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A postoperative therapeutic nanoplatform of Pd/DOX@hydrogel can efficiently perform near-infrared light triggered photothermal/photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy to kill residual tumor cells, with the potential to accelerate wound healing.

Co–FeSe2 nanozymes were designed which exhibited synergistic catalytic-photothermal anti-tumor performance. A ‘ferroptosis–apoptosis’ dual pathway was found for Co–FeSe2 nanozymes to promote cancer cell death.

Non-natural mineralization of CaCO3 with special structures or morphology is generated during the crude oil migration, which is the main scale of alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP) flooding in oilfields, adversely affecting the oil recovery and causing environmental pollution. Up to now, the mineralization of superstructural symbiotic aragonites and the role of heavy alkyl-benzene sulfonate (HABS) in directing mineralization are still unclear. In this work, rosette-like, bouquet-like and dumbbell-like aragonite-based superstructure of symbiotic CaCO3 crystals were obtained in a simulated O/W emulsion with HABS, which can help understanding the diversified growth of CaCO3 scaling in oilfield. As a result, HABS stabilized micelles acted as a framework for mineralization, and promoted the accumulation of Ca2+ and CO32-, generating pre-nucleation clusters and partial ion pairs by electrostatic attraction. Following, the sequential nucleation of amorphous CaCO3 interconnected with HABS molecules. Finally, these nanoparticles transformed into micro-meter crystals via dissolution-reprecipitation, forming the superstructures that controlled by a synergistic effect between HABS and kerosene phase. This work may enrich the understanding of CaCO3 mineralization in oilfield, provide theoretical support for the prevention of hard carbonate scaling, and also provide a novel strategy for organic-inorganic composites manufacturing.

Biodegradable Ce-doped MoOx nanoparticles were designed for tumor CDT/PDT/PTT synergistic therapy in the NIR-II biowindow.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have evolved to be a class of rapidly advancing chemical entities in the biomedical field. Nevertheless, potential side effects and safety concerns severely limit their clinical translation. After administration, 2D materials cross multiple biological barriers and are distributed throughout the body. Only the portion that accumulates at the diseased sites exerts a therapeutic effect, whereas those distributed elsewhere may cause damage to healthy tissues and interference to normal physiological function of various organs. To achieve maximum therapeutic efficacy and minimum adverse effects simultaneously, the delivery of 2D materials must be targeted at diseased sites to reach therapeutic concentrations, and the materials must possess sufficient degradation and clearance rates to avoid long-term toxicity. Therefore, it is essential to understand the biodistribution and destiny of 2D materials

Multifunctional biomimetic nanozyme (SSMA/DOX) is fabricated, which enables tumor microenvironment responsive self-cascade catalysis to reach MRI guided enhanced chemo/chemodynamic therapy.

Narrow band gap AgBiSe2 nanodots exhibit rapid clean-up features in vivo using the CT/photothermal imaging-guided tumor therapy in the NIR-II biowindow.

The availability of strategies for developing sensors with a defined responsiveness as well as the ability to working in a biological environment is critical to the fields of bioanalysis, nanomedicine, and nanorobotics. Herein, we developed programmable pH sensors by employing a tetrahedral DNA framework (TDF) as a robust structural skeleton for the sensors in biological working scenes and DNA i-motif structures as proton-recognition probes. The sensors' response midpoint and dynamic range can be fine-tuned by deliberately altering the i-motif's sequence composition or by combining different sensors, affording pH response windows that are consecutively distributed in the biologically relevant pH range of 5.0-7.5. This controllable tunability was successfully employed for in situ cell-surface pH analysis after anchoring the i-motif-TDF nanosensor on the cell surface via a two-step anchoring strategy, providing a useful platform for the diagnostics of diseases associated with extracellular pH variations.

It is still challenging to develop suitable cathode structures for high-rate and stable aqueous Zn-ion batteries. Herein, a phosphating-assisted interfacial engineering strategy is designed for the controllable conversion of NiCo2S4 nanosheets into heterostructured NiCoP/NiCo2S4 as the cathodes in aqueous Zn-ion batteries. The multicomponent heterostructures with rich interfaces can not only improve the electrical conductivity but also enhance the diffusion pathways for Zn-ion storage. As expected, the NiCoP/NiCo2S4 electrode has high performance with a large specific capacity of 251.1 mA h g−1 at a high current density of 10 A g−1 and excellent rate capability (retaining about 76% even at 50 A g−1). Accordingly, the Zn-ion battery using NiCoP/NiCo2S4 as the cathode delivers a high specific capacity (265.1 mA h g−1 at 5A g−1), a long-term cycling stability (96.9% retention after 5000 cycles), and a competitive energy density (444.7 W h kg−1 at the power density of 8.4 kW kg−1). This work therefore provides a simple phosphating-assisted interfacial engineering strategy to construct heterostructured electrode materials with rich interfaces for the development of high-performance energy storage devices in the future.

Low-dimensional inorganic nanostructures such as quantum dots as well as one- and two-dimensional nanostructures are widely studied and already used in high-performance infrared photodetectors. These structures feature large surface-to-volume ratios, tunable light absorption, and electron-limiting effects. This article reviews the state-of-the-art research of low-dimensional inorganic nanostructures and their application for infrared photodetection. Thanks to nano-structuring, a narrow bandgap, hybrid systems, surface-plasmon resonance, and doping, many common semiconductors have the potential to be used for infrared detection. The basic approaches towards infrared detection are summarized. Furthermore, a selection of very important and special nanostructured materials and their remarkable infrared-detection properties are introduced (e.g., black phosphorus, graphene-based, MoX2-based, III–VII group). Each section in this review describes the corresponding photosensitive properties in detail. The article concludes with an outlook of anticipated future developments in the field.

Metal chalcogenide solid solution, especially ZnCdS, has been intensively investigated in photocatalytic H2 generation due to their cost-effective synthetic procedure and adjustable band structures. In this work, we report on the defect engineering of ZnCdS with surface disorder layer by simple room temperature Li-ethylenediamine (Li-EDA) treatment. Experimental results confirm the formation of unusual Zn and S dual vacancies, where rich S vacancies (VS) served as electron trapping sites, meanwhile Zn vacancies (VZn) served as hole trapping sites. The refined structure significantly facilitates the photo charge carrier transfer and improves photocatalytic properties of ZnCdS. The disordered ZnCdS shows a highest photocatalytic H2 production rate of 33.6 mmol·g−1·h−1 under visible light with superior photocatalytic stabilities, which is 7.3 times higher than pristine ZnCdS and 7 times of Pt (1 wt.%) loaded ZnCdS.

A TiO2-based multi-color photodetector with controlled photoelectric response to ultraviolet (UV) and visible light is developed by using band regulation technologies such as multi-junction synergy and surface adsorption. This photodetector is manufactured via a continuous process including magnetron sputtering, hydrothermal growth, hydrogen annealing, spin coating and thermal evaporation assembly to form a structure of N-doped TiO2/hydrogenated-TiO2/p-Si heterojunction. These synergistic effects form electronic potential wells in the device to control the electrical transport and spectral response of photo-generated carriers. In the air, the device exhibits a controllable photodetection ability that responds to visible light at positive voltages and UV light at negative voltages. But in vacuum (< 0.1 Pa), the photodetection ability of the device at negative voltages is greatly reduced due to the lack of barrier effect caused by surface adsorption. On the contrary, the photodetection ability at positive voltage (e.g., 4 V) has been greatly improved, and the quantum efficiency reaches 206.6% under the 480 nm wavelength light. The device has a controllable ability to detect UV and visible light depending on the environments, which is very useful in the fields of environmental detection, chemical sensing and multi-color communication, etc.

The poor conductivity, inert charge transmission efficiency, and irreversible Na

Stimulus-responsive ternary chalcogenide nanomaterials are regarded as promising 'all-in-one' nanotheranostics agents on account of their tunable band structures and multi-metal intrinsic properties. Herein, ultrasmall AgBiSe

Summary The timely enumeration of cells of nanocellulose‐producing bacteria is challenging due to their unique growth properties. To better understand the metabolism of the bacteria and better control the concentration of living cells during cultivation, a prompt cell counting technology is crucial and urgently required. In this work, two fluorescent dyes, the asymmetrical anthocyanidin dye SYBR Green I (SG) and propidium iodide (PI), were first combined for Komagataeibacter xylinus species to determine live/dead bacterial cells quantitatively and promptly. The number of live and dead K. xylinus cells determined using an epifluorescence microscope corresponded well to the results obtained using a fluorescence microplate reader. The R 2 values were 0.9986 and 0.9920, respectively, and were similar to those obtained with the LIVE/DEAD® BacLightTM commercial kit. SG/PI double‐staining showed proper efficiency in distinguishing live/dead cells for the K. xylinus strain (R 2 = 0.9898). The technology was applied to standardize four different K. xylinus strains, and the initial cell concentration of the strains was precisely controlled (no significant difference among the strains, P> 0.05). The cellulose yield per live cell was calculated, and significant differences (P DHU‐ZCY‐1> DHU‐ZGD‐1> ATCC 23770. The study shows (i) the application of the SG/PI staining to standardizing inocula for bacterial cellulose production so that a more accurate comparison can be made between different strains, and (ii) the lower cost of using SG rather than the SYTO 9 of the commercially available LIVE/DEAD® BacLightTM kit., The asymmetrical anthocyanidin dye SYBR Green I was first combined with propidium iodide to determine live/dead bacterial cells quantitatively and promptly for Komagataeibacter xylinus species. The fluorescence staining technology was applied to standardize four different K. xylinus strains in a timely fashion to give a more accurate comparison. The study is the first attempt at precise control of inoculation in bacterial nanocellulose production.

Wearable epidermal sensors are of great importance to the next generation of personalized healthcare. The adhesion between the flexible sensor and skin surface is critical for obtaining accurate, reliable, and stable signals. Herein we present a facile approach to fabricate a microstructured, natural silk fibroin protein-based adhesive for achieving highly conformal, comfortable, adjustable, and biocompatible adhesion on the skin surface. The microstructured fibroin adhesive (MSFA) exhibits reliable and stable bonding force on skin surfaces, even under humid or wet conditions, and can be easily peeled off from the skin without causing significant pain. Such an MSFA can greatly improve the sensitivity and reusability of epidermal strain sensors because of its conformal and tunable adhesion on skin surfaces. The MFSA has a great potential to be applied as a functional adhesive for various epidermal electronic sensors in the era of personalized healthcare. MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore) Accepted version

A high-performance broadband photodetector based on a Zn-doped NiO/p-Si isotype heterojunction was successfully fabricated, which consisted of a Zn-doped NiO film on a Si substrate via a facile sol–gel method. The as-fabricated isotype heterojunction device displays an excellent broad-band (350–650 nm) detection performance with an outstanding external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 89.5% at a small reverse bias of −1 V and as high as ∼184% at −4 V. Moreover, the maximum photo–dark current ratio (switching ratio) of 1793% was achieved at −1 V under illumination with 650 nm light (0.5 mW cm−2); additionally, the response time of the as-fabricated device was less than 0.3 s. Such a high-performance of the Zn-doped NiO/p-Si isotype heterojunction photodetector guarantees its potential use in UV-visible low-voltage optoelectronic devices, especially for weak-signal detection and portable equipment.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used to grow a TiO2 film on a SiO2/Si substrate. A 50 μm N-channel, gate-regulated UV photodetector was fabricated by a simple process of air calcination and mask plating the electrode. The calcination process was found to improve the crystallinity of TiO2, reduce the concentration of the majority of carriers, and increase their mobility (∼0.05 cm2 V−1 s−1). The photoelectric performance of the as-prepared device is improved by about 200 times after calcination under the same test conditions. The as-prepared device has both gate voltage tunable properties of the insulated gate field effect transistor (IGFET) and a high gain (2–3 × 104). At a gate voltage of 8 V and a drain voltage of 3 V, the external quantum efficiency of the device to 0.5 mW cm−2 of 330 nm UV light is ∼2003%. The preparation of such a MSM–IGFET device will be helpful in reducing the device fabrication cost, optimizing the device performance, and promoting the application of photodetection.

Ternary I-III-VI2 semiconductors usually have narrow band gaps and large absorption coefficients arising from the unique characteristics of their outer-d valence electrons, which are intimately connected with the photothermal conversion properties. AgFeS2 is known as one such material that has the potential to absorb near-infrared light. In this work, we utilized density functional theory (DFT) calculations to evaluate the electronic structure and optical absorption properties of AgFeS2. Strong absorptions were predicted over a wide Vis-NIR region due to the localized 3d electron of Fe atoms, which agree quite well with the UV-Vis-NIR spectra measured by experiment. The as-prepared AgFeS2 nanoparticles were then modified with mPEG-DSPE, an efficient photothermal agent for artery stenosis therapy. Its photothermal conversion effect has been systematically studied, indicating the potential for causing the hyperthermia of macrophages, an essential part of the artery inflammation response. More importantly, both in vitro cell experiments and in vivo mouse-model studies show that the induction of hyperthermia in artery stenosis by using AgFeS2 nanoparticles is safe and effective when injected at a very low concentration. This study provides a novel photothermal platform derived from the inheritability of bandgap structure and also promotes the process of artery inflammation and stenosis therapy.

DNA quadruplexes are nucleic acid conformations comprised of four strands. They are prevalent in human genomes and increasing efforts are being directed toward their engineering. Taking advantage of the programmability of Watson-Crick base-pairing and conjugation methodology of DNA with other molecules, DNA nanostructures of increasing complexity and diversified geometries have been artificially constructed since 1980s. In this review, we investigate the interweaving of natural DNA quadruplexes and artificial DNA nanostructures in the development of the ever-prosperous field of biosensing, highlighting their specific roles in the construction of biosensor, including recognition probe, signal probe, signal amplifier and support platform. Their implementation in various sensing scenes was surveyed. And finally, general conclusion and future perspective are discussed for further developments.

Most of the existing single-component nanostructures cannot provide comprehensive diagnostic information, and their treatment strategies always have to combine other therapeutics as a complementary for effective biomedical application. Here, we adopted a facile approach to design a theranostic nanoflower (NF) with robust efficacy for comprehensive tumor diagnosis and quadruple synergistic cancer therapy. The NF is equipped with a metallic hybrid of several functional elements and flower-like superstructures and thus shows excellent in vitro and in vivo theranostic performance. It shows high X-ray attenuation coefficiency for the Bi element, strong near-infrared (NIR) plasmon absorbance and singlet oxygen (

Herein, we report the rational design and fabrication of multicomponent, hierarchical CuCo2O4 nanowire arrays wrapped with metal oxides (NiO, Co3O4 and MnO2) nanosheets for use in high-performance supercapacitors. Among all the composite electrodes prepared, the CuCo2O4@NiO electrode exhibits the best electrochemical behavior with a high areal capacitance of 2.3 F/cm2 at 2 mA/cm2 and excellent cycling stability. The asymmetric supercapacitor with CuCo2O4@NiO as the positive electrode shows a superior specific capacitance of 124.6 F/g at 1 A/g, exceptional energy density of 38.9 Wh/kg at 750 W/kg, and long cycle life with ∼81.3% capacitance retention after 6000 cycles. The results indicate that the CuCo2O4@NiO electrode shows great potential for high-performance electrochemical energy storage.

The greatest bottleneck for photothermal antibacterial therapy could be the difficulty in heating the infection site directly and specifically to evade the unwanted damage for surrounding healthy tissues. In recent years, infectious microenvironments (IMEs) have been increasingly recognized as a crucial contributor to bacterial infections. Here, based on the unique IMEs and rhenium trioxide (ReO3) nanocubes (NCs), a new specific photothermal antibacterial strategy is reported. These NCs synthesized by a rapid and straightforward space-confined on-substrate approach have good biocompatibility and exhibit efficient photothermal antibacterial ability. Especially when they are utilized in antibiofilm, the expression levels of biofilm-related genes (icaA, fnbA, atlE, and sarA for Staphylococcus aureus) can be effectively inhibited to block bacterial adhesion and formation of biofilm. Importantly, the ReO3 NCs can transform into hydrogen rhenium bronze (HxReO3) in an aqueous environment, making them relatively stable within the low pH of IMEs for photothermal therapy, while rapidly degradable within the surrounding healthy tissues to decrease photothermal damage. Note that under phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.4 without assistant conditions, these ReO3 NCs have the highest degradation rate among all known degradable inorganic photothermal nanoagents. This special and IME-sensitive selective degradability of the ReO3 NCs not only facilitates safe, efficient, and specific elimination of implant-related infections, but also enables effective body clearance after therapy. Solely containing the element (Re) whose atomic number is higher than clinic-applied iodine in all reported degradable inorganic photothermal nanoagents under the PBS (pH 7.4) without any assistant condition, the ReO3 NCs with high X-ray attenuation ability could be further applied to X-ray computed tomography imaging-guided therapy against implant-related infections. The present work described here is the first to adopt degradable inorganic photothermal nanoagents to achieve specific antibacterial therapy and inspires other therapies on this concept.

Developing hybrid materials with hierarchical combination of different active materials is of great importance to improve its whole electrochemical performance. This study reports a facial approach to fabricate Co3O4@NiMoO4 composites on Ni foam as an efficient supercapacitor electrode. The synthesized Co3O4@NiMoO4 composites show high areal capacitance of 3.61 F/cm2 at a current density of 2 mA/cm2. And ∼101.3% of its initial capacitance was still retained after 9000 cycles. The outstanding electrochemical properties are attributed to the uniquely hierarchical nanostructure and the components' synergetic effect, showing great potential for energy storage applications.

Ultrasmall CuCo2S4 nanocrystals (NCs) have been demonstrated as an effective agent in the photothermal therapy (PTT) of tumors, but have not been investigated for treatment of arterial inflammation, which is critical in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis (AS), a leading cause of vascular diseases worldwide. In this study, CuCo2S4 NCs were synthesized and used as an efficient PTT nanoplatform for arterial inflammation. In vitro experiments illustrated an effective ablation of inflammatory macrophages by CuCo2S4 incubation combined with the irradiation with an 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) laser. In vivo experiments in an apolipoprotein E knockout (Apo E−/−) mouse model showed that the local injection with CuCo2S4 followed by irradiation with an 808 nm NIR laser notably ablated infiltrating inflammatory macrophages and effectively reduced arterial inflammation and arterial stenosis. This work provides a new strategy for treatment of AS by exploring bimetal sulfides as effective PTT agents.

Novel nanorods assembled from Sb nanoparticles encapsulated in a N-doped carbon matrix coated with a thin carbon layer (Sb@N-CM nanorods) were synthesized using a cation exchange reaction combined with a novel confined route. In situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations verified that after delithiation, the Sb nanoparticles formed networked porous structures to enhance the utilization of active materials and close the connection between the Sb nanoparticles and N-doped carbon matrix for the first time; this can greatly improve the ion/electron transfer kinetics of a material. In addition, the Sb@N-CM nanorods not only improved the structural stability, stabilized the SEI layer and increased the transport of Li+, but also suppressed the SEI layer formation on the surface of individual Sb nanoparticles due to their advanced structural merits, such as coating with an N-doped conductive carbon layer and forming void spaces by a conductive carbon matrix, which can greatly increase the electrochemical performance. As a result, the Sb@N-CM nanorods exhibit a high reversible capacity (673.4 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1), ultrahigh cycling stability (99.7% capacity retention over 500 cycles), and excellent rate capability, which to our knowledge are the best cycling stability and capacity reported to date among all reported Sb-based materials.