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Light-responsive nanocomposites have become increasingly attractive in the biomedical field for antibacterial applications. Visible-light-activated metallic molybdenum disulfide nanosheets (1T-MoS2 NSs) and plasmonic gold nanorods (AuNRs) with absorption at a wavelength of 808 nm were synthesized. AuNR nanocomposites decorated onto 1T-MoS2 NSs (MoS2@AuNRs) were successfully prepared by electrostatic adsorption for phototherapy applications. Based on the photothermal effect, the solution temperature of the MoS2@AuNR nanocomposites increased from 25 to 66.7 °C after 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation for 10 min. For the photodynamic effect, the MoS2@AuNR nanocomposites generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) under visible light irradiation. Photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy of MoS2@AuNRs were confirmed against E. coli by agar plate counts. Most importantly, the combination of photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy from the MoS2@AuNR nanocomposites revealed higher antibacterial activity than photothermal or photodynamic therapy alone. The light-activated MoS2@AuNR nanocomposites exhibited a remarkable synergistic effect of photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy, which provides an alternative approach to fight bacterial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single breast cancer is a prevalent form of cancer, affecting over 2.3 million women worldwide, as reported by the World Health Organization. Recently, researchers have extensively explored the utilization of biomaterials in breast cancer theranostics. One notable biomaterial being investigated is various structures of copper sulfide (CuS). In this work, a microsphere (MS) structure composed of CuS was employed for label-free imaging of MCF-7 breast cancer cells and normal Vero cells, respectively. Various label-free imaging techniques, such as bright field, dark field, phase contrast (PC), and differential interference contrast (DIC), were employed to capture images of CuS MSs, cell, and intact CuS MSs within a cell. The study compared the outcomes of each imaging technique and determined that DIC imaging provided the highest resolution for cells incubated with CuS MSs. Furthermore, the combination of PC and DIC techniques proved to be effective for imaging breast cancer cells in conjunction with CuS MSs. This research underscores the potential of CuS MSs for label-free cell detection and emphasizes the significance of selecting appropriate imaging techniques to attain high-quality images in the field of cell observation., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Metal-organic framework (MOF) derivatives with tunable pore structure and improved conductivity are intensively designed as electroactive materials. Incorporating structure directing agents (SDA) is beneficial for designing MOF derivatives with excellent electrochemical performances. Ammonium fluoroborate has been reported as an effective SDA, coupled with cobalt salt and 2-methylimidazole, to synthesize zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) derivatives for charge storage. However, the synthetic environment for growing cobalt-based active materials is relatively complex. In this study, cobalt tetrafluoroborate (Co(BF 4 ) 2 ) is proposed as a novel cobalt precursor, supplementing cobalt ions and acting as the SDA in a single chemical, to synthesize the cobalt-based electroactive material of energy storage electrodes. Interactions between solvent molecules and solutes play significant roles on the morphology, composition, and electrochemical performance of active materials. Deionized water, methanol and ethanol are used as precursor solvents to understand their effects on material and electrochemical properties. The optimal electrode presents a specific capacitance of 608.3 F/g at 20 mV/s, attributed to the highest electrochemical surface area and evident compositions of cobalt fluoride and hydroxide. A battery supercapacitor hybrid achieves the maximum energy density of 45 Wh/kg at 429 W/kg. The C F retention of 100% and Coulombic efficiency of 99% are achieved after 10,000 cycles., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)