In the past few decades, the fabrication of solar cells has been considered as one of the most promising ways to meet the increasing energy demands to support the development of modern society as well as to control the environmental pollution caused by the combustion of fossil fuels.

Dual-modal imaging techniques have gained intense attention for their potential role in the dawning era of tumor early accurate diagnosis. Chelate-free robust dual-modal imaging nanoprobes with high efficiency and low toxicity are of essential importance for tumor targeted dual-modal in vivo imaging. It is still a crucial issue to endow Cd-free dual-modal nanoprobes with bright fluorescence as well as high relaxivity. Herein, a facile synthetic strategy was developed to prepare Gd-doped CuInS/ZnS bimodal quantum dots (GCIS/ZnS, BQDs) with optimized properties. The fluorescent properties of the GCIS/ZnS BQDs can be thoroughly optimized by varying reaction temperature, aging time, and ZnS coating. The amount of Gd precursor can be well-controlled to realize the optimized balance between the MR relaxivity and optical properties. The obtained hydrophobic GCIS/ZnS BQDs were surface engineered into aqueous phase with PEGylated dextran-stearyl acid polymeric lipid vesicles (PEG-DS PLVs). Upon the phase transfer, the hydrophilic GCIS/ZnS@PLVs exhibited pronounced near-infrared fluorescence as well as high longitudinal relaxivity (r1 = 9.45 mM(-1) S(-1)) in water with good colloidal stability. In vivo tumor-bearing animal experiments further verified GCIS/ZnS@PLVs could achieve tumor-targeted MR/fluorescence dual-modal imaging. No toxicity was observed in the in vivo and ex vivo experiments. The GCIS/ZnS@PLVs present great potential as bimodal imaging contrast agents for tumor diagnosis.

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Herein, high-content N-doped carbon nanotube (CNT) microspheres (HNCMs) are successfully synthesized through simple spray drying and one-step pyrolysis. HNCM possesses a hierarchically porous architecture and high-content N-doping. In particular, HNCM800 (HNCM pyrolyzed at 800 °C) shows high nitrogen content of 12.43 at%. The porous structure derived from well-interconnected CNTs not only offers a highly conductive network and blocks diffusion of soluble lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) in physical adsorption, but also allows sufficient sulfur infiltration. The incorporation of N-rich CNTs provides strong chemical immobilization for LiPSs. As a sulfur host for lithium-sulfur batteries, good rate capability and high cycling stability is achieved for HNCM/S cathodes. Particularly, the HNCM800/S cathode delivers a high capacity of 804 mA h g −1 at 0.5 C after 1000 cycles corresponding to low fading rate (FR) of only 0.011% per cycle. Remarkably, the cathode with high sulfur loading of 6 mg cm −2 still maintains high cyclic stability (capacity of 555 mA h g −1 after 1000 cycles, FR 0.038%). Additionally, CNT/Co 3 O 4 microspheres are obtained by the oxidation of CNTs/Co in the air. The as-prepared CNT/Co 3 O 4 microspheres are employed as an anode for lithium-ion batteries and present excellent cycling performance.