A power conversion efficiency of 6.48% was achieved for polymer solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as donor and indene-C₆₀ bisadduct (ICBA) as acceptor with an open-circuit voltage of 0.84 V, a short-circuit current of 10.61 mA/cm², and a fill factor of 72.7% under irradiation at AM1.5G, 100 mW/cm² at the optimized conditions of P3HT:ICBA = 1:1 (w/w), solvent annealing and pre-thermal annealing at 150 °C for 10 minutes.

[6, 6]‐Phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC60BM) is the widely used acceptor material in polymer solar cells (PSCs). Nevertheless, the low LUMO energy level and weak absorption in visible region are its two weak points. For enhancing the solar light harvest, the soluble C70 derivative PC70BM has been used as acceptor instead of PC60BM in high efficiency PSCs in recent years. But, the LUMO level of PC70BM is the same as that of PC60BM, which is too low for the PSCs based on the polymer donors with higher HOMO level, such as poly (3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT). Here, a new soluble C70 derivative, indene‐C70 bisadduct (IC70BA), is synthesized with high yield of 58% by a one‐pot reaction of indene and C70 at 180 °C for 72 h. The electrochemical properties and electronic energy levels of the fullerene derivatives are measured by cyclic voltammetry. The LUMO energy level of IC70BA is 0.19 eV higher than that of PC70BM. The PSC based on P3HT with IC70BA as acceptor shows a higher Voc of 0.84 V and higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.64%, while the PSC based on P3HT/PC60BM and P3HT/PC70BM displays Voc of 0.59 V and 0.58 V, and PCE of 3.55% and 3.96%, respectively, under the illumination of AM1.5G, 100 mW cm−2. The results indicate that IC70BA is an excellent acceptor for the P3HT‐based PSCs and could be a promising new acceptor instead of PC70BM for the high performance PSCs based on narrow bandgap conjugated polymer donor.

Developing an effective theranostic nanoplatform remains a great challenge for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Here, BiOI@Bi S @BSA (bovine serum albumin) semiconductor heterojunction nanoparticles (SHNPs) for triple-combination radio/photodynamic/photothermal cancer therapy and multimodal computed tomography/photoacoustic (CT/PA) bioimaging are reported. On the one hand, SHNPs possess strong X-ray attenuation capability since they contain high-Z elements, and thus they are anticipated to be a very competent candidate as radio-sensitizing materials for radiotherapy enhancement. On the other hand, as a semiconductor, the as-prepared SHNPs offer an extra approach for reactive oxygen species generation based on electron-hole pair under the irradiation of X-ray through the photodynamic therapy process. This X-ray excited photodynamic therapy obviously has better penetration depth in bio-tissue. What's more, the SHNPs also possess well photothermal conversion efficiency for photothermal therapy, because Bi S is a thin band semiconductor with strong near-infrared absorption that can cause local overheat. In vivo tumor ablation studies show that synergistic radio/photodynamic/photothermal therapy achieves more significant therapeutic effect than any single treatment. In addition, with the strong X-ray attenuation and high near-infrared absorption, the as-obtained SHNPs can also be applied as a multimodal contrast agent in CT/PA imaging.

Mild photothermal therapy (PTT), as a new anticancer therapeutic strategy, faces big challenges of limited therapeutic accuracy and side‐effects due to uneven heat distribution. Here, near infrared triggered nitric oxide (NO) release nanocomposites based on bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) nanoparticles and bis‐N‐nitroso compounds (BNN) are constructed for NO‐enhanced mild photothermal therapy. Upon 808 nm irradiation, the high photothermal conversion efficiency and on‐demand NO release are realized simultaneously. Due to the unique properties of NO, enhanced antitumor efficacy of mild PTT based on BNN‐Bi2S3 nanocomposites is achieved in vitro and in vivo. Mechanism studies reveal that the exogenous NO from BNN‐Bi2S3 could not only impair the autophagic self‐repairing ability of tumor cells in situ, but also diffuse to the surrounding cells to enhance the therapeutic effect. This work points out a strategy to overcome the difficulties in mild PTT, and has potentials for further exploitation of NO‐sensitized synergistic cancer therapy.

Radioresistance is one of the undesirable impediments in hypoxic tumors, which sharply diminishes the therapeutic effectiveness of radiotherapy and eventually results in the failure of their treatments. An attractive strategy for attenuating radioresistance is developing an ideal radiosensitization system with appreciable radiosensitization capacity to attenuate tumor hypoxia and reinforce radiotherapy response in hypoxic tumors. Therefore, we describe the development of Gd-containing polyoxometalates-conjugated chitosan (GdW@CS nanosphere) as a radiosensitization system for simultaneous extrinsic and intrinsic radiosensitization, by generating an overabundance of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) using high-energy X-ray stimulation and mediating the hypoxia-inducible factor-1a (HIF-1a) siRNA to down-regulate HIF-1α expression and suppress broken double-stranded DNA self-healing. Most importantly, the GdW@CS nanospheres have the capacity to promote the exhaustion of intracellular glutathione (reduced GSH) by synergy W-triggered GSH oxidation for sufficient ROS generation, thereby facilitating the therapeutic efficiency of radiotherapy. As a result, the as-synthesized GdW@CS nanosphere can overcome radioresistance of hypoxic tumors through a simultaneous extrinsic and intrinsic strategy to improve radiosensitivity. We have demonstrated GdW@CS nanospheres with special radiosensitization behavior, which provides a versatile approach to solve the critical radioresistance issue of hypoxic tumors.

Peroxynitrite (ONOO ), the reaction product derived from nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide (O ), is a potent oxidizing and nitrating agent that modulates complex biological processes and promotes cell death. Therefore, it can be expected that the overproduction of ONOO in tumors can be an efficient approach in cancer therapy. Herein, a multifunctional X-ray-controlled ONOO generation platform based on scintillating nanoparticles (SCNPs) and UV-responsive NO donors Roussin's black salt is reported, and consequently the mechanism of their application in enhanced therapeutic efficacy of radiotherapy is illustrated. Attributed to the radioluminescence and high X-ray-absorbing property of SCNPs, the nanocomposite can produce NO and O simultaneously when excited by X-ray irradiation. Such simultaneous release of NO and O ensures the efficient X-ray-controlled generation of ONOO in tumors. Meanwhile, the application of X-rays as the excitation source can achieve better penetration depth and induce radiotherapy in this nanotherapeutic platform. It is found that the X-ray-controlled ONOO -generation platform can efficiently improve the radiotherapy efficiency via directly damaging DNA, downregulating the expression of the DNA-repair enzyme, and overcoming the hypoxia-associated resistance in radiotherapy. Therefore, this SCNP-based platform may provide a new combinatorial strategy of ONOO and radiotherapy to improve cancer treatment.

Scintillators, as spectral and energy transformers, are essential for X-ray imaging applications. However, their current disadvantages, including high-temperature sintering and generation of agglomerated powders or large bulk crystals, may not meet the increasing demands of low cost, nontoxicity, and flexible radiation detection. Thus, improved perovskite scintillators are developed in this research. A hybrid perovskite ((C8H17NH3)2SnBr4), which is nontoxic, lead-free, and organic–inorganic, is developed as a scintillator with good emission performance and radioluminescence intensity. These perovskite scintillators are synthesized at low temperatures in an aqueous acid solution, through which they generate a near-unity photoluminescence quantum yield of 98% with the excitation of ultraviolet light. As far as we know, this work is the first to show that the two-dimensional (2D) (C8H17NH3)2SnBr4 perovskite scintillator films prepared by coating a polymer layer can be applied to an X-ray imaging system. The results demonstrate that the low cost X-ray imaging device with good resolution and performance benefits dramatically from this lead-free organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite film. Therefore, this 2D-layered (C8H17NH3)2SnBr4 perovskite scintillator may be a high potential candidate for scintillating material for X-ray imaging techniques.

A series of [6,6]‐phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)‐like fullerene derivatives with the butyl chain in PCBM changing from 3 to 7 carbon atoms, respectively (F1–F5), are designed and synthesized to investigate the relationship between photovoltaic properties and the molecular structure of fullerene derivative acceptors. F2 with a butyl chain is PCBM itself for comparison. Electrochemical, optical, electron mobility, morphology, and photovoltaic properties of the molecules are characterized, and the effect of the alkyl chain length on their properties is investigated. Although there is little difference in the absorption spectra and LUMO energy levels of F1–F5, an interesting effect of the alkyl chain length on the photovoltaic properties is observed. For the polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on P3HT as donor and F1–F5, respectively, as acceptors, the photovoltaic behavior of the P3HT/F1 and P3HT/F4 systems are similar to or a little better than that of the P3HT/PCBM device with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) above 3.5%, while the performances of P3HT/F3 and P3HT/F5‐based solar cells are poorer, with PCE values below 3.0%. The phenomenon is explained by the effect of the alkyl chain length on the absorption spectra, fluorescence quenching degree, electron mobility, and morphology of the P3HT/F1–F5 (1:1, w/w) blend films.