Scarless wound healing represents the ideal regenerative process, restoring normal tissue architecture and function without fibrosis, a phenomenon predominantly observed in fetal development. This stands in stark contrast to the fibrotic scarring typical of adult wound healing, which can lead to significant functional and aesthetic impairments. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of the cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms that underpin scarless healing, highlighting key differences across the hemostasis, inflammatory, proliferative, and remodeling phases compared to scar-forming pathways. The critical roles of immune-regulatory cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and fibroblasts, which are governed by a distinct molecular environment characterized by modulated transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling and organized extracellular matrix remodeling, are detailed here. Furthermore, the review explores emerging therapeutic strategies including regenerative medicine approaches like stem cell-derived exosomes, targeted molecular therapies, and advanced drug delivery systems inspired by these mechanisms to promote scarless repair in adult tissues. Finally, this work discusses the significant challenges in clinical translation, such as the limitations of animal models and patient heterogeneity, and outlines future directions for research aimed at achieving scar-free wound care.
Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are a class of inorganic materials characterized by unique layered structures and tunable chemical compositions, demonstrating considerable application potential in the biomedical field. Through various synthesis strategies, their morphology, size, and interlayer chemical environment can be precisely controlled, thereby enabling the efficient loading and responsive release of drugs or genes, reducing systemic toxicity, and enhancing local therapeutic effects. However, LDHs still face key challenges in clinical translation, including long-term biosafety, degradation behavior in vivo, and surface functionalization strategies. This article provides a systematic review of the synthesis methods, classification, and surface functionalization strategies for LDHs, and outlines their biomedical applications — ranging from drug delivery and bioimaging to biosensing and therapy — with a particular emphasis on their therapeutic effects in representative diseases such as cancer, bone disorders, and eye diseases. Furthermore, the article discusses the key challenges currently facing this material and its future development directions, aiming to provide a comprehensive reference for further research and development of LDHs in the biomedical field.
Highly conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) networks offer strong dielectric attenuation but often exhibit excessive permittivity and impedance mismatch, limiting broadband microwave absorption. Here, CNT film strips supported on polyethylene terephthalate nonwoven substrates were assembled into multilayer absorbers through multilevel structural regulation. Low-permittivity interlayers and repeating CNT-containing layers are first introduced to balance electromagnetic-wave entry and internal attenuation along the thickness direction. The CNT-covered area in the CNT layer is then reduced from 100
Bone tissue regeneration engineering aims to construct scaffolds with natural bone biological characteristics. Traditional autologous/allogeneic bone transplantation has limited donor sources and carries immunological risks. Stem cell injection, due to its minimally invasive nature and bone repair-promoting effects, has emerged as an alternative strategy. However, direct injection faces challenges such as cell migration and low survival rates. To address this, researchers have employed hydrogels and microspheres as delivery carriers. Among these, sodium alginate (ALG) microspheres, with their excellent biocompatibility and injectability, are widely used for cell encapsulation. Combining the osteogenic-promoting properties of black phosphorus (BP), this study utilized electrospray injection to prepare ALG-BP composite microspheres encapsulating MC3T3-E1 cells (ALG-BP@MC3T3-E1). The results showed that ALG-BP microspheres had no effect on the activity of MC3T3-E1 cells, while ALG-BP@MC3T3-E1 microspheres exhibited excellent bone healing promotion and osteoporosis inhibition capabilities, significantly reducing bone healing time. This hydrogel microsphere achieves a dual effect of stimulating endogenous cell secretion and providing exogenous cells, representing a cell tissue engineering strategy with promising application prospects.
This study presents a systematic approach for fabricating hydrophobic and superhydrophobic polymer surfaces using digital light processing (DLP) additive manufacturing. A commercially available water-washable resin was employed to improve the scalability and practical applicability of the method without modifying resin chemistry. Surface textures with varying feature height, dimension, spacing, and angle were fabricated and optimized using a central composite design (CCD). Wettability was evaluated through static water contact angle measurements. Statistical analysis revealed that texture spacing and angle were the most influential parameters, with spacing contributing to a 62
To enhance the mechanical and thermal properties of three-dimensional printing photopolymer resins, acicular wollastonite (AW) was initially activated with dilute hydrochloric acid followed by surface-modification with KH570. The modification was confirmed via SEM, FTIR, XPS, TG, and contact angle measurements, proving its successful chemical grafting. The modified AW (i.e., MAAW) was then blended into photosensitive resin (PR) at the weight contents of 3
Cancer remains a major challenge in clinical treatment, and related therapeutic strategies are continuously evolving. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising tumor treatment modality that induces tumor cell death through reactive oxygen species generated upon the light activation of photosensitizers. Oxygen-deficient molybdenum oxide (MoOx) stands out among numerous inorganic nanomaterials due to its unique oxygen-deficient structure, which endows it with stronger adsorption and activation capabilities toward molecules such as O2 and H2O. This paper systematically reviews the physicochemical properties, synthesis methods, surface functional modification, and application progress of oxygen-deficient molybdenum oxide in PDT and multimodal combination therapy. It also evaluates the biocompatibility and biosafety of the materials, and discusses the current challenges and future development directions in combination with the trends of artificial intelligence-aided design, imaging diagnosis, and personalized therapy. This review aims to provide a reference for the research and development and clinical translation of oxygen-deficient molybdenum oxide-based nanophotosensitizers.
This paper describes an electrochemical sensor using the glassy carbon electrode modified with the Co3O4/graphene nanocomposite to detect uric acid (UA). The Co3O4/graphene nanocomposite was synthesized through a simple method by calcining cobalt-based zeolite imidazole framework (ZIF-12) doped with graphene and characterized through powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Meanwhile, the electrochemical performance of the Co3O4/graphene nanocomposite was investigated by differential pulse voltammetry and cyclic voltammetry. This proposed sensor exhibits high selectivity, with a wide linear range within the UA concentration range of 0.05–50.0 µmol·L−1. It also has an extremely low detection limit of 1.25×10−8 mol·L−1, attributed to its good electron transfer efficiency.
It is of practical significance to develop gas sensors with high sensitivity and high selectivity. In this study, ZnO nanoflakes were synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis, and Au/ZnO, Pd/ZnO, and Pt/ZnO nanoflakes were fabricated by uniformly loading small-sized Au, Pd, and Pt nanoparticles using an ultraviolet-assisted reduction. Gas-sensing performance tests revealed that Au/ZnO nanoflakes exhibited a higher response to isopropanol compared to Pd/ZnO, Pt/ZnO, and ZnO nanoflake sensors. At the working temperature of 225 °C, it demonstrated response of 132.2 to 100 ppm isopropanol, with 8 s response time and 12 s recovery time, and showed high selectivity, repeatability, and stability. Hydrogen sensing performance of Au/ZnO nanoflakes was also evaluated at the optimal operating temperature, yielding a response of 13.5 to 100 ppm hydrogen, with response time and recovery time of 17 and 21 s, respectively, and exhibiting a high concentration-dependent response. The material’s enhanced gas sensing performance is due to a synergistic effect. This effect combines abundant active sites on nanoflakes with inherent catalytic properties of gold nanoparticles.
Hole-transport-layer (HTL)-free carbon electrode perovskite solar cells (C-PSCs) are promising candidates for low-cost photovoltaic applications, but their performance is still limited by defect-induced recombination and insufficient long-term stability. Herein, ethacridine lactate (EAL) is employed as a multifunctional additive in the perovskite precursor solution to regulate film quality and interfacial properties. Owing to the presence of a carboxyl group in the lactate anion and two amino groups in the ethacridine cation, EAL interacts with undercoordinated Pb2+ and dangling I− species, which stabilizes the perovskite structure and promotes charge transport across the perovskite/carbon interface. Consequently, the EAL-modified films show improved morphology and reduced defect density, resulting in enhanced photovoltaic performance. The optimized device delivers a power conversion efficiency of 16.54
With the continuous advancement of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), increasing demands have been placed on achieving ultrafast charging capability. Graphite, the dominant commercial anode material, suffers from sluggish ion transport kinetics and interfacial instability, which pose significant challenges to the fast-charging performance of LIBs. Previous strategies, including surface coatings and conductive network construction, often address these challenges in isolation, leading to an inherent trade-off between structural stability and electrical conductivity. Here, we report a scalable one-step pyrolysis of pitch that concurrently constructs a conformal amorphous-carbon shell and an integrated graphene network on graphite. In this process, the molten pitch serves as a molecular binder that anchors graphene sheets onto graphite, forming continuous electron pathways, while subsequent carbonization yields a robust hard-carbon shell that reinforces the solid–electrolyte interphase. This dual-functional interface markedly enhances electrochemical performance, delivering a reversible capacity of 240 mAh·g−1 at 1C and retaining 333 mAh·g−1 after 500 cycles at 1C, significantly outperforming pristine graphite. Even under a demanding 3.0C regime, the modified anode maintains around 170 mAh·g−1 after 500 cycles with 94.4
This study developed a novel kind of ferromagnetic multi-principal element amorphous alloys (MPEAAs), which exhibited high thermal stability, enhanced glass forming ability (GFA), acceptable soft magnetic property, good microhardness, and preferable corrosion resistance by adding the rare-earth element Y with its content ranging from 0.5 to 4 at.
Superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces show considerable potential for fluid drag reduction, yet rapidly fabricating surfaces that combine superhydrophobicity with superaerophilicity remains challenging. Herein, we present a rapid, one-step flame pyrolysis strategy to fabricate SH coatings that exhibit static superhydrophobicity/superaerophilicity, dynamic impact resistance, and notable drag reduction performance. angle below 1.0°. Under impact at high Weber number (326.7) and Reynolds number (8400.0), the droplet enables complete bouncing within 15 ms, reflecting excellent dynamic stability. Owing to the superaerophilicity of the micro-nano composite structure and its ability to sustain a stable Cassie–Baxter state, the SH spheres exhibit a 40
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an important photocatalytic material, yet its performance is limited by bottlenecks in conventional preparation methods, such as high interfacial resistance and low specific surface area. In this study, a method combining laser cladding with electrochemical dealloying was used to fabricate porous TiO2/Cu2O heterojunction photoanodes from a Cu–Ti precursor. This composite structure significantly enhances interfacial charge transfer, reduces the material bandgap by 0.92 eV, and extends the visible-light absorption edge to 544 nm. The optimized photoanode (porous TiO2@Cu77Ti23) has an ultrahigh electrochemically active surface area (1028 cm2·cm−2) while its photocurrent density is 77.1 µA·cm−2, which is 14 times that of the control sample. Under a bias of 0.3 V, it achieves 79
The conversion of low-grade waste heat into valuable chemicals is a promising route toward energy conservation and carbon neutrality. Herein, we demonstrate that La-substituted SrTiO3 serves as an efficient thermoelectrocatalytic material for the simultaneous H2O2 production via H2O oxidation and O2 reduction. Under a mild temperature gradient of 130 °C, the system achieves a notable H2O2 production rate of 412 µmol·L−1·g−1·h−1. This work offers a potential strategy for sustainable chemical synthesis by utilizing ubiquitous low-grade thermal energy.
Helical carbon nanotubes (HCNTs) offer unique geometrical characteristics and capabilities; however, their properties, functionalization, and applications have not been sufficiently explored, compared to the straight CNTs that have different crystallinity and structural characteristics. The coil-shaped geometries of HCNTs can substantially increase their mechanical entanglement/interlocking with solidified host-resins and the microfiber-reinforcements in fiber-reinforced composites. As a result, it can considerably improve the mechanical, thermal, electrical, and magnetic properties of the composites. To further improve their effectiveness, HCNTs should be chemically treated to promote their molecular interactions and bonding-effectiveness with the resin molecules, as well as to enhance their dispersion-uniformity and suspension-stability in the host-resin. In this study, a reflux method was deployed to chemically functionalize HCNTs with a low-molarity nitric acid-solution and then effects of reflux time and temperature on surface-modification and dispersion-homogeneity of the functionalized HCNTs (FHCNTs) were investigated. The results from SEM, FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and visual dispersion-test showed that changes in reflux time and temperature were mostly effective in atomic scale structural alteration of the HCNTs. Except for the FHCNTs that were treated at higher temperatures for a longer time, the rest showed improvements in their dispersion, an increase in ID/IG Raman ratios, and changes in FTIR spectra.
The development of a highly responsive and selective gas sensor for volatile organic compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide and acetone, is still required. In this study, FeWO4 hollow spheres modified with Pd nanoparticles were synthesized using ammonium phosphotungstate hydrate dodecahedra as sacrificial templates followed by liquid-phase reduction. The morphologies, microstructures, and gas-sensing characteristics of as-prepared sensing nanomaterials have been investigated. The tiny Pd nanoparticles are well anchored on the FeWO4 hollow spheres. At the working temperature of 280 °C, the 3 wt.
Lead is a highly toxic and persistent heavy metal that poses serious risks to human health. The detection of lead ions in water is therefore essential not only for balancing economic and environmental priorities, improving public services, and ensuring agricultural safety, but also for preventing lead poisoning, promoting health equity, and safeguarding international trade in the context of global health. Conventional detection methods are often limited by expensive instrumentation and complex procedures, whereas surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has emerged as a promising alternative due to its high sensitivity and operational simplicity. In this study, we developed an ultrasensitive SERS-based method for the Pb2+ detection using L-cysteine-functionalized bismuth nanoparticles as probes. L-cysteine binds Pb2+ through its −COOH and −NH2 groups, inducing nanoparticle aggregations and generating Raman hotspots that enhance the signal of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP). Additionally, an electrodeposited bismuth substrate further amplifies the SERS response. This method achieves a detection limit as low as 0.005 nmol·L−1 (1.04 · 10−3 µg·L−1), demonstrating 2–5 orders of magnitude greater sensitivity compared to conventional lead ion detection techniques.
Hydrogel materials possess unique physicochemical properties, including high water absorption, strong moisture retention, biocompatibility, tunable mechanical properties, environmental responsiveness, biodegradability, and a three-dimensional network structure. These characteristics endow them with significant practical value and broad application prospects in fields such as tissue engineering and biomedicine. Based on recent advances in both domestic and international research, this review focuses on the applications of biomedical hydrogels in emerging areas such as tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, and wound dressings. The materials covered include natural polymer hydrogels, synthetic hydrogels, ceramic–polymer composites, and stimuli-responsive hydrogels. Additionally, this paper introduces hydrogel fabrication technologies and reviews commercially available hydrogel-based products in the medical field. As part of the progress in tissue engineering applications, this review aims to provide a reference for further clinical development and application.
With the continuous advancement of the new energy sector, direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) have attracted significant research interest. However, the development of DMFCs is hindered by the reliance on platinum-based anode catalysts, which suffer from high cost, intermediate-induced poisoning, and rapid performance degradation. Herein, this study develops a low-cost NiO/CuO composite for efficient methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) through defect engineering and heterojunction strategy. The NiO/CuO composite exhibits higher concentration of oxygen vacancies and interface lattice distortion compared to their individual counterparts. The NiO/CuO composite exhibits exceptional photoelectrochemical MOR activity and stability. The enhanced performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of the NiO/CuO heterojunction and the high concentration of oxygen vacancies, which together improve light absorption, increase the electrochemically active surface area, provide more active sites, and accelerate charge transfer kinetics. This work presents a promising strategy for designing cost-effective, high-performance photo-assisted anode catalysts for DMFCs.
