The structural integrity of biological membranes is maintained by membrane proteins embedded in the lipid bilayer. A delicate balance of weak interactions between the lipid bilayer and membrane associated proteins regulates cellular homeostasis and disease states. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the construction of in vitro mimics of biological membranes. This allows the study of multiple facets of complex interactions involving lipids and proteins in a simple environment. In recent years, liquid crystal (LC) interfaces decorated with self-assembled layers of phospholipids have evolved as biomimetic systems for systematic study of lipid- protein interactions. Binding of proteins to these phospholipid-laden fluid interfaces can be coupled to the orientational ordering of LCs. In this minireview, we have surveyed the key investigations of these interactions using LC interfaces as the sensing platform. Micrometer thick films of liquid crystals can report interactions ranging from hydrolysis of lipids by enzymatic peptides to membrane induced amyloid formation.

Achieving a highly pure biomolecule of interest is of great importance and chromatography based techniques are the reliable tools for this challenging task. During the last few decades, monoliths have been explored as alternative chromatography stationary phases for biomolecule separation. In this Minireview, we aim to provide information on different nanomaterials incorporated within the network of monoliths and strategies applied to perform nanomaterial surface  functionalization. Subsequently, the applications of “nanomaterials embedded monolithic microcolumns” for separation of target biomolecules such as proteins and peptides with the help of different chromatography principles such as affinity, ionic and hydrophobic is also discussed in detail.

Enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) draw much attention since they use renewable fuels to generate electricity and power biological medical devices. However, such EBFCs’ application as devices has always been a puzzle to researchers, let alone their microminiaturization. Herein, we show the efficient embedding of enzymes in a porous reduced graphene oxide (RGO) matrix to form a unique sandwich structure for constructing an on-chip glucose biofuel cell (GBFC). During electrochemical deposition, laccase and glucose oxidase are incorporated in RGO layers to be used as cathode and anode materials, respectively. This GBFC delivers a maximum volumetric power density of 14.77 mW·cm^-3 under physiological conditions (50 mM glucose, pH 7). Compared with previous work which is relatively large and cannot be separated from liquid phase system, our on-chip, mediator- and membrane-less micro-GBFC shows great potential to be applied as miniaturized devices to meet the rapidly growing need of being small, thin, wearable and even implantable in modern life.

Two new mesogenic homologous series of naphthalene with different central linkages: (E)-naphthalen-2-yl 4-(4-n-alkoxybenzylideneamino)benzoate (I) and (E)-naphthalen-2-yl 4-(4-n-alkoxyphenylazo)benzoate (II) have been synthesized and characterized by a combination of elemental analysis and standard spectroscopic methods. In series I, all the twelve synthesized compounds exhibit mesomorphism. Methoxy to n-tetradecyloxy derivatives exhibit enantiotropic nematic mesophase. The SmA mesophase commences from n-pentyloxy derivative as an enantiotropic and persists up to the n-hexadecyloxy homologue synthesized. In series II, all the twelve synthesized compounds exhibit enantiotropic nematic mesophase. SmA mesophase commences from n-heptyloxy as monotropy and persist up to the n-hexadecyloxy homologous synthesized. The mesomorphic properties of present series were compared with each other and with a structurally related mesogenic homologous series to evaluate the effects of central linkage on mesomorphism.

The introduction of carbon (C) into TiO₂ may facilitate charge transfer and thus improve its photocatalytic activities. In this paper, C was introduced into N, Zr/TiO₂ via ultrasound and calcination using glucose as carbon precursor. The as-prepared C@N, Zr/TiO₂ was characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, UV-Vis DRS, and XPS. The adsorption abilities of the materials were evaluated using two anion dyes [methylene blue (MB) and basic violet (BV)] and two cation dyes [titan yellow (TY) and congo red (CR)] as model pollutants. The photocatalytic activities were investigated through the degradation of Ciprofloxacin (CIP) under simulated sunlight irradiation. The results revealed that the appropriate introduction of carbon may improve the adsorption abilities and the photocatalytic activities of non-carbonaceous materials. Furthermore, several samples exhibited selective adsorption abilities for cation dyes, which suggested the potential application of the as-prepared materials for the selective removal of co-existing pollutants.