Bone Tumor Suppression

Magnetic bone cement incorporating magnetically soft zinc ferrite nanoparticles and aligned in a direct current magnetic field realized exceptionally high heating power in live animals under clinically safe field parameters for hyperthermia. Suppression of osteosarcoma in rabbits by hyperthermia substantially enhances survival rate. More details can be found in article number 2104626 by Shuli He, Qinggang Ge, Yang Lv, Hao Zeng, and co-workers.

Device Miniaturization

Intaglio contact printing enables the realization of highly precise carbon nanotube (CNT) network patterns exhibiting multi-functionalities without restrictions on the substrate. In article number 2106174, Soonmin Seo, Yoon-Kyu Song, Ju-Hyung Kim, and co-workers present this method for the fabrication and miniaturization of high-performance devices, including flexible fringe-effect capacitive sensors.

3D Carbon Electrodes

Three-dimensional spirobifluorene-based carbiyne nanospheres (SBFCY-NSs) are prepared by Jinchong Xiao, Jianjiang He, Changshui Huang, and co-workers in article number 2106328. The rationally designed chemical structure contributes to the formation of an ion diffusion pathway protected by a robust solid electrolyte interface film in a lithium ion battery.

The underlying mechanisms to improve the poor ionic conductivity, low Li⁺ transference number, poor electrode/electrolyte interface contact, narrow electrochemical oxidation window, and poor long-term stability of the Li metal for solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are discussed systematically, and strategies for SPEs in safe, high-performance lithium-ion batteries are proposed.

The synthetic chemistry of luminescent covalent organic frameworks (LCOFs) highlights chemical linkages for concreting the monomers, affecting emission and being responsive sites. Their structure manipulations are conducive to brightening LCOFs. The responsive and bright LCOFs can be utilized in biosensing and bioimaging, respectively. Opportunities and challenges of the development of LCOFs come together from chemistry, physics to the applications.

Core-shell structured micro-nanomotor (MNM) systems have attracted significant attention in various important fields, especially drug delivery, removal of pathogenic bacteria, and in vivo tracking. A comprehensive review is provided on the newly emerging synthetic approaches, shell functionalization, applications of core-shell structured MNMs. In addition, future research directions and challenges in terms of synthesis, functions, propulsions, and applications are discussed.

In this review, the recent advances regarding the strategies for regulating the electronic structure of single-atom catalysts for 2-electron oxygen reduction reaction, including the altering of the central metal atoms, the regulation of the coordinated atoms, substrate effect, and alloy engineering, are summarized.

A record high specific loss power of 327 W g^-1_metal and intrinsic loss power of 47 nHm² kg^-1 are achieved under an alternating current field of 4 kA m^-1 and 430 kHz, under the clinical safety limit, in magnetic bone cement incorporating a low concentration of field-aligned Zn_0.3Fe_2.7O₄ nanoparticles. Hyperthermia suppression of osteosarcoma and significant enhancement of survival rate in rabbits are demonstrated.

An intaglio contact printing method is presented for realizing highly integrated electrodes based on carbon nanotube composites without restrictions on the substrate. This method facilitates the printing of high-resolution patterned electrodes onto various substrates in a controlled manner. The printed electrodes exhibit high durability and thermal healing abilities. Miniaturized sensing and energy-harvesting applications are also demonstrated with high performances.

SBF-Carbiyne nanosphere (SBFCY-NS) is a synthesized solid carbon nanosphere containing abundant micropores. Enough space inside of sphere can realize efficient Li⁺/Na⁺ storage, suitable micropores enable the SEI layer only formed surround the surface of nanosphere, ending up with boosting Li⁺/Na⁺ storage performance.

A highly conductive strong healable nanocomposite is realized by designing multiple covalent bonding between conductive filler and polymer matrix. This together with in situ formed Ag nanosatellite particles provide the nanocomposite with superior conductivity, high mechanical strength, and healability resulting in figure of merit of 1.78 T Pa S m⁻¹, which is orders of magnitude higher than those reported in literature.

A “one-pot” self-assembled strategy based on dynamic combinatorial chemistry principle is designed to construct a tumor-targeting metal-organic nanoparticle (MOICP) through a spontaneous co-assembling among three metal-organic coordination polymers tuned by a Wnt-inhibitor carnosic acid. Responding to the acidic and hypoxic tumor microenvironment, MOICP presents an optimized tumor-preferential accumulation and the satisfactory biosafety.

This study uses human stem cells to derive metabolically functional 3D adipose tissue in a microphysiological system. Through concomitant optimization, the adipose system shows mostly unilocular and significantly larger lipid droplets, increased insulin responsiveness of glucose uptake, fatty acid uptake, and suppressing of stimulated lipolysis compared to 2D culture, providing a good dynamic range to identify insulin sensitizers and desensitizers.

M-Ru/CNT (M = Pt, Rh, Pd, Ir) are synthesized by ultrafast solvent-free microwave method for the first time and used for boosting acidic hydrogen evolution reaction. Strong metal-support interaction improves stability. DFT shows that noble metal doping, especially Pt doping, can significantly promote the H⁺ adsorption on the Ru surface, promote the release of H₂ on the Pt surface, and optimize ΔG_H*.

Carbon quantum dot-dexamethasone effectively prevents fibrosis progression by inhibiting the activation of Kupffer cells and the infiltration of inflammatory cells, including monocyte-derived macrophages, T cells, and B cells. This multiplexing nanodrug with reactive oxygen species elimination and inflammation suppression abilities presents an innovative strategy for effective antifibrotic therapy.

The confined reaction based on host–guest interaction is tracked via scanning tunneling microscope-break junction technique. And the electrical signals of the reactants with a concentration as low as 5 × 10⁻⁶ m can be clearly detected. However, the characteristic signal is undetectable when the concentration of reactants is less than 0.5 × 10⁻³ m in nuclear magnetic resonance measurements.

This work presents the synthesis of 2D ultrathin metastable γ-Bi₂O₃ flakes via a van der Waals epitaxy method. The UV photodetectors based on the as-synthesized γ-Bi₂O₃ flakes exhibit excellent performance, where the responsivity is 64.5 A W⁻¹, specific detectivity is 1.3 × 10¹³ Jones, and response time is 290 µs under 365 nm laser illumination.

Apolipoproteins are proteins in human plasma which provide stealth effect to nanoparticles, resulting in less unspecific cellular uptake and prolonged blood circulation time. Herein, the specific binding of apolipoproteins around temperature-responsive nanoparticles when incubating the nanoparticles in human plasma is observed. The stealth properties of these nanocarriers can be simply controlled by varying incubation temperature.

Microbial lipopeptide bacillimycin Lb (B-Lb) can self-assemble into various supramolecular structures in a multilevel and cross-scale manner. B-Lb self-assemblies can induce cytoplasmic vacuolation of human triple-negative breast cancer cells, resulting in methuosis-like cell death in vivo and in vitro. Long fatty acid chain in B-Lb is the key to maintain its self-assembled form and bioactivity.

This study pushes the limits of melt electrowriting, by printing daily for a total of 25 d using the same, continuously heated, polymer. The automated generation of samples for various analysis shows that, at the lowest temperature, there was no detectable change in fiber diameter, elastic modulus, or crystallinity of the polymer.

A hybrid lead-free metal halide, (BTMA)₂CoBr₄ (BTMA, benzyltrimethylammonium), is demonstrated to exhibit significant piezoelectricity and soft elastic properties. Moreover, (BTMA)₂CoBr₄-based composite films are fabricated for energy harvesting and human body motion sensing with attractive performance. This work broadens the landscape of molecular piezoelectric materials by paying more attention to the non-perovskite-type and lead-free hybrid organic-inorganic systems.

4-Chlorobenzamidine hydrochloride is developed as spacer to form orientationally crystallized nanorod-like 1D perovskite on the top surface of 3D perovskite for surface passivation of FAPbI₃ perovskite. The coexistence of 1D–3D hybrid perovskite regulates the crystallization and morphology effectively and assists in promoting charge extraction, and suppressing charge recombination and exhibits a boosted power conversion efficiency of 21.95%.

The physics of optoionic transduction in photodiode-hydrogel hybrids is explored. Optoionic sensors are used for mimicking biological functions such as optoionic transduction, photosensitive skin, and light-triggered actuation. Potential applications of optoionic sensing include wearable and implantable devices, as well as soft robots.

Quenching in FeSO₄ solution enables NiCo₂O₄@CC electrocatalysts with Fe doping and oxygen vacancies generated on the surface. The quench-derived electrocatalysts are highly active and stable in both alkaline freshwater and seawater oxygen evolution reactions, arising from the large surface area, rich active sites, and modulated electronic structure.

Here, blending polymers of different molecular weights as donors, to solve the conflict between coherence lengths and intermixed phase is proposed. This strategy fully utilizes the individual advantages of polymers of different molecular weights, which may reduce or eliminate trial-and-error approaches to match donor and accepter materials in regulating the microstructure of polymer/nonfullerene as acceptors solar cells.

High quality heteroepitaxial freestanding 1D–3D type multiferroics of self-assembled BaTiO₃-CoFe₂O₄ (BTO-CFO) nanostructure with CFO pillars embedded in BTO matrix is prepared based on a water-dissolvable Sr₃Al₂O₆ sacrificial layer. The freestanding BTO-CFO nanostructure enjoys super flexibility and mechanical integrity, and clear piezoelectric and magnetic responses confirming its robust multiferroic properties at room temperature.

All-inorganic halide perovskite CsPbBr₃ single crystal film (SCF) is introduced in resistive memory. An ultrahigh switching ratio over 10⁹ and fast switching speed (1.8 µs) are achieved by Ag/CsPbBr₃/Ag structure due to high Schottky barrier height and remarkable interface contact. The memory provides the halide perovskite SCF with potential as an alternative in future computing systems.

Pd nanosheets with sizes about 1–2 µm and thickness around 3 nm are synthesized with a mild wet chemical method. A comprehensive mechanism study reveals the decomposition of the solvent plays a crucial role in the 2D growth. Further deposition on the existing nanosheets yields trimetallic PdPtNi nanosheets, which exhibit enhanced activity and stability in the oxygen reduction reaction.

Microbowl-shaped Janus particles (JPs) are made by deposition of Au and Ti layers onto sacrificial spherical polystyrene particles, followed by oxidation of the Ti to TiO₂. The dual broken symmetry of both geometrical and electrical properties of the microbowl renders a strong dependence of its mobility and cargo loading on the order of the layering of Au and TiO₂.

Tandem semiconductor microwires capable of unassisted solar water-splitting are magnetically aligned under operational conditions with active dispersion using an external magnetic field acting on a ferromagnetic nickel-hydrogen evolution catalyst. Aligned microwire slurries may help future tandem systems maintain current matching from a balance of photon absorption between the subcell regions.

Hemostatic powders derived from the skin secretion of Andrias davidianus (SSAD) with controllable particle sizes are prepared, inducing blood-absorption in a particle size-dependent manner. Featuring favorable hemostatic and simultaneous regenerative effects, along with degradability and good biocompatibility, the SSAD hemostatic powder can be a potential candidate as a new class of inexpensive and natural hemostatic and wound-dressing agent.

The single-electron bond in lanthanide (Ln) dimetallofullerene molecular magnets mediates the ferromagnetic exchange between both Ln ions, leading to exceptional high blocking temperatures. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, this work demonstrates electronic transport through its unoccupied component in individual Ln₂@C₈₀(CH₂Ph) complexes. The results pave the way for the investigation of the spin system of individual dimetallofullerene molecular magnets.

This study constructs covalent chemical linkage to anchor antimony sulfide on flexible 2D conductive materials. Ti₃C₂T_x MXene serves as both charge storage contributor and flexible conductive buffer to sustain the structural integrity of the Ti₃C₂-Sb₂S₃ electrode. This strategy is expected to shed more light on interfacial chemical linkage toward rational design of advanced materials for SIBs.

A magnetized strategy of MXene-based microsphere is put forward for the electromagnetic synergy. Within the 3D magnetic confinement architecture, strong interfacial polarization and multiscale magnetic coupling can be triggered, leading to the enhancement of microwave absorption performance. This work may serve as a new idea for the modification of electromagnetic composite.

An asymmetrical strategy to design metal-free organic small molecular (OSM) catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is proposed to regulate the electronic distribution of active sites. Both theoretical and experimental results prove and verify the varied active sites and efficient electrocatalytic activity of the asymmetrical OSM system. This work provides an efficient method to design ORR electrocatalysts.

A strategy for stable Bi-doped lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) with core-shell structure by the surface segregation effect originating from heterovalent doping, which overcomes the obstacles caused by hydrophobic surface of perovskite NCs, is pursued. The Bi-rich shell endows Bi-doped CsPbCl₃ NCs superior stability against the strong irradiation, high humidity, CO₂, and O₂ ambient.

The activation of T lymphocytes by antigen-presenting cells is responsible for eliciting antigen-specific immune responses, which plays a critical role in immunotherapy. Here, the manipulation of cross-priming of T cells using biomimetic nanoparticles enabled by cascade cell membrane coating, which provides a unique yet modulate platform for boosting an effective adaptive immunity for immunotherapy, is described.

A simple structure non-fused-ring electron donor PF2 alternately consisting of furan-3-carboxylate and 2,2′-bithiophene presents very small synthetic complexity of 9.7% as well as low material cost of ≈19.0 $ g⁻¹. More importantly, PF2 delivers a high efficiency of 12.4% coupled with strong operational stability.

Lithiophilic carbon nanofiber@reduced graphene oxide nanosheet composite scaffolds are fabricated through an in situ biofabrication method. The abundant lithiophilic functional groups and conductive 3D network can effectively regulate uniform Li nucleation and deposition, realizing exceptional Li plating/stripping, and full cell cycling performance. The findings provide a promising material fabrication strategy for realizing high performance Li metal batteries.

Nitrogen-rich conjugated polymer is first utilized as precursor to construct metal-free N-doped carbon nanozymes QAU-Z1, which is almost the best performance among the current metal-free oxidase-like nanozymes. The inherent mechanism can be attributed to the zeta potential variation between negative nanozyme and positively-charged TMB molecules, as well as the capacity of QAU-Z1 to decrease the overpotential of O₂ reduction.

The tunnel structure is skillfully used to adjust the strain of manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieves, enduing OMS-2 with unprecedented catalytic activity. Furthermore, the effect of pure strain on covalency and e_g band center is also discussed. The higher compression strain increases the covalence of MnO₆ octahedral configuration and moves down the e_g band center, thereby benefiting the interaction between active substance and oxygen intermediates.

Here is reported the engineering of non-liposomal lipid nanovesicles, named quatsomes, for the effective delivery of miRNAs and other small RNAs into the citosol of tumor cells, triggering a tumor-suppressive response. These stable nanovesicles with tunnable pH sensitiveness constitute an attractive platform for the delivery of nucleic acids with therapeutic activity and their exploitation in the clinics.