Latest ArticlesDeveloping natural nano-platforms with high biocompatibility and natural targeting ability represents great significance for drug delivery. High-density lipoprotein (HDL), a natural lipid-protein complex, plays important roles in physiological activities, particularly in reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) and be closely associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies have demonstrated that HDLs have the potential to serve as ideal drug carriers. Recombinant HDLs (rHDLs) have been used to encapsulate substances such as small interfering RNA (siRNA), drugs, and contrast agents, fully utilizing the biocompatibility and targeting ability of rHDL in the body and providing new strategies for drug delivery and disease treatment. In this review, we discussed in detail the basic principles of HDL as a drug delivery system, the mechanisms of targeted drug delivery, and several methods for preparing HDL nanoparticles. Afterward, we comprehensively reviewed the applications of HDL as a drug carrier in cardiovascular diseases, cancer treatment (such as glioblastoma, breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and urologic cancers) and some other fields. Finally, we reviewed the therapeutic effects and safety of HDL nanoparticles in clinical studies. Through a review and summary of these research advances, we aim to fully understand the potential of HDL as a drug carrier in clinical applications, providing valuable references and guidance for future research and expedites the translational application of HDL as drug carriers.
This article reviews the latest research advances of tetrahedral framework nucleic acid (tFNA)-based systems in their fabrication, modification, and the potential applications in biomedicine. TFNA arises from the synthesis of four single-stranded DNA chains. Each chain contains brief sequences that complement those found in the other three, culminating in the creation of a pyramid-shaped nanostructure of approximately 10 nanometers in size. The first generation of tFNA demonstrates inherent compatibility with biological systems and the ability to permeate cell membrane effectively. These attributes translate into remarkable capabilities for regulating various cellular biological processes, fostering tissue regeneration, and modulating immune responses. The subsequent evolution of tFNA introduces enhanced adaptability and a relatively higher degree of biological stability. This advancement encompasses structural modifications, such as the addition of functional domains at the vertices or side arms, integration of low molecular weight pharmaceuticals, and the implementation of diverse strategies aimed at reversing multi-drug resistance in tumor cells or microorganisms. These augmentations empower tFNA-based systems to be utilized in different scenarios, thus broadening their potential applications in various biomedical fields.
In order to solve the problem of poor conductivity of traditional LiFePO4 cathode binders, we developed sodium alginate-Congo red copolymers (SA-CR) as water-soluble electrically conductive and mechanically robust composite binder. Unlike most other electrically conductive polymer binders, the procedure is straightforward and low-cost to prepare SA-CR binder. Various SA -CR copolymers were prepared with different degree of compounding of CR to investigate the effect of CR on the electrochemical and physical properties of the prepared electrodes. The copolymer whose composition was filled with a mixture of SA and CR at a 3:1 mass ratio showed the best cell performance, due to the well-balanced electrical conductivity and mechanical properties. It exhibited a specific capacity of 118.8 mAh/g at the 100th cycle with 92.1% capacity retention, significantly better than the 108.5 mAh/g of conventional acetylene black electrodes. CR as a conduction-promoting agent in water-soluble composite binder favors the formation of continuous and homogenous conducting bridges throughout the electrode and increases the compaction density of electrode by reducing the conducting agent content of acetylene black and thus the improvement of electrode performance is realized.
Multi-response metal cluster supercrystal materials, which can simultaneously display various such as color, photoluminescence, changes by bearing only one stimulus, have huge potential as stimuli-responsive intelligent material, but are rarely reported. Here, we report three Cu8 cluster supercrystals, Cu8-1, Cu8-2, and Cu8-3, with homologous cluster molecule units [Cu8(PNP)3(EPPTA)6](PF6)2 but distinct packing. These supercrystals display bright µs-long photoluminescence with a high quantum yield of up to 26.6% in solid-state at room temperature and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristic. Superior thermal stability and blue-excitable bright yellow emission make Cu8-3 serve as a yellow phosphor for white light-emitting diode. Furthermore, upon being stimulated by solvent vapor and temperature, reversible supercrystal-to-supercrystal transformations can be witnessed accompanied by remarkable color and luminescence switching. This work not only provides a kind of Cu cluster supercrystal model but also motivates the further development of metal clusters in multi-response materials.
Silicon (Si) is considered as one of the most promising anode materials for advanced lithium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity, environmental friendliness, and widespread availability. However, great challenges such as volumetric expansion, limited ionic/electronic conductivity properties and complex manufacturing processes hinder its practical applications. Herein, a novel plasma-enhanced reduced graphene oxide fibers/Si (PrGOFs/Si) composite anode is first proposed by using wet-spinning technology followed by plasma-enhanced reduction method. The PrGOFs provide large space to accommodate the volume expansion of Si nanoparticles (SiNPs) by forming a flexible 3D conductive network. Compared to the conventional thermally reduced graphene oxide fibers/Si (TrGOFs/Si) sample, the PrGOFs/Si anodes demonstrate higher conductivity, specific surface area, and superior fabrication efficiency. Accordingly, the PrGOFs/Si anodes exhibit a reversible capacity of 698.3 mAh/g, and maintain a specific capacity of 602.5 mAh/g at a current density of 200 mA/g after 100 cycles, superior to conventional TrGOFs/Si counterparts. This research presents a novel strategy for the preparation of high-performance Si/carbon anodes for energy storage applications.
Sodium (Na) metal batteries have gained increasing attention more recently, owing to their high energy densities and cost efficiencies, but are severely handicapped by the unsatisfactory Coulombic efficiency (CE) and cycling stability stemming from dendrite growth on Na anodes. In this study, we developed a strategy of direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing combined with electroless deposition to construct a hierarchical Cu grid coated with a dense nanoscale Ag interfacial layer as the host material for Na plating. The sodiophilic Ag interface contributes to a fall in the Na nucleation energy, hence enabling uniform Na deposition on each 3D-printed filament. The constructed 3D-printed structure can effectively moderate the electric-field distribution and lower the local current density for relieving Na inhomogeneous growth, as confirmed by finite element simulation and Na plating/stripping morphology evolution results. In particular, the unique 3D structure also promotes the lateral growth of Na, thus the volume change of Na metal was accommodated to stabilize the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). As a result, the CE of the half-cell can reach 99.9% at the current density of 1 mA/cm2 after 300 cycles and the full-cell exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance (capacity retention of 91.0% after 500 cycles at 2 C).
Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are a series of materials composited by metal ions and organic ligands with high specific surface area, which might be great precursors to produce metal oxides by calcination for gas sensor application. However, Zn-ZIF (ZIF-8) is hard to transform as ZnO in air and keeping the unique framework simultaneously. In this work, Fe2+ was introduced into the metal node to replace a part of Zn2+ ions, and it could be oxidized as Fe3+ in the calcination to facilitate the oxidation process of the 2-methylimdazole ligands to give Fe-ZnO complex shell with high specific surface area (108 m2/g) and abundant oxygen vacancies (48%). The micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) sensor based on the 6%-Fe-ZnO complex shell performed outstanding gas sensing properties to the low-concentration acetone vapor, including high response (ΔR/Rg = 11.2 to 5 ppm acetone), superior selectivity (Sacetone/Sethanol = 5.6) and fast response speed (τres = 2.6 s). This work not only provided the research of an exceptional acetone MEMS sensor, but also induced a strategy to produce metal oxide derived from ZIFs with complex structures for the universal synthesis methodology.
Conventionally, organic radicals adhere to the Aufbau principle, the energy level of the singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) is not below the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), but somewhat abnormal phenomena have appeared recently. In this study, we introduce a novel strategy by incorporating unique NHC-Au-X units into a tris(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl (TTM) system to create metal-involved open-shell complexes, denoted as TTM-NHC-Au-X (X = I, Br, or Cl). Density-functional theory calculations were used to predict an inversion in the energy of the SOMO and highest doubly occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of TTM-NHC-Au-I, which is supported by experimental results. Organometallic radicals TTM-NHC-Au-X demonstrated distinct properties with different coordinated halides. The radical behaviors have been investigated by EPR, UV–vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry, additional structural information provided by structurally comparing related the precursor complexes given by X-ray crystallography. TTM-NHC-Au-I with SOMOHOMO conversion (SHC) features a highly thermal decomposition temperature up to 305 ℃. Furthermore, the photostability of TTM-NHC-Au-I was found to be 75 and 23 times greater than that of TTM-NHC-Au-Br and TTM-NHC-Au-Cl, respectively. These findings provide valuable insights into the structural and electronic design principles governing the occurrence of SOMOHOMO conversion in open-shell systems.
In electrochemical energy devices, the operating conditions always exert enormous influence on electrocatalysts' performances. Phosphoric acid (PA), acted as the proton carriers, can be adsorbed on Pt surface, block active sites and affect the electronic structure of Pt unfavorably, which severely restricts the performance of high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). Herein, simply basic organic compounds, such as dicyandiamide (DCD), melamine (Mel) and cyanuric acid (CA), are decorated on Pt surface (DCD-Pt/C, Mel-Pt/C and CA-Pt/C) to induce the adsorption transfer of proton carriers. The decoration can not only inject electrons to Pt and enhance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity but also can induce PA to transfer from Pt surface to organic compounds, decontaminating active sites. In addition, the organic compounds with the larger conjugated system and the smaller electronegativity of ligating atoms would have a greater interaction with Pt, causing a larger decoration amount on Pt surface, which leads to more excellent ORR activity and resistance to PA blockage effect. Therefore, Mel-Pt/C shows a peak power density of 629 mW/cm2, exceeding commercial Pt/C (437 mW/cm2), DCD-Pt/C (539 mW/cm2) and CA-Pt/C (511 mW/cm2) with the same loading.
The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are the two half reactions that make up the over water splitting reaction. Increasing oxygen evolution reaction rate wound immensely raise the efficiency of over water splitting reaction because it is the rate limiting reaction in water splitting reaction. The key to improve OER performance is the development and utilization of advanced catalysts. As one of the most potential catalysts for HER, it has gradually attracted the attention of researchers in the aspect of catalytic OER. It is very necessary to review the research progress of Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) in catalytic OER to promote the research process in the field. In this review, we comprehensively and systematically summarized the strategies to improve TMDs electrocatalytic OER. First of all, structural regulation of TMDs-based electrocatalyst was summarized in detail, mainly including size engineering, defect engineering, doping engineering, phase engineering and heterojunction engineering. Once more, magnetic field regulation as a representative of external field regulation to improve TMDs electrocatalytic OER performance was discussed in depth. Last but not least, the strategies to improve TMDs electrocatalytic OER is prospected and some views on the development of this field are also put forward, which are expected to enhance the catalytic efficiency of TMDs for OER.
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