Nanoplastics (<1 μm), as pervasive environmental contaminants, have raised significant concern owing to their high ecosystem mobility and potential biological toxicity. However, current analytical methods confront substantial limitations in detecting nanoplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations. Herein, we introduce an innovative approach by utilizing three-dimensional silver aerogel as a dual-functional platform for the evaporative enrichment and highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) detection of nanoplastics. Due to the interconnected fibrous voids of silver aerogel and its abundant plasmonic hot spots, the established SERS method can detect polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics across the size range of 50-400 nm and achieved limit of detection (LOD) values ranging from 2.47 × 10-5 to 6.62 × 10-4 mg mL-1 across various particle sizes. Moreover, the silver aerogel substrate exhibited excellent signal reproducibility with intra-substrate, inter-substrate, and inter-batch relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 2.29%, 2.56%, and 2.34%, respectively. Practical performance was assessed using river water, retaining 79.8% to 99.9% of the signal intensity obtained in pure water. These results indicate that this dual-functional silver aerogel-SERS platform serves as a powerful analytical tool for the rapid identification and quantification of nanoplastics.

Metal-organic electrophosphorochromic materials are crucial for advancing the next generation of optoelectronic technology, but developing new strategies to achieve low-cost and high-efficiency electrophosphorochromism still faces challenges. Herein, we report a metal–organic phosphorescent material (Al/HX-PMs) synthesized from low-cost hypoxanthine (HX) and aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3). Owing to the coordination rigidity, Al/HX-PMs exhibit significantly enhanced room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) performance, with the lifetime prolonged by 2.89 times (from 148.77 ms to 429.75 ms) and the RTP intensity enhanced by up to 5.18 times compared to pure HX. Remarkably, Al/HX-PMs display pronounced electrophosphorochromism, as the emission progressively red-shifts from 503 nm to 592 nm with increasing current. This spectral evolution is attributed to the electrically triggered cleavage of coordination bonds, which induces dissociation into molecular constituents and enables direct structural control over luminescence. This work not only offers a new design strategy for low-cost electrically responsive phosphorescent materials, but also presents a feasible route toward fabricating correlated color temperature tunable light-emitting diodes.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a rare autoimmune disease with complex and variable clinical presentations that affects numerous organs and tissues. However, current diagnostic approaches provide limited insight into disease-associated molecular alterations and immune pathway activation. In this work, we report an exosome-capture-based system for rapid detection of SLE by the integration of functional DNA structures and lipid vesicles to form dual-signal biomimetic fusion vesicles (DBFVs). DBFVs are constructed by liposomes composed of DOPC, DPPC, and cholesterol, which are further functionalized with a sialic acid (SA)-binding aptamer at the outer surface to promote specific exosome capture and membrane fusion. At the same time, a DNA probe enabling dual-signal response of Mn2+ and miRNA-146a is encapsulated in DBFVs. With SA-binding aptamer equipped on the surface, DBFVs can easily capture and fuse with SA-expressed exosomes in clinical samples. After enrichment of DBFV-exosome hybrid vesicles on latex beads, the DNA probe inside the vesicle can report the expression of Mn2+ and miRNA-146a by dual-channel fluorescence readout to evaluate the activation level of the cGAS-STING pathway. Our system shows high efficiency and accuracy in differentiating SLE patients and healthy donors by testing plasma and urine samples without complex gradient centrifugation. The practicality of DBFVs provides a practical tool to reveal characteristic molecular alterations of SLE, offering new opportunities for disease activity evaluation, therapeutic monitoring, and prognosis prediction.

The ion migration behavior in nanomaterials is closely related to their photophysical properties. Real-time monitoring of ion migration process within individual nanoparticles is of great significance, but which faces a great challenge. Herein, in situ visualization of ion migration at the single-nanoparticle level is achieved using a powerful dark-field microscopy (DFM) platform. Specifically, silver (Ag+) ions, owing to their strong binding affinity with selenium and favorable Coulomb interaction, can permeate into selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs), triggering a phase transformation from trigonal selenium (t-Se) to cubic Ag2Se. This transition leads to a distinct shift in scattered light from green to red due to the reduction of optical band gap, allowing real-time optical tracking of the ion migration behavior. The transformation of SeNPs into Ag2Se enables a dual-purpose system: it functions not only as a sensitive probe for Ag+ detection but also generates a potent photothermal nanoreagent, demonstrating significant potential for cancer theranostics. This work not only provides direct visual insight into the dynamic photophysical processes underlying crystal phase transformation, but also establishes a general strategy for tracking ion migration process, facilitating the rational design and application of advanced functional nanomaterials.

Scandium-glutamic acid phosphorescent materials (Sc/Glu-PMs) were synthesized via a simple one-pot hydrothermal process using Sc3+ ions and glutamic acid ligands. Structural characterization confirmed that the obtained material is an amorphous organic-inorganic composite rather than a crystalline coordination polymer. Compared with pure glutamic acid, Sc/Glu-PMs exhibited significantly enhanced room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP), attributed to coordination-induced structural rigidity that suppresses non-radiative decay pathways and stabilizes triplet excitons. Post-synthetic protonation using dilute hydrochloric acid further improved the phosphorescence quantum yield (PQY) from 7.63% to 11.07%, although a moderate decrease in phosphorescence lifetime was observed, indicating enhanced radiative decay efficiency after protonation. Surface and spectroscopic analyses suggest that protonation modifies the hydrogen-bonding environment and local surface chemistry without disrupting the bulk structure. The prepared materials also demonstrated promising optical information encryption performance, including high contrast, persistent afterglow, and good photostability under repeated UV on/off cycles. This work provides a simple coordination-protonation strategy for regulating RTP behavior in amino acid-based organic-inorganic systems for potential anti-counterfeiting and optoelectronic applications.

The development of color-tuned room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) probes with high sensitivity and specificity remains a critical challenge in time-gated optical sensing. Herein, we propose a powerful anion manipulation strategy to modulate the RTP properties of Al/HEPES@anion materials through a one-pot coordination between different anionic aluminum salts (with sulfate, oxalate, or chloride) and 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid (HEPES). Systematic structural and optical characterization reveals that the coordinated anions significantly influence triplet energy levels, enabling precise regulation of RTP emission from blue to yellow in an anion-tunable manner. Notably, the Al/HEPES@sulfate probe exhibits highly specific acetone-induced RTP quenching via an inner filter effect, enabling visual and quantitative detection with a detection limit of 0.62 vol%. Fabricated test strips demonstrate rapid, reusable, and on-site acetone detection in real nail polish remover samples. This work establishes anion modulation as a powerful strategy for tailoring RTP color and expands its practical application in portable sensing systems.

Here, we report a label-free membrane oscillation strategy based on nanopipette-generated fluid flow to investigate cholesterol-induced mechanical alterations in living cell membranes. The assay relies on ionic current fluctuations to reveal the relationship between cholesterol content and membrane mechanical properties.

Therapeutic biosynthesis has emerged as a cutting-edge technology for precision medicine. However, achieving the highly-controlled synthesis of abiotic matter at the tumor location for efficient therapy remains an ongoing challenge. Here, we develop a “dual lock-and-key” system to accomplish tumor cell-specific intracellular synthesis for accurate cancer therapy. The proposed precursor structure (“dual-lock”) can be activated in target cancer cells by two endogenously overexpressed enzymes (“dual key”), azor-eductase (AzoR) and nitroreductase (NTR), to initiate a condensation reaction for the in situ synthesis of fibrous mesh covalent organic polymers (Fm-COPs). The synthesized Fm-COPs demonstrate an excellent ability to disrupt the cytoskeleton, thereby inhibiting cell migration, suppressing cell invasion, and inducing apoptosis. Importantly, by leveraging the dual enzyme-responsive mechanism and small-molecule precursors the proposed intracellular synthesis strategy performs well on specific enrichment and tumor penetration, resulting in effective inhibition of tumor proliferation without side effects. Our findings suggest that this “dual lock-and-key” engineered intracellular synthesis represents a promising next-generation option for high-precision cancer therapies.

Metal–organic phosphorescence materials (MOPMs) are a type of highly efficient room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) system characterized by the structural integration and photophysical coupling of metal-containing units and organic components. By combining the distinct advantages of both inorganic and pure organic RTP materials, MOPMs exhibit long lifetimes, robust photostability, and low toxicity. These attributes render them highly versatile across various fields. This review provides a comprehensive overview of MOPMs. It begins with their definition and classification, including metal-organic complexes, metal-organic polymers, metal-organic frameworks, metal nanoclusters, metal-doped carbon dots, metal-organic hybrid perovskites, and organic-inorganic metal halides. Subsequently, we systematically elucidate the luminescence mechanisms and the corresponding optical regulation strategies inherent to these systems. Finally, we discuss the applications of MOPMs in photoelectric devices, information storage, bioimaging, therapy, and sensing technologies. This review aims to inspire innovative designs of MOPMs and accelerate their future development for a broader spectrum of applications.

ABSTRACT Photoactivated room‐temperature phosphorescence (pRTP) host‐guest systems have received widespread attention due to their non‐invasive photoresponsiveness, high reversibility, and color tunability. However, traditional polymer hosts often lack efficient photoactivation and sufficient stability due to passive oxygen penetration. Herein, we report a ureido‐functionalized siloxane network derived from the hydrolysis of γ‐ureidopropyltriethoxysilane (UPTES), which serves as a universal photoactivation platform for constructing pRTP systems via doping with various phosphorescent guest molecules. The UPTES‐based systems can achieve superior photoactivation efficiency through the UV‐induced oxygen consumption, boosting phosphorescence intensity by up to approximately 2100‐fold and extending lifetime by approximately 65‐fold. This ultrahigh contrast originates from the strongly active oxygen‐trapping capability of the ureido groups within the siloxane network, which is crucial for establishing the initial ‘off’ state of guest phosphorescence via efficient oxygen‐mediated quenching of triplet excitons. Notably, owing to the dense and robust siloxane network, these systems show excellent stability, maintaining efficient pRTP performance for at least 90 days even in aqueous solutions, organic reagents, or concentrated acid. This work not only presents an ultrastable host matrix for designing ultrahigh‐contrast pRTP materials, but also enables the on‐demand customization of pRTP systems for advanced multi‐level information encryption.

Here, we present i-motif-functionalized glass nanopipettes that enable pH-triggered DNA release into single living cells. Acid-induced folding of the i-motif drives complementary strand dissociation through the ∼80 nm tip with minimal invasiveness. This pH-gated nanopipette enables reversible, on-demand single cell DNA delivery via rectification changes, establishing a potential platform for intracellular manipulation.

Electrochemical analysis is one of the important parts in undergraduate analytical chemistry. Here, we present a comprehensive experiment project for upper-division undergraduate students in chemistry. In this experiment, glass nanopipettes with a tip size of about 100 nm were fabricated and applied for single cell fluorescence imaging. The nanopipette was filled with fluorescent molecules and inserted into a selected single cell. Upon applying a constant DC voltage, the fluorescent molecules could be precisely delivered to the designated subcellular location due to the electro-osmotic flow generated inside the nanopipette. The basic principles of nanopipette-based single cell perfusion and fluorescence labeling in the cytoplasm were evaluated and simulated in detail. These experiments were designed to offer students comprehensive knowledge of how to complete a scientific research project, from experimental design to data analysis. During the project, students improved their laboratory skills and possess a deep understanding of electrochemical analysis and cell biology.

Copper cytotoxicity provides a viable way to fight microbial infections and cancer. While it is generally known that redox homeostasis in the mitochondria critically affects copper cytotoxicity, its precise impact remains elusive due to the lack of suitable characterization techniques. Here, we designed a multifunctional plasmonic nanosensor and propose the concept of a redox index, which combined allow dynamic real-time monitoring of the mitochondrial redox state during copper-induced cell death via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. This revealed significant redox swings throughout the cell death process and showed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) significantly elevated copper cytotoxicity. This understanding offers insight into the design of combinatorial therapeutic strategies. For example, we showed that the addition of micromolars of external ROS stimulants improved copper-based cancer treatment efficacy by >6 times. Beyond biological applications, we envisage that our nanosensor will become a useful tool for a wide range of applications based on redox chemistry.

Impaired skin wound healing with excessive inflammation affects millions of patients globally. The resulting chronic pain can severely impact the quality of life for people afflicted by the condition. However, the treatment of skin wounds faces enormous challenges due to complex wound microenvironments. Here, we report the design of bioengineered hybrid nanovesicles (BHNVs) that enable advanced wound healing by concurrently providing effective intercellular junction and inflammation relief. The surface of hybrid nanovesicles is modified by trans-membrane DNA functional structures with a zipper part at the outside and a DNAzyme signal output part at the inside. Asiaticoside, an active ingredient from herbal medicines, and signal recognition DNA complex are encapsulated into the nanovesicles. From both outside and inside, these components of the hybrid nanovesicles work synergistically to address wound healing from both extra- and intracellular perspectives. Upon vesicle-cell fusion, the zipper part at the outside can facilitate cell-cell junction, and the DNAzyme signal output part at the inside can hinder while monitoring inflammatory responses. The released Asiaticoside can improve cell proliferation, enhance angiogenesis, accelerate cell migration/adhesion, and promote wound healing with the combination effect of anti-oxidation and anti-ulceration. Together, BHNVs are shown to successfully accelerate wound healing and prevent inflammation. Favorable therapeutic outcomes are achieved both in vitro and in vivo, indicating a robust modality for local wound management with enhanced therapeutic effects.

The potential of capacitive deionization (CDI) for sustainable desalination depends critically on breakthroughs in electrode materials. Defect-rich titanium (sub) oxides (anatase TiO2(A), Ti2O3, Ti3O5, Ti4O7) offer compelling advantages, including tunable capacity, low environmental impact, and robustness. This study provides a systematic comparison of their structural features, electrochemical responses, and desalination efficacy. Electrochemical characterization results show anatase TiO2(A) leads in specific capacitance (252.5 F g(-1) at 0.3 A g(-1)), while Ti3O5's highest oxygen vacancy minimizes charge transfer resistance and maximizes ion migration rates. In desalination trials, TiO2 delivers a maximum salt adsorption capacity of 37.1 mg g(-1) (500 mg L-1 NaCl, 1.2 V). All electrodes exhibit outstanding cycling stability (capacity retentions >83.5 %), affirming their practical potential. Correlation analysis discloses the oxygen vacancy-driven charge transfer mechanism inside these electrodes and establishes a structure-performance relationship. Overall, this work establishes fundamental structure-property relationships that underpin future electrode innovation via the oxygen vacancy-engineering strategy, which represents a promising pathway for advancing CDI performance boundaries.

Neodymium (Nd3+) ions are critical for advanced materials such as permanent magnets and solid-state lasers owing to their excellent magnetic and optical properties. However, the similar outer-electron configurations of rare-earth elements result in highly analogous chemical and structural properties, making highly specific detection of Nd3+ ions extremely challenging. Herein, we develop a facile hydrothermal method to synthesize scandium/serine phosphorescent materials (Sc/Ser-PMs). The as-prepared Sc/Ser-PMs exhibit a maximum phosphorescence emission at 463 nm with a lifetime of 211.84 ms. Importantly, the phosphorescence of Sc/Ser-PMs is specifically quenched upon addition of Nd3+ ions, providing an ultrawide linear range spanning four orders of magnitude (from 0.0001 to 1 M). Benefiting from the intrinsic advantage of phosphorescence sensing in resisting autofluorescence from biological matrices, the probe can be used to detect Nd3+ ions in biological samples and industrial wastewater, even though some rare-earth ions cause only minor interference with the detection. This work presents a promising phosphorescent probe featuring simplicity and preferential selectivity toward Nd3+ ions, which effectively overcomes background autofluorescence interference and offers a reliable and efficient platform for Nd3+ analysis in complex samples.

DNA is a critical target in cancer therapy; however, current DNA-targeted agents, which are mainly small-molecule drugs, suffer from numerous drawbacks, including short half-lives and multidrug resistance. Although therapeutic nanomaterials offer unique potential to overcome these limitations, the development of DNA-targeted nanomaterials with intrinsic anticancer activity remains highly challenging. Herein, we report the design of DNA-targeted, dimethylaniline-functionalized carbon nanoclusters (D-CNCs) with potent anticancer efficacy. Benefiting from the synergistic effects of electrostatic attraction, along with hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions between the dimethylaniline moiety and DNA, the D-CNCs exhibit specific DNA-binding capability. This binding triggers a reactive oxygen species storm, which in turn induces DNA structural damage and activates the MAPK signaling pathway to subsequently suppress DNA synthesis while also promoting cell apoptosis, leading to significant inhibition of cell proliferation and migration. In vivo evaluations further confirm the remarkable anticancer performance of D-CNCs, achieving a 68.6% reduction in tumor proliferation and an 89.6% decrease in metastatic spread. This work presents a powerful class of therapeutic nanoclusters with intrinsic DNA-damaging activity, establishing a promising strategy for highly effective, targeted cancer therapy.

Accurate, non-destructive detection of strawberry soluble solids content (SSC) across different maturity stages is crucial, yet single-modal methods suffer from insufficient information utilization and limited accuracy. To address this, this study developed a systematic technical framework utilizing spectral-colorimetric-image fusion. A multi-source dataset (hyperspectral 400–1000 nm, colorimetric parameters, RGB images) from 270 strawberry samples (ripe, semi-ripe, unripe) was established. A novel multivariate division-weighted interval partial least squares (MDWPLS) algorithm was proposed for optimal spectral feature selection. For effective feature extraction and dynamic cross-modal fusion, a novel multi-modal triple-branch architecture combining gated recurrent units (GRU), bidirectional transformers (BiT), and multi-head attention (MHA) mechanisms is proposed, designated as MTGBiT-MHA. The optimal model achieved [[EQUATION]]= 0.9513, [[EQUATION]]= 0.326 and [[EQUATION]]= 4.636. Ablation studies confirmed the superiority of the triple-branch architecture by leveraging multi-source complementarity. This framework provides a robust new paradigm for multi-source information fusion in fruit quality evaluation.

Layered NbOX2 (X = Cl, I) materials have recently attracted significant attention owing to their intrinsic in-plane ferroelectricity and anisotropic optical and electronic properties, while the nondestructive modulation of their optical and optoelectronic anisotropy responses remains challenging. In this work, we propose a nondestructive approach to modulate the optical and optoelectronic anisotropy in multilayer NbOX2 by constructing homo/heterostructures with tunable twist angles. By constructing stacked NbOCl2 homostructures (or NbOCl2/NbOI2 heterostructures) and precisely tuning the twist angle, we achieve giant modulation of both optical reflection anisotropy and Raman scattering anisotropy, ranging from pronounced anisotropy to complete isotropy. The observed modulation can be attributed to optical superposition and is well modeled by linear electromagnetic theory. Moreover, we realize polarization-programmable photodetectors using twisted NbOI2 homostructures, where distinct anisotropic and isotropic photoresponses are simultaneously achieved within a single device. This study offers an effective strategy for tailoring optical and optoelectronic anisotropy in layered ferroelectrics.

Layered niobium oxide dihalides NbOX2 (X = I, Cl), as a new family of van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectrics, have attracted extensive attention, but achieving nonvolatile modulation of their optical and electrical properties remains challenging, thereby limiting their integration into next-generation nanoelectronics and optoelectronics. Here, we report the controlled fabrication of highly crystalline NbOI2-xClx vdW alloys with composition-driven tunable optical and electrical properties via a chemical vapor transport method. Comprehensive experimental characterization combined with first-principles calculation shows that the crystal lattices, phonon modes, and band structures of NbOI2-xClx can be well tailored, which are distributed between NbOI2 and NbOCl2. Both the amplitude and polarization of the second harmonic generation optical signal in NbOI2-xClx exhibit pronounced compositional dependence, offering optical evidence for tunable in-plane ferroelectric characteristics. Moreover, field-effect transistors based on NbOI2-xClx display robust n-type semiconducting behavior, with threshold voltage and carrier mobility precisely modulated through adjustment of I/Cl molar ratio. Furthermore, 2D NbOI2-xClx photodetectors across all compositions exhibit exceptional gate-tunable current on/off ratio and strong polarization-sensitive photo-response. This study thus provides a new vdW ferroelectric material platform with tunable optical and electrical properties, paving the path for its implementation in modern nanophotonics and nanoelectronics.