Antibiotics are widely used for treating bacterial infections. However, excessive or improper use of antibiotics can pose a serious threat to human health and water environments, and thus, developing cost-effective, portable and effective strategies to analyze and detect antibiotics is highly desired. Herein, we reported a responsive photonic hydrogel (RPH)-based optical biosensor (PPNAH) with superior recyclability for sensitive and colorimetric determination of a typical β-lactam antibiotic penicillin G (PG) in water. This sensor was composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) smart hydrogel with incorporated penicillinase and Fe3O4@SiO2 colloidal photonic crystals (CPCs). The sensor could translate PG concentration signals into changes in the diffraction wavelength and structural color of the hydrogel. It possessed high sensitivity and selectivity to PG and excellent detection performances for other two typical β-lactam antibiotics. Most importantly, due to the unique thermosensitivity of the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) moieties in the hydrogel, the PG-responded PPNAH sensor could be facilely regenerated via a simple physical method at least fifty times while without compromising its response performance. Besides, our sensor was suitable for monitoring the PG-contaminated environmental water and displayed satisfactory detection performances. Such a sensor possessed obvious advantages of superior recyclability, highly chemical stability, low production cost, easy fabrication, wide range of visual detection, simple and intuitive operation for PG detection, and environmental-friendliness, which holds great potential in sensitive and colorimetric detection of the PG residues in polluted water. 

A penicillinase-modified poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) smart hydrogel biosensor with superior recyclability for sensitive and colorimetric detection of penicillin G

Abstract Photonic crystals are a new class of optical microstructure materials characterized by a dielectric constant that varies periodically with space and features a photonic bandgap. Inspired by natural photonic crystals such as butterfly scales, a series of artificial photonic crystals are developed for use in integrated photonic platforms, biosensing, communication, and other fields. Among them, colloidal photonic crystals (CPCs) have gained widespread attention due to their excellent optical properties and advantages, such as ease of preparation and functionalization. This work reviews the classification and self‐assembly principles of CPCs, details some of the latest biomedical applications of large‐area, high‐quality CPCs prepared using advanced self‐assembly methods, summarizes the existing challenges in CPC construction and application, and anticipates future development directions and optimization strategy. With further advancements, CPCs are expected to play a more critical role in biosensors, drug delivery, cell research, and other fields, bringing significant benefits to biomedical research and clinical practice. 

Structural Color Colloidal Photonic Crystals for Biomedical Applications

Polymerization-induced ultrafast and massive growth of colloidal photonic crystals on hydrogel surface

BACKGROUND
Cyclodextrins (CDs) and their derivatives have been widely used as chiral selectors in HPLC. However, many derivatized CDs lack specificity for certain drugs and often exhibit limited resolution. Furthermore, their synthesis typically involves complex multi-step procedures, hindering scalability and cost-efficiency. To overcome these limitations, this study aims to develop a simple and scalable boric acid-modified β-cyclodextrin polymer (BA-β-CDP), targeting chiral substances with O/N atoms in chiral and/or adjacent carbons.


RESULTS
BA-β-CDP was synthesized on a large scale using inexpensive reagents and a random substitution strategy, avoiding tedious protection-purification steps. Structural and chromatographic compatibility was confirmed by nine characterization techniques. In HPLC using the chiral mobile-phase additive (CMPA) method, BA-β-CDP enabled the efficient separation of 25 racemates. Among them, 24 achieved complete or baseline separation, and 10 exhibited resolution (Rs) values > 10. Typical cases included bisoprolol (Rs = 48.19), propranolol (Rs = 45.50), chlorpheniramine (Rs = 38.36), and metoprolol (Rs = 20.26). Additionally, the material demonstrated excellent batch-to-batch reproducibility, recyclability, and reusability.


SIGNIFICANCE AND NOVELTY
This work presents a practical and cost-effective chiral selector. The synergistic mechanism offers strong and specific recognition toward chiral substances with O/N atoms in chiral and/or adjacent carbons. This approach represents a novel strategy for efficient and economical HPLC-based enantioseparation using widely accessible materials and methods.

A combination strategy of HPLC and boric acid modified β-CD polymer for super-efficiently separating chiral substances with O/N atoms in chiral and/or adjacent carbons

Volatile organic compounds in cancer and exhaled breath detection technology

Potassium ions (K+) play crucial roles in many biological processes. Abnormal K+ levels in the body are usually associated with physiological disorders or diseases, and thus, developing K+-sensitive sensors/devices is of great importance for disease diagnosis and health monitoring. Herein, we report a K+-sensitive photonic crystal hydrogel (PCH) sensor with bright structural colors for efficient monitoring of serum potassium. This PCH sensor consists of a poly(acrylamide-co-N-isopropylacrylamide-co-benzo-15-crown-5-acrylamide) (PANBC) smart hydrogel with embedded Fe3O4 colloidal photonic crystals (CPCs), which could strongly diffract visible light and endow the hydrogel with brilliant structural colors. The rich 15-crown-5 (15C5) units appended on the polymer backbone could selectively bind K+ ions to form stable 2 : 1 [15C5]2/K+ supramolecular complexes. These bis-bidentate complexes served as physical crosslinkers to crosslink the hydrogel and contracted its volume, and thus reduced the lattice spacing of Fe3O4 CPCs and blue-shifted the light diffraction, and finally reported on the K+ concentrations by a color change of the PCH. Our fabricated PCH sensor possessed high K+ selectivity and pH- and thermo-sensitive response performances to K+. Most interestingly, the K+-responding PANBC PCH sensor could be conveniently regenerated via simple alternate flushing with hot/cold water due to the excellent thermosensitivity of the introduced PNIPAM moieties into the hydrogel. Such a PCH sensor provides a simple, low-cost and efficient strategy for visualized monitoring of hyperkalemia/hypokalemia, which will significantly promote the development of biosensors.

A K+-sensitive photonic crystal hydrogel sensor for efficient visual monitoring of hyperkalemia/hypokalemia.

Glucose detection plays crucial roles in the treatment and management of diabetes. We herein reported a simple strategy to prepare a photonic crystal hydrogel (PNAPB PCH) sensor for colorimetric detection... 

A phenylboronic acid-based smart photonic crystal hydrogel sensor for colorimetric detection of glucose

We herein report a novel chiral magnetic molybdenum disulfide nanocomposite (MMoS2/PNG-CD) with a high enantioselectivity and excellent thermosensitivity and magnetism. The prepared MMoS2/PNG-CD shows temperature-dependent chiral discrimination and enantioselectivity toward a chiral drug RS-propranolol (RS-PPL), which is based on the molecular recognition ability of beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and the thermosensitivity of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM). The synthesized MMoS2/PNG2-CD by using a monomer molar ratio of GMA to NIPAM of 2 : 1 demonstrates a high selectivity toward R-PPL over S-PPL due to the synergistic effect of the PNIPAM moieties and β-CD hosts. The thermo-induced volume phase transition (VPT) of the introduced PNIPAM moieties significantly affects the inclusion constants of the β-CD/R-PPL complex, and thus the loading and desorption of R-PPL on the MMoS2/PNG2-CD. The enantioselectivity at temperatures below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the PNG-β-CD grafting chains is much higher than that at temperatures above the LCST. As a result, the regeneration of the MMoS2/PNG2-CD is easily achieved via simply changing the operating temperature. Moreover, the regenerated MMoS2/PNG2-CD can be readily recovered from the RS-PPL solution under an external magnetic field for reuse. Such a multifunctional molybdenum disulfide nanocomposite with a high enantioselectivity and excellent thermosensitivity and regenerability is promising to serve as a high-performance nanoselector for direct resolution of various β-blocker drugs.

A chiral magnetic molybdenum disulfide nanocomposite for direct enantioseparation of RS-propranolol

Photo-responsive nanoporous polymer films (AZOF-R(NC6)) have been developed by a template method based on a hydrogen-bonding supramolecular liquid crystal (LC) and a light-sensitive azobenzene LC crosslinker in this work. Anionic nanopores were obtained after the removal of template NC6 using KOH solution. The AZOF-R(NC6) demonstrates charge-selective dye adsorption and the maximum adsorption capacity for Rh6G is 504.6 mg g−1. The AZOF-R(NC6) film without UV light treatment shows a 32% higher adsorption capacity for Rh6G than the AZOF-R(NC6) film treated with UV light within the initial 10 min. In addition, UV light can trigger the release of the adsorbed dye from the polymer film due to the pore size change arising from the trans–cis isomerization. Besides, the used polymer film can be effectively regenerated using a HCl solution. Such functional polymer films with highly ordered nanopores and photo-responsive properties hold great promise in selective adsorption and mass separations.

Photo-responsive nanoporous liquid crystal polymer films for selective dye adsorption

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Papers

A K+-sensitive photonic crystal hydrogel sensor for efficient visual monitoring of hyperkalemia/hypokalemia.

A phenylboronic acid-based smart photonic crystal hydrogel sensor for colorimetric detection of glucose

A chiral magnetic molybdenum disulfide nanocomposite for direct enantioseparation of RS-propranolol

Photo-responsive nanoporous liquid crystal polymer films for selective dye adsorption