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High-efficiency blue phosphorescence emission is essential for organic optoelectronic applications. However, synthesizing heavy-atom-free organic systems having high triplet energy levels and suppressed non-radiative transitions—key requirements for efficient blue phosphorescence—has proved difficult. Here we demonstrate a simple chemical strategy for achieving high-performance blue phosphors, based on confining isolated chromophores in ionic crystals. Formation of high-density ionic bonds between the cations of ionic crystals and the carboxylic acid groups of the chromophores leads to a segregated molecular arrangement with negligible inter-chromophore interactions. We show that tunable phosphorescence from blue to deep blue with a maximum phosphorescence efficiency of 96.5% can be achieved by varying the charged chromophores and their counterions. Moreover, these phosphorescent materials enable rapid, high-throughput data encryption, fingerprint identification and afterglow display. This work will facilitate the design of high-efficiency blue organic phosphors and extend the domain of organic phosphorescence to new applications. A strategy to confine phosphorescent organic chromophores within ionic crystals proves effective in suppressing non-radiative recombination channels and increasing the phosphorescence efficiency of blue-emitting heavy-atom-free emitters.

Materials exhibiting long-lived, persistent luminescence in the visible spectrum are useful for applications in the display, information encryption and bioimaging sectors1–4. Herein, we report the development of several organic phosphors that provide colour-tunable, ultra-long organic phosphorescence (UOP). The emission colour can be tuned by varying the excitation wavelength, allowing dynamic colour tuning from the violet to the green part of the visible spectrum. Our experimental data reveal that these organic phosphors can have an ultra-long lifetime of 2.45 s and a maximum phosphorescence efficiency of 31.2%. Furthermore, we demonstrate the applications of colour-tunable UOP for use in a multicolour display and visual sensing of ultraviolet light in the range from 300 to 360 nm. The findings open the opportunity for the development of smart luminescent materials and sensors with dynamically controlled phosphorescence.Organic phosphors with ultra-long lifetimes and an emission colour that can be tuned by the excitation wavelength are reported.

Long-lived room temperature phosphorescence (LRTP) is an attractive optical phenomenon in organic electronics and photonics. Despite the rapid advance, it is still a formidable challenge to explore a universal approach to obtain LRTP in amorphous polymers. Based on the traditional polyethylene derivatives, we herein present a facile and concise chemical strategy to achieve ultralong phosphorescence in polymers by ionic bonding cross-linking. Impressively, a record LRTP lifetime of up to 2.1 s in amorphous polymers under ambient conditions is set up. Moreover, multicolor long-lived phosphorescent emission can be procured by tuning the excitation wavelength in single-component polymer materials. These results outline a fundamental principle for the construction of polymer materials with LRTP, endowing traditional polymers with fresh features for potential applications. Long-lived room temperature phosphorescence (LRTP) is important in organic photonics but exploring a universal approach to obtain LRTP in amorphous polymers is challenging. Here the authors present a facile chemical strategy to achieve ultralong phosphorescence in polymers by ionic bonding cross-linking.

Ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) crystals have attracted increased attention due to the distinct photophysical property of a long-lived lifetime. However, organic crystals are generally brittle, leading to a serious problem for their application in flexible technology. Herein, we report three types of elastic organic crystals (EOCs) with ultralong phosphorescence via introducing halogen atoms (Cl, Br, I) into π-conjugated phosphorescent molecules. Especially, the crystal containing iodine atoms displayed both excellent elasticity ( ε  = 3.01%) and high phosphorescent efficiency ( Φ Ph  = 19.1%) owing to the strong halogen bonds. Taking advantage of its highly efficient UOP and excellent elasticity, we successfully used a DCz4I crystal for anti-counterfeiting application. These findings may provide guidance for the development of elastic crystals with afterglow and expand the scope of potential applications on flexible materials.

Background Diet and exercise play important roles in ameliorating metabolic syndrome. Yunkang 10 ( Camellia sinensis var. assamica ) is a most cultivated tea variety for making tea in the Southwestern China. Currently, there is no report of healthy effects of Yunkang 10 green tea (YKGT) and treadmill exercise (Ex) on high fat diet induced metabolic syndrome (MetS). We aimed to investigate the beneficial effects and molecular mechanism of YKGT and Ex using high fat diet induced MetS of C57BL/6 mice. Methods Catechins and caffeine in water extract of YKGT were measured via high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). 10-week old mice were fed with high fat diet (HFD) for 10 weeks to induce obese mice. Then the obese mice were fed with continuous high fat diet (HFD), HFD with YKGT, HFD with Ex, and HFD with both YKGT and Ex for 8 weeks, respectively. The another group of 10-week old mice fed with low fat diet (LFD) were used as control. Results HPLC data revealed that YKGT has abundantly high concentration of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and caffeine compared to Longjing 43 ( Camellia sinensis var. sinensis ) green tea. YKGT and Ex significantly decreased the level of blood glucose, serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), insulin, and alanine aminotransferase activity (ALT) when compared to HFD group. The fatty liver and hepatic pro-inflammatory gene expression in the YKGT, Ex and YKGT+Ex groups was mitigated significantly compared with HFD group, respectively. The phosphorylation of inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase α/β (IKKα/β) and inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B α (IkBα) protein in the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kB) signaling pathway was also decreased in YKGT or YKGT+Ex groups. The combination of YKGT and Ex prevented gene expression for lipid synthesis in the liver tissue, and significantly upregulated mRNA level of glucose transport genes in the skeletal muscles, when compared to the HFD group. Conclusions This study demonstrated that YKGT supplement or exercise appeared to reverse preexisting metabolic syndrome, and effectively relieved the fatty liver and hepatic inflammatory response induced by high fat diet. YKGT supplement and treadmill exercise together had better beneficial effects than only one intervention.

Developing ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) materials with smart response to external stimuli is of great interest in photonics applications, whereas the manipulation of molecular stacking on tuning such dynamic UOP is still a formidable challenge. Herein, we have reported two polymorphs with distinct photoactivated dynamic UOP behavior based on a pyridine derivative for the first time. Our experiment revealed that the dynamic UOP behavior including photoactivation and deactivation feature is highly dependent on irradiation intensity and environmental atmosphere. Additionally, given the unique dynamic UOP feature, these phosphors have been successfully applied to phosphorescence-dependent molecular logic gate and timing data storage. This result not only paves a way to design smart functional materials but also expands the scope of the applications on organic phosphorescence materials.

Dietary habits and exercise play an important role in the well‐being of human health. Currently, how long of drinking tea combined with exercise could efficiently ameliorate hepatic steatosis and obesity still needs to be investigated. Here, short‐term and long‐term green tea drinking combined with exercise were studied to improve hepatic steatosis and obesity in high‐fat diet‐induced (HF) mice. Our results showed that Yunkang 10 green tea (GT) combined with exercise (Ex) exhibited synergistic prevention effects on ameliorating hepatic steatosis and obesity. Especially, 22‐week intervention with GT or Ex improved all symptoms of obesity, which indicated that long‐term intervention exhibited profound preventive effects than the short term. Moreover, the combined intervention of 22 weeks inhibited the activation of NF‐κB pathway and the expression of proinflammatory cytokines, which suggests that tea combined exercise may improve liver steatosis mainly by inhibiting inflammation. The key molecules for regulating lipid and glucose metabolism SCD1 were obviously downregulated, and GLU2 and PPARγ were significantly upregulated by GT and exercise in the liver of high‐fat diet‐induced mice. This study demonstrated that long‐term intervention with GT and exercise effectively relieved hepatic steatosis and obesity complications by ameliorating hepatic inflammation, reducing lipid synthesis, and accelerating glucose transport. Long‐term intervention with YKGT and exercise effectively relieved hepatic steatosis and obesity complications by ameliorating hepatic inflammation, reducing lipid synthesis, and accelerating glucose transport. Long‐term intervention exhibited profound beneficial effects than short term on ameliorating symptoms of hepatic steatosis and obesity complications. The key molecules, SCD1, GLU 2, and PPARγ, were identified for playing important roles in regulating lipids and glucose homeostasis upon YKGT and exercise intervention.

Pymetrozine is a selective insecticide with a unique chemical structure and mode to control hemipteran and homopteran. While pymetrozine has brought great benefits to crop production by killing insects, its residues in soil may have a detrimental effect on environment. Therefore, it is of great importance to investigate its behaviors in soil. In this study, the sorption and desorption of pymetrozine on six Chinese soils were investigated using a batch equilibrium approach to understand its mobile behavior in the soils. Both sorption and desorption isotherms ofpymetrozine were in good agreement with the Freundlich model. The sorption coefficient KF varied between 3.37 and 58.32 mL. g-1 and the sorption isotherms were nonlinear, with 1/n ranging from 0.57 to 0.91. A regression equation was proposed to predict the solption of pymetrozine on six different soil samples： log KF = 4.3708 - 4.5709 × log （pH in 0.01mol·L-1 CaC12） ＋ 0.4700 × log OC% ＋ 0.0057 × sand （%） ＋ 0.0022 × CEC（clay）, with R2 = 0.9982. The organic carbon content of soil positively affected the sorption ofpymetrozine, but soil pH had a negative effect on the sorption. Additionally, effects of CaC12 concentration, soil to solution ratio and pesticide form were investigated. The sorption was promoted with an increase in soil to solution ratio and a decrease in CaC12 concentration. The possible variation of the five formulated products of pymetrozine was also investigated.

Deciphering the complicated excited-state process is critical for the development of luminescent materials with controllable emissions in different applications. Here we report the emergence of a photo-induced structural distortion accompanied by an electron redistribution in a series of gold nanoclusters. Such unexpected slow process of excited-state transformation results in near-infrared dual emission with extended photoluminescent lifetime. We demonstrate that this dual emission exhibits highly sensitive and ratiometric response to solvent polarity, viscosity, temperature and pressure. Thus, a versatile luminescent nano-sensor for multiple environmental parameters is developed based on this strategy. Furthermore, we fully unravel the atomic-scale structural origin of this unexpected excited-state transformation, and demonstrate control over the transition dynamics by tailoring the bi-tetrahedral core structures of gold nanoclusters. Overall, this work provides a substantial advance in the excited-state physical chemistry of luminescent nanoclusters and a general strategy for the rational design of next-generation nano-probes, sensors and switches. Excited-state structural and electronic changes, observed in molecules, are hampered in nanomaterials. Here the authors identify structural distortion and electron redistribution in three photoexcited gold nanoclusters, connecting molecular and nanocrystal regimes, enabled by flexibility of the tetrahedral core units.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of death by cancer worldwide. Despite developments in therapeutic approaches for the past few decades, the 5-year survival rate of patients with NSCLC remains low. NSCLC tumor is a complex, heterogeneous microenvironment, comprising blood vessels, cancer cells, immune cells, and stroma cells. Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are a major mediator to induce tumor microvasculature and are associated with the progression, recurrence, and metastasis of NSCLC. Current treatment medicines targeting VEGF/VEGF receptor (VEGFR) pathway, including neutralizing antibodies to VEGF or VEGFR and receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, have shown good treatment efficacy in patients with NSCLC. VEGF is not only an important angiogenic factor but also an immunomodulator of tumor microenvironment (TME). VEGFs can suppress antigen presentation, stimulate activity of regulatory T (Treg) cells, and tumor-associated macrophages, which in turn promote an immune suppressive microenvironment in NSCLC. The present review focuses on the angiogenic and non-angiogenic functions of VEGF in NSCLC, especially the interaction between VEGF and the cellular components of the TME. Additionally, we discuss recent preclinical and clinical studies to explore VEGF/VEGFR-targeted compounds and immunotherapy as novel approaches targeting the TME for the treatment of NSCLC.Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of death by cancer worldwide. Despite developments in therapeutic approaches for the past few decades, the 5-year survival rate of patients with NSCLC remains low. NSCLC tumor is a complex, heterogeneous microenvironment, comprising blood vessels, cancer cells, immune cells, and stroma cells. Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) are a major mediator to induce tumor microvasculature and are associated with the progression, recurrence, and metastasis of NSCLC. Current treatment medicines targeting VEGF/VEGF receptor (VEGFR) pathway, including neutralizing antibodies to VEGF or VEGFR and receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, have shown good treatment efficacy in patients with NSCLC. VEGF is not only an important angiogenic factor but also an immunomodulator of tumor microenvironment (TME). VEGFs can suppress antigen presentation, stimulate activity of regulatory T (Treg) cells, and tumor-associated macrophages, which in turn promote an immune suppressive microenvironment in NSCLC. The present review focuses on the angiogenic and non-angiogenic functions of VEGF in NSCLC, especially the interaction between VEGF and the cellular components of the TME. Additionally, we discuss recent preclinical and clinical studies to explore VEGF/VEGFR-targeted compounds and immunotherapy as novel approaches targeting the TME for the treatment of NSCLC.