Nanoscale Horizons最新文献

Essential trace elements (ETEs) are crucial nutrients in maintaining the immune function of the body. Designing nanomedicines based on ETEs has become an emerging strategy for enhancing immunotherapy by utilizing the metabolism of constituent ETEs and their immunomodulatory functions. However, their medical applications are challenged by the dosage-dependent balance between therapeutic necessity and toxicity. The narrow safety zones of ETEs pose great challenges for high efficacy without exceeding strict safety thresholds. Nanomedicinal strategies based on multiple ETEs hold promising potentials for exerting safe and effective immunomodulation functions of ETEs with an expanded therapeutic window. Herein, ultrasmall ZnS/Se/BSA nanoclusters (ZSB NCs) were synthesized via a biomineralization approach, acting as a synergetic lymph nodes (LNs)-targeting nanoplatform integrating the immunomodulatory effects of ETEs (Zn and Se) and the advantages of albumins for cancer immunotherapy. ZSB NCs could remarkably target LNs after subcutaneous injection, where the released zinc ions and transformed selenoproteins stimulated the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase-interferon gene (cGAS-STING) pathway. Subsequently, ZSB NCs effectively induced the activation and maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and activated T cells to secrete inflammatory factors for enhancing immunomodulatory effects. The cancer immunotherapy efficacy and biosafety of ZSB NCs were validated in a orthotopic breast cancer model, where tumor growth was significantly suppressed. Our findings indicate that ZSB NCs can act as a promising candidate for improved synergetic cancer immunotherapy.

Aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) is a versatile method for the purification of numerous chemical compounds and materials, ranging from proteins and nucleic acids to cell organelles and various nanostructures. However, despite its widespread use, the underlying extraction mechanism remains unclear, which significantly reduces the utility of ATPE. Many types of surfactants are often added to biphasic systems to enhance the extraction of analytes between phases. Although their role in this process is crucial, it is not entirely understood. In this work, to fill this gap, we adapt and refine a nearly two-hundred-year-old chemical technique for the detection of bile salts in urine, referred to as Pettenkofer's test and monitor the partitioning of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) by ATPE. This approach enabled us to tint the otherwise transparent bile salt surfactants to precisely track their distribution and concentration in the biphasic system, thereby unravelling the modus operandi of this popular purification technique.

In this article, we report a rapid, ambient microdroplet-driven synthesis that directly converts homogeneous solutions of metal precursors into bimetallic nanorods within minutes. Using platinum(II) acetylacetonate as a model precursor, we demonstrate the one-step, reductant-free formation of platinum nanorods. Furthermore, this strategy is extended to mixed solutions of platinum(II) acetylacetonate and copper(II) acetate, enabling the first-time synthesis of platinum-copper bimetallic nanorods via ambient microdroplets from simple salt precursors. This facile synthesis proceeds without additional chemical reducing agents and affords nearly quantitative conversion, highlighting the sustainability and efficiency of ambient microdroplet chemistry for creating anisotropic, high-surface-area nanostructures. The resulting platinum and platinum-copper nanorods feature unique bimetallic junctions and enhanced surface area-to-volume characteristics. When evaluated for electrocatalytic nitrate reduction, these nanorods exhibit efficient ammonia production, underscoring the potential of this rapid and sustainable synthetic approach for environmentally relevant catalytic applications. While these results establish a promising platform for environmentally relevant catalysis, further optimization of catalyst composition is required to realize practical applications.

Electrocatalytic epoxidation of olefins represents a promising and sustainable pathway for producing high-value epoxides, such as propylene oxide. This review comprehensively examines recent advancements in catalyst design and membrane electrode assembly (MEA) reactor engineering, while also addressing persistent challenges including catalyst cost, stability, and mass transfer limitations. Although MEA technologies have achieved remarkable progress, exemplified by an over 25% reduction in energy consumption, their industrial deployment remains constrained by issues such as Nafion membrane degradation and inefficient transport of long-chain olefins. Future research endeavors should prioritize the development of cost-effective, durable catalytic systems and their seamless integration with renewable energy sources to facilitate the large-scale implementation of green electrochemical epoxidation processes.

Recent integration of 3D memory technologies such as high-bandwidth memory [HBM] into AI accelerators has enhanced neural network performance. However, the stacked structures of 3D memories result in notable heat accumulation because lateral interfaces obstruct vertical heat dissipation, thereby hindering effective cooling. An effective approach to mitigating energy consumption involves the utilization of nonvolatile memory technologies, such as resistive random-access memory (RRAM). Integration of selector transistors with RRAM devices mitigates sneak path leakage, increases nonlinearity, and improves the reliability of vertically stacked arrays. Nevertheless, executing core AI tasks-such as vector-matrix multiplication in neuromorphic computing-requires substantial current flow through these transistors, which in turn leads to heat generation, reduced power efficiency, and potential computational errors. Additionally, densely stacked layers create hotspots and restrict access to cooling interfaces. This study presents a comparative analysis of models with various selector transistor configurations, based on power parameters from microfabricated 3D RRAM structures. The results indicate that optimally positioning the selector transistor at the memory interface can reduce nanoscale heat accumulation by up to 11%, as verified through finite-element simulations and numerical calculations. Improved thermal management reduced peak local temperatures from over 160 °C to below 60 °C within 20 nanoseconds in configurations featuring 10 to 100 stacked layers.

Atomic co-magnetometers, serving as high-precision magnetic field sensors, find broad applications in autonomous navigation for unmanned systems and fundamental physics. However, their conventional optical detection modules relying on bulky components suffer from limited miniaturization and integration. Metasurfaces offer a promising route toward optical path miniaturization. Nevertheless, most existing metasurface designs focus on homogeneous polarization beam splitting, such as separating linear polarization states, which can introduce additional optical noise and energy loss. To overcome this limitation, we propose a linear-to-circular polarization differential detection scheme utilizing a polarization-multiplexed metasurface. Through phase-encoded amorphous silicon meta-atoms fabricated on fused silica, this device integrates dual functional zones: a polarization-retaining deflector (PRD) and a polarization-converting deflector (PCD), enabling simultaneous beam splitting and independent manipulation of linearly polarized (LP) and circularly polarized (CP) light. At the operational wavelength of 795 nm, the meta-atoms exhibit over 80% transmittance. The PRD and PCD zones achieve deflection angles of +24.1° and -23.8°, respectively, with deviations below 1.5% from theoretical predictions. Experimental characterization demonstrates an optical rotation sensitivity of 5.9184 × 10^-6 rad at 70 kHz, while the micron-scale thickness significantly enhances integration capability. This work establishes a novel paradigm for chip-scale atomic co-magnetometers and advances the convergence of nanophotonics with atomic sensing technologies.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have emerged as a versatile class of crystalline reticular materials distinguished by their high surface area, permanent porosity, and atomically precise structural tunability. Their modular synthesis enables precise control over pore size, geometry, and surface functionality, while offering excellent chemical stability and intrinsic biocompatibility. These attributes make COFs uniquely suited for applications as precision nanocarriers in targeted drug delivery. Recent advances demonstrate that COFs can encapsulate therapeutic agents with high loading efficiency and facilitate controlled, stimuli-responsive release profiles. Furthermore, the incorporation of targeting moieties through linker design or post-synthetic modification enables site-specific delivery, minimizing off-target cytotoxicity and enhancing therapeutic efficacy-particularly in oncological contexts. This review critically evaluates the current landscape of COF-based drug delivery systems, detailing structural design strategies, loading and release mechanisms, and functionalization approaches for precision targeting. We also highlight key challenges-such as scalable synthesis, pharmacokinetics, and in vivo stability-and outline promising research directions toward the clinical translation of COF nanocarriers for personalized medicine.

Nanodiamonds (ND) possess unique properties, including high biocompatibility, tunable surface chemistry, and stable photoluminescence, that make them highly attractive for biomedical applications. In this study, we synthesized gold-coated nanodiamonds (NDAu) using a green chemistry route based on Nymphaea alba root extract as a natural reducing agent. The hybrids were produced from two types of ND with median diameters of 50 nm and 230 nm, which were subjected to different thermal treatments prior to the gold coating to modulate their surface properties. The functionalized particles were comprehensively characterized using a combination of spectroscopic techniques (UV-Vis spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, PIXE), Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD), electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), and zeta potential. These techniques evidenced the impact of the thermal treatments on the NDs, reported the influence of the plant extracts on the final nanoparticles, as well as confirmed and quantified the presence of metallic gold in this material. Moreover, we carried out biological evaluation on A549 lung cell line to assess their cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, and impact on cell survival. Our results confirmed the efficacy of the gold-coating method, elucidating the modifications in particles structural, physical and chemical properties due to functionalization, and the interaction with cells. These nanoparticles could then be used for various biomedical applications, such as drug delivery or as potential radiosensitizers.

Immunotherapies show heterogeneous response in patients and identifying those likely to benefit from these therapies remains challenging. This is in part because histopathology, the current clinical standard, cannot accurately predict response. Dynamic changes occur in both tumor cells and immune cells in vivo during and after treatment which are not captured by histopathology or by single biomarker imaging. To address this urgent need, this study leverages multiplexed profiling of both CD8⁺ T cells and VEGFR2⁺ expressing tumor cells in 4T1 murine breast cancer tumors with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) using multiplexed gold nanostars (MGNs). MGNs are conjugated with antibodies targeting each cell type and Raman labels to enable multiplexing. Real time SERS in vivo imaging enables detection of dynamic longitudinal changes in CD8 and VEGFR2 in response to STING + TLR9 (stimulator of interferon genes + toll like receptor 9) immunotherapies, a treatment that increases tumor immunogenicity through a type I interferon response. MGNs also distinguished nonresponders of immunotherapies where 4T1 tumors were treated with antiOX40 antibodies. In vivo endpoints were validated ex vivo with flow cytometry analysis of immune cell population, cytokine analysis, STING activation, and immunofluorescence (IF) imaging of key markers (CD8, VEGFR, CD31, Ki67, and STING). Further, high resolution SERS maps provided a spatial context of CD8 and VEGFR2 distribution that showed the molecular makeup of tumors in responder and nonresponder mice. Biomarker distribution in ex vivo SERS aligned with in vivo findings and showed moderate to strong correlations via a Pearson's correlation to quantification of IF markers in tumors.

There is an ever-expanding demand for inexpensive, rapid, and reliable diagnostic sensors that simultaneously and accurately detect various biomarkers of clinical significance in human biofluids. The emergence of powerful metallic nanozymes marks the epitome of next-generation biomarker detection. Over the past seven years, researchers have fully leveraged the distinctive electrocatalytic features and versatility of metallic nanozymes within multimodal and multiplexed detection systems. Multiplexed detection using a biosensor is essential for diagnosing diseases using numerous biomarkers from a small amount of biofluids. Multimodal readouts that combine various methods offer enhanced accuracy, sensitivity, cross-validation, and real-time analysis of the targeted biomarkers. All of these components in a biosensor enable compact miniaturisation, a microfluidic platform, and the integration of sensors with wearable technologies, which will further substantiate point-of-care diagnostics. This review explores numerous designs of metallic nanozymes, probes, and signal amplification strategies applied in recent years for the ultra-selective and sensitive detection of multiple target biomarkers. Overall, these innovations are collectively paving a route in the field towards a non-invasive, robust, and efficient diagnostic platform tailored for personalised medicine and early disease detection.