Yufen Xiao

Abstract Clay-based nanomaterials, especially 2:1 aluminosilicates such as vermiculite, biotite, and illite, have demonstrated great potential in various fields. However, their characteristic sandwiched structures and the lack of effective methods to exfoliate two-dimensional (2D) functional core layers (FCLs) greatly limit their future applications. Herein, we present a universal wet-chemical exfoliation method based on alkali etching that can intelligently “capture” the ultrathin and biocompatible FCLs (MgO and Fe 2 O 3 ) sandwiched between two identical tetrahedral layers (SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 ) from vermiculite. Without the sandwich structures that shielded their active sites, the obtained FCL nanosheets (NSs) exhibit a tunable and appropriate electron band structure (with the bandgap decreased from 2.0 eV to 1.4 eV), a conductive band that increased from −0.4 eV to −0.6 eV, and excellent light response characteristics. The great properties of 2D FCL NSs endow them with exciting potential in diverse applications including energy, photocatalysis, and biomedical engineering. This study specifically highlights their application in cancer theranostics as an example, potentially serving as a prelude to future extensive studies of 2D FCL NSs.

, functional protein expression, vaccines, cancer immunotherapy, and genome editing) are highlighted. Finally, our insights into the challenges and future development towards clinical translation of these mRNA technologies are provided.

In this review, we summarized recent advances in the development and biological applications of polymeric nanoparticles embedded with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs). Superparamagnetic polymeric nanoparticles include core-shell nanoparticles, superparamagnetic polymeric micelles and superparamagnetic polymersomes. They have potential for various biomedical applications, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents, drug delivery, detection of bacteria, viruses and proteins, etc. Finally, the challenges in the design and preparation of superparamagnetic nanoparticles towards clinical applications are explored and the prospects in this field are proposed.

Abstract The modulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels is crucial for cellular homeostasis and determination of cellular fate. A sublethal level of ROS sustains cell proliferation, differentiation and promotes tumor metastasis, while a drastic ROS burst directly induces apoptosis. Herein, surface-oxidized arsenene nanosheets (As/As x O y NSs) with type II heterojunction are fabricated with efficient ·O 2 − and 1 O 2 production and glutathione consumption through prolonging the lifetime of photo-excited electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the portion of As x O y with oxygen vacancies not only catalyzes a Fenton-like reaction, generating ·OH and O 2 from H 2 O 2 , but also inactivates main anti-oxidants to cut off the “retreat routes” of ROS. After polydopamine (PDA) and cancer cell membrane (M) coating, the engineered As/As x O y @PDA@M NSs serve as an intelligent theranostic platform with active tumor targeting and long-term blood circulation. Given its narrow-band-gap-enabled in vivo fluorescence imaging properties, As/As x O y @PDA@M NSs could be applied as an imaging-guided non-invasive and real-time nanomedicine for cancer therapy.