In this work, unmodified carbon nanodots are demonstrated as novel and environmentally-friendly fluorescence probes for the sensing of Hg(2+) and biothiols with high sensitivity and selectivity.

A synergistic graphene oxide-gold nanocluster (GO-AuNC) hybrid has been constructed as an enzyme mimic that is able to show high catalytic activity over a broad pH range, especially at neutral pH. Importantly, the target-functionalized hybrid has been applied as a robust nanoprobe for selective, quantitative, and fast colorimetric detection of cancer cells.

A novel proton-fueled molecular gate-like delivery system has been constructed for controlled cargo release using i-motif quadruplex DNA as caps onto pore outlets of mesoporous silica nanoparticles. Start from simple conformation changes, the i-motif DNA cap can open and close the pore system in smart response to pH stimulus. Importantly, the opening/closing and delivery protocol is highly reversible and a partial cargo delivery can be easily controlled at will. A pH-switchable nanoreactor has also been developed to validate the potential of our system for on-demand molecular transport. This proof of concept might open the door to a new generation of carrier materials and could also provide a general route to use other functional nucleic acids/peptide nucleic acids as capping agents in the fields of versatile controlled delivery nanodevices.

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