Inhibitation of Cellular Toxicity of Gold Nanoparticles by Surface Encapsulation of Silica Shell for Hepatocarcinoma Cell Application

Nanotechnology, as a double-edged sword, endows gold nanoparticles (GNPs) more “power” in bioimaging and theragnostics, whereas an outstanding issue associated with the biocompatibility of GNPs should also be addressed. Especially for the silica-coated gold nanospheres (GNSs) and gold nanorods (GNRs), there is increasing attention to explore the application, because the surface silica encapsulation has been proved to be an alternative strategy for other organic surface coatings. However, among those reports there are very limited publications to focus on the toxicity of silica-coated GNSs and GNRs. Besides, the existing detoxification methods via surface chemistry on GNPs greatly improve the biocompatibility but still undergo challenges for high dose (>100 pM) demand and long-term stability. Here, we demonstrated a straightforward, low-cost, universal strategy for the surface chemistry on GNPs via silica encapsulating. Different size, shape, dose, and surface capping of GNPs for the nanotoxicity test have been carefully discussed. After silica encapsulating, the detoxification for all GNPs presents significantly from HepG2 cell proliferation results, especially for the GNRs. This new straightforward strategy will definitely rationalize the biocompatibility issue of GNPs and also provide potential for other surface chemistry methodology in biomedical fields

Highly Controllable and Efficient Synthesis of Mixed-Halide CsPbX₃ (X = Cl, Br, I) Perovskite QDs toward the Tunability of Entire Visible Light

CsPbX₃ (X = Cl, Br, I) perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) have been intensively investigated on photoelectric devices due to their superior optical properties. To date, the stability of CsPbX₃ PQDs is still an open challenge. The previous mixed-halide CsPbX₃ PQDs were generally obtained via the anion-exchange method at 40 °C. Here, the single- and mixed-halide CsPbX₃ PQDs are synthesized at high temperature via the hot injection technique. The surface ligands could thus be strongly coordinated onto the surface of the PQDs, which dramatically improve the optical properties of the PQDs. The resulting CsPbX₃ PQDs have high quantum yield (QY, 40–95%), narrow full width at half-maximum (FWHM) (the narrowest FWHM <10 nm), tunable band gap (408–694 nm), and highly strong photostability. The variation of their emission peaks upon anion atoms is well-supported by the theoretical band gaps calculated by the density functional theory calculations with the alloy formula correction. Hence, these PQDs show great potential as good candidates for photoelectric devices

High-Performance All-Solid-State Polymer Electrolyte with Controllable Conductivity Pathway Formed by Self-Assembly of Reactive Discogen and Immobilized via a Facile Photopolymerization for a Lithium-Ion Battery

All-solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have aroused great interests as one of the most promising alternatives for liquid electrolyte in the next-generation high-safety, and flexible lithium-ion batteries. However, some disadvantages of SPEs such as inefficient ion transmission capacity and poor interface stability result in unsatisfactory cyclic performance of the assembled batteries. Especially, the solid cell is hard to be run at room temperature. Herein, a novel and flexible discotic liquid-crystal (DLC)-based cross-linked solid polymer electrolyte (DLCCSPE) with controlled ion-conducting channels is fabricated via a one-pot photopolymerization of oriented reactive discogen, poly­(ethylene glycol)­diacrylate, and lithium salt. The experimental results indicate that the macroscopic alignment of self-assembled columns in the DLCCSPEs is successfully obtained under annealing and effectively immobilized via the UV photopolymerization. Because of the existence of unique oriented structure in the electrolytes, the prepared DLCCSPE films exhibit higher ionic conductivities and better comprehensive electrochemical properties than the DLCCSPEs without controlled ion-conductive pathways. Especially, the assembled LiFePO₄/Li cells with oriented electrolyte show an initial discharge capacity of 164 mA h g^–1 at 0.1 C and average specific discharge capacities of 143, 135, and 149 mA h g^–1 at the C-rates of 0.5, 1, and 0.2 C, respectively. In addition, the solid cell also shows the first discharge capacity of 124 mA h g^–1 (0.2 C) at room temperature. The outstanding cell performance of the oriented DLCCSPE should be originated from the macroscopically oriented and self-assembled DLC, which can form ion-conducting channels. Thus, combining the excellent performance of DLCCSPE and the simple one-pot fabricating process of the DLC-based all-solid-state electrolyte, it is believed that the DLC-based electrolyte can be one of the most promising electrolyte materials for the next-generation high-safety solid lithium-ion batteries

Covalently Assembled NIR Nanoplatform for Simultaneous Fluorescence Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer Cells

A highly efficient multifunctional nanoplatform for simultaneous upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging and photodynamic therapy has been developed on the basis of selective energy transfer from multicolor luminescent NaYF₄:Yb³⁺,Er³⁺ upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) to photosensitizers (PS). Different from popular approaches based on electrostatic or hydrophobic interactions, over 100 photosensitizing molecules were covalently bonded to every 20 nm UCNP, which significantly strengthened the UCNP–PS linkage and reduced the probability of leakage/desorption of the PS. Over 80% UCL was transferred to PS, and the singlet oxygen production was readily detected by its feature emission at 1270 nm. Tests performed on JAR choriocarcinoma and NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells verified the efficient endocytosis and photodynamic effect of the nanoplatform with 980 nm irradiation specific to JAR cancer cells. Our work highlights the promise of using UCNPs for potential image-guided cancer photodynamic therapy