Nanotherapeutics with immunoregulatory functions for the treatment of bacterial infection

The advent of drug-resistant pathogens results in the occurrence of stubborn bacterial infections that cannot be treated with traditional antibiotics. Antibacterial immunotherapy by reviving or activating the body's immune system to eliminate pathogenic bacteria has confirmed promising therapeutic strategies in controlling bacterial infections. Subsequent studies found that antimicrobial immunotherapy has its own benefits and limitations, such as avoiding recurrence of infection and autoimmunity-induced side effects. Current studies indicate that the various antibacterial therapeutic strategies inducing immune regulation can achieve superior therapeutic efficacy compared with monotherapy alone. Therefore, summarizing the recent advances in nanomedicine with immunomodulatory functions for combating bacterial infections is necessary. Herein, we briefly introduce the crisis caused by drug-resistant bacteria and the opportunity for antibacterial immunotherapy. Then, immune-involved multimodal antibacterial therapy for the treatment of infectious diseases was systematically summarized. Finally, the prospects and challenges of immune-involved combinational therapy are discussed.

Graphene Nano-Blister in Graphite for Future Cathode in Dual-Ion Batteries: Fundamentals, Advances, and Prospects

The intercalating of anions into cost-effective graphite electrode provides a high operating voltage, therefore, the dual-ion batteries (DIBs) as novel energy storage device has attracted much attention recently. The "graphene in graphite" has always existed in the graphite cathode of DIBs, but has rarely been researched. It is foreseeable that the graphene blisters with the intact lattice structure in the shell can utilize its ultra-high elastic stiffness and reversible lattice expansion for increasing the storage capacity of anions in the batteries. This review proposes an expected "blister model" by introducing the high elasticity of graphene blisters and its possible formation mechanism. The unique blisters composed of multilayer graphene that do not fall off on the graphite surface may become indispensable in nanotechnology in the future development of cathode materials for DIBs.

Down-Shifting and Anti-Reflection Effect of CsPbBr3 Quantum Dots/Multicrystalline Silicon Hybrid Structures for Enhanced Photovoltaic Properties

Over the past couple of decades, extensive research has been conducted on silicon (Si) based solar cells, whose power conversion efficiency (PCE) still has limitations because of a mismatched solar spectrum. Recently, a down-shifting effect has provided a new way to improve cell performances by converting ultraviolet (UV) photons to visible light. In this work, caesium lead bromide perovskite quantum dots (CsPbBr3 QDs) are synthesized with a uniform size of 10 nm. Exhibiting strong absorption of near UV light and intense photoluminescence (PL) peak at 515 nm, CsPbBr3 QDs show a potential application of the down-shifting effect. CsPbBr3 QDs/multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) hybrid structured solar cells are fabricated and systematically studied. Compared with mc-Si solar cells, CsPbBr3 QDs/mc-Si solar cells have obvious improvement in external quantum efficiency (EQE) within the wavelength ranges of both 300 to 500 nm and 700 to 1100 nm, which can be attributed to the down-shifting effect and the anti-reflection property of CsPbBr3 QDs through the formation of CsPbBr3 QDs/mc-Si structures. Furthermore, a detailed discussion of contact resistance and interface defects is provided. As a result, the coated CsPbBr3 QDs are optimized to be two layers and the solar cell exhibits a highest PCE of 14.52%.