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All-inorganic nanocrystals are of great importance for a variety of electronic applications. Here, the authors use metal salts to remove organic ligands to obtain passivated nanocrystals with improved fluorescence yield for direct optical patterning.

Abstract: As a recycled material, flue gas desulfurization gypsum has been used to prepare calcium sulfate hemihydrate whisker (CSHW) through hydrothermal synthesis for several decades. However, the subsequent utilization of this resultant material has not yet received considerable attention. In the present research, CSHW was successfully synthesized at a certain region, and was used for the adsorption of lead ions from aqueous solutions, thereby broadening the research field for the practical application of CSHW. Its adsorption capacity was significantly influenced by various parameters, particularly, the pH level and initial lead concentration. The pH value highly affected the hydrolysis degree of lead ions and dominated the adsorption of lead. The equilibrium isotherms under two different temperatures were simulated using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin models. Both Langmuir and Temkin models showed a good fit to the data. Combined with the well-fitted pseudo-second-order model, the adsorption mechanism was thought to be a chemisorption process that was enforced by the ion exchange reaction. In addition, the specific crystal structure of CSHW revealed that ion exchange reaction occurred on the (010) and (100) facets due to their preferential growth and negatively charged property. The residual solid phase after adsorption was collected and detected using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Results revealed that PbSO4 was formed on the surface of CSHW. The alkaline condition introduced the tribasic lead sulfate, and thus reduced the stability of the adsorption system.

Cancer is one of the diseases that seriously harm human health. The cancer-related incidence and deaths are still increasing worldwide, which has brought heavy burden to the global public health system. During the long anticancer history, a variety of methods to treat tumors have been developed. More than 100 years ago, shortly after the discovery of Roentgen rays, people began to treat tumors with radiation, and thus pioneered radiation oncology. As a brachytherapy method, implantation of radioactive seeds acts well, has received public recognition, and becomes an important member of the oncology therapeutic spectrum. In vivo, some seeds can migrate from initial site of implantation to other locations. Permanent interstitial brachytherapy and the incidence, mechanism, influence and prevention of 125 I seed migration were reviewed here.