Regulation effects of Co2+ on the construction of a Cu-Ni(OH)2@CoO nanoflower cluster heterojunction: a critical factor in obtaining a high-performance battery-type hybrid supercapacitor.

Electrode materials with a hierarchical nanostructure derived from transition metal-based compounds is an important branch of energy storage materials and have attracted widespread attention in recent years. Herein, a Cu-Ni(OH)2@CoO nanoflower cluster (Cu-Ni(OH)2@CoO NFCs) heterojunction was successfully constructed by a simple two-step hydrothermal method in the presence of Co2+. The optimized Cu-Ni(OH)2@CoO NFCs presented a high capacitive performance and outstanding cycle stability when used as a battery-type supercapacitive electrode material. In particular, an ultra-high areal specific capacitance of 5.8 F cm-2 (354.8 mA h g-1) at 1 mA cm-2 was obtained in 3 M KOH electrolyte. Even after 10 000 cycles, the capacitance still remained 98.4% of its initial value. All the experimental characterization results indicate that the excellent performance of the Cu-Ni(OH)2@CoO NFC self-supporting electrode can be attributed to the regulatory effect of Co2+ on the morphology and electronic structure, which is induced by the second hydrothermal process. More specifically, the transformations in the morphology and electronic structure will expose more active sites and accelerate charge transfer during the electrochemical reaction. Besides, the rapid oxidation reactions of multivalent transition metal ions and enhanced hydrophilicity promote the electrochemical reaction kinetics processes on the Cu-Ni(OH)2@CoO NFC electrode. This study provides a promising strategy for exploring low-cost and efficient electrode materials based on transition metal compounds for electrochemical energy storage.

Digital Light Processing 4D Printing of Transparent, Strong, Highly Conductive Hydrogels.

Hydrogels have excellent biocompatibility, transparency, stretchability, and ionic conductivity, but their fabrication through photopolymerization-based 3D printing is limited due to the low solubility of hydrophobic photoinitiators and lack of efficient hydrophilic photoinitiators. Herein, a type of microemulsion is synthesized and the common hydrophobic photoinitiator can be adopted and finally, a series of transparent hydrogels with high strength (up to 22.9 MPa), elasticity (up to 583%), and ionic conductivity (up to 9.64 S m-1) are fabricated through digital light processing 3D printing technology. Objects with complex structures and a high printing resolution are printed. Hydrogels with both high strength and high ionic conductivity are obtained through chemical crosslinking and ion coordination effect. Dual-material 3D printing is applied to package the hydrogel with elastomers. Due to the high sensitivity and reliability under both stretching and compressive deformation, the hydrogel sensors are applied to monitor various human motions. In addition, the hydrogel exhibits solvent-induced dehydration and excellent water-activated shape memory properties, which are greatly beneficial for its storage and applications in the biomedical field.

An amorphous carbon nitride/NiO/CoN-based composite: a highly efficient nonprecious electrode for supercapacitors and the oxygen evolution reaction.

Due to their features of low cost, good corrosion resistance and environmental friendliness, transition metal oxides/nitrides are among the most promising materials for energy storage and conversion. Meanwhile, graphitic carbon nitride is a non-metallic polymer that has been widely used in the environmental and energy conversion fields due to its abundant precursor species and simple process of synthesis. In this study, an amorphous carbon nitride/NiO/CoN-based composite (Ni-Co-CN) is in situ fabricated via simple one-step pyrolysis; it displays high capacitive performance and efficient electrocatalytic capability for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Specifically, the optimized Ni-Co-CN electrode shows an ultra-high areal specific capacitance of 18.8 F cm-2 at 2 mA cm-2 in 3 M KOH electrolyte, and it retains 91.4% of its areal specific capacitance even after 10 000 cycles of CV scans. Upon being used as an electrocatalyst in the OER process, the overpotential of Ni-Co-CN can reach 195 mV versus a reference hydrogen electrode (RHE) at 10 mA cm-2, which is far lower than those of most reported Ni/Co-based catalysts. Additionally, the potential loss of Ni-Co-CN electrode is less than 1% after a long-term durability test over 60 h. The experimental results integrated with density functional theoretical calculations reveal that the excellent performance of the Ni-Co-CN self-supported electrode can be ascribed to the fast redox reduction of multi-valent transition metal ions, abundant surface defects and plentiful nano-scaled porous structures. This work provides a promising strategy for exploring methods to combine economic Ni/Co-based compounds with carbon-based materials to obtain low-cost yet efficient electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion.

miR-23b-3p suppressing PGC1α promotes proliferation through reprogramming metabolism in osteosarcoma.

Metabolic shift from oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to glycolysis is a hallmark of osteosarcoma (OS). However, the mechanisms of the metabolic switch have not been completely elucidated. Here we reported that the miR-23b-3p was significantly upregulated in OS cells. Functional studies suggested that knockdown of miR-23b-3p could inhibit OS cell proliferation in vitro or in vivo. In addition, suppression of miR-23b-3p could lead to upregulation of OXPHOS and suppression of glycolysis. Mechanistically, miR-23b-3p promoted OS cell proliferation and inhibited OXPHOS in OS, at least in part, by directly targeting peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC1α) and inhibiting its expression. Our data highlights important roles of miR-23b-3p and PGC1α in glucose metabolism reprogram of OS. The suppression of miR-23b-3p may provide effective therapeutic strategies for the treatment of OS.

Superstretchable and Processable Silicone Elastomers by Digital Light Processing 3D Printing.

A series of photosensitive resins suitable for the production of silicone elastomers through digital light processing 3D printing are reported. Based on thiol-ene click reaction between a branched mercaptan-functionalized polysiloxane and different-molecular-weight vinyl-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane), silicone elastomers with tunable hardness and mechanical properties are obtained. Printed elastomeric objects show high printing resolution and excellent mechanical properties. The break elongation of the silicone elastomers can get up to 1400%, which is much higher than the reported UV-cured elastomers and is even higher than the most stretchable thermocuring silicone elastomers. The superstretchable silicone elastomers are then applied to fabricate stretchable electronics with carbon nanotubes-doped hydrogel. The printable and processable silicone elastomers have great potential applications in various fields, including soft robotics, flexible actuators, and medical implants.

Self-Healing Polyurethane Elastomers Based on a Disulfide Bond by Digital Light Processing 3D Printing.

A type of polyurethane elastomer with excellent self-healing ability has been fabricated through digital light processing 3D printing. First, a type of polyurethane acrylate containing disulfide bonds is synthesized and then compounded with reactive diluent and photoinitiators to get a photopolymer resin. Due to the good fluidity and high curing rate, the photopolymer resin can be applied in DLP 3D printing, and various 3D objects with complicated structures, high printing accuracy, and remarkable self-healing ability have been printed. The tensile strength and elongation at break of the polyurethane elastomer are 3.39 ± 0.09 MPa and 400.38 ± 14.26%, respectively, and the healing efficiency can get to 95% after healing at 80 °C for 12 h and can be healed for multiple times. With the ease of fabrication and excellent performance, the polyurethane elastomers from DLP 3D printing have great potential applications in flexible electronics, soft robotics, and sensors.

High-purity capture of CTCs based on micro-beads enhanced isolation by size of epithelial tumor cells (ISET) method.

In this paper, we develop a low-cost size-based microfluidic chip using conventional polycarbonate membrane to isolate CTCs from blood, and propose a strategy to increase the capture efficiency before cell filtration by a size enlargement method utilizing modified microbeads specifically binding to CTCs. Up to 91% of target cells were isolated from whole blood samples using our microfluidic capture system at a flow rate of 1mL/min. Moreover, a WBC depletion process is introduced which greatly decreases the WBC retaining on the filter membrane. The tests of immunofluorescence analysis of cells captured on the membrane were performed, which demonstrates that the device could provide a dependable CTC identification and CTC count in whole blood samples. Finally, the device was further validated in the detection of CTCs from blood samples of cancer patients, and it indicates a promising capability to detect CTC response to treatment.

Near-Infrared Light-Driven Photoelectrochemical Aptasensor Based on the Upconversion Nanoparticles and TiO2/CdTe Heterostructure for Detection of Cancer Cells.

A near-infrared-driven photoelectrochemical aptasensor was developed as a new method for the detection of the breast cancer cell MCF-7. The upconversion nanoparticles and TiO2/CdTe heterostructure were combined to prepare the film electrode, and the high-affinity aptamer AS1411 was conjugated to the electrode to recognize MCF-7 cells. In this fabrication, the upconversion nanoparticles transferred the near-infrared light to visible light, which could excite the semiconductor to enhance the current response. As a result, the aptasensor revealed good sensitivity and specificity with MCF-7 cell concentrations ranging from 1 × 103 to 1 × 105 cells/mL. The results presented a favorable determination of MCF-7 cells, which was achieved with the help of the upconversion nanoparticles and the photoelectrochemical interface.

Chitosan Nanofibers for Specific Capture and Nondestructive Release of CTCs Assisted by pCBMA Brushes.

Over the last decade, significant progress has been made to develop sensitive devices for the capture of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood of cancer patients. However, simple capture and counting of CTCs cannot provide effective information for understanding the biology of them. In this work, a functional biointerface is fabricated for specific capture and nondestructive release of CTCs from blood samples. A nanostrucure of porous network based on chitosan nanofibers is fabricated by electrospinning, to mimic the function of extracellular matrices, and then the poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (pCBMA) brushes integrating onto nanofiber interface provide the effect of interfacial properties to control nonspecific cell adhesion and the multivalent immobilization of aptamers to induce high efficient and specific CTC capture. Furthermore, a complementary sequence is used to efficiently hybridize with the aptamer to achieve nondestructive release of the captured target cells, assisted by the flexible space provided by pCBMA brushes. This work also shows how nanostructure and the interface molecules regulate the morphology of the captured CTCs, and reveals the importance of the controllable cell morphology on biointerface for an effective nondestructive release of the captured CTCs.

A Multiscale TiO2 Nanorod Array for Ultrasensitive Capture of Circulating Tumor Cells.

In this work, a uniform multiscale TiO2 nanorod array is fabricated to provide a "multi-scale interacting platform" for cell capture, which exhibits excellent capture specificity and sensitivity of the target cells after modification with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and DNA aptamer. After studying the capture performance of the BSA-aptamer TiO2 nanorod substrates and other nanostructured substrates, we can conclude that the multisacle TiO2 nanorod substrates could indeed effectively enhance the capture yields of target cancer cells. The capture yield of artificial blood samples on the BSA-aptamer TiO2 nanorod substrates is up to 85%-95%, revealing the potential application of the TiO2 nanorods on efficient and sensitive capture of rare circulating tumor cells.