The integration of photothermal therapy (PTT) with radiation therapy (RT) in a single nanoscale platform is believed to have considerable potential for cancer therapy. In this work, the rationally designed PEGylated Au@Pt nanodendrites (NDs) have been developed as a novel X-ray computed tomography (CT) and PTT/RT enhanced theranostic agent for cancer therapy. The absorption of Au@Pt NDs was turned to the near-infrared region with the growth of Pt nanobranches and thus enhances the efficacy of PTT. Furthermore, because of the high atomic number (high Z) of Au as well as Pt, Au@Pt NDs significantly enhanced lethal effects of RT by inducing a highly localized radiation dose within cancer cells. More importantly, the combination of Au@Pt ND-enhanced RT with PTT suppressed cancer cell growth more efficiently than that RT or PTT alone did, indicating a synergistic effect. Meanwhile, the Au@Pt NDs also possess significant CT imaging signal enhancement that has the potential to guide PTT/RT for cancers. The integrated strategy significantly improved CT and PTT/RT of cancer cells with mild laser and radiation. Because of these advantages, Au@Pt NDs have become appealing and effective agents for cancer theranostic.

The antibacterial activities of tungsten disulfide (WS 2 ) nanosheets against two representative bacterial strains: Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)were evaluated by colony-forming unit (CFU) studies. The WS 2 samples demonstrate a time and concentration dependent antibacterial activity (retardation of bacterial growth) for both bacterial strains.Morphology analyses reveal that WS 2 nanosheets adhere to the bacterial surfaces, resulting in robust inhibition of cell proliferation once a bacterium is fully covered with this nanomaterial. More importantly, the intimate contact of WS 2 nanosheets with a bacterium cell membrane can cause serious damage to the membrane integrity, and subsequently the cell death. On the other hand, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by WS 2 nanosheets are found to be modest regardless of the WS 2 concentration, which is contradictory to the case of its structural analogue, MoS 2 , where ROS also play a significant role in its antibacterial activity. Taken together, our findings provide a detailed understanding of the antibacterial mechanism of WS 2 nanosheets, which might help promote their potential applications in biomedical fields.

The CoFe2O4/biocarbon nanocomposites synthesized via a facile biosynthesis method have shown high electrocatalytic activity and durability for both the ORR and OER.

No abstract