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Mn‐doped (1‐x)Bi0.5(Na0.8K0.2)0.5TiO3‐xBiAlO3 (Mn:BNKT‐xBA) thin films were synthesized on lanthanum nickelate‐coated silicon substrates by sol‐gel method. The second phase issue of the film can be effectively addressed by optimizing the substrate, and the maximum polarization and breakdown strength can be increased by introducing the proper amount of Al3+, which is advantageous for the film for energy storage. The results have shown that the Mn:BNKT‐0.03BA film exhibits superior ferroelectric properties (with remanent polarization (Pr) of 23.72 µC/cm2, maximum polarization (Pmax) of 75.37 µC/cm2), which could be an excellent candidate for ferroelectric thin film capacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategy to improve the photocatalytic removal efficiencies towards organic pollutants is still a challenge for the novel Sillen–Aurivillius perovskite type Bi4NbO8Cl. Herein, we report carbon-supported TiO2/Bi4NbO8Cl (C-TiO2/Bi4NbO8Cl) heterostructures with enhanced charge separation efficiency, which were fabricated via molten-salt flux process. The carbon-supported TiO2 particles were derived from MXene Ti3C2 precursors, and attached on plate-like Bi4NbO8Cl, acting as electron-traps to achieve supressed recombination of photo-induced charges. The improved charge separation confers C-TiO2/Bi4NbO8Cl heterostructures superior photocatalytic performance with 53% higher than pristine Bi4NbO8Cl, towards rhodamine B removal with the help of photo-induced holes. Moreover, the C-TiO2/Bi4NbO8Cl heterostructures can be expanded to deal with other water contaminants, such as methyl orange, ciprofloxacin and 2,4-dichlorophenol with 44, 25 and 13% promotion, respectively, and thus the study offers a series of efficient photocatalysts for water purification.

Designing a theranostic probe for noninvasive bone imaging and bone disease therapy is both challenging and desirable. Herein, an ultrasmall Au nanocluster (NC, <2 nm)‐based theranostic probe is developed to achieve highly temporospatial in vivo bone‐targeted photoluminescence (PL) imaging in the second near‐infrared window (NIR‐II) and enhanced rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy. The key design of the probe involves the surface phosphorylation of atomically precise NIR‐II emitting Au44 NCs. This phosphorylation enhances the bone‐targeting ability of the probe due to the highly concentrated phosphate groups, allowing the probe to realize in vivo bone‐targeted NIR‐II PL imaging. Moreover, benefiting from the enhanced bone‐targeting ability, ultrasmall hydrodynamic diameter, and excellent anti‐inflammation and immunomodulatory effects, the probe not only demonstrates superior therapeutic efficacy for RA rats, effectively restoring the destructed cartilage to nearly normal but also exhibits good renal clearance and benign biocompatibility. These favorable attributes cannot be achieved by commercial methotrexate used for RA treatment. This study presents a new design paradigm for metal NC‐based theranostic probes, offering the potential for high‐resolution bone‐targeted PL imaging and improved RA therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absorbable hemostatic materials have great potential in clinical hemostasis. However, their single coagulation mechanism, long degradation cycles, and limited functionality mean that they have restricted applications. Here, we prepared a sodium hyaluronate/carboxymethyl chitosan absorbable hemostatic foam (SHCF) by combining high-molecular-weight polysaccharide sodium hyaluronate with carboxymethyl chitosan via hydrogen bonding. SHCFs have rapid liquid absorption performance and can enrich blood cells. They transform into a gel when it they come into contact with blood, and are more easily degraded in this state. Meanwhile, SHCFs have multiple coagulation effects and promote hemostasis. In a rabbit liver bleeding model, SHCFs reduced the hemostatic time by 85% and blood loss by 80%. In three severe and complex bleeding models of porcine liver injury, uterine wall injury, and bone injury, bleeding was well-controlled and anti-tissue adhesion effects were observed. In addition, degradation metabolism studies show that SHCFs are 93% degraded within one day and almost completely metabolized within three weeks. The absorbable hemostatic foam developed in this study is multifunctional; with rapid hemostasis, anti-adhesion, and rapid degradation properties, it has great clinical potential for in vivo hemostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategy to improve the photocatalytic removal efficiencies towards organic pollutants is still a challenge for the novel Sillen–Aurivillius perovskite type Bi4NbO8Cl. Herein, we report carbon-supported TiO2/Bi4NbO8Cl (C-TiO2/Bi4NbO8Cl) heterostructures with enhanced charge separation efficiency, which were fabricated via molten-salt flux process. The carbon-supported TiO2 particles were derived from MXene Ti3C2 precursors, and attached on plate-like Bi4NbO8Cl, acting as electron-traps to achieve supressed recombination of photo-induced charges. The improved charge separation confers C-TiO2/Bi4NbO8Cl heterostructures superior photocatalytic performance with 53% higher than pristine Bi4NbO8Cl, towards rhodamine B removal with the help of photo-induced holes. Moreover, the C-TiO2/Bi4NbO8Cl heterostructures can be expanded to deal with other water contaminants, such as methyl orange, ciprofloxacin and 2,4-dichlorophenol with 44, 25 and 13% promotion, respectively, and thus the study offers a series of efficient photocatalysts for water purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BiVO4/TiO2 nanocomposites were fabricated by a facile wet-chemical process, followed by the synthesis of TiO2 hierarchical spheres via hydrothermal method. The BiVO4/TiO2 nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that prepared TiO2 presented hierarchical spherical morphology self-assembled by nanoparticles and an anatase-brookite mixed crystal phase. The introduction of monoclinic BiVO4 components retained the hierarchical structures and expanded the light response to around 510 nm. Type II BiVO4/TiO2 heterostructured nanocomposites exhibited improved photocatalytic degradation towards methylene blue under visible-light irradiation, especially for the composite photocatalysts with atomic Ti/Bi = 10, which showed double degradation rate than that of pure BiVO4. The enhanced photocatalytic mechanism of the heterostructured BiVO4/TiO2 nanocomposites was discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollow and heterostructured architectures are recognized as an effective approach to improve photocatalytic performance. In this work, ternary TiO2/CdTe/BiOI with hollow structure was constructed via a step-by-step method. In addition, the effect of TiO2 structural regulation and the energy band alignment of BiOI and CdTe quantum dots (CdTe QDs) with TiO2 in TiO2/CdTe/BiOI on photocatalytic dye removal were also studied. The results reveal that the TiO2/CdTe/BiOI heterostructures with hollow substrates exhibit much higher photocatalytic activities than pure TiO2, P25, TiO2/CdTe, and TiO2/BiOI and ternary TiO2/CdTe/BiOI with solid substrates. For TiO2(H)/CdTe/BiOI, several synergistic factors may be responsible for the remarkable visible-light photodegradation performance, such as strong visible-light absorption by BiOI and larger specific surface area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The controllable synthesis of hexagonal flower-like Zn-doped CdSe (Cd1−x Zn x Se, x =0.1) microstructures from the solid air-stable precursor has been achieved by two facile steps: first, precursors were prepared directly through precipitation reactions of stoichiometric cadmium acetate, zinc acetate and sodium selenite in distilled water under ambient condition; second, pure hexagonal phase flower-like Cd0.9Zn0.1Se were produced via solvothermal treatment of the precursor compound in ethylenediamine (en) at 180°C. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) and UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. It was observed that the optical band gap energies of the as-synthesized flower-like Cd0.9Zn0.1Se microstructures shift toward shorter wavelengths compared with CdSe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Developing a high-performance noninvasive probe for precise cancer theranostics is very challenging but urgently required. Herein, a novel Au nanoclusters (NCs)-based probe was designed for cancer theranostics via ligand engineering by conjugating photoluminescent (PL) Au 44 NCs in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nm) with aromatic photoacoustic (PA)/photothermal molecules through click chemistry. This design bypasses the incompatibility dilemma between photoluminescence (PL) attributes and PA/photothermal properties because the rigidity of the PA/photothermal molecules can lead to aggregation-induced emission (AIE) of the Au(i)-ligand shell of the Au NCs by constraining their nonradiative relaxation. Benefiting from strong NIR-II PL with emissions at 1080 and 1240 nm, high photothermal conversion efficiency (65.12%), low cytotoxicity, appropriate renal clearance, and enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, the as-designed Au NC-based theranostic probe achieves ultradeep NIR-II PL/PA imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy (PTT). Remarkably, 16 days after photothermal treatment guided by NIR-II PL/PA imaging, mice were all healed without tumor recurrence, while the average life span of the mice in the control groups was only 17-21 days. This study is interesting because it provides a paradigm for designing a metal NC-based theranostics probe, and it may add fundamentally and methodologically to noninvasive imaging-guided disease therapy., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)