DNA-based nanofabrications

Beyond its biological importance, short DNA sequences are of increasing interest as excellent and versatile building blocks, in material science and nanotechnology. DNA nanotechnology has been rapidly developed and has branched into several significantly different directions. Controlling DNA nanostructures is one of the most important branches, in which well-defined static nanostructures are constructed from rationally designed DNA motifs. The diversity and complexity of such DNA nanostructures also endow them with promising applications in nanofabrications, nanoelectronics, biodiagnostics, and DNA computations. In this review, we will summarize our recent efforts in this direction.     

Improving Radio Frequency Transmission Properties of Graphene via Carrier Concentration Control toward High Frequency Transmission Line Applications

Graphene has been gradually studied as a high‐frequency transmission line material owing to high carrier mobility with frequency independence up to a few THz. However, the graphene‐based transmission lines have poor conductivity due to their low carrier concentration. Here, it is observed that the radio frequency (RF) transmission performance could be severely hampered by the defect‐induced scattering, even though the carrier concentration is increased. As a possible solution, the deposition of the amorphous carbon on the graphene is studied in the high‐frequency region up to 110 GHz. The DC resistance is reduced by as much as 60%, and the RF transmission property is also enhanced by 3 dB. Also, the amorphous carbon covered graphene shows stable performance under a harsh environment. These results prove that the carrier concentration control is an effective and a facile method to improve the transmission performance of graphene. It opens up the possibilities of using graphene as interconnects in the ultrahigh‐frequency region.     

In‐water visual ship hull inspection using a hover‐capable underwater vehicle with stereo vision

Underwater visual inspection is an important task for checking the structural integrity and biofouling of the ship hull surface to improve the operational safety and efficiency of ships and floating vessels. This paper describes the development of an autonomous in‐water visual inspection system and its application to visual hull inspection of a full‐scale ship. The developed system includes a hardware vehicle platform and software algorithms for autonomous operation of the vehicle. The algorithms for vehicle autonomy consist of the guidance, navigation, and control algorithms for real‐time and onboard operation of the vehicle around the hull surface. The environmental perception of the developed system is mainly based on optical camera images, and various computer vision and optimization algorithms are used for vision‐based navigation and visual mapping. In particular, a stereo camera is installed on the underwater vehicle to estimate instantaneous surface normal vectors, which enables high‐precision navigation and robust visual mapping, not only on flat areas but also over moderately curved hull surface areas. The development process of the vehicle platform and the implemented algorithms are described. The results of the field experiment with a full‐scale ship in a real sea environment are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and practical performance of the developed system.     

Functionalized NIR‐II Semiconducting Polymer Nanoparticles for Single‐cell to Whole‐Organ Imaging of PSMA‐Positive Prostate Cancer

Development of molecular probes holds great promise for early diagnosis of aggressive prostate cancer. Here, 2‐[3‐(1,3‐dicarboxypropyl) ureido] pentanedioic acid (DUPA)‐conjugated ligand and bis‐isoindigo‐based polymer (BTII) are synthesized to formulate semiconducting polymer nanoparticles (BTII‐DUPA SPN) as a prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA)‐targeted probe for prostate cancer imaging in the NIR‐II window. Insights into the interaction of the imaging probes with the biological targets from single cell to whole organ are obtained by transient absorption (TA) microscopy and photoacoustic (PA) tomography. At single‐cell level, TA microscopy reveals the targeting efficiency, kinetics, and specificity of BTII‐DUPA SPN to PSMA‐positive prostate cancer. At organ level, PA tomographic imaging of BTII‐DUPA SPN in the NIR‐II window demonstrates superior imaging depth and contrast. By intravenous administration, BTII‐DUPA SPN demonstrates selective accumulation and retention in the PSMA‐positive tumor, allowing noninvasive PA detection of PSMA overexpressing prostate tumors in vivo. The distribution of nanoparticles inside the tumor tissue is further analyzed through TA microscopy. These results collectively demonstrate BTII‐DUPA SPN as a promising probe for prostate cancer diagnosis by PA tomography.     

Anti‐Atherogenic Effect of Stem Cell Nanovesicles Targeting Disturbed Flow Sites

Atherosclerosis development leads to irreversible cascades, highlighting the unmet need for improved methods of early diagnosis and prevention. Disturbed flow formation is one of the earliest atherogenic events, resulting in increased endothelial permeability and subsequent monocyte recruitment. Here, a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)‐derived nanovesicle (NV) that can target disturbed flow sites with the peptide GSPREYTSYMPH (PREY) (PMSC‐NVs) is presented which is selected through phage display screening of a hundred million peptides. The PMSC‐NVs are effectively produced from human MSCs (hMSCs) using plasmid DNA designed to functionalize the cell membrane with PREY. The potent anti‐inflammatory and pro‐endothelial recovery effects are confirmed, similar to those of hMSCs, employing mouse and porcine partial carotid artery ligation models as well as a microfluidic disturbed flow model with human carotid artery‐derived endothelial cells. This nanoscale platform is expected to contribute to the development of new theragnostic strategies for preventing the progression of atherosclerosis.     

Fucoidan-Based Theranostic Nanogel for Enhancing Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer

In this study, a fucoidan-based theranostic nanogel(CFN-gel) consisting of a fucoidan backbone, redox-responsive cleavable linker and photosensitizer is developed to achieve acti-vatable near-infrared fluorescence imaging of tumor sites and an enhanced photodynamic therapy(PDT) to induce the com-plete death of cancer cells. A CFN-gel has nanomolar a nity for P-selectin, which is overexpressed on the surface of tumor neovascular endothelial cells as well as many other cancer cells. Therefore, a CFN-gel can enhance tumor accumulation through P-selectin targeting and the enhanced permeation and retention e ect. Moreover, a CFN-gel is non-fluorescent and non-phototoxic upon its systemic administration due to the aggregation-induced self-quenching in its fluorescence and singlet oxygen generation. After internalization into cancer cells and tumor neovascular endothelial cells, its photoactivity is recovered in response to the intracellular redox potential, thereby enabling selective near-infrared fluorescence imaging and an enhanced PDT of tumors. Since a CFN-gel also shows nanomolar a nity for the vascular endothelial growth factor, it also provides a significant anti-tumor e ect in the absence of light treatment in vivo. Our study indicates that a fucoidan-based theranostic nanogel is a new theranostic material for imaging and treating cancer with high e cacy and specificity.     

Extremely Vivid,Highly Transparent,and Ultrathin Quantum Dot Light‐Emitting Diodes

Displaying information on transparent screens offers new opportunities in next‐generation electronics, such as augmented reality devices, smart surgical glasses, and smart windows. Outstanding luminance and transparency are essential for such “see‐through” displays to show vivid images over clear background view. Here transparent quantum dot light‐emitting diodes (Tr‐QLEDs) are reported with high brightness (bottom: ≈43 000 cd m^?2, top: ≈30 000 cd m^?2, total: ≈73 000 cd m^?2 at 9 V), excellent transmittance (90% at 550 nm, 84% over visible range), and an ultrathin form factor (≈2.7 µm thickness). These superb characteristics are accomplished by novel electron transport layers (ETLs) and engineered quantum dots (QDs). The ETLs, ZnO nanoparticle assemblies with ultrathin alumina overlayers, dramatically enhance durability of active layers, and balance electron/hole injection into QDs, which prevents nonradiative recombination processes. In addition, the QD structure is further optimized to fully exploit the device architecture. The ultrathin nature of Tr‐QLEDs allows their conformal integration on various shaped objects. Finally, the high resolution patterning of red, green, and blue Tr‐QLEDs (513 pixels in.^?1) shows the potential of the full‐color transparent display.     

Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Catalysis in Alkaline Media by All‐in‐One MoS2 with Multifunctional Active Sites

MoS₂ becomes an efficient and durable nonprecious‐metal electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) when it contains multifunctional active sites for water splitting derived from 1T‐phase, defects, S vacancies, exposed Mo edges with expanded interlayer spacings. In contrast to previously reported MoS₂‐based catalysts targeting only a single or few of these characteristics, the all‐in‐one MoS₂ catalyst prepared herein features all of the above active site types. During synthesis, the intercalation of in situ generated NH₃ molecules into MoS₂ sheets affords ammoniated MoS₂ (A‐MoS₂) that predominantly comprises 1T‐MoS₂ and exhibits an expanded interlayer spacing. The subsequent reduction of A‐MoS₂ results in the removal of intercalated NH₃ and H₂S to form an all‐in‐one MoS₂ with multifunctional active sites mentioned above (R‐MoS₂) that exhibits electrocatalytic HER performance in alkaline media superior to those of all previously reported MoS₂‐based electrocatalysts. In particular, a hybrid MoS₂/nickel foam catalyst outperforms commercial Pt/C in the practically meaningful high‐current region (>25 mA cm^?2), demonstrating that R‐MoS₂‐based materials can potentially replace Pt catalysts in practical alkaline HER systems.     

Interface‐Engineered Nickel Cobaltite Nanowires through NiO Atomic Layer Deposition and Nitrogen Plasma for High‐Energy,Long‐Cycle‐Life Foldable All‐Solid‐State Supercapacitors

The large‐scale application of supercapacitors (SCs) for portable electronics is restricted by low energy density and cycling stability. To alleviate the limitations, a unique interface engineering strategy is suggested through atomic layer deposition (ALD) and nitrogen plasma. First, commercial carbon cloth (CC) is treated with nitrogen plasma and later inorganic NiCo₂O₄ (NCO)/NiO core–shell nanowire arrays are deposited on nitrogen plasma–treated CC (NCC) to fabricate the ultrahigh stable SC. An ultrathin layer of NiO deposited on the NCO nanowire arrays via conformal ALD plays a vital role in stabilizing the NCO nanowires for thousands of electrochemical cycles. The optimized NCC/NCO/NiO core–shell electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 2439 F g^?1 with a remarkable cycling stability (94.2% over 20 000 cycles). Benefiting from these integrated merits, the foldable solid‐state SCs are fabricated with excellent NCC/NCO/NiO core–shell nanowire array electrodes. The fabricated SC device delivers a high energy density of 72.32 Wh kg^?1 at a specific capacitance of 578 F g^?1, with ultrasmall capacitance decline rate of 0.0003% per cycle over 10 000 charge–discharge cycles. Overall, this strategy offers a new avenue for developing a new‐generation high‐energy, ultrahigh stable supercapacitor for real‐life applications.