Latest ArticlesRadiotherapy (RT) is a crucial treatment for cancer; however, its effectiveness is limited by adverse effects on normal tissues, radioresistance, and tumor recurrence. To overcome these challenges, hydrogels have been employed for delivery of radiosensitizers and other therapeutic agents. This review summarizes recent advancements in the application of hydrogel-based local drug delivery systems for improving the therapeutic efficacy of RT in cancer treatment. Firstly, we introduce the classification and properties of hydrogels. Next, we detail hydrogel-based platforms designed to enhance both external beam radiation therapy and brachytherapy. We also discuss hydrogels used in combination therapy involving RT and immunotherapy. Lastly, we highlight the challenges that hydrogels face in RT. By surveying the latest developments in hydrogel applications for RT, this review aims to provide insights into the development of more effective and targeted cancer therapies.
Cyclooctatetraene (COT) attachment to fluorophores (“self-healing” dyes) is known for quenching reactive triplet states via triplet-state energy transfer (TET), enhancing photostability. However, COT’s impact on singlet states remains unclear. Quantum calculations reveal that COT induces energy transfer to dark states in deep blue dyes while promoting photoinduced electron transfer (PET) and intersystem crossing (ISC) in visible dyes, potentially compromising brightness and/or photostability. To address this, we propose the use of ΔE descriptor to optimize COT’s effects. Our findings uncover COT’s multifaceted impact. These insights will guide the development of superior triplet state quenchers and photostable dyes.
Catalyst with high performance has drawn increasing attention recently due to its significant advantages in chemical reactions such as speeding up the reaction, lowering the reaction temperature or pressure, and proceeding without itself being consumed. Despite the superior catalytic performance of precious metal catalysts, transition metal oxides offer a promising route for substitution of precious metals in catalysis arising from their low cost, intrinsic activity and sufficient stability. Mullite-type oxide SmMn2O5 exhibits a unique crystal structure containing double crystalline fields, and nowadays is used widely as the catalyst in different chemical reactions, including the reactions of vehicle emissions reduction and oxygen evolution reaction, gas sensors, and metal-air batteries, promoting attention in catalytic performance enhancement. To our knowledge, there is no review article covering the comprehensive information of SmMn2O5 and its applications. Here we review the recent progress in understanding of the crystal structure of SmMn2O5 and its basic physical properties. We then summarize the catalytic sources of SmMn2O5 and reaction mechanisms, while the strategies to improve catalytic performance of SmMn2O5 are further presented. Finally, we provide a perspective on how to make further progress in catalytic applications.
Palladium-based alloy catalysts have been employed as one of the potential candidates for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), but the dissolution of transition metal hinders their application. Herein, structure ordered PdTe intermetallic with Pd shell (o-PdTe@Pd) are synthesized via an electrochemical etching driven surface reconstruction strategy. The surface reconstruction could tune the electronic structure, weaken the adsorption energy of reaction intermediates on o-PdTe@Pd, resulting in enhanced electrocatalytic activity for ORR. The mass activity of o-PdTe@Pd is about 3.3 and 2.7 times higher than that of Pd/C in acid and alkaline, respectively. Besides, the half-potentials for ORR decay only about 44 mV and 12 mV after 30 k cycles accelerated durability test in acid and alkaline media, respectively. The enhanced durability originates from the resistance of Te atoms dissolve in the ordered PdTe intermetallic core and the core-shell structure. When assembled in a Zn-air battery, o-PdTe@Pd electrode delivers a higher specific capacity (794 mAh/g) and better cycling stability than Pt/C.
KTi2(PO4)3 is a promising anode material for potassium storage, but suffers from low conductivity and difficult balance between high capacity and good structural stability. Herein, the Ti3C2T MXene is used as a multifunctional binder to fabricate the KTi2(PO4)3 electrode by the traditional homogenizing-coating method. The MXene nanosheets, together with the conductive agent super P nanoparticles, construct a multiple conductive network for fast electron/ion transfer and high electrochemical kinetics. Moreover, the network ensures the structural stability of the KTi2(PO4)3 electrode during the de-intercalation/intercalation of 4 K+ ions, which is beneficial for simultaneously achieving high capacity and good cycle performance. Therefore, the MXene-bonded KTi2(PO4)3 electrode delivers a reversible capacity of 255.2 mAh/g at 50 mA/g, outstanding rate capability with 132.3 mAh/g at 2 A/g, and excellent cycle performance with 151.6 mAh/g at 1 A/g after 2000 cycles. This work not only suggests a high-performance anode material for potassium-ion batteries, but also demonstrates that the MXene is a promising binder material for constructing conductive electrodes in rechargeable batteries.
Fe(II) is an essential trace element for anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria (AAOB) metabolism, and can improve the nitrogen removal efficiency of anaerobic ammonia oxidation (Anammox). Here we operated two identical expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactors at low temperature (15 ± 3 ℃) for 154 days. Reactor 1 (R1) received additional Fe(II) (0.12 mmol/L) during the late startup phase, while reactor 0 (R0) served as the control and did not receive extra Fe(II). Nitrogen removal in R1 became stable at 55 d of operation, ten days earlier than R0. The nitrogen removal rate (NRR) of R1 was 1.64 kg N m−3 d−1 and its TN removal rate was as high as 89%, while R0 only reached 75%. The addition of Fe(II) was further beneficial to aggregation and stability of the granular sludge, and the used sludge of both reactors showed enrichment for AAOB populations compared to the inoculum, for instance, increased abundance of Candidatus-Kuenenia and in particular of Candidatus-Brocadia (from 0.17% to 10.10% in R0 and 7.79% in R1). Diverse microbial species and complex microbial network structure in R1 compared to R0 promoted the coupled denitrogenation by Anammox, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA), nitrate-dependent Fe oxidation (NDFO), and ferric ammonium oxidation (Feammox). In addition, the microbial community in R1 was more resistant to short-term low temperature (2–7 ℃) starvation, illustrating a further positive effect of adding Fe(II) during the startup phase of an Anammox reactor.
For treatment of sulfion-containing wastewater, coupling the electrochemical sulfion oxidation reaction (SOR) with hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can be an ideal way for sulfur and H2 resources recovery. Herein, we synthesize a metal-modified carbon nanotube arrays electrode (Co@NCNTs/CC) for SOR and HER. This electrode has excellent performance for SOR and HER attributed to the unique array structure. It can achieve 99.36 mA/cm2 at 0.6 V for SOR, and 10 mA/cm2 at 0.067 V for HER. Density functional theory calculations verify that metal modification is able to regulate the electronic structure of carbon nanotube, which is able to optimize the adsorption of intermediates. Employed Co@NCNTs/CC as bifunctional electrodes to establish a hybrid electrolytic cell can reduce about 67% of energy consumption compared with the traditional water splitting electrolytic cell. Finally, the hybrid electrolytic cell is used to treat actual sulfion-containing wastewater, achieving the sulfur yield of 30 mg h−1 cm−2 and the hydrogen production of 0.64 mL/min.
The selective 2e− ORR reaction on polymeric carbon nitride framework is one of the most promising approaches for solar-driven hydrogen peroxide production. Poly(heptazine imide) (PHI) as a class of K+-incorporated crystalline carbon nitride framework, is highly active for photocatalytic H2O2 production. An upgrade on the H2O2 photoproduction performance of PHI is realized and the mechanistic insights are revealed in this work. By photochemical reaction, the electron withdrawing groups of hydroxyl group and cyano group are grafted on the surface of PHI frameworks. The dual polarization sites on the surface contribute significantly to the enhancement of the exciton dissociation. The optimized PHI with dual polarization sites exhibits a remarkable photocatalytic H2O2 production performance, which is 2 times of the active pristine PHI. Most importantly, the photochemical reaction method is generally applicable to improve the exciton dissociation of a wide range of polymeric carbon nitride frameworks with various structure and compositions; and the thiourea-derived polymeric carbon nitride framework with dual surface polarization sites exhibits a remarkable photocatalytic performance with a high H2O2 production rate of 40.5 mmol h−1 g−1.
The concentration of metallic elements is closely associated with overall health. However, the discharge of untreated industrial wastewater can lead to metal-containing pollutants entering the human body through the food chain, disrupting the organism's homeostasis and posing a risk to human health. Covalent organic framework materials (COFs) have emerged as a novel porous material for detecting or adsorbing metal ions due to their unique pore structure, topological structure and flexible design. This paper summarizes the role, toxicity, and sources of metal ions related to human health, as well as the design, synthesis and performance of COFs fluorescent materials for detecting these elements. The interaction mechanism of different fluorescent COFs and metal ions are discussed. Additionally, the remaining challenges and prospects of COFs fluorescence sensors are provided. We believe this review will be useful in directing the development of fluorescent COFs towards metal ions.
The purification of low-grade coal-bed methane is extremely important, but challenging, due to the very similar physical properties of CH4 and N2. Herein, we proposed a dual polarization strategy by employing triazine and polyfluoride sites to construct polar pores in COF materials, achieving the efficient separation of CH4 from N2. As expected, the dual polarized F-CTF-1 and F-CTF-2 exhibit higher CH4 adsorption capacity and CH4/N2 selectivity than CTF-1 and CTF-2, respectively. Especially, the CH4 uptake capacity and CH4/N2 selectivity of F-CTF-2 is 1.76 and 1.42 times than that of CTF-2. This work not only developed promising COF materials for CH4/N2 separation, but also provided important guidance for the separation of other adsorbates with similar properties.
No. 86 Xueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing
010-62199257
qkjq@cast.org.cn
Copyright © 2025 China Association for Science and Technology. All rights reserved. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
Sponsored by the Office of the Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization of CAST, and supported by Science and Technology Review Publishing House
