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A facile way to prevent the leakage of fatty acid PCM via adsorption on cellulose microfibers is described. The prepared phase-change composites exhibit excellent shape stability, thermal reliability, and adjustable latent heat storage performance.

Anticancer hybrid mineral highly-magnetic protein–tannin vehicles are tunable and controllable external triggers for drug delivery systems. The saturation level of submicron particles of calcium carbonate with magnetic nanoparticles was achieved. The Brillouin light scattering technique and the movement determination of composites in the non-uniform magnetic field, as well as the SEM study of hybrid mineral highly-magnetic composites, made it possible to characterize the magnetic properties of the carriers and determine that 3 freezing/thawing cycles of magnetic nanoparticles are sufficient to obtain an optimal drug carrier. We have demonstrated that doxorubicin and mitoxantrone are effectively encapsulated in vehicles, while the encapsulated drugs are effectively stored in clean water and PBS. Anticancer hybrid mineral highly-magnetic protein–tannin vehicles have a higher cytostatic effect on MCF-7 breast cancer cells because of the best interaction of the cytostatics with DNA due to the inside-out structure compared with the NMUMG breast healthy cell line. Extra magnetic anticancer structures of the core–shell can be potentially used as objects for preserving antitumor drugs over time, due to the higher survival rate compared to the pure substance and the lack of release of antitumor drugs into model fluids.

In the late 1990s, the unique possibilities application of inorganic nanocrystals with anti-Stokes photoluminescence were demonstrated. In a fairly short period, a significant breakthrough has been achieved in this field due to the development of new and modification of existing methods for the synthesis of these nanomaterials, and the expansion of understanding of the photophysical processes occurring in nanocrystals. The interest from the scientific community is due to the exceptional luminescence properties of upconversion nanomaterials, which can convert photons of the near-infrared spectrum to radiation in the visible and UV ranges. This multiquantum process takes place under low-intensity excitation, which largely determines the use of this class of nanomaterials in high-tech fields, including biotechnology, photochemistry, medicine, solar energy, nanosensorics, etc. The goals of this review are to consider the mechanisms of anti-Stokes luminescence, to analyze the synthesis methods, and to demonstrate the applications of fluoride upconversion nanomaterials, in which they have formed a stable scientific and technological niche.

In modern biomedical science and developmental biology, there is significant interest in optical tagging to study individual cell behavior and migration in large cellular populations. However, there is currently no tagging system that can be used for labeling individual cells on demand in situ with subsequent discrimination in between and long-term tracking of individual cells. In this article, we demonstrate such a system based on photoconversion of the fluorescent dye rhodamine B co-confined with carbon nanodots in the volume of micron-sized polyelectrolyte capsules. We show that this new fluorescent convertible capsule coding system is robust and is actively uptaken by cell lines while demonstrating low toxicity. Using a variety of cellular lines, we demonstrate how this tagging system can be used for code-like marking and long-term tracking of multiple individual cells in large cellular populations.

Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are promising bioimaging agents that emit light under near infra-red excitation, capable of penetrating deep in biotissues with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Their successful implementation is principally associated with surface functionalization. Here, we report on UCNP surface modification with highly hydrophilic, endogenous, non-toxic, non-immunogenic colominic acid, conferring "stealth" properties. We proposed surface functionalization of UCNPs based on a two-step strategy, which consists of hydrophilization with polyethyleneimine and attachment of colominic acid by electrostatic or covalent bond formation. Analysis revealed that regardless of the nature of the bond, colominic acid acted as a non-cytotoxic UCNP surface coating with low nonspecific blood protein adsorption. UCNP-colominic acid nanocomplexes exhibited low uptake by macrophages in vitro, which plays an active role in inflammatory reactions. We demonstrated the superiority of colominic acid compared to polyethylene glycol coating in terms of the prolonged circulation time in the bloodstream of small animals when injected intravenously. The colominic acid coating made it possible to prolong the UCNP circulation time up to 3 h. This led to the efficient UCNP accumulation in the inflammation site due to microvascular remodeling, accompanied by an enhanced uptake and retention effect. UCNP-assisted imaging of inflammation in the whole-body mode as well as local visualization of blood vessels were acquired in vivo. These collective findings validate the functional significance of UCNP decoration with colominic acid for their application in bioimaging.

Non-destructive, controllable, remote light-induced release inside cells enables studying of time- and space-specific surface-mediated delivery of bioactive compounds, which is an important approach in a wide range of biomedical tasks, especially those related to the control of cell growth, regenerative medicine, and self-disinfecting structures such as catheters. In this regard, the elaboration of encapsulation and controlled release of oxidative species is in high demand due to its versatile applications. One of the obvious candidates for such species is hydrogen peroxide. However, the delivery of hydrogen peroxide to the site of interest with high temporal and spatial precision remains challenging due to the active and unstable nature of the substance. We hereby present an approach to encapsulate and store a hydrogen peroxide-containing solid compound (sodium percarbonate) in the free-standing arrays of biopolymer-based microchambers. In this regard, we use solid-state encapsulation enabling high payload ability, followed by isolated storage in order to prevent contact of the cargo with water. Monitoring of the release profiles reveals the encapsulation of sodium percarbonate with little leakage for up to 24 hours. Microchambers are fabricated with predetermined size and spatial distribution, which allows the release of extremely small amounts of cargo (10–30 pg) with high spatial accuracy. Microchambers are made of polylactic acid and functionalized by carbon nanodots, which provide biocompatibility and biodegradability of the whole system together with responsiveness towards NIR light. These chambers facilitate both ultrasound-assisted burst release and laser-driven carbon nanoparticle-assisted precise release of extremely small, controlled amounts of a few picograms of hydrogen peroxide in submerged conditions. Microchambers loaded with sodium percarbonate provided adhesion and high viability of mouse fibroblasts over 24 h of exposure. The developed system opens an exciting avenue for prospective delivery routes in a number of areas such as wound healing by time and site-specific release.

Formulation of promising anticancer herbal drug curcumin as a nanoscale-sized curcumin (nanocurcumin) improved its delivery to cells and organisms both in vitro and in vivo. We report on coupling nanocurcumin with upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) using Poly (lactic-co-glycolic Acid) (PLGA) to endow visualisation in the near-infrared transparency window. Nanocurcumin was prepared by solvent-antisolvent method. NaYF4:Yb,Er (UCNP1) and NaYF4:Yb,Tm (UCNP2) nanoparticles were synthesised by reverse microemulsion method and then functionalized it with PLGA to form UCNP-PLGA nanocarrier followed up by loading with the solvent-antisolvent process synthesized herbal nanocurcumin. The UCNP samples were extensively characterised with XRD, Raman, FTIR, DSC, TGA, UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer, Upconversion spectrofluorometer, HRSEM, EDAX and Zeta Potential analyses. UCNP1-PLGA-nanocurcumin exhibited emission at 520, 540, 660 nm and UCNP2-PLGA-nanocurmin showed emission at 480 and 800 nm spectral bands. UCNP-PLGA-nanocurcumin incubated with rat glioblastoma cells demonstrated moderate cytotoxicity, 60–80% cell viability at 0.12–0.02 mg/mL marginally suitable for therapeutic applications. The cytotoxicity of UCNPs evaluated in tumour spheroids models confirmed UCNP-PLGA-nanocurcumin therapeutic potential. As-synthesised curcumin-loaded nanocomplexes were administered in tumour-bearing laboratory animals (Lewis lung cancer model) and showed adequate contrast to enable in vivo and ex vivo study of UCNP-PLGA-nanocurcumin bio distribution in organs, with dominant distribution in the liver and lungs. Our studies demonstrate promise of nanocurcumin-loaded upconversion nanoparticles for theranostics applications.

Au nanoparticles were loaded into halloysite nanotubes by freezing-induced loading method. The loading efficiency and Au nanoparticle distribution were studied by UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy and compared to those of vacuum impregnation and adsorption from solution loading methods. The freezing-induced loading was found to be the most effective with the loading efficiency up to 85% after 5 loading cycles and the best Au nanoparticle distribution into halloysite nanotubes.

The adsorption ability of titanium dioxide samples with nanoscale anatase prepared by the sulfate method and Degussa (Evonik) P25, Hombfine N, and Hombikate UV-100 commercial agents with different compositions and characteristics to extract Nb(V) and Ta(V) ions from a model aqueous system has been investigated for the first time. It is established that the degree of sorption R (%) depends on the sorption conditions and the nature of analyte. It is demonstrated that the degree of sorption of Nb(V) ions in the presence of all samples is the highest (Rmax = 99.9%) for Degussa P25, except for the peroxide-modified samples on which the maximum sorption of Ta(V) ions with Rmax = 99.9% has been attained.