Transparent photothermal hydrogels for wound visualization and accelerated healing

Utilizing photothermal hydrogels as a wound dressing is a promising strategy to accelerate wound healing. Usually, a photothermal hydrogel has a strong light-absorbing capability, and hence its transparency can be largely sacrificed, which is unbeneficial for the visual monitoring of wound states. It remains challenging to balance the trade-off between the photothermal conversion and wound visualization for the photothermal hydrogel dressing. Herein, a composite photothermal hydrogel film with high transparency is presented for the visual monitor of the wound, which is constructed by incorporating CsxWO3 nanorods into the networks of polyacrylamide hydrogels. The composite photothermal hydrogel film exhibits high light absorption in the near-infrared region and high transmittance in the visible light region. Under 980 nm laser irradiation, the composite hydrogel can be heated up to 45 °C. In vivo animal experiment on mouse skin wound model shows that the composite hydrogel film can locally heat the skin wound to accelerate healing while maintaining more than 70% transparency to realize real-time observation of the wound. This study provides the first attempt to solve the problem of opacity in photothermal hydrogel dressings, promoting the possibility of its clinical applications.

Multifunctional inorganic nanomaterials for energy applications

Our society has been facing more and more serious challenges towards achieving highly efficient utilization of energy. In the field of energy applications, multifunctional nanomaterials have been attracting increasing attention. Various energy applications, such as energy generation, conversion, storage, saving and transmission, are strongly dependent upon the electrical, thermal, mechanical, optical and catalytic functions of materials. In the nanoscale range, thermoelectric, piezoelectric, triboelectric, photovoltaic, catalytic and electrochromic materials have made major contributions to various energy applications. Inorganic nanomaterials' unique properties, such as excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, large surface area and chemical stability, make them highly competitive in energy applications. In this review, the latest research and development of multifunctional inorganic nanomaterials in energy applications were summarized from the perspective of different energy applications. Furthermore, we also illustrated the unique functions of inorganic nanomaterials to improve their performances and the combination of the functions of nanomaterials into a device. However, challenges may be traced back to the limitations set by scaling the relations between multifunctional inorganic nanomaterials and energy devices.

In situ synthesis of bifunctional TiO2–CsxWO3 composite particles with transparent heat shielding and photocatalytic activity

Mesoporous TiO₂–Cs_xWO₃ particles with NIR shielding and photocatalytic properties were prepared in situ by a template-free method.

A facile method to synthesize small-sized and superior crystalline Cs0.32WO3 nanoparticles for transparent NIR shielding coatings

Small-sized and superior crystalline Cs_0.32WO₃ nanoparticles used for NIR-shielding were developed by tailoring the molar ratio of Cs/W.

Facile synthesis of urchin-like CsxWO3 particles with improved transparent thermal insulation using bacterial cellulose as a template

Urchin-like Cs_xWO₃ particles were synthesized using bacterial cellulose (BC) as a template by the hydrothermal method. The effects of the BC addition amount on the morphology, W⁵⁺ content and transparent thermal insulation of Cs_xWO₃ were studied. It has been confirmed that abnormal growth of Cs_xWO₃ rods was greatly reduced after introduction of BC into the precursor solution. Moreover, introduction of BC into the precursor solution could significantly improve the transparent thermal insulation properties of the Cs_xWO₃ film. In particular, when the BC amount was appropriate, the prepared Cs_xWO₃ film exhibited better visible transparency, with the visible light transmittance (T_Vis) more than 60%. In addition, the urchin-like particles could be transformed into small size nanorods after H₂ heat-treatment, exhibiting excellent visible light transparency and thermal insulation performance. In particular, it has been proved that the 20BC-HT-Cs_xWO₃ film exhibits excellent thermal insulation performance, and shows broad application prospects in the field of solar heat filters and energy-saving window glass.

Urchin-like Cs_xWO₃ particles were synthesized using bacterial cellulose (BC) as a template by the hydrothermal method. The BC could greatly reduce the abnormal growth of Cs_xWO₃ rods and improve the transparent heat-insulation properties of Cs_xWO₃ film.