We demonstrate first room temperature, and ultrabright single photon emission from a color center in two-dimensional multilayer hexagonal boron nitride. Density Functional Theory calculations indicate that vacancy-related centers are a likely source of the emission.

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Quantum emission from hexagonal boron nitride monolayers

Nanotechnology has been extensively studied and exploited for cancer treatment as nanoparticles can play a significant role as a drug delivery system. Compared to conventional drugs, nanoparticle-based drug delivery has specific advantages, such as improved stability and biocompatibility, enhanced permeability and retention effect, and precise targeting. The application and development of hybrid nanoparticles, which incorporates the combined properties of different nanoparticles, has led this type of drug-carrier system to the next level. In addition, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have been shown to play a role in overcoming cancer-related drug resistance. The mechanisms of cancer drug resistance include overexpression of drug efflux transporters, defective apoptotic pathways, and hypoxic environment. Nanoparticles targeting these mechanisms can lead to an improvement in the reversal of multidrug resistance. Furthermore, as more tumor drug resistance mechanisms are revealed, nanoparticles are increasingly being developed to target these mechanisms. Moreover, scientists have recently started to investigate the role of nanoparticles in immunotherapy, which plays a more important role in cancer treatment. In this review, we discuss the roles of nanoparticles and hybrid nanoparticles for drug delivery in chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy and describe the targeting mechanism of nanoparticle-based drug delivery as well as its function on reversing drug resistance.

/pdf/nanoparticle-based-drug-delivery-in-cancer-therapy-and-its-1xzflfudif.pdf

Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery in Cancer Therapy and Its Role in Overcoming Drug Resistance

Nanomaterials-based photothermal therapy and its potentials in antibacterial treatment.

Two-dimensional crystals have emerged as a class of materials that may impact future electronic technologies. Experimentally identifying and characterizing new functional two-dimensional materials is challenging, but also potentially rewarding. Here, we fabricate field-effect transistors based on few-layer black phosphorus crystals with thickness down to a few nanometres. Reliable transistor performance is achieved at room temperature in samples thinner than 7.5 nm, with drain current modulation on the order of 10(5) and well-developed current saturation in the I-V characteristics. The charge-carrier mobility is found to be thickness-dependent, with the highest values up to ∼ 1,000 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) obtained for a thickness of ∼ 10 nm. Our results demonstrate the potential of black phosphorus thin crystals as a new two-dimensional material for applications in nanoelectronic devices.

http://absimage.aps.org/image/MAR14/MWS_MAR14-2013-005031.pdf

Black Phosphorus Field-effect Transistors

Inspired by the respective advantages of aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active photosensitizers and black phosphorus nanomaterials in cancer treatment, the facile construction of novel AIE photosensitizers married to 2D black phosphorus nanosheets and their application for multimodal theranostics are demonstrated. The developed nanomaterial simultaneously possesses distinctive properties and multiple functions including excellent stability, good biocompatibility, intensive fluorescence emission in the NIR region, high-performance reactive oxygen species generation, good photothermal conversion efficiency, outstanding cellular uptake, and effective accumulation at the tumor site. Both in vitro and in vivo evaluation show that the presented nanotheranostic system is an excellent candidate for NIR fluorescence-photothermal dual imaging-guided synergistic photodynamic-photothermal therapies. This study thus not only extends the applications scope of AIE and black phosphorus materials, but also offers useful insights into designing a new generation of cancer theranostic protocol for potential clinical applications.

Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens Married to 2D Black Phosphorus Nanosheets for Highly Efficient Multimodal Theranostics.

Functional black phosphorus nanosheets for cancer therapy.

Black phosphorus nanosheets and gemcitabine encapsulated thermo-sensitive hydrogel for synergistic photothermal-chemotherapy.

pH/near infrared dual-triggered drug delivery system based black phosphorus nanosheets for targeted cancer chemo-photothermal therapy.

Doxorubicin (DOX), as an anthracycline, plays an important role in chemotherapy. But multidrug resistance (MDR) tremendously retards the anticancer effect of DOX and results in the failure of chemotherapy. Multifunctional micelles emerge as a valid strategy to load DOX by physical encapsulation or chemical binding to be delivered to cancer cells against MDR. In this review, mechanism of MDR of DOX is simply described. Multifunctional co-delivery micelles of DOX and main MDR modulators have been summarised in detail. DOX-loaded multifunctional polymeric micelles are also introduced to alleviate MDR of DOX, in which polymers act as MDR modulators.

Multifunctional micelle delivery system for overcoming multidrug resistance of doxorubicin

Ternary mixed micelles constituted of Soluplus®, sodium cholate, and phospholipid were prepared as nano-delivery system of the anticancer drug, docetaxel. The formulation of docetaxel-loaded ternar...

Huiyang He

Papers

Functional black phosphorus nanosheets for cancer therapy.

Black phosphorus nanosheets and gemcitabine encapsulated thermo-sensitive hydrogel for synergistic photothermal-chemotherapy.

pH/near infrared dual-triggered drug delivery system based black phosphorus nanosheets for targeted cancer chemo-photothermal therapy.

Multifunctional micelle delivery system for overcoming multidrug resistance of doxorubicin

Preparation and evaluation of self-assembly Soluplus®-sodium cholate-phospholipid ternary mixed micelles of docetaxel.