Enhancement of Photothermal Conversion by TiN Nanoparticles-Embedded Black Paint and Applications in Solar Drying of Red Chilli.

This work explores a new application of titanium nitride nanoparticles (TiN NPs) as efficient photothermal materials in enhancing the greenhouse effect. We demonstrate that a simple greenhouse using TiN NPs-embedded black paint boasts several advantages in solar drying technology, which are indicated by the drying of red chilli. In particular, the greenhouse using TiN NPs significantly improves the drying efficiency, which reduces the mass of red chilli by approximately four times and results in dried chilli with a moisture content of 10% within two days.

Rare complications of chronic cholangitis: Pseudoaneurysm of the hepatic artery causing serious gastrointestinal bleeding.

Gastrointestinal bleeding due to hemobilia is a rare condition but can be very serious, even life-threatening. The main causes of biliary bleeding are invasive procedures in treatment, trauma, or malignant diseases. Chronic obstruction of the biliary tract can cause inflammation, erosion, and leakage of adjacent vascular structures and lead to pseudoaneurysm or hemorrhage, but this is very rare.

Optoelectronic Properties of Nitrogen-Doped Hexagonal Graphene Quantum Dots: A First-Principles Study.

Graphene quantum dots have been widely studied owing to their unique optical, electrical, and optoelectrical properties for various applications in solar devices. Here, we investigate the optoelectronic properties of hexagonal and nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots using the first-principles method. We find that doping nitrogen atoms to hexagonal graphene quantum dots results in a significant red shift toward the visible light range as compared to that of the pristine graphene quantum dots, and the doped nitrogen atoms also induce a clear signature of anisotropy of the frontier orbitals induced by the electron correlation between the doped nitrogen atoms and their adjacent carbon atoms.

Charge Transfer-Promoted Excited State of a Heavy-Atom-Free Photosensitizer for Efficient Application of Mitochondria-Targeted Fluorescence Imaging and Hypoxia Photodynamic Therapy.

Conventional photosensitizers (PSs) used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) have shown preliminary success; however, they are often associated with several limitations including potential dark toxicity in healthy tissues, limited efficacy under acidic and hypoxic conditions, suboptimal fluorescence imaging capabilities, and nonspecific targeting during treatment. In response to these challenges, we developed a heavy-atom-free PS, denoted as , by incorporating ethyl carbazole into a thiophene-fused BODIPY core. A comprehensive investigation into the photophysical properties of was conducted through a synergistic approach involving experimental and computational investigations.

Recent Development of Lysosome-Targeted Organic Fluorescent Probes for Reactive Oxygen Species.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are extremely important for various biological functions. Lysosome plays key roles in cellular metabolism and has been known as the stomach of cells. The abnormalities and malfunctioning of lysosomal function are associated with many diseases.

3D-ordered porous CdS/AgI/ZnO nanostructures for high-performance photoelectrochemical water splitting.

3D-ordered porous CdS/AgI/ZnO nanostructures were designed to perform as high-performance photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting applications. They rely on the advantages of an extremely large active surface area, high absorption capacity in the visible-light region, fast carrier separation and transportation caused by the intrinsic ladder-like band arrangement. These nanostructures were fabricated by employing a three-stage experiment in a sequence of hard mold-assisted electrochemical deposition, wet chemical method and deposition-precipitation.

An Efficient Green Approach to Constructing Adenine Sulfate-Derived Multicolor Sulfur- and Nitrogen-Codoped Carbon Dots and Their Bioimaging Applications.

A cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach is proposed for producing N- and S-codoped multicolor-emission carbon dots (N- and S-codoped MCDs) at a mild reaction temperature (150 °C) and relatively short time (3 h). In this process, adenine sulfate acts as a novel precursor and doping agent, effectively reacting with other reagents such as citric acid, -aminosalicylic acid, and -phenylenediamine, even during solvent-free pyrolysis. The distinctive structures of reagents lead to the increased amount of graphitic nitrogen and sulfur doping in the N- and S-codoped MCDs.

Simultaneous Detection of Hypochlorite and Singlet Oxygen by a Thiocoumarin-Based Ratiometric Fluorescent Probe.

The development of fluorescent probes derived from thiocarbonyl compounds for reactive oxygen species has been actively pursued in recent years. However, a better understanding of the optical response behaviors of thiocarbonyl compounds toward reactive oxygen species remains a challenge. Along with this, further studies to overcome the limitation of a single emission channel and aggregation-caused quenching features of thiocarbonyl-based fluorescent probes are highly desirable.

Rational Molecular Design of Efficient Heavy-Atom-Free Photosensitizers for Cancer Photodynamic Therapy.

Photodynamic therapy has emerged as a promising modality for treatment of cancer due to its minimal invasiveness and high selectivity. However, development of advanced photosensitizers (PSs) for clinical translation of photodynamic therapy remains challenging. To overcome the limitations of common photosensitizers containing heavy atoms, we herein developed highly effective heavy-atom-free photosensitizers based on strong donor-π-acceptor-type structures (PTZ-CN and PXZ-CN) for bioimaging and photodynamic ablation of cancer.

Organic photosensitizers for antimicrobial phototherapy.

Microbial infectious diseases, especially those caused by new and antibiotic-resistant pathogenic microbes, have become a significant threat to global human health. As an antibiotic-free therapy, phototherapy is a promising approach to treat microbial infections due to its spatiotemporal selectivity, non-invasiveness, minimal side effects, and broad antimicrobial spectrum. Although organic photosensitizer-based antimicrobial phototherapy has been extensively studied over the last decade, there has been no specific review article on this topic yet.

Low-operating temperature and remarkably responsive methanol sensors using Pt-decorated hierarchical ZnO structure.

Highly responsive methanol sensors working at low temperatures are developed using hierarchical ZnO nanorods decorated by Pt nanoparticles. The sensing materials are fabricated following a 3-step process: electrospinning of ZnO nanofibers, hydrothermal growth of hierarchical ZnO nanorods on the nanofibers and UV-assisted deposition of Pt nanoparticles. The morphology, structure and properties of the materials are examined by field-effect scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope, x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, and electrical measurements.

Recent Strategies to Develop Innovative Photosensitizers for Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy.

This review presents a robust strategy to design photosensitizers (PSs) for various species. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a photochemical-based treatment approach that involves the use of light combined with a light-activated chemical, referred to as a PS. Attractively, PDT is one of the alternatives to conventional cancer treatment due to its noninvasive nature, high cure rates, and low side effects.

A Simple Route toward Next-Generation Thiobase-Based Photosensitizers for Cancer Theranostics.

Sulfur-substituted biocompatible carbonyl fluorophores have been recognized as effective heavy-atom-free photosensitizers (PSs) for cancer therapy due to their remarkable phototherapeutic properties. However, guidelines on their molecular design are still a substantial challenge. Most of the existing thiocarbonyl-based PSs are nonemissive in both the solution and restricted states, which hinders their further biomedical applications.

Hypochlorite-Activated Fluorescence Emission and Antibacterial Activities of Imidazole Derivatives for Biological Applications.

The ability to detect hypochlorite (HOCl/ClO) is of great importance to identify and visualize infection. Here, we report the use of imidazoline-2-thione ( ) probes, which act to both sense ClO and kill bacteria. The NC=S moieties can recognize ClO among various typical reactive oxygen species (ROS) and turn into imidazolium moieties ( ) desulfurization.

Molecular Design toward Heavy-Atom-free Photosensitizers Based on the C═S Bond and their Dual Functions in Hypoxia Photodynamic Cancer Therapy and ClO Detection.

In this article, we designed and synthesized the thionated NpImidazole derivatives and , new heavy-atom-free photosensitizers, which efficiently generate a triplet excited state with high singlet oxygen quantum yield. The introduction of the C═S bond to the NpImidazole core is essential for increasing spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The fluorescence emission of and was quenched at standard ambient temperature, accompanied with the increase in the ISC process from the singlet states to triplet excited states thionation.

Titanium Nitride Nanodonuts Synthesized from Natural Ilmenite Ore as a Novel and Efficient Thermoplasmonic Material.

Nanostructures of titanium nitride (TiN) have recently been considered as a new class of plasmonic materials that have been utilized in many solar energy applications. This work presents the synthesis of a novel nanostructure of TiN that has a nanodonut shape from natural ilmenite ore using a low-cost and bulk method. The TiN nanodonuts exhibit strong and spectrally broad localized surface plasmon resonance absorption in the visible region centered at 560 nm, which is well suited for thermoplasmonic applications as a nanoscale heat source.

Heavy-Atom-Free Photosensitizers: From Molecular Design to Applications in the Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinically approved therapeutic modality that has shown great potential for the treatment of cancers owing to its excellent spatiotemporal selectivity and inherently noninvasive nature. However, PDT has not reached its full potential, partly due to the lack of ideal photosensitizers. A common molecular design strategy for effective photosensitizers is to incorporate heavy atoms into photosensitizer structures, causing concerns about elevated dark toxicity, short triplet-state lifetimes, poor photostability, and the potentially high cost of heavy metals.

Optical properties and energy transfer in KYF:Sm and KYF:Tb,Sm polycrystalline materials.

KYF4 polycrystalline materials singly doped with Sm3+ ions and co-doped with Tb3+/Sm3+ ions were synthesized by the hydrothermal technique. The optical spectra of all samples were measured at room temperature. The features of the ligand field and the optical properties of Sm3+ ions in KYF4 were studied via Judd-Ofelt theory.

Highly Efficient Aggregation-Induced Red-Emissive Organic Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials with Prolonged Fluorescence Lifetime for Time-Resolved Luminescence Bioimaging.

Organic thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials are emerging as potential candidates for time-resolved fluorescence imaging in biological systems. However, the development of purely organic TADF materials with bright aggregated-state emissions in the red/near-infrared (NIR) region remains challenging. Here, we report three donor-acceptor-type TADF molecules as promising candidates for time-resolved fluorescence imaging, which are engineered by direct connection of electron-donating moieties (phenoxazine or phenothiazine) and an electron-acceptor 1,8-naphthalimide (NI).

Design and synthesis of efficient heavy-atom-free photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy of cancer.

Novel thiocarbonyl derivatives (NIS and CRNS) with excellent ROS generation abilities are synthesized and studied as potential photosensitizers for one- and two-photon excited photodynamic therapy. In particular, NIS-Me and CRNS display outstanding phototoxicity toward HeLa cells under two-photon excitation (800 nm) with negligible dark toxicity.

Fine-tuning the electronic structure of heavy-atom-free photosensitizers for fluorescence imaging and mitochondria-targeted photodynamic therapy.

Theranostics that combines both diagnosis and therapy into a single platform has recently emerged as a promising biomedical approach for cancer treatment; however, the development of efficient theranostic agents with excellent optical properties remains a challenge. Here, we report novel mitochondria-targeting photosensitizers (s) that possess considerable singlet oxygen generation capabilities and good fluorescence properties for imaging-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT). The incorporation of sulfur atoms into the π-conjugated skeleton of along with the introduction of different functional groups at the -position of the core is essential for tuning the photophysical and photosensitizing properties.

Molecular Design of Highly Efficient Heavy-Atom-Free Triplet BODIPY Derivatives for Photodynamic Therapy and Bioimaging.

Novel BODIPY photosensitizers were developed for imaging-guided photodynamic therapy. The introduction of a strong electron donor to the BODIPY core through a phenyl linker combined with the twisted arrangement between the donor and the BODIPY acceptor is essential for reducing the energy gap between the lowest singlet excited state and the lowest triplet state (ΔE ), leading to a significant enhancement in the intersystem crossing (ISC) of the BODIPYs. Remarkably, the BDP-5 with the smallest ΔE (ca.

An Emerging Molecular Design Approach to Heavy-Atom-Free Photosensitizers for Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy under Hypoxia.

A novel strategy for designing highly efficient and activatable photosensitizers that can effectively generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) under both normoxia and hypoxia is proposed. Replacing both oxygen atoms in conventional naphthalimides (RNI-) with sulfur atoms led to dramatic changes in the photophysical properties. The remarkable fluorescence quenching (Φ ≈ 0) of the resulting thionaphthalimides (RNI-) suggested that the intersystem crossing from the singlet excited state to the reactive triplet state was enhanced by the sulfur substitution.

Tuning the photophysical properties of carboranyl luminophores by closo- to nido-carborane conversion and application to OFF-ON fluoride sensing.

A family of closo-carborane-appended luminophores (closo-OXD1-2 and closo-DPS1-2) in which 2-R-o-carboranes (R = H, Me) are attached to the diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole (OXD) or diphenyl-sulfone (DPS) acceptor groups were prepared and characterized. Deboronation of the closo-carborane cage produced the corresponding nido-carboranyl luminophores (nido-OXD1-2 and nido-DPS1-2). Whereas the closo-compounds were poorly emissive in THF (ΦPL < 0.

Supramolecular Pt(II) and Ru(II) Trigonal Prismatic Cages Constructed with a Tris(pyridyl)borane Donor.

We report a novel example of supramolecular cages containing a Lewis acidic trigonal boron center. Self-assembly of the tris(pyridyl)borane donor 1 with diruthenium (2) or platinum (3), as an electron acceptor, furnished boron-containing trigonal prismatic supramolecular cages 5 and 6, which were characterized by H NMR and electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The molecular structure of cage 5 was confirmed as a trigonal prismatic cage with an inner dimension of about 400 Å.