The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance highlights the need for new antibacterial drugs and, in particular, the development of alternative approaches such as photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) to manage this growing issue. In the present study, a broad-spectrum antibacterial system was produced in which Ag nanoparticle-conjugated graphene quantum dots (GQD–AgNP) were utilised as a blue light-enhanced nanotherapeutic for efficient ternary-mode antimicrobial therapy. The successful conjugation of AgNPs onto the surface of GQDs can significantly improve the production of reactive oxygen species in light-activatable GQDs and the transformation of light energy to hyperthermia with high efficiency. There was a remarkable increase in the sample temperature of nearly 40 °C via photoexcitation after only 10 min of 450 nm laser exposure (14.2 mW cm⁻²). The hybrids exhibited much more efficient bactericidal capability against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria compared with GQDs alone, using 450 nm light irradiation. This is likely a consequence of their enhanced PDT, concomitant PTT, and the synergistic function of AgNPs. The antibacterial mechanism of the new-style nanocomposites was found to irreversibly destroy the bacterial membrane structure, leading to the leaking out of the cytoplasmic contents and the death of the bacteria. At low doses, the biocompatible GQD–AgNP hybrids promoted healing in bacteria-infected rat wounds, with negligible adverse impact to the normal tissue, indicating a promising future for combined photodynamic and photothermal antibacterial applications in clinical medicine.

Rutin is a natural flavonoid that carries out a variety of biological activities, but its application in medicine and food is limited by its water solubility. One of the classical methods used to enhance drug solubility is encapsulation with cyclodextrins. In this paper, the encapsulation of different cyclodextrins with rutin was investigated using a combination of experimental and simulation methods. Three inclusions of rutin/beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD), rutin/2-hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and rutin/2,6-dimethyl beta-cyclodextrin (DM-β-CD) were prepared by the freeze-drying method, and the inclusions were analyzed using Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV) to characterize and demonstrate the formation of the inclusion complexes. Phase solubility studies showed that rutin formed a 1:1 stoichiometric inclusion complex and significantly increased its solubility. β-CD, HP-β-CD, DM-β-CD, rutin and the three inclusion complexes were modeled by using MS2018 and AutoDock 4.0, and molecular dynamics simulations were performed to calculate the solubility parameters, binding energies, mean square displacement (MSD), hydrogen bonding and radial distribution functions (RDF) after the equilibration of the systems. The results of simulation and experiment showed that rutin/DM-β-CD had the best encapsulation effect among the three cyclodextrin inclusion complexes.

In this study, Co nanoparticle-embedded N,O-codoped porous carbon nanospheres (C@Co) with abundant N and O doping, high graphitization, large specific surface area (319 m² g⁻¹) and a well-developed mesoporous structure were synthesized and characterized thoroughly, and were applied to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the degradation of methylene blue (MB). Various influential factors affecting the catalytic performance including C@Co dosage, PMS dosage, MB concentration, initial pH, temperature, and co-existing common anions and humic acid (HA) on the MB degradation were systematically investigated. The increase of the C@Co dosage (15–60 mg), PMS dosage (25–100 mg) and reaction temperature (278–308 K) promoted the MB degradation in the C@Co/PMS system. The best performance of the C@Co/PMS system was observed under weakly acidic or nearly neutral conditions. Both the MB concentration (25–100 mg L⁻¹) and Cl⁻ (5–100 mM), NO₃ ⁻ (10–500 mM), CO₃ ²⁻ (10–300 mM), HCO₃ ⁻ (1–30 mM) and HA (2–40 mg L⁻¹) had an inhibitory effect on MB degradation, and the degree of decrease in MB degradation increased as their concentrations were enhanced. Interestingly, HPO₄ ²⁻ (1–100 mM) had an overall inhibitory effect on the degradation process of MB; however, in comparison with lower concentrations (1–10 mM), an attenuation of the inhibitory effect at higher concentrations (50–100 mM) could be observed. Moreover, the C@Co/PMS system also exhibited general applicability in eliminating various organic pollutants from water such as methyl orange, malachite green, safranine T, Congo red, Rhodamine B, ofloxacin and tetracycline. Classical radical-quenching tests and EPR measurements showed that both the non-radical pathway (major route, involving ¹O₂) and radical pathway (minor route, involving ˙OH, ˙SO₄ ⁻ and ˙O₂ ⁻) contribute to the MB degradation. DFT calculations disclosed that the combination of Co–C interactions with graphitic N doping brought in catalytically active sites in C@Co where the charge states of some C atoms were significantly increased. The degradation intermediates of MB during the catalytic reaction were also identified by HPLC-MS and the possible degradation pathway was proposed. Overall, the resultant C@Co can be developed as a novel and efficient heterogeneous catalyst for activating PMS to degrade organic pollutants, and has potential application in environmental remediation.

Rubber damping materials are widely used in electronics, electrical and other fields because of their unique viscoelasticity. How to prepare high-damping materials and prevent small molecule migration has attracted much attention. Antioxidant 4010NA was successfully grafted onto graphene oxide (GO) to prepare an anti-migration antioxidant (GO-4010NA). A combined molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and experimental study is presented to investigate the effects of small molecules 4010NA, GO, and GO-4010NA on the compatibility and damping properties of nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) composites. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed that both 4010NA and GO-4010NA had good compatibility with the NBR matrix, and the T_g of GO-4010NA/NBR composite was improved. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) data showed that the addition of GO-4010NA increased the damping performance of NBR than that of the addition of 4010NA. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results show GO-4010NA/NBR composites have the smallest free volume fraction (FFV) and the largest binding energy. GO-4010NA has a strong interaction with NBR due to the forming of hydrogen bonds (H-bonds). Grafting 4010NA onto GO not only inhibits the migration of 4010NA but also improves the damping property of NBR matrixes. This study provides new insights into GO grafted small molecules and the design of high-damping composites.

Wound infection is a crucial factor that inhibits wound recovery. A feasible measure to solve this problem is using antimicrobial biomaterials to suppress the microbial growth. In this work, an amphipathic antimicrobial peptide (Ac-RKKWFW-NH₂, PAF26) was investigated to form the antimicrobial hydrogel. Triggered by pH, PAF26 peptide could self-assemble into a hydrogel, and the hydrogel formed was injectable and exhibited shear-thinning ability. Antimicrobial experiments demonstrated that the self-assembled hydrogel had an outstanding antimicrobial ability against pathogenic microbes such as Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli via destroying the cell membrane structure. Thus, this study provides a novel method for preparing an injectable antimicrobial peptide hydrogel for antimicrobial therapies.