Bismuth sulfide (Bi S ) nanomaterials are emerging as a promising theranostic platform for computed tomography imaging and photothermal therapy of cancer. Herein, the photothermal properties of Bi S nanorods (NRs) were unveiled to intensely correlate to their intrinsic deep-level defects (DLDs) that potentially could work as electron-hole nonradiative recombination centers to promote phonon production, ultimately leading to photothermal performance. Bi S -Au heterojunction NRs were designed to hold more significant DLD properties, exhibiting more potent photothermal performance than Bi S NRs. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, Bi S -Au NRs could trigger higher cellular heat shock protein 70 expression and more apoptotic cells than Bi S NRs, and caused severe cell death and tumor growth inhibition, showing great potential for photothermal therapy of cancer guided by computed tomography imaging.

Gold (Au) core@void@copper sulfide (CuS) shell (Au-CuS) yolk-shell nanoparticles (YSNPs) were prepared in the present study for potential chemo-, photothermal, and photodynamic combination therapy, so-called "chemophototherapy". The resonance energy transfer (RET) process was utilized in Au-CuS YSNPs to achieve both enhanced photothermal and photodynamic performance compared with those of CuS hollow nanoparticles (HNPs). A series of Au nanomaterials as cores that had different localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption peaks at 520, 700, 808, 860, and 980 nm were embedded in CuS HNPs to screen the most effective Au-CuS YSNPs according to the RET process. Thermoresponsive polymer was fabricated on these YSNPs' surface to allow for controlled drug release. Au-CuS and Au-CuS YSNPs were found capable of inducing the largest temperature elevation and producing the most significant hydroxyl radicals under 808 and 980 nm laser irradiation, respectively, which could accordingly cause the most severe 4T1 cell injury through oxidative stress mechanism. Moreover, doxorubicin-loaded (Dox-loaded) P(NIPAM-co-AM)-coated Au-CuS (p-Au-CuS@Dox) YSNPs could more efficiently kill cells than unloaded particles upon 980 nm laser irradiation. After intravenous administration to 4T1 tumor-bearing mice, p-Au-CuS YSNPs could significantly accumulate in the tumor and effectively inhibit the tumor growth after 980 nm laser irradiation, and p-Au-CuS@Dox YSNPs could further potentiate the inhibition efficiency and exhibit excellent in vivo biocompatibility. Taken together, this study sheds light on the rational design of Au-CuS YSNPs to offer a promising candidate for chemophototherapy.

Thermoelectric materials can be used to convert waste heat into electrical energy, which is considered to be a cleaner form of energy that reduces carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.

Substitutional heterovalent doping represents an effective method to control the optical and electronic properties of nanocrystals (NCs). Highly monodisperse II-VI NCs with deep substitutional dopants are presented. The NCs exhibit stable, dominant, and strong dopant fluorescence, and control over n- and p-type electronic impurities is achieved. Large-scale, bottom-up superlattices of the NCs will speed up their application in electronic devices.

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The construction of a novel 3D self‐supported integrated NixCo2−xP@NC (0 < x < 2) nanowall array (NA) on Ni foam (NF) electrode constituting highly dispersed NixCo2−xP nanoparticles, nanorods, nanocapsules, and nanodendrites embedded in N‐doped carbon (NC) NA grown on NF is reported. Benefiting from the collective effects of special morphological and structural design and electronic structure engineering, the NixCo2−xP@NC NA/NF electrodes exhibit superior electrocatalytic performance for water splitting with an excellent stability in a wide pH range. The optimal NiCoP@NC NA/NF electrode exhibits the best hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity in acidic solution so far, attaining a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 34 mV. Moreover, the electrode manifests remarkable performances toward both HER and oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline medium with only small overpotentials of 37 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and 305 mV at 50 mA cm−2, respectively. Most importantly, when coupling with the NiCoP@NC NA/NF electrode for overall water splitting, an alkali electrolyzer delivers a current density of 20 mA cm−2 at a very low cell voltage of ≈1.56 V. In addition, the NiCoP@NC NA/NF electrode has outstanding long‐term durability at j = 10 mA cm−2 with a negligible degradation in current density over 22 h in both acidic and alkaline media.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficacy has been severely limited by oxygen (O2) deficiency in tumors and the electron–hole separation inefficiency in photosensitizers, especially the long‐range diffusion of O2 toward photosensitizers during the PDT process. Herein, novel bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3)@bismuth (Bi) Z‐scheme heterostructured nanorods (NRs) are designed to realize the spatiotemporally synchronous O2 self‐supply and production of reactive oxygen species for hypoxic tumor therapy. Both narrow‐bandgap Bi2S3 and Bi components can be excited by a near‐infrared laser to generate abundant electrons and holes. The Z‐scheme heterostructure endows Bi2S3@Bi NRs with an efficient electron–hole separation ability and potent redox potentials, where the hole on the valence band of Bi2S3 can react with water to supply O2 for the electron on the conduction band of Bi to produce reactive oxygen species. The Bi2S3@Bi NRs overcome the major obstacles of conventional photosensitizers during the PDT process and exhibit a promising phototherapeutic effect, supplying a new strategy for hypoxic tumor elimination.

Nitric oxide (NO) molecular messenger can reverse the multidrug resistance (MDR) effect of cancer cells through reducing P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression, beneficial for creating a favorable microenvironment for the treatment of doxorubicin (Dox)-resistant cancer cells. Development of sophisticated nanosystems to programmably release NO and Dox becomes an efficient strategy to overcome the MDR obstacles and achieve promising therapeutic effects in Dox-resistant cancer. Herein, a NO stimulated nanosystem was designed to engineer a significant time gap between NO and Dox release, promoting MDR cancer therapy. A o-phenylenediamine-containing lipid that can hydrolyze in response to NO was embedded in the phospholipid bilayer structure of liposome to form NO-responsive liposome, which could further encapsulate L-arginine (L-Arg)/Doxloaded gold@copper sulfide yolk−shell nanoparticls ( AD Au@CuS YSNPs) to form ADL Au@CuS YSNPs. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, the unique resonant energy transfer (RET) process and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the confined space of ADL Au@CuS YSNPs could effectively convert L-Arg into NO, regionally destabilizing the phospholipid bilayer structure, as a result of NO release. However, at this early stage Dox could not be released from YSNPs due to the molecular scaffold limit. As the NO release progressed, the NO-responsive liposome layer was deteriorated more severely, allowing Dox to escape. This NO and Dox sequential release of ADL Au@CuS YSNPs could significantly inhibit P-gp expression and enhance Dox accumulation in Dox-resistant MCF-7/ADR cells, leading to promising in vitro and in vivo therapeutic effects and presenting their great potential for MDR cancer therapy.