Effects of dimethylarsenate coprecipitation with ferrihydrite on Fe(II)-induced mineral transformation and the release of dimethylarsenate.

Organoarsenicals are toxic pollutants of global concern, and their environmental geochemical behavior might be greatly controlled by iron (Fe) (hydr)oxides through coprecipitation, which is rarely investigated. Here, the effects of the incorporation of dimethylarsenate (DMAs(V)), a typical organoarsenical, into the ferrihydrite (Fh) structure on the mineral physicochemical properties and Fe(II)-induced phase transformation of DMAs(V)-Fh coprecipitates with As/Fe molar ratios up to 0.0876 ± 0.

Biaxial strain induced OH engineer for accelerating alkaline hydrogen evolution.

The sluggish kinetics of Volmer step in the alkaline hydrogen evolution results in large energy consumption. The challenge that has yet well resolved is to control the water adsorption and dissociation. Here, we develop biaxially strained MoSe three dimensional nanoshells that exhibit enhanced catalytic performance with a low overpotential of 58.

Tailoring atomically local electric field of NiFe layered double hydroxides with Ag dopants to boost oxygen evolution kinetics.

The demand for clean energy sources has driven focus towards advanced electrochemical systems. However, the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) constrain the energy conversion efficiency of relevant devices. Herein, a one-step method is reported to grow oxygen vacancies (V) rich NiFeAg layered double hydroxides nanoclusters on carbon cloth (V-NiFeAg-LDH/CC) for serving as the self-supporting electrode to catalyze OER.

In-Situ Spontaneous Electropolymerization Enables Robust Hydrogel Electrolyte Interfaces in Aqueous Batteries.

Hydrogels hold great promise as electrolytes for emerging aqueous batteries, for which establishing a robust electrode-hydrogel interface is crucial for mitigating side reactions. Conventional hydrogel electrolytes fabricated by ex situ polymerization through either thermal stimulation or photo exposure cannot ensure complete interfacial contact with electrodes. Herein, we introduce an in situ electropolymerization approach for constructing hydrogel electrolytes.

Bioorthogonal microglia-inspired mesenchymal stem cell bioengineering system creates livable niches for enhancing ischemic stroke recovery the hormesis.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) experience substantial viability issues in the stroke infarct region, limiting their therapeutic efficacy and clinical translation. High levels of deadly reactive oxygen radicals (ROS) and proinflammatory cytokines (PC) in the infarct milieu kill transplanted MSCs, whereas low levels of beneficial ROS and PC stimulate and improve engrafted MSCs' viability. Based on the intrinsic hormesis effects in cellular biology, we built a microglia-inspired MSC bioengineering system to transform detrimental high-level ROS and PC into vitality enhancers for strengthening MSC therapy.

Biologically Self-Assembled Tumor Cell-Derived Cancer Nanovaccines as an All-in-One Platform for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Tumor cell-derived cancer nanovaccines introduce tumor cell-derived components as functional units that endow the nanovaccine systems with some advantages, especially providing all potential tumor antigens. However, cumbersome assembly steps, potential risks of exogenous adjuvants, as well as insufficient lymph node (LN) targeting and dendritic cell (DC) internalization limit the efficacy and clinical translation of existing tumor cell-derived cancer nanovaccines. Herein, we introduced an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress inducer α-mangostin (αM) into tumor cells through poly(d, l-lactide--glycolide) nanoparticles and harvested biologically self-assembled tumor cell-derived cancer nanovaccines (αM-Exos) based on the biological process of tumor cell exocytosing nanoparticles through tumor-derived exosomes (TEXs).

Surface-tethered ROS-responsive micelle backpacks for boosting mesenchymal stem cell vitality and modulating inflammation in ischemic stroke treatment.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exhibited remarkable therapeutic potential in ischemic stroke due to their exceptional immunomodulatory ability and paracrine effect; they have also been regarded as excellent neuroprotectant delivery vehicles with inflammatory tropism. However, the presence of high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and an oxidative stress environment at the lesion site inhibits cell survival and further therapeutic effects. Using bioorthogonal click chemistry, ROS-responsive luteolin-loaded micelles were tethered to the surface of MSCs.

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon encapsulates multivalent cobalt-nickel as oxygen reduction reaction catalyst for zinc-air battery.

In this study, we present a bimetallic ion coexistence encapsulation strategy employing hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a mediator to anchor cobalt-nickel (CoNi) bimetals in nitrogen-doped porous carbon cubic nanoboxes (CoNi@NC). The fully encapsulated and uniformly dispersed CoNi nanoparticles with the improved density of active sites help to accelerate the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics and provide an efficient charge/mass transport environment. Zinc-air battery (ZAB) equipped CoNi@NC as cathode exhibits an open-circuit voltage of 1.

Cooperation between Dual Metal Atoms and Nanoclusters Enhances Activity and Stability for Oxygen Reduction and Evolution.

We have achieved the synthesis of dual-metal single atoms and atomic clusters that co-anchor on a highly graphitic carbon support. The catalyst comprises Ni (and Fe) nanoclusters located adjacent to the corresponding NiN (and FeN) single-atom sites, which is verified by systematic X-ray absorption characterization and density functional theory calculations. A distinct cooperation between Fe (Ni) nanoclusters and the corresponding FeN (NiN) atomic sites optimizes the adsorption energy of reaction intermediates and reduces the energy barrier of the potential-determining steps.

Tailored Apoptotic Vesicle Delivery Platform for Inflammatory Regulation and Tissue Repair to Ameliorate Ischemic Stroke.

Apoptotic vesicles (ApoVs) hold great promise for inflammatory regulation and tissue repair. However, little effort has been dedicated to developing ApoV-based drug delivery platforms, while the insufficient targeting capability of ApoVs also limits their clinical applications. This work presents a platform architecture that integrates apoptosis induction, drug loading, and functionalized proteome regulation, followed by targeting modification, enabling the creation of an apoptotic vesicle delivery system to treat ischemic stroke.

Oxidation State Engineering in Octahedral Ni by Anchored Sulfate to Boost Intrinsic Oxygen Evolution Activity.

Promoting the electron occupancy of active sites to unity is an effective method to enhance the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance of spinel oxides, but it remains a great challenge. Here, an approach is developed to modify the valence state of octahedral Ni cations in NiFeO inverse spinel via surface sulfates (SO). Different from previous studies, SO is directly anchored on the spinel surface instead of forming from uncontrolled conversion or surface reconstruction.

Reprogramming systemic and local immune function to empower immunotherapy against glioblastoma.

The limited benefits of immunotherapy against glioblastoma (GBM) is closely related to the paucity of T cells in brain tumor bed. Both systemic and local immunosuppression contribute to the deficiency of tumor-infiltrating T cells. However, the current studies focus heavily on the local immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment but not on the co-existence of systemic immunosuppression.

Doughty-electronegative heteroatom-induced defective MoS for the hydrogen evolution reaction.

Producing hydrogen through water electrolysis is one of the most promising green energy storage and conversion technologies for the long-term development of energy-related hydrogen technologies. MoS is a very promising electrocatalyst which may replace precious metal catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this work, doughty-electronegative heteroatom defects (halogen atoms such as chlorine, fluorine, and nitrogen) were successfully introduced in MoS by using a large-scale, green, and simple ball milling strategy to alter its electronic structure.

Vitality-Enhanced Dual-Modal Tracking System Reveals the Dynamic Fate of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Stroke Therapy.

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy via intravenous transplantation exhibits great potential for brain tissue regeneration, but still faces thorny clinical translation challenges as the unknown dynamic fate leads to the contentious therapeutic mechanism and the poor MSC viability in harsh lesions limits therapeutic efficiency. Here, a vitality-enhanced dual-modal tracking system is designed to improve engraftment efficiency and is utilized to noninvasively explore the fate of intravenous transplanted human umbilical cord-derived MSCs during long-term treatment of ischemic stroke. Such a system is obtained by bioorthogonally conjugating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast and near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging nanoparticles to metabolic glycoengineered MSCs with a lipoic acid-containing extracellular antioxidative protective layer.

Heterogeneous NiP/Ni nanoparticles with optimized Ni active sites anchored in N-doped mesoporous nanofibers for boosting pH-universal hydrogen evolution.

Developing low-cost, environmentally friendly and efficient non-precious metal electrocatalysts as alternatives to noble metals for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is highly essential for the sustainable advancement of green hydrogen energy. Herein, a novel heterostructured NiP/Ni nanoparticle anchored in nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon nanofibers (NiP/Ni@N-CNFs) is prepared by a facile solid-phase calcination protocol. The results demonstrated that benefiting from the intensive electronic coupling effect at the interface of the NiP/Ni heterostructure, the electron configuration of the Ni active site is optimized and thus the favorable HER activity.

Metformin and histone deacetylase inhibitor based anti-inflammatory nanoplatform for epithelial-mesenchymal transition suppression and metastatic tumor treatment.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a differentiation process with aberrant changes of tumor cells, is identified as an initial and vital procedure for metastatic processes. Inflammation is a significant inducer of EMT and provides an indispensable target for blocking EMT, however, an anti-inflammatory therapeutic with highlighted safety and efficacy is deficient. Metformin is a promising anti-inflammatory agent with low side effects, but tumor monotherapy with an anti-inflammation drug could generate therapy resistance, cell adaptation or even promote tumor development.

Neutrophil-Biomimetic "Nanobuffer" for Remodeling the Microenvironment in the Infarct Core and Protecting Neurons in the Penumbra via Neutralization of Detrimental Factors to Treat Ischemic Stroke.

High level of detrimental factors including reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammatory cytokines accumulated in the infarct core and their erosion to salvageable penumbra are key pathological cascades of ischemia-reperfusion injury in stroke. Few neuroprotectants can remodel the hostile microenvironment of the infarct core for the failure to interfere with dead or biofunctionally inactive dying cells. Even ischemia-reperfusion injury is temporarily attenuated in the penumbra by medications; insults of detrimental factors from the core still erode the penumbra continuously along with drug metabolism and clearance.

Biaxially Strained MoS Nanoshells with Controllable Layers Boost Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution.

Strain in layered transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is a type of effective approach to enhance the catalytic performance by activating their inert basal plane. However, compared with traditional uniaxial strain, the influence of biaxial strain and the TMD layer number on the local electronic configuration remains unexplored. Herein, via a new in situ self-vulcanization strategy, biaxially strained MoS nanoshells in the form of a single-crystalline Ni S @MoS core-shell heterostructure are realized, where the MoS layer is precisely controlled between the 1 and 5 layers.

Atomically Dispersed Co -N and Fe-N Costructures Boost Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Both Alkaline and Acidic Media.

Polynary transition-metal atom catalysts are promising to supersede platinum (Pt)-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Regulating the local configuration of atomic catalysts is the key to catalyst performance enhancement. Different from the previously reported single-atom or dual-atom configurations, a new type of ternary-atom catalyst, which consists of atomically dispersed, nitrogen-coordinated Co-Co dimers, and Fe single sites (i.

Systemic metastasis-targeted nanotherapeutic reinforces tumor surgical resection and chemotherapy.

Failure of conventional clinical therapies such as tumor resection and chemotherapy are mainly due to the ineffective control of tumor metastasis. Metastasis consists of three steps: (i) tumor cells extravasate from the primary sites into the circulation system via epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), (ii) the circulating tumor cells (CTCs) form "micro-thrombi" with platelets to evade the immune surveillance in circulation, and (iii) the CTCs colonize in the pre-metastatic niche. Here, we design a systemic metastasis-targeted nanotherapeutic (H@CaPP) composed of an anti-inflammatory agent, piceatannol, and an anti-thrombotic agent, low molecular weight heparin, to hinder the multiple steps of tumor metastasis.

Perovskite-Type Solid Solution Nano-Electrocatalysts Enable Simultaneously Enhanced Activity and Stability for Oxygen Evolution.

A trade-off between catalytic activity and structural stability generally exists in oxygen evolution electrocatalysis, especially in acidic environment. This dilemma limits the development of higher-performance electrocatalysts that are required by next-generation electrochemical technologies. Here it is demonstrated that the inverse catalytic activity-structural stability relation can be broken by alloying catalytically inert strontium zirconate with the other catalytically active perovskite, strontium iridate.

Instant ghost imaging: algorithm and on-chip implementation.

Ghost imaging (GI) is an imaging technique that uses the correlation between two light beams to reconstruct the image of an object. Conventional GI algorithms require large memory space to store the measured data and perform complicated offline calculations, limiting practical applications of GI. Here we develop an instant ghost imaging (IGI) technique with a differential algorithm and an implemented high-speed on-chip IGI hardware system.

Sequential delivery of nanoformulated α-mangostin and triptolide overcomes permeation obstacles and improves therapeutic effects in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a devastating disease exhibiting the poorest prognosis among solid tumors. The efficacy of conventional therapies has been hindered largely due to the insufficient chemotherapeutic delivery to the dense desmoplastic tumor stroma, and the extremely high or toxic dose needed for chemotherapy. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) contains effective components that can effectively regulate tumor microenvironment and kill tumor cells, providing promising alternatives to PDAC chemotherapy.