The harvesting of mechanical energy from ambient sources could power electrical devices without the need for batteries. However, although the efficiency and durability of harvesting materials such as piezoelectric nanowires have steadily improved, the voltage and power produced by a single nanowire are insufficient for real devices. The integration of large numbers of nanowire energy harvesters into a single power source is therefore necessary, requiring alignment of the nanowires as well as synchronization of their charging and discharging processes. Here, we demonstrate the vertical and lateral integration of ZnO nanowires into arrays that are capable of producing sufficient power to operate real devices. A lateral integration of 700 rows of ZnO nanowires produces a peak voltage of 1.26 V at a low strain of 0.19%, which is potentially sufficient to recharge an AA battery. In a separate device, a vertical integration of three layers of ZnO nanowire arrays produces a peak power density of 2.7 mW cm(-3). We use the vertically integrated nanogenerator to power a nanowire pH sensor and a nanowire UV sensor, thus demonstrating a self-powered system composed entirely of nanowires.

Fluorescent semiconductor quantum dots hold great potential for molecular imaging in vivo. However, the utility of existing quantum dots for in vivo imaging is limited because they require excitation from external illumination sources to fluoresce, which results in a strong autofluorescence background and a paucity of excitation light at nonsuperficial locations. Here we present quantum dot conjugates that luminesce by bioluminescence resonance energy transfer in the absence of external excitation. The conjugates are prepared by coupling carboxylate-presenting quantum dots to a mutant of the bioluminescent protein Renilla reniformis luciferase. We show that the conjugates emit long-wavelength (from red to near-infrared) bioluminescent light in cells and in animals, even in deep tissues, and are suitable for multiplexed in vivo imaging. Compared with existing quantum dots, self-illuminating quantum dot conjugates have greatly enhanced sensitivity in small animal imaging, with an in vivo signal-to-background ratio of > 10(3) for 5 pmol of conjugate.

A dopamine‐PEG based ligand is synthesized and used to stabilize monodisperse 9 nm Fe3O4 nanoparticles in physiological conditions and against non‐specific uptake by macrophage cells. Such stable nanoparticles can be used to enhance the efficiency in target‐specific drug delivery and to increase the signal‐to‐noise ratio in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

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The purpose of this study was to develop a bifunctional iron oxide (IO) nanoparticle probe for PET and MRI scans of tumor integrin a v b 3 expression. Methods: Polyaspartic acid (PASP)-coated IO (PASP-IO) nanoparticles were synthesized using a coprecipitation method, and particle size and magnetic properties were measured. A phantom study was used to assess the efficacy of PASP-IO as a T2-weighted MRI contrast agent. PASP-IO nanoparticles with surface amino groups were coupled to cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartic (RGD) peptides for integrin a v b 3 targeting and macrocyclic 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N9,N$,N9$,-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) chelators for PET after labeling with 64 Cu. IO nanoparticle conjugates were further tested in vitro and in vivo to determine receptor targeting efficacy and feasibility for dual PET/MRI. Results: PASP-IO nanoparticles made by single-step reaction have a core size of 5 nm with a hydrodynamic diameter of 45 6 10 nm. The saturation magnetization of PASP-IO nanoparticles is about 117 emu/g of iron, and the measured r 2 and r 2 * are 105.5 and 165.5 (sÁmM) 21 , respectively. A displacement competitive binding assay indicates that DOTA-IO-RGD conjugates bound specifically to integrin a v b 3 in vitro. Both small-animal PET and T2-weighted MRI show integrinspecific delivery of conjugated RGD-PASP-IO nanoparticles and prominent reticuloendothelial system uptake. Conclusion: We have successfully developed an IO-based nanoprobe for simultaneous dual PET and MRI of tumor integrin expression. The success of this bifunctional imaging approach may allow for earlier tumor detection with a high degree of accuracy and provide further insight into the molecular mechanisms of cancer.

Skin interstitial fluid (ISF) is an emerging source of biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prognosis. Microneedle (MN) patch has been identified as an ideal platform to extract ISF from the skin due to its pain-free and easy-to-administrated properties. However, long sampling time is still a serious problem which impedes timely metabolic analysis. In this study, a swellable MN patch that can rapidly extract ISF is developed. The MN patch is made of methacrylated hyaluronic acid (MeHA) and further crosslinked through UV irradiation. Owing to the supreme water affinity of MeHA, this MN patch can extract sufficient ISF in a short time without the assistance of extra devices, which remarkably facilitates timely metabolic analysis. Due to covalent crosslinked network, the MN patch maintains the structure integrity in the swelling hydrated state without leaving residues in skin after usage. More importantly, the extracted ISF metabolites can be efficiently recovered from MN patch by centrifugation for the subsequent offline analysis of metabolites such as glucose and cholesterol. Given the recent trend of easy-to-use point-of-care devices for personal healthcare monitoring, this study opens a new avenue for the development of MN-based microdevices for sampling ISF and minimally invasive metabolic detection.

We report a new approach to cisplatin storage and release using porous hollow nanoparticles (PHNPs) of Fe 3 O 4 . We prepared the PHNPs by controlled oxidation of Fe NPs at 250°C followed by acid etching. The opening pores (~2-4 nm) facilitated the cisplatin diffusion into the cavity of the hollow structure. The porous shell was stable in neutral or basic physiological conditions and cisplatin escape from the cavity through the same pores was diffusion-controlled slow process with t 1/2 = 16 hrs. But in low pH (< 6) conditions, the pores were subject to acidic etching, resulting in wider pore gaps and faster release of cisplatin with t 1/2 < 4 hrs. Once coupled with Herceptin to the surface, the cisplatinloaded hollow NPs could target to breast cancer SK-BR-3 cells with IC 50 reaching 2.9 μM, much lower than 6.8 μM needed for free cisplatin. Our model experiments indicate that the low pHresponsive PHNPs of Fe 3 O 4 can be exploited as a cisplatin delivery vehicle for target-specific therapeutic applications.

We report a direct synthesis of ultrasmall c(RGDyK) peptide-coated Fe3O4 NPs (<10 nm in hydrodynamic diameter) and demonstrate their in vivo tumor-specific targeting capability. The Fe3O4 NPs are synthesized by thermal decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl in the presence of 4-methylcatechol (4-MC), and the peptide is coupled to the nanoparticles through 4-MC via Mannich reaction. The c(RGDyK)-MC-Fe3O4 NPs have an overall diameter of approximately 8.4 nm and are stable in physiological conditions. When administrated intravenously, these c(RGDyK)-MC-Fe3O4 NPs accumulate preferentially in the integrin alphavbeta3-rich tumor area, which are readily tracked by MRI.