Recent Progress of Fuel-Driven Temporary Materials

Fuel-driven dissipative self-assembly,which is a well-established concept in recent years,refers to out-of-equilibrium molecular self-assembly initiated and supported by the addition of active molecules (chemical fuel).It widely exists in nature since many temporary,active micro- or nanostructures in living bodies are generated by the dissipative self-assembly of biomolecules.Therefore,the study on dissipative self-assembly provides a good opportunity to have an insight into the microscopic mechanism of living organisms.In the meantime,dissipative assembly is thought to be a potential pathway to achieve dynamic,temporary supramolecular materials.Recently,a number of temporary materials have been developed with the aid of strategies for realizing dissipative self-assembly.Some of their properties,including solubility,stiffness,turbidity,color,or self-healing ability,change upon the addition of chemical fuel but spontaneously restore with chemical fuel consumption.The dynamic of these materials brings them various unprecedented functions.In this review,the principles of fabricating a fuel-driven temporary material are first reviewed.Subsequently,recent examples of fuel-driven temporary materials are emphatically summarized,including gels,self-erased inks,nanoreactors,self-healing materials,nanochannels,and droplets.Finally,the challenges of developing fuel-driven temporary materials and some perspectives on the function and application of such kind of materials are discussed.

Comparative study between Embosphere®and Marine gel®as embolic agents for chemoembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND While gelatin sponge particles and calibrated microspheres are commonly used as embolic materials in conventional transarterial chemoembolization(cTACE),direct comparisons between these embolic agents are rare.AIM To compare the efficacy and safety of superselective cTACE using Embosphere®or Marine gel®in patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).METHODS This retrospective study included 70 patients with small(<4 cm)HCC who underwent cTACE with Embosphere®(n=33)or Marine gel®(n=37)as the embolic agent at a single center between March 2021 and July 2022.The radiologic images and clinical data were retrospectively reviewed,with an emphasis on tumor response,procedure-related complications,and local tumor recurrence.The primary index tumor was assessed on a 1-mo follow-up image,and local progression-free survival was obtained using the Kaplan-Meier method and was compared by the log-rank test.RESULTS The median tumor size of both groups was 1.5 cm,and 69 patients achieved a complete response one month after cTACE.The cumulative local recurrence rate at 12 mo was 15.5%in the Embosphere®group and 14.4%in the Marine gel®group.The local progression-free survival was not significantly different between the two groups(P=0.83).In the multivariate analysis,high serum alphafetoprotein was the only significant poor prognostic factor for local tumor progression(P=0.01).Postembolization syndrome occurred in 36.4%of the Embosphere®group and 35.1%of the Marine gel®group,and there were no cases of biloma,biliary duct dilation,or liver abscess in either group.CONCLUSION Calibrated gelatin sponge particles(Marine gel®)and calibrated microspheres(Embosphere®)have similar outcomes in terms of tumor response for superselective cTACE of small HCC.