Increasing numbers of chiral insecticides have been released into aquatic environments, leading to adverse effects on the environment. Furthermore, these insecticides have potentially undesirable side effects on the environment, humans and other non-target species, potentially disrupting entire ecosystems. This study investigated the effects of ethiprole enantiomers against microorganisms in sediment, duckweed, and human cells. The results showed that S-ethiprole degraded preferentially in sediment, demonstrating enantioselective behavior. In sediment, catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were significantly inhibited, and the frond number of duckweed preferably decreased with exposure to S-ethiprole at high concentration treatments (33 : 25 = R-ethiprole: S-ethiprole). Additionally, the content of chlorophyll b decreased nearly 2 times in R-ethiprole (0.42 mg/g) treatment group in comparison to S-ethiprole (0.20 mg/g) treatment. Cytotoxicity test revealed that S-ethiprole was 2 and 3 times more toxic than rac- and R-ethiprole. The expressions of CAT, SOD and caspase-3 were up-regulated in human cells treated with ethiprole enantiomers, indicating oxidative stress as a key factor in toxicity. Overall, S-ethiprole exhibited greater adverse effects than rac- and R-enantiomers in human cells. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering chirality in the risk assessment of harmful chemicals in the aquatic environment.
To investigate the binding characteristics of pesticide ethiprole (ETP) with serum albumin is of great significance for pathological analysis of pesticide poisoning, gene mutation, and clinical detection. In present work, the binding characteristics of ETP with a model protein BSA has been estimated by means of multi-spectroscopic approaches integrated with computer simulation. The outcomes testified that the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA was mainly quenched by ETP in a static quenching mode and the stable ETP-BSA complex with the stoichiometry of 1:1 and the binding constant of 6.81 × 103 M−1 (298 K) was produced. The outcomes revealed that ETP combined preferentially to the subdomain IIA (Site I) of BSA and caused the decline in the content of α-helix of BSA and the enhancement in the hydrophobicity of environment centered on Trp residues. The outcomes of experimental and theoretical studies provide the sufficient evidence about the driving forces for the complexation of ETP with BSA, which included van der Waals forces (vdW), hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) interaction, and hydrophobicity. Simultaneously, the theoretical calculation results also confirmed the existence of the significant changes in the physicochemical natures of ETP including molecular conformation, dipole moment, frontier orbital energy, and the atomic charge distribution, which was a responsible for the complexation with BSA.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma
Polyethylene oxide (PEO)-based solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are appealing solid electrolytes for lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) due to their high safety, low cost and flexibility. However, PEO'snarrow electro-chemical potential window and poor interfacial compatibility with the electrode restrict PEO-based SPE development. Herein, we used a solution-casting method to prepare PEO-based SPE membranes reinforced with an organic ionic plastic crystal—N,N-diethylpyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide (C 2 epyrFSI). The as-prepared SPE exhibits high ionic conductivity of 3.02 × 10 −4 S cm −1 at 50 °C, an extremely wide electro-chemical window (5.1 V) and flexible mechanical properties . Using SPE, the Li symmetric cells can cycle for 2000 h at a current density of 0.1 mA cm −2 without short circuiting at 50 °C. Furthermore, the Li|SPE|LiFePO 4 all-solid-state LMBs have a high initial discharge specific capacity of 157.3 mAh g −1 at 0.2C and a capacity retention rate of 96% after 120 cycles. This study shows that the PEO-C 2 epyrFSI SPE is a promising electrolyte for all-solid-state LMBs.