The effective functionalization and self-assembly of MXene are of crucial importance for a broad range of nanomaterial applications. In this work, we investigated the aggregates of sulfanilic acid-modified MXene (abbreviated as MXene-SO3H) with three model dyes at the air–water interface and demonstrated the morphological and aggregation changes of composite films, using Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technology, as well as excellent uniformity and reproducibility by using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra. This research has found that cationic dye molecules were adsorbed onto negatively charged MXene-SO3H particles mainly through electrostatic interaction and the particles induced dyes to form highly ordered nanostructures including H- and/or J-aggregates corresponding to monomers in bulk solution. The surface pressure-area isotherms from different dye sub phases confirmed that the stable composite films have been successfully formed. And the spectral results reveal that different dyes have different types of aggregations. In addition, the SERS spectra indicated that the optimal layers of MXene-SO3H/methylene blue (MB) films was 50 layers using rhodamine 6G (R6G) as probe molecule. And the formed 50 layers of MXene-SO3H/MB films (MXene-SO3H/MB-50) as SERS substrate were proved to possess excellent uniformity and repeatability.

Chiral nanostructures exhibited distinctive functions and attractive applications in complex biological systems, which demonstrated the subject of many outstanding research studies. In this work, various hierarchical composite film nanostructures were designed via supramolecular self-assembly using chiral amphiphilic glutamate derivatives and achiral porphyrin derivatives and their macroscopic enantioselective recognition properties were investigated. We have found that intermolecular hydrogenbonding interactions between water (donor and acceptor) and N,Ndimethylformamide (DMF) as well as chloroform (CHCl 3 ) (acceptor only) and DMF could subtly alter the molecular packing and significantly affected the supramolecular self-assembled nanostructures and triggered circular dichroism (CD) signal reversal. Present research work exemplified a feasible method to fabricate chiral flower-like and brick-like nanostructure films in different mixed solvents and large-scale chiral transfer from the molecular level to complex structures, which also provided a facile approach to identify certain L-/D-amino acids by means of contact angle detection using present obtained self-assembled composted films.

Two-dimensional metal carbides or nitrides (MXenes) demonstrated wide applications in energy storage, water treatment, electromagnetic shielding, gas/biosensing, and photoelectrochemical catalysis due to their higher specific surface area and excellent conductivity. They also have the advantages of flexible and adjustable components and controllable minimum nanolayer thickness. In this study, a cube-like Co 3 O 4 particle-modified self-assembled MXene (Ti 3 C 2 ) nanocomposite has been prepared successfully by a simple solvothermal method. The Co 3 O 4 particles are well dispersed on the surface and inner layers of the Ti 3 C 2 sheets, which effectively prevent the restacking of Ti 3 C 2 sheets and form an organized composite structure. The physical properties of these nanocomposites were studied by using XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, and XPS. The performance of the obtained samples was evaluated as new nanocatalysts for degrading methylene blue and Rhodamine B in batch model experiments. The prepared Mxene-Co 3 O 4 nanocomposites can be well regenerated and reused for eight consecutive cycles, indicating potential wide applications in wastewater treatment and composite materials.

A new type of voltammetric sensor material has been fabricated via a facile self-assembled method. A modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by phenylsulfonic groups grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT-SOH) with dye molecules via Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) assembling (CNT-SOH/dye-LB/GCE) were prepared for detecting trace levels of cadmium (Cd) ions by square wave anodic stripping voltammetry. The synergy effect between CNT-SOH and dye as well as orderly aggregates in composite LB films contributed to greatly enhancing the determination performance. Under selected conditions, voltammetric response of the fabricated electrochemical sensor in 0.1 M acetate buffer solution containing Bi ions for Cd ions was linear with its concentration in the range 0.1 to 1.2 μM, with a detection limit of 0.08 μM. In addition, the preparation process of self-assembled composite film modified electrodes was simple, non-toxic, exhibiting higher sensitivity and potential application prospects in aspects of heavy metal ions detection and environmental analysis.

Background: 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) is one of the pollutants in sewage and harmful to human health and the environment. Cu is a non-noble metal with catalytic reduction effect on nitro compounds, and has the advantages of simple preparation, abundant reserves, and low price. Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are widely used for substrate due to their excellent mechanical stability and high surface area. In this study, we reported a simple method to prepare CNT-Cu2O by controlling different reaction time. The prepared nanocomposites were used to catalyze 4-NP. Methods: CNTs and CuCl2 solution were put into a beaker, and then ascorbic acid and NaOH were added while continuously stirring. The reaction was carried out for a sufficiently long period of time at 60°C. The prepared samples were dried in a vacuum at 50°C for 48 h after washing with ethyl alcohol and deionized water. Results: Nanostructures of these composites were characterized by scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy techniques, and the results at a magnification of 200 nanometers showed that Cu2O was distributed on the surface of the CNTs. In addition, X-ray diffraction was performed to further confirm the formation of Cu2O nanoparticles. The results of ultraviolet spectrophotometry showed that the catalytic effect of the compound on 4-NP was obvious. Conclusions: CNTs acted as a huge template for loading Cu2O nanoparticles, which could improve the stability and cycle performance of Cu2O. The formation of nanoparticles was greatly affected by temperature and appropriate concentration, showing great reducibility for the 4-NP reduction reaction.