Preparation of Manganese Oxide Hollow Spheres Using pH-responsive Microgels as Templates

Manganese oxide hollow spheres were prepared by a novel and facile approach using pH- responsive microgels as templates. The final products were thoroughly characterized with X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, and transmission electron microscopy. The results reveal that the shell thickness of manganese oxide hollow spheres increased with the dosage of KMnO4, which implies that a controllable and feasible strategy for manganese oxide hollow spheres prepa- ration has been established. Further studies on the microgels template showed some of them had an irreversible swelling/deswelling transition due to the uneven cross-link extent. Based on the results, a probable formation mechanism for the hollow spheres was proposed.

Vascular-confined multi-passage discoidal nanoconstructs for the low-dose docetaxel inhibition of triple-negative breast cancer growth

Taxane efficacy in triple negative breast cancer(TNBC)is limited by insufficient tumor accumulation and severe off-target effects.Nanomedicines offer a unique opportunity to enhance the anti-cancer potency of this drug.Here,1,000 nm×400 nm discoidal polymeric nanoconstructs(DPN)encapsulating docetaxel(DTXL)and the near infrared compound Iipid-Cy5 were engineered.DPN were obtained by filling multiple times cylindrical wells in a poly(vinyl alcohol)template with a polymer mixture comprising poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)(PLGA)and poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate(PEG-DA)chains together with therapeutic and imaging agents.The resulting“multi-passage”DPN exhibited higher DTXL loading,Iipid-Cy5 stability,and stiffness as compared to the conventional"single-passage"approach.Confocal microscopy confirmed that DTXL-DPN were not taken up by MDA-MB-231 cells but would rather sit next to the cell membrane and slowly release DTXL thereof.Empty DPN had no toxicity on TNBC cells,whereas DTXL-DPN presented a cytotoxic potential comparable to free DTXL(IC_(50)=2.6 nM±1.0 nM vs.7.0 nM±1.09 nM at 72 h).In orthotopic murine models,DPN accumulated in TNBC more efficiently than free-DTXL.With only 2 mg/kg DTXL,intravenously administered every 2 days for a total of 13 treatments,DTXL-DPN induced tumor regression and were associated to an overall 80%survival rate as opposed to a 30%survival rate for free-DTXL,at 120 days.All untreated mice succumbed before 90 days.Collectively,this data demonstrates that vascular confined multi-passage DPN,biomimicking the behavior of circulating platelets,can efficiently deliver chemotherapeutic molecules to malignant tissues and effectively treat orthotopic TNBC at minimal taxane doses.

HCl guided morphology and conductivity of chiral PPy nanostructures toward efficient electromagnetic wave absorption

To solve the severe electromagnetic(EM)radiation from the widespread application of electronic equipment,we developed a simple template-guided oxypolymerization strategy to synthesize polypyrrole(PPy)planar helixes as an efficient EM wave(EMW)absorber,and systematically investigated the morphology-dependent chirality,conductivity,and microwave absorption properties.As HCl concentration[HCl]varied from 0 to 2.0 M,the morphology evolved from planar helix to 3D cross-linking network structures,the conductivity increased from 0.0019 to 0.0302 S/cm,and the EM parameters peaked at[HCl]=0.5 M.Compared to other absorbers,the PPy planar helix formed at[HCl]=0 M possessed wider absorption band(5.84 GHz),smaller matching thickness(1.6 mm),lower loading(25 wt.%),and intenser absorption(-48.17 dB).The reason lies in the strong attenuation capability,multiple resonances,multiple scattering,and good impedance matching generated by chiral PPy planar helixes with a distinctive helical configuration,doped heteroatoms(O,S),and a local conductive network.Our results suggest that PPy planar helixes offer great promise for fields such as chiral sensors,electronics,optics,chiral catalysis,and EMW absorption and shielding due to their distinctive morphology,tunable conductivity,and outstanding EMW absorption properties(EMWAPs).