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A cesium bismuth germanate, Cs2Bi2O(Ge2O7) (CBGO), was synthesized by a traditional high-temperature solid-state reaction. Its structure features a 3D network composed of a 1D chains composed of Bi2O8 dimers that are further bridged by Ge2O7 dimers, forming tunnels of seven member rings (MRs) that are filled by the Cs+ cations. CBGO exhibits extraordinary larger second harmonic generation (SHG) response of about 13.7 times that of KDP (KH2PO4) under 1064 nm laser radiation and 1.1 times that of KTP (KTiOPO4) under 2.05 mu m laser radiation, which is the highest among all of the metal germanates reported so far. CBGO possesses a moderate birefringence (0.073 at 1064 nm) and is phase matchable. Furthermore, CBGO melts congruently and exhibits high thermal stability.

A new ultraviolet nonlinear optical material, namely LiHgPO4, was synthesized using the mild hydrothermal method. The structure of LiHgPO4 features novel double layers constructed by severely distorted HgO6 octahedra and PO4 tetrahedra, which are further interconnected by LiO4 tetrahedra to form a three-dimensional structure. LiHgPO4 exhibits a very strong second harmonic generation (SHG) response of 11.0 times that of KH2PO4 and a relatively large birefringence (0.068 at 1064 nm) among the reported SHG-active phosphates. Theoretical calculations revealed that the introduction of the Hg2+ in a highly distorted HgO6 octahedral geometry is crucial to produce the strong SHG response and large birefringence.

Two new barium polyiodate compounds in the alkali-earth system, namely, HBa2.5(IO3)6(I2O5) (Fdd2) and HBa(IO3)(I4O11) (P1) have been obtained through hydrothermal reaction. Interestingly, the stru...

Herein, two new acentric borogermanates, namely, Ca2GeB2O7 and Ca1.78Cd0.22GeB2O7, were obtained by combining BO4 with a GeO4 tetrahedron. The structures of the isomeric Ca2GeB2O7 and Ca1.78Cd0.22GeB2O7 feature two-dimensional (2D) [GeB2O7] layers parallel to the ab plane in which a GeO4 tetrahedron corner is shared with four [B2O7] units; the divalent cations are filled in between layers. Ca2GeB2O7 and Ca1.78Cd0.22GeB2O7 display second-harmonic generation (SHG) intensity around 0.4 and 0.6 times that of KH2PO4 (KDP), respectively. Ca2GeB2O7 possesses a short UV absorption edge (about 194 nm). Thermal stability measurements show that Ca2GeB2O7 melts congruently at high temperatures, whereas Ca1.78Cd0.22GeB2O7 melts incongruently and becomes amorphous at high temperatures. Moreover, measurements of the optical properties as well as theoretical calculations of these two compounds were conducted.

By using hydrofluoric acid as a solubilizer, the first alkali-metal niobium iodate and an alkali-earth metal niobium iodate, i.e. (H3O)HCs2Nb(IO3)9 and SrNbO(IO3)5, have been obtained. An obvious cation-controlled polarity shift is observed in the Ae/A-Nb5+-IO3 system. (H3O)HCs2Nb(IO3)9 gives a strong second harmonic generation (SHG) signal about 6 times that of KH2PO4 (KDP), making it a promising nonlinear optical (NLO) material.

Bo Wu,1,* Bing Wan,2,* Shu-Ting Lu,1 Kai Deng,3 Xiao-Qi Li,1 Bao-Lin Wu,1 Yu-Shuang Li,1 Ru-Fang Liao,1 Shi-Wen Huang,3 Hai-Bo Xu1,2 1Department of Radiology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 2Department of Radiology, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 3Department of Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers, Ministry of Education, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: The major challenge in current clinic contrast agents (CAs) and chemotherapy is the poor tumor selectivity and response. Based on the self-quench property of IR820 at high concentrations, and different contrast effect ability of Gd-DOTA between inner and outer of liposome, we developed “bomb-like” light-triggered CAs (LTCAs) for enhanced CT/MRI/FI multimodal imaging, which can improve the signal-to-noise ratio of tumor tissue specifically. IR820, Iohexol and Gd-chelates were firstly encapsulated into the thermal-sensitive nanocarrier with a high concentration. This will result in protection and fluorescence quenching. Then, the release of CAs was triggered by near-infrared (NIR) light laser irradiation, which will lead to fluorescence and MRI activation and enable imaging of inflammation. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that LTCAs with 808nm laser irradiation have shorter T1 relaxation time in MRI and stronger intensity in FI compared to those without irradiation. Additionally, due to the high photothermal conversion efficiency of IR820, the injection of LTCAs was demonstrated to completely inhibit C6 tumor growth in nude mice up to 17 days after NIR laser irradiation. The results indicate that the LTCAs can serve as a promising platform for NIR-activated multimodal imaging and photothermal therapy. Keywords: light triggered, near-infrared light, tumor-specific, multimodal imaging, photothermal therapy, contrast agents

In this paper, a light-weight equimolar MgCaAlLiCu high entropy alloy (HEA) is reported. The microstructure of the alloy cast in copper mould was composed mainly of a solid solution phase with tetragonal symmetry structure, presenting the high-entropy alloy nature. The alloy exhibited high fracture strength of 910 MPa during the room-temperature compression process. Based on thermodynamic calculation, the underlying reason for the formation of the solid solution in the MgCaAlLiCu alloy is given.