Synthesis and Application of Novel Triazine-Based Charring-Foaming Agents in Intumescent Flame Retardant Polypropylene

Three novel triazine-based charring-foaming agents (M2-CFA, M4-CFA, and M6-CFA) were synthesized successfully with only water as the solvent and were characterized by FT-IR and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). These three charring-foaming agents and the byproduct 944-by were employed to study the effectiveness of the novel intumescent flame retardant dopant on the fire retardancy of polypropylene(PP) investigated through UL-94 and limiting oxygen index (LOI) tests. TGA results showed that the M4-CFA presented good char formation ability (char residue: 26.8% at 700 °C). It was found that the sample with a 2/1 mass ratio of APP to M4-CFA exhibited the best flame retardancy among all the PP composites: 35.5% LOI and a V-0 rating of UL-94. Additionally, the microstructure and morphology of char residues were further studied by XRD, Raman spectroscopy and SEM. © 2017, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Synthesis and Stability of Hydroxyfasudil Derivatives as Prodrugs

Fasudil (HA-1077) is the first small-molecule inhibitor of Rho-kinase and has been employed for clinical treatment of cerebral vasospasm. Hydroxyfasudil, as a metabolite of fasudil, exhibited better activity than fasudil. However, it also suffered from quick metabolisation, weak lipotropy and worse penetration of the blood–brain barrier. Thus, some hydroxyfasudil derivatives such as hydroxyfasudil acetate, hydroxyfasudil phosphate and 1-methoxyfasudil as the prodrugs of hydroxyfasudil were designed and synthesised. Meanwhile, the stability of these three compounds was also investigated. Furthermore, the reason and mechanism of hydrolysis of these compounds were discussed. This work could provide a useful guide for future research. © 2016, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Light-triggered plasmonic vesicles with enhanced catalytic activity of glucose oxidase for programmable photothermal/starvation therapy

Glucose oxidase(GOx)-based nanotheranostic agents hold great promise in tumor starvation and its synergistic therapy. Self-assembled plasmonic gold vesicles(GVs) with unique optical properties, large hollow cavity, and strong localized surface plasmon resonance, can be used as multi-functional nanocarriers for synergistic therapy. Herein,GOx-loaded GVs(GV-GOx) were developed for light-triggered GOx release as well as enhanced catalytic activity of GOx, achieving programmable photothermal/starvation therapy. Under near-infrared laser irradiation, the GV-GOx generated strong localized hyperthermia due to plasmon coupling effect of GVs, promoting the release of encapsulated GOx and increasing its catalytic activity, resulting in enhanced tumor starvation effect. In addition, the high photothermal effect improved the cellular uptake of GV-GOx and allowed an efficient monitoring of synergistic tumor treatment via photoacoustic/photothermal duplex imaging in vivo. Impressively, the synergistic photothermal/starvation therapy demonstrated complete tumor eradication in 4 T1 tumorbearing mice, verifying superior synergistic anti-tumor therapeutic effects than monotherapy with no apparent systemic side effects. Our work demonstrated the development of a light-triggered nanoplatform for cancer synergistic therapy.

Optical performance, structure and thermal stability of Al（lwt.-%Si）//Zr and Al（pure）//Zr multilayers designed for the 17-19 nm range

We report on the optical performance, structure and thermal stability of periodic multilayer films con- taining Zr and Al（lwt.-%Si） or Al（pure） layers designed for the use as extreme ultraviolet （EUV） high reflective mirrors in the range of 1~19 am. The comparison of A1/Zr （Al（lwt.-%Si）/Zr and Al（pure）/Zr） multilayers fabricated by direct-current magnetron sputtering shows that the optical and structural per- formances of two systems have much difference because of Si doped in A1. From the results of grazing incidence X-ray reflection （GIXR）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and EUV, the Si can disfavor the crystalliza- tion of AI and smooth the interface, consequently increase the reflectance of EUV in the Al（lwt.-%Si）/Zr systems. For the thermal stability of two systems, the first significant structural changes appear at 250 ~C. The interlayers are transformed from symmetrical to asymmetrical, where the Zr-on-A1 interlayers are thicker than Al-on-Zr interlayers. At 295 ~C for Al（pure）/Zr and 298 ~C for Al（lwt.-%Si）/Zr, the interfaces consist of amorphous Al-Zr alloy transform to polycrystalline Al-Zr alloy which can decrease the surface roughness and smooth the interfaces. Above 300 ~C, the interdiffusion becomes larger, which can enlarge the differences between Zr-on-Al and Al-on-Zr interlayers. Based on the analyses, the Si doped in Al cannot only influence the optical and structural performances of Al/Zr systems, but also impact the reaction temperatures in the annealing process.