Jiahao Xia, Shaobo Ji and Huaping Xu Polym. Chem., 2016, 7, 6708-6713. We demonstrated the proof-of-concept that diselenide dynamic chemistry can perform at oil/water interface. The assymetric diselenide-containing polymer, which would decompose under visible light once seperated from metathesis mixture, was successfully stabilized via a micelle induced stabilization method.

Wei Cao, Feng Li, Ruofan Chen and Huaping Xu RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 94033-94037. Tellurium containing nanoparticles were designed and synthesized for the delivery of cisplatin based on coordination interaction. The tellurium containing nanomedicine could achieve betterin vivo efficacy and reduce side effects, owing to the prolonged blood circulation. This kind of approach marked a new frontier of tellurium containing nanomedicine.  

Tianyu Li, Feng Li, Wentian Xiang, Yu Yi, Yuyan Chen, Liang Cheng, Zhuang Liu and Huaping Xu ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2016, 8, 22106–22112. Selenium has attracted increasing interest in the past decades because of the function of regulating the redox balance in human body. However, biomedical studies of selenium are still limited. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), typically prepared by a first reduction step followed by a second stabilization step, are widely applied in biomedical studies. But their own anti-cancer activity is less studied. Here, we report 2-nm AuNPs with significant anti-...

Fuqiang Fan, Lu Wang, Feng Li, Yu Fu and Huaping Xu ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2016, 8, 17004-17010. Tellurium-containing photoresponsive polyelectrolyte multilayer films were fabricated by layer-by-layer assembly of a tellurium-containing polymer, photosensitizer, and poly(styrenesulfonate). The resulting films were investigated by UV/vis spectroscopy, XPS, EPR, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Under visible light, the photosensitizer in the film is excited and transforms triplet oxygen into singlet oxygen in aqueous solution. Singlet oxygen oxidizes −Te– to high valence state (Te═O) on...

Lu Wang, Wei Cao and Huaping Xu ChemNanoMat, 2016, 2, 479-488. Tellurium-containing polymers have been increasingly attractive owing to their unique properties as biomaterials and optoelectronic material. The relatively large atom size and low electronegativity of tellurium give tellurium many unique properties, such as coordination ability and redox sensitivity. Introducing of tellurium can endow materials different responsiveness, which makes them possible to be employed as biomaterials. The narrow band gap of polytellurophene also makes it possible to be used in optoelectronic materia...

Shaobo Ji, Jiahao Xia and Huaping Xu ACS Macro Lett., 2016, 5, 78-82. The application of selenium in the responsive polymer system and the enzyme mimic system have been well studied. Our group initiated this line of research in 2009 by first extending selenium chemistry to dynamic chemistry. In this article, the discovery, progress, and application of selenium-related dynamic covalent bonds will be introduced. The dynamic property of Se–N bond and Se–Se bond were revealed and have been applied in the polymer system as enzyme mimic and self-healing materials, respectively. Further studies...

Wei Cao, Lu Wang and Huaping Xu Nano Today, 2015, 10, 717-736. Selenium/tellurium containing polymers have been attracting growing interest due to their unique properties and potential applications as bio-nanomaterials. The introduction of selenium or tellurium chemistry into block copolymers endows self-assembled nanomaterials with novel stimuli responsiveness and enhanced sensitivity. This review article provides an overview on recent advances of selenium/tellurium containing polymers. We summarize the redox response and reversible self-assembly behaviors, γ-ray responsive systems for ...

Tianyu Li, Mario Smet, Wim Dehaen, and Huaping Xu ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2016, 8, 3609-3614. Dendrimers are considered as good vectors for drug delivery in cancer treatment. However, most anticancer drugs are conjugated to the peripheral surface of dendrimers, sacrificing the advantages of monodispersity and stability belonging to dendrimers. Furthermore, dendrimers in current studies of cancer treatment are mostly used as vectors for drugs, whereas the anticancer activity of dendrimers on their own is less studied. Here we have prepared monodisperse selenium–platinum coordination ...

Shaobo Ji, Wei Cao, Ying Yu and Huaping Xu Adv. Mater., 2015, 27, 7740-7745. Visible light is an easily achievable and mild trigger for self-healing materials. By incorporating dynamic diselenide bonds into polyurethane, visible-light-induced self-healing materials can be fabricated. Besides mild visible light, the healing process can also be realized using directional laser irradiation, which makes the system a remotely controllable self-healing system.

Lu Wang, Fuqiang Fan, Wei Cao and Huaping Xu ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2015, 7, 16054-16060. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in cell signaling and redox homeostasis and are strongly related to metabolic activities. The increase of ROS concentration in organisms can result in several diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The concentration of ROS in biologically-relevant conditions is typically as low as around tens of μM to 100 μM H2O2, which makes it necessary to develop ultra-sensitive ROS-responsive systems. A general approach is reported here to fa...