The
abundant species of functional nanomaterials have attracted
tremendous interests as components to construct multifunctional composites
for cancer theranostics. However, their distinct chemical properties
substantially require a specific strategy to integrate them in harmony.
Here, we report the preparation of a distinctive multifunctional composite
by encapsulating small-sized semiconducting copper bismuth sulfide
(CBS) nanoparticles and rare-earth down-conversion (DC) nanoparticles
in larger-sized zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF8) nanoparticles,
followed by loading an anticancer drug, doxorubicin (DOX). Such composites
can be used for tetramodal imaging, including traditional computed
tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and, recently, for photoacoustic
imaging and fluorescence imaging. With a pH-responsive release of
the encapsulated components, synergistic radio-chemotherapy with a
high (87.6%) tumor inhibition efficiency is achieved at moderate doses
of the CBS&DC-ZIF8@DOX composite with X-ray irradiation. This
promising strategy highlights the extending capacity of zeolitic imidazolate
frameworks to encapsulate multiple distinct components for enhanced
cancer imaging and therapy.
A novel method for synthesizing ZnO/γ-Al2O3 nanofibers by electrospinning and subsequent calcination is reported. The prepared nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The ZnO/γ-Al2O3 nanofibers exhibited excellent capacity for adsorbing organics with a negative zeta potential such as methyl orange (95.8%) and heavy metal ions such as Cr(vi) in aqueous solution. The mechanism of adsorption was investigated, and the adsorption results were fitted using the Langmuir and Freundlich models. Once silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were decorated on the surface of the nanofibers by photoreduction, the Ag/ZnO/γ-Al2O3 nanofibers manifested efficient photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange under UV-light illumination. Results confirmed that our Ag/ZnO/γ-Al2O3 nanofibers are a promising adsorbent for the removal of methyl orange and Cr(vi) ions and the adsorbent can be sustainably reused.
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