)g^(-1),with mesopores constituting 36.8% of the structure.Furthermore,the porosities of UIO-66_X can be easily tuned by controlling the molar ratio of EDTA/Zr^(4+).In addition,the as-synthesized UIO-66_X exhibits excellent adsorption capacities for n-hexane(344 mg g^(-1))and pxylene(218 mg g^(-1)),which are 44.5% and 27.5% higher than those of conventional UIO-66,respectively.Finally,the adsorption behavior of n-hexane and p-xylene molecules in UIO-66_X was investigated using density functional theory simulations.

Microfluidics-based technologies for the analysis of extracellular vesicles at the single-cell level and single-vesicle level

Extracellular vesicles(EVs)are membrane vesicles secreted by cells,playing critical roles in mediating intercellular communications for various physiological and pathological processes.Most of the EV analysis is currently performed at the bulk level,obscuring the origin of the EVs and diverse characteristics of the individual extracellular vesicle.Technologies to analyze the extracellular vesicles at the single-cell and single-vesicle levels are needed to evaluate EV comprehensively and decode the heterogeneity underlying EV secretion.Microfluidic platforms that could control and manipulate fluids at the microscale provide an efficient way to achieve the aims.Various microfluidics-based technologies are emerging to realize single-cell EV secretion analysis and single EV analysis,which would be summarized in this mini-review.