Evaluation of the PSMA-Binding Ligand 212Pb-NG001 in Multicellular Tumour Spheroid and Mouse Models of Prostate Cancer

Radioligand therapy targeting the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is rapidly evolving as a promising treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The PSMA-targeting ligand p-SCN-Bn-TCMC-PSMA (NG001) labelled with ²¹²Pb efficiently targets PSMA-positive cells in vitro and in vivo. The aim of this preclinical study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of ²¹²Pb-NG001 in multicellular tumour spheroid and mouse models of prostate cancer. The cytotoxic effect of ²¹²Pb-NG001 was tested in human prostate C4-2 spheroids. Biodistribution at various time points and therapeutic effects of different activities of the radioligand were investigated in male athymic nude mice bearing C4-2 tumours, while long-term toxicity was studied in immunocompetent BALB/c mice. The radioligand induced a selective cytotoxic effect in spheroids at activity concentrations of 3–10 kBq/mL. In mice, the radioligand accumulated rapidly in tumours and was retained over 24 h, while it rapidly cleared from nontargeted tissues. Treatment with 0.25, 0.30 or 0.40 MBq of ²¹²Pb-NG001 significantly inhibited tumour growth and improved median survival with therapeutic indexes of 1.5, 2.3 and 2.7, respectively. In BALB/c mice, no signs of long-term radiation toxicity were observed at activities of 0.05 and 0.33 MBq. The obtained results warrant clinical studies to evaluate the biodistribution, therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of ²¹²Pb-NG001.     

One-step preparation of the superhydrophobic Al alloy surface with enhanced corrosion and wear resistance

Corrosion and wear failures are bottlenecks for restricting applications and developments of Al-based functional materials. As a new lubrication technology, superhydrophobic preparation provides an effective way to settle Al alloy corrosion. The preparation methods of superhydrophobic Al alloys are mainly multistep strategies. In this study, superhydrophobic Al alloy, has been prepared by an efficient one-step electrochemical etching process. Meanwhile, its micromorphology has been observed by a scanning electron microscope. The wettability has been measured by video optical contact angle meter. The corrosion behavior has been tested by electrochemical workstation, and wear performance has been characterized by friction tester. The results show that the micro-nanoterraced concave–convex structure has been fabricated and an as-prepared surface exhibits excellent superhydrophobic behavior. Further electrochemical and tribological tests show that corrosion resistance and wear resistance have also been significantly improved. This study provides a new method to prepare wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant Al alloy for widening applications of multifunctional Al-based engineering materials.     

Far-red-emitting YAl3(BO3)4:Cr3+ phosphors with excellent thermal stability and high luminescent yield for plant growth LEDs

Phosphors-converted LEDs (pc-LEDs) are excellent artificial light sources for indoor plant cultivation, in which the far-red-emitting component (700−780 nm) plays an important role in regulating the photomorphogenesis of plants. Accordingly, highly efficient and thermally stable far-red-emitting phosphors are indispensable for developing high-performance plant cultivation pc-LEDs. Herein, far-red-emitting YAl₃(BO₃)₄:Cr³⁺ (YAB:Cr³⁺) phosphors were synthesized by solid-state reaction, and their photoluminescence characteristics, thermal quenching, quantum yield (QY), and application in pc-LEDs were systematically investigated. The YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor has an intense broadband absorption to the blue light, simultaneously exhibiting the sharp-line ²E emission and the broadband ⁴ T₂ emission of Cr³⁺ with a QY of ~86.7%. The far-red broadband emissions of YAB:Cr³⁺ centered at ~735 nm show a high resemblance to the active-state (P_FR) absorption of plant phytochrome. Moreover, the YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor shows the thermally enhanced luminescence at temperatures of 303−393 K and the near-zero thermal quenching up to 423 K. The anomalous thermal enhancement is attributed to the temperature-dependent repopulation between ²E and ⁴ T₂ states. Finally, a pc-LED device was fabricated with the YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor and blue chip, exhibiting the light out power of ~50.6 mW and energy conversion efficiency of ~17.4% at 100 mA drive current, respectively. The exceptional PL features including suitable excitation/emission wavelengths, suppressed thermal quenching and high QY make YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphors very promising for applications in plant growth pc-LEDs.     

Stable Radicals with Protective Umbrellas Integrated on the Surface of 2D Layered Materials

Radicals are closely related to human life and health and have been widely used in biology, chemistry, functional materials, etc. However, the high reactivity, disorder, and short half-lives limit their wide applications. Therefore, it remains a great challenge to prepare stable and ordered radicals. Herein, radicals are prepared with protective umbrellas (diethylmethyleneamine, DEMA) that are integrated on the surface of 2D layered materials to isolate water and oxygen and enhance the stability of radicals. Taking 2D black phosphorus (BP) as an example: triethylamine reacts with dichloromethane to form quaternary ammonium salts with further Hoffmann elimination to produce DEMA radicals that could react with one electron of a lone pair electrons in P on the surface of BP to produce P radicals, which shows a prolonged half-life of 21 days at room temperature. First-principle calculations and electron paramagnetic resonance fitting confirm that the steric hindrance constructed by dense DEMA passivation layer acts as a protective umbrella and the 2D coupling of P radicals and other P atoms in 2D BP plane to enhance the stability and strong superexchange interaction of P radicals. Furthermore, it is a general strategy to produce stable radicals integrated on the 2D plane.     

Design and fabrication of lutetium aluminum silicate glass and nanostructured glass for radiation detection

Flexible scintillating fiber plays an important role in X-ray radiation monitoring and high-resolution medical imaging, while construction of scintillating fiber derived from the commercial material system meet with limited success. Here, we report the design and successful fabrication of the Ce-activated lutetium aluminum silicate glass, nanostructured glass, and fiber, and explore their scintillating properties. The scintillating glass with optimized composition and optical properties is determined. The crystallization behavior of lutetium aluminum silicate glass is studied and the nanostructured glass embedded with orthorhombic Lu₂Si₂O₇ phase is successfully constructed for the first time. Importantly, the crystalline layer thickness of the nanostructured glass can be finely tuned and ~172.89% enhancement in the scintillating performance can be achieved. Furthermore, the fiber with large sized core is fabricated and its radiation response properties are tested. The results show that it exhibits high sensitivity and its scintillating emission is lineally dependent on the X-ray power, indicating the potential application for radiation detection.     

Good dielectric performance and broadband dielectric polarization in Ag,Nb co-doped TiO2

Due to the demand of miniaturization and integration for ceramic capacitors in electronic components market, TiO₂-based ceramics with colossal permittivity has become a research hotspot in recent years. In this work, we report that Ag⁺/Nb⁵⁺ co-doped (Ag_1/4Nb_3/4)_xTi_1−xO₂ (ANTOx) ceramics with colossal permittivity over a wide frequency and temperature range were successfully prepared by a traditional solid–state method. Notably, compositions of ANTO0.005 and ANTO0.01 respectively exhibit both low dielectric loss (0.040 and 0.050 at 1 kHz), high dielectric permittivity (9.2 × 10³ and 1.6 × 10⁴ at 1 kHz), and good thermal stability, which satisfy the requirements for the temperature range of application of X9R and X8R ceramic capacitors, respectively. The origin of the dielectric behavior was attributed to five dielectric relaxation phenomena, i.e., localized carriers' hopping, electron–pinned defect–dipoles, interfacial polarization, and oxygen vacancies ionization and diffusion, as suggested by dielectric temperature spectra and valence state analysis via XPS; wherein, electron-pinned defect–dipoles and internal barrier layer capacitance are believed to be the main causes for the giant dielectric permittivity in ANTOx ceramics.     

Lithiation MXene Derivative Skeletons for Wide-Temperature Lithium Metal Anodes

Lithium (Li) metal, as an appealing candidate for the next-generation of high-energy-density batteries, is plagued by its safety issue mainly caused by uncontrolled dendrite growth and infinite volume expansion. Developing new materials that can improve the performance of Li-metal anode is one of the urgent tasks. Herein, a new MXene derivative containing pure rutile TiO₂ and N-doped carbon prepared by heat-treating MXene under a mixing gas, exhibiting high chemical activity in molten Li, is reported. The lithiation MXene derivative with a hybrid of LiTiO₂-Li₃N-C and Li offers outstanding electrochemical properties. The symmetrical cell assembling lithiation MXene derivative hybrid anode exhibits an ultra-long cycle lifespan of 2000 h with an overpotential of ≈30 mV at 1 mA cm⁻², which overwhelms Li-based anodes reported so far. Additionally, long-term operations of 34, 350, and 500 h at 10 mA cm⁻² can be achieved in symmetrical cells at temperatures of −10, 25, and 50 °C, respectively. Both experimental tests and density functional theory calculations confirm that the LiTiO₂-Li₃N-C skeleton serves as a promising host for Li infusion by alleviating volume variation. Simultaneously, the superlithiophilic interphase of Li₃N guides Li deposition along the LiTiO₂-Li₃N-C skeleton to avoid dendrite growth.