Nanoscale Horizons最新文献

While nanomedicine holds great promise for kidney disease, targeted delivery remains a major challenge. Most nanocarriers rely on passive accumulation or epithelial-specific ligands, limiting their utility in complex, inflamed renal environments. In acute kidney injury (AKI), inflammation and vascular dysfunction play central roles, yet targeting strategies beyond the tubule remain underexplored. Here, dual-ligand micelles are developed to enhance nanocarrier localization to the inflamed kidney by simultaneously engaging both organ- and injury-specific cues. Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene sulfide) (PEG-b-PPS) micelles were engineered to display two peptide ligands: CLPVASC, which preferentially distributes to the kidney, and CYNTTTHRC, which binds selectively to inflamed endothelium. These targeting motifs were incorporated via lipid-anchored peptide amphiphiles, enabling modular surface functionalization without disrupting micelle morphology, size, or charge. In vitro, dual-targeted micelles demonstrated enhanced uptake by human endothelial cells exposed to hypoxia–reoxygenation. In vivo, following unilateral renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in mice, targeted micelles achieved selective accumulation in the injured kidney, outperforming both non-targeted controls and contralateral kidneys. Off-target distribution to liver, lung, and spleen was markedly reduced, confirming the spatial precision of the dual-ligand approach. This strategy offers a scalable, modular, and biologically informed platform for precision delivery in AKI and related inflammatory conditions.

Our Emerging Investigator Series features exceptional work by early-career nanoscience and nanotechnology researchers. Read Siqi Li’s Emerging Investigator Series article ‘Destruction for growth: a novel laser direct writing perovskite strategy with intelligent anti-counterfeiting applications’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D4NH00612G) and read more about him in the interview below.

The demand for safe energy storage with high energy density is growing, and as conventional lithium-ion batteries with liquid electrolytes are nearing their performance limits, solid-state Li batteries have emerged as promising successors. Solid-state batteries offer higher energy density, enhanced safety, and faster charge rates. However, their commercialization remains constrained by solid/solid interface processes, including dendrite formation, chemically or mechanically unstable electrolyte/electrode interfaces, and inhomogeneous cathodic reactions. Advanced micro- and nanoscale characterization techniques are essential for unveiling the mechanistic origins of solid-state battery degradation and performing real-time monitoring of local changes within battery materials, which reveal critical insights into dynamic interfacial processes during operation. Such knowledge may unlock the full potential of solid-state batteries by guiding the development of new materials, battery architectures, and microstructures for achieving improved performance and durability. This review surveys research on solid-state battery materials and examines how various micro- and nanoscale characterization techniques can be used to diagnose degradation phenomena and develop strategies to mitigate degradation. We review recent studies with a particular focus on (i) grain and phase boundaries in solid-state electrolytes, (ii) dendrite formation, (iii) the structure and evolution of solid electrolyte interphases, (iv) lithiation-induced heterogeneities in the anode active materials, (v) cathode electrolyte interfacial phenomena, and (vi) contact loss within cathode composites and the resulting spatial heterogeneities revealed through state-of-charge mapping. Finally, we discuss how future developments in characterization methods can enable gaining a deeper insight into the operation and degradation of solid-state batteries.

Herein, we propose a versatile strategy for dynamic DNA self-assembly through a control loop embedded with responsive chemical groups. Responsive to a stimulus, the inserted chemical group will enable the formation or cleavage of the control loop, determining its intact or cleaved states. When the loop is intact, DNA self-assembly occurs; otherwise, the assembly process is prevented. The “Turn-On”, “Turn-Off”, and reversible “On–Off–On” systems have been achieved for two DNA assembly systems by incorporating different chemical groups, responding to various stimuli such as light irradiation, metal ions, and small molecules. The loop-controlled dynamic DNA self-assembly strategy holds excellent designability and versatility, enriching the existing regulation reservoir and bringing new opportunities for dynamic DNA nanotechnology.

Nucleic acid nanostructures are powerful nanomaterials for biomedical applications owing to their inherent programmability, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. However, their usability has been limited by inefficient synthesis methods and their susceptibility to degradation in physiological environments. To overcome these challenges, rolling circle replication (RCR), an isothermal enzymatic reaction, has emerged as a polymerization method to generate ultra-long nucleic acid nanostructures with improved productivity, biostability, and functionality. This minireview provides a general overview of the versatile biological functions and engineering strategies for RCR based nucleic acid nanostructures. We also highlight recent advances in passive targeted delivery, active targeted delivery, and stimulus responsive delivery using polymeric DNA and RNA nanostructures. Finally, we outline the current status, key challenges, and future perspectives of nucleic acid nanostructures for advanced drug delivery.

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Due to sodium's abundance and cost advantages, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. The commercial adoption of hard carbon (HC) as an anode material—attributed to its low sodiation potential, high Na⁺ storage capacity, and extensive availability—further reinforces the potential of SIBs. Nevertheless, the inherent thermodynamic instability of HC anodes predisposes them to irreversible Na plating during operation. This phenomenon not only poses considerable safety hazards due to dendrite-induced short circuits but also accelerates capacity degradation, thereby undermining the feasibility of large-scale SIB deployment. This review comprehensively delineates the mechanisms underlying Na plating on HC anodes by examining internal factors—such as the electrode structure, the N/P ratio, and the electrolyte composition—and external factors including the state of charge, low temperature, and fast charging conditions. It further details various detection methods, encompassing both electrochemical techniques and physical characterization techniques, and outlines mitigation strategies such as electrode structure design, surface engineering, and electrolyte regulation to suppress plating. By synthesizing current understanding, the review posits future directions for developing safer, high-performance SIB anodes. Addressing Na plating is thus critical for advancing SIB technology toward large-scale applications.

Colloidal systems offer a unique experimental window for investigating condensed matter phenomena, uniquely enabling simultaneous access to microscopic particle dynamics and emergent macroscopic responses. Their particle-scale size, thermal motion, and tuneable interactions allow for real-time, real-space, and single-particle-resolved imaging. These features make it possible to directly connect local structural changes, dynamic rearrangements, and mechanical deformation with system-level behaviours. Such capabilities remain largely inaccessible in atomic or molecular systems. This review presents colloidal modelling as a predictive framework that addresses persistent challenges in materials research, including phase classification, dynamic arrest, and defect-mediated mechanics. We describe methodologies for extracting structural, dynamical, and mechanical descriptors from experimental imaging data, show how these features capture governing variables of material behaviour, and illustrate their application in machine learning approaches for phase identification, dynamics prediction, and inverse design. Rather than treating colloidal data as limited to model systems, we emphasize its value as a training ground for developing interpretable and physics-informed models. By linking microscopic mechanisms with macroscopic observables in a single experimental system, colloids generate structured and generalizable datasets. Their integration with data-driven methods offer a promising pathway toward predictive and transferable materials design strategies.

We report the development of a fluorinated micellar nanosystem whose ¹⁹F-MRI signal can be selectively dimmed by application of an external stimulus. A photo-activatable quencher unit (ferrocene) was co-encapsulated with the superfluorinated PERFECTA probe in colloidal micelles. While pristine micelles were MRI responsive (“On” state), their irradiation by light triggered the “Off” MRI-state of PERFECTA.

Colloidal dispersions are key in many fields of science and technology. Recently, we have shown that small molecules can stabilize dispersions of nanoscale objects, such as proteins and nanoparticles by screening their net attractive interactions. This new effect is essentially the opposite of the well-known salt screening of electrostatic interaction. Here we show that small molecule stabilization of nanoparticles is a phenomenon strongly linked to the hydrophobic content of the particles as well as to the strength of their hydrophobic attraction. We compare the effect of proline on gold nanoparticles coated with 11-mercaptoundecane sulfonate (MUS) at varying percentages of the hydrophobic ligand octanethiol (OT). We show that the larger the percentage of OT, the larger the proline stabilization effect is. We also compare the effect of proline on water dispersions of nanoparticles with that on heavy water dispersions. In the latter, the hydrophobic effect plays a bigger role. We find that in D₂O, proline stabilization is larger. We also compare the effect of proline on the same MUS:OT gold nanoparticles before and after an annealing process that is known to render the particle more hydrophilic. Proline is more effective on the particles before annealing. Finally, we study the effect of proline on non-aggregating allMUS nanoparticles. We find that proline stabilization of these particles is mainly due to a reduction in the long-range attraction coefficient. Overall, we show that proline stabilizes nanoparticle dispersions more effectively as the hydrophobic attraction between nanoparticles increases.