Nanoscale Horizons最新文献

Bone tumors represent a category of malignant diseases with high risks of recurrence and metastasis. Surgical resection, as the primary treatment modality, often fails to eliminate microscopic tumor foci, and the postoperative recurrence rate remains high. In recent years, photothermal therapy (PTT) has emerged as a novel, minimally invasive therapeutic strategy, demonstrating remarkable potential in suppressing tumor recurrence and metastasis. However, traditional PTT still faces challenges such as low photothermal conversion efficiency, insufficient tumor-targeting ability, and the limitations of monomodal therapy, which restrict its clinical applications. To address these issues, various inorganic nanocomposites have been developed that can integrate multiple functions, such as targeted drug delivery and imaging diagnosis, thereby enhancing treatment specificity while minimizing damage to healthy tissues. This review summarizes the current status and challenges of inorganic nanocomposites for PTT in bone tumors and explores their design, performance, and therapeutic mechanisms. Through the continuous optimization of material design and therapeutic strategies, this approach may pave the way for more effective, precise, and minimally invasive therapies in clinical oncology.

Fluorescence nanoscopy has opened a new frontier for visualizing and understanding polymeric and fibrous materials with molecular precision. Building on advances in single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM), researchers are now extending beyond structure to probe dynamic and functional properties that govern material behavior. This Focus article highlights recent progress in functional SMLM for mapping polarity, viscosity and molecular motion within polymers and fibers, revealing how these nanoscale parameters influence macroscopic performance. Examples include tracking polymerization and phase evolution, resolving nanofiber organization, and correlating structural heterogeneity with local chemical environments. We further discuss the growing convergence between artificial and biological systems with shared principles of hierarchical organization. By integrating structural, dynamic, and functional imaging, fluorescence nanoscopy provides a unifying framework for studying and engineering complex molecular assemblies across living and synthetic matter.

Electron-rich Ni sites in Ni₃Zn–Al₂O₃ drive CO production through monodentate formate decomposition. Meanwhile, a Zn-evaporation-mediated strategy was proposed to tune Zn content, and engineered electron-deficient Ni–Al₂O₃ promotes CH₄ formation by enabling bidentate formate hydrogenation with abundant *H under lean redox conditions (CO₂ : H₂ = 1 : 1).

Bio-inspired neuromorphic computing offers a revolutionary approach by replicating brain-like functionalities in next-generation electronics. This study presents two flexible resistive memory devices fabricated using DC magnetron sputtering, D₁(Nb/V₂O₅/Ni) and D₂(Nb/NbO_x/V₂O₅/Ni). Device D₁ exhibits abrupt SET and gradual RESET switching, while D₂ demonstrates fully gradual resistive switching (GRS), highly desirable for analog synaptic behavior. Mechanistically, D₁ is primarily governed by oxygen vacancies, whereas D₂ benefits from the synergistic interplay between oxygen vacancies and interfacial NbO_x/NiO layers, confirmed by XPS depth profiling. These interfacial layers significantly enhance D₂'s GRS performance and synaptic fidelity. Both devices exhibit temperature-dependent control of oxygen vacancies, which dynamically increases the memory window, lowering the ON/OFF ratio. Multilevel resistive states are generated in both devices by controlling the compliance current, with D₂ outperforming D₁ by exhibiting a higher memory window (∼552) and exceptional endurance beyond 7000 cycles. Moreover, both devices effectively replicate biological synaptic functions such as LTP and LTD. However, D₂ also mimics complex neural dynamics, including spike time-dependent and rate-dependent plasticity. Simulation of D₂'s artificial neural network demonstrates ∼86.75% excellent accuracy level, attributed to its linear, symmetric analog weight modulation and multiple conductance states. These results highlight the potential of V₂O₅-based devices for high-performance neuromorphic computing.

Colloidal indium phosphide (InP) quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as a compelling class of heavy metal-free nanomaterials due to their low toxicity and size-tunable optoelectronic properties, showing great potential in solar-driven energy conversion applications. Here, a variety of synthetic techniques for preparing high-quality InP QDs, including hot-injection, heat-up, cluster-mediated growth, and cation exchange, are thoroughly reviewed. To realize enhanced photocatalytic (PC) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance, diverse strategies such as core/shell engineering, hybrid ligand modification and elemental doping of InP QDs are discussed in detail, which are beneficial to build various efficient QDs-based systems for hydrogen evolution, CO₂ reduction, ammonia synthesis, and H₂O₂ production. Moreover, the main challenges and future research directions of InP QDs are briefly proposed, providing guidelines to achieve future low-cost, eco-friendly, scalable and high-efficiency QDs-based solar energy conversion technologies.

The evolution of bacterial resistance to antibiotics has resulted in a global public health crisis, necessitating the development of novel antibiotic-independent antimicrobial strategies. In this study, MoS₂/Au–Ag@PEG nanosheets (MAAP NSs) were prepared via sequential deposition of gold and silver nanoparticles onto MoS₂ nanosheets (MoS₂ NSs), which were then used for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Compared to MoS₂ NSs, MAAP NSs exhibit a significantly enhanced near-infrared region II (NIR-II) absorption at 1064 nm (a 7.51-fold increase), and the photothermal conversion efficiency improves by 50.7%, reaching 19.9%. Theoretical simulations reveal that the plasmonic coupling effect between adjacent Au–Ag nanoparticles (Au–Ag NPs) on the surface of MAAP NSs leads to the formation of hot spots and significantly enhances NIR-II light absorption, thereby improving the NIR-II photothermal performance. Moreover, the release of silver ions (Ag⁺) can be effectively controlled by NIR laser irradiation. In vitro experimental results show that, upon NIR-II laser (1064 nm) exposure, MAAP NSs can effectively eliminate established MRSA biofilms with a bacterial inactivation efficiency of 99.992%. Notably, benefiting from the superior tissue penetration of the NIR-II laser, MAAP NSs exhibit potent therapeutic efficacy against both superficial wound infection and subcutaneous implant-associated MRSA biofilm infection in mouse models. In vivo results demonstrate that, under NIR-II laser stimulation, MAAP NSs can not only effectively kill 99.95% of MRSA in infected wounds and accelerate wound healing, but also remove MRSA biofilms from subcutaneous implant surfaces, achieving a 99.92% bacterial reduction. This work presents a novel strategy for designing NIR-II responsive antibacterial nanoagents based on plasmonic coupling effects in two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets and provides a promising solution for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

Metals are essential components of bioelectronic systems, such as contact electrodes, interconnects, and sensors. However, their inherent rigidity poses major challenges for integration in soft bioelectronics. In particular, the mechanical mismatch between metals and biological tissues can cause reduced signal fidelity and unwanted tissue damage. To address these issues, various geometrical engineering approaches have been explored to increase the deformability of metals. For example, strain-relief layers have been investigated; however, physically laminated structures often fail to adequately dissipate strain under deformation. Here, we present a chemically conjugated, monolithic metal–hydrogel bilayer, imparting high deformability to metals with minimal compromise in electrical conductivity. The formation of chemically anchored ligand interactions between the metal and hydrogel induces uniform wrinkles in the metal layer, effectively mitigating stress concentration. Consequently, the monolithic bilayer exhibits ultrasoft mechanical properties and metallic electrical performance, including high electrical conductivity, low impedance, tissue adhesion, and stretchability. The chemical anchoring process is spatially programmable, making it suitable for the fabrication of arrays of soft bioelectronic devices. We validated the performance and functionality of this platform in cardiac applications, demonstrating its efficacy in both electrophysiological recording and electrical stimulation.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have garnered notable research interest due to their extraordinary properties. Assembling two or more 2D materials into heterostructures introduces properties that are not present in any individual components, leading to a spectrum of nanodevices and applications. The lifetime and performance of nanodevices can be largely dictated by the working temperatures, and the heat dissipation in 2D materials and heterostructures is vital to the reliability and functionality of devices. However, mechanical effects encountered can potentially impact thermal transport. A comprehensive understanding of the interplay between mechanical loadings and thermal transport in 2D materials and their heterostructures is fundamental to devising effective cooling strategies for devices operating under complex conditions. The tunable thermal properties of these materials offer a platform for designing mechanically adjustable devices and reversible performance optimization. This review starts with a summary of the thermal conductivities (TCs) in various 2D materials adjusted by mechanical loadings. A brief overview of the underlying tuning mechanism is provided, followed by a discussion on the effect of structural designs. Several potential applications based on the thermo-mechanical correlation are mentioned. Finally, the current limitations and challenges in the field are included, and several suggestions for future research directions are discussed.

Novel hyaluronic acid hydrogels functionalized with polymerized DNA nanostructures using rolling circle amplification were developed. These hydrogels exhibited enhanced cell attachment and proliferation through functional DNA-mediated interactions. The system maintained favorable physicochemical properties and enhanced interactions with biological interfaces, demonstrating potential for advanced 3D cell culture applications.

Construction of a molecular assembler from DNA that executes a programmed sequence of chemical reactions is a formidable challenge but worthwhile because it would allow assembly and evolution of functional polymers. We present a mechanism using parallel DNA and a DNA polymerase to address two challenges that currently block progress.