Ying-Shuai Wang

High-performance magnetic antimicrobial Janus nanorods decorated with Ag nanoparticles

Silver nanoparticle-decorated magnetic-silica Janus nanorods, synthesized by an environmentally friendly in situ approach, show superior magnetic sensitivity, strong affinity binding to bacteria, and highly effective and long-term antimicrobial activity against bacteria. Such antibacterial nanomaterials could have great potential in biomedical applications due to their excellent biocompatibility and non-hemolytic property.

Magnetic colloidosomes fabricated by Fe3O4–SiO2 hetero-nanorods

Magnetic colloidosomes were fabricated by directing self-assembly of magnetic-mesoporous hetero-nanorods at the interface of water-in-oil droplets. Emulsions stabilized by the adsorbed particles without any surfactant indicate that such rod-like nanoparticles have specific advantages in making stable and intact shells than spherical particles. The integrity and emulsion stability of the colloidosomes were strongly influenced by the geometric shape of the hetero-nanorods. The optimum length of the nanorods to construct the colloidosomes was studied and demonstrated. The as-formed magnetic colloidosomes can exhibit unique encapsulation behaviors and show strong magnetic response properties, which will find huge potential application in multicompartment reactor, drug delivery and other biomedical fields.

Janus Gold Nanoplatform for Synergetic Chemoradiotherapy and Computed Tomography Imaging of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

There is a pressing need to develop nanoplatforms that integrate multimodal therapeutics to improve treatment responses and prolong the survival of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Mesoporous silica-coated gold nanomaterials have emerged as a novel multifunctional platform combining tunable surface plasmon resonance and mesoporous properties that exhibit multimodality properties in cancer theranostics. However, their reduced radiation-absorption efficiency and limited surface area hinder their further radiochemotherapeutic applications. To address these issues, we designed Janus-structured gold-mesoporous silica nanoparticles using a modified sol-gel method. This multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform was subsequently modified via the conjugation of folic acid for enhanced HCC targeting and internalization. The loaded anticancer agent doxorubicin can be released from the mesopores in a pH-responsive manner, facilitating selective and safe chemotherapy. Additionally, the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy induced synergistic anticancer effects in vitro and exhibited remarkable inhibition of tumor growth in vivo along with significantly reduced systematic toxicity. Additionally, the Janus NPs acted as targeted computed tomography (CT)-imaging agents for HCC diagnosis. Given their better performance in chemoradiotherapy and CT imaging as compared with that of their core-shell counterparts, this new nanoplatform designed with dual functionalities provides a promising strategy for unresectable HCC theranostics.

Facile Synthesis of Core–shell Magnetic Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for pH‐sensitive Anticancer Drug Delivery

The facile synthesis of core–shell magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Fe3O4@mSiO2 NPs) was reported in aqueous phase using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a template under alcohol‐free conditions. Compared to the conventional synthesis method for core–shell Fe3O4@mSiO2 NPs, the approach in this study is rapid (only 5‐min reaction time), cheap (without using organic agents), and environmentally friendly (one‐step synthesis in alcohol‐free medium). Doxorubicin (DOX)‐loaded Fe3O4@mSiO2 NPs exert extraordinarily high specificity for liver cancer cells, which was due to the pH‐sensitive doxorubicin release, as well as higher endocytosis capacity in liver cancer cells rather than normal liver cells. The potential advantages of using such Fe3O4@mSiO2 NPs as the vehicle of anticancer drugs were that the Fe3O4@mSiO2 NPs exhibit good biocompatibility, high loading and protection of the guest molecules, selective killing effect, and efficient cellular uptake. The exciting pH‐dependent release properties of doxorubicin‐loaded Fe3O4@mSiO2 NPs make their use a promising strategy for enhancing efficient therapy toward tumors, while reducing the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin to human normal neutral tissue or cells.

Gold nanorods-silica Janus nanoparticles for theranostics

A multi-functional gold nanorods-mesoporous silica Janus nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated by a facile and mild strategy. These Janus NPs not only exhibit small shift of the local surface plasmon resonance wavelength but also have high potential for drug loading and low cytotoxicity. More importantly, the Janus nano-composites could efficiently deliver the imaging agents or drugs into liver cancer cells, at the same time the Janus NPs have good effect on photothermal, which indicate that the unique Janus NPs could be a promising candidate of theranostic system for combined photothermo-/chemo-cancer therapy.

Janus Au–mesoporous silica nanocarriers for chemo-photothermal treatment of liver cancer cells

The combination of chemotherapy and photothermotherapy is emerging as a promising strategy for the treatment of liver cancer as a result of its synergistic efficacy. A safe and efficient drug-delivery system is highly desirable to ensure that the anticancer drug and photothermal agent can be simultaneously delivered to a tumor region to exert their synergistic effect with reduced side-effects. Uniform Janus Au–mesoporous silica nanoparticles with superior surface plasmon resonance properties and a high surface area were designed to integrate a high drug-loading capacity, pH-responsive properties, and a superior photothermal effect into a single carrier. The ability of the Janus nanoparticles loaded with doxorubicin to combine local specific chemotherapy with external near-infrared photothermotherapy significantly improved the therapeutic efficacy against liver cancer cells while exerting less toxicity on normal liver cells. Hence the reported doxorubicin-loaded Janus NPs may be promising therapeutic agents for efficacious and safe treatment of liver cancer.

Berberine‐loaded Janus Nanocarriers for Magnetic Field‐Enhanced Therapy Against Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Berberine, an bioactive isoquinolin alkaloid from traditional Chinese herbs, is considered to be a promising agent based on its remarkable activity against hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the clinical application of this nature compound had been hampered owing to its properties such as poor aqueous solubility, low gastrointestinal absorption, and reduced bioavailability. Therefore, we developed Janus magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Fe3O4‐mSiO2 NPs) consisting of a Fe3O4 head for magnetic targeting and a mesoporous SiO2 body for berberine delivery. A pH‐sensitive group was introduced on the surface of mesoporous silica for berberine loading to develop a tumor microenvironment‐responsive nanocarrier, which exhibited uniform morphology, good superparamagnetic properties, high drug‐loading amounts, superior endocytic ability, and low cytotoxicity. Berberine‐loaded Fe3O4‐mSiO2 NPs exerted extraordinarily high specificity for hepatocellular carcinoma cells, which was due to the pH‐responsive berberine release, as well as higher endocytosis capacity in hepatocellular carcinoma cells rather than normal liver cells. More importantly, an external magnetic field could significantly improve antitumor activity of Ber‐loaded Fe3O4‐mSiO2 NPs through enhancing berberine internalization. Taken together, our results suggest that Janus nanocarriers driven by the magnetic field may provide an effective and safe way to facilitate clinical use of berberine against hepatocellular carcinoma.

One-pot preparation of novel asymmetric structure nanoparticles and its application in catalysis

One-pot method has been applied to the synthesis of new Janus structure nanorods, in which Au nanoparticles are located at one end of mesoporous silica rods. Janus nanorods are synthesized directly by the chloroauric acid solution, without prior preparation of gold or silica nanoparticles. This method is easy and cost-effective for high yield preparation of Janus nanoparticles catalyst. Meanwhile, new Janus nanoparticles have high catalytic activity. Therefore, these new nanoparticles will have broad prospects in catalysis, drug delivery, self-propelled nanodevices, etc.

Integrated optofluidic-microfluidic twin channels: toward diverse application of lab-on-a-chip systems

Optofluidics, which integrates microfluidics and micro-optical components, is crucial for optical sensing, fluorescence analysis, and cell detection. However, the realization of an integrated system from optofluidic manipulation and a microfluidic channel is often hampered by the lack of a universal substrate for achieving monolithic integration. In this study, we report on an integrated optofluidic-microfluidic twin channels chip fabricated by one-time exposure photolithography, in which the twin microchannels on both surfaces of the substrate were exactly aligned in the vertical direction. The twin microchannels can be controlled independently, meaning that fluids could flow through both microchannels simultaneously without interfering with each other. As representative examples, a tunable hydrogel microlens was integrated into the optofluidic channel by femtosecond laser direct writing, which responds to the salt solution concentration and could be used to detect the microstructure at different depths. The integration of such optofluidic and microfluidic channels provides an opportunity to apply optofluidic detection practically and may lead to great promise for the integration and miniaturization of Lab-on-a-Chip systems.

Preparation of a Fe3O4–Au–GO nanocomposite for simultaneous treatment of oil/water separation and dye decomposition

A nanocomposite capable of simultaneously controlling multiple water pollutants (soluble organic dye and insoluble chemical solvent) has been obtained. The Au and Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were modified on a graphene oxide (GO) surface via light reduction and covalent attachment. The obtained Fe3O4-Au-GO nanocomposite has magnetic driving ability and catalytic applications. The nanocomposite can form emulsions after wrapping an insoluble and volatile organic solvent inside; moreover, the multi-layer graphene shell structure may delay volatilization of the solvent, ensuring that the oil droplets are collected efficiently and completely by the Fe3O4-Au-GO nanocomposite. At the same time, the Au NPs on the surface of the composite can effectively catalyze the decomposition of an organic dye in water and the recovery of the nanocomposite catalyst can also be realized using an external magnetic field. The simultaneous treatment of non-soluble oil (organic solvents) and organic dyes in water can be realized by the Fe3O4-Au-GO nanocomposite. Therefore, based on surface modification of GO, one material with two types of water pollution treatment functions was realized. This provides a new way for the simultaneous treatment of oil separation and dye decomposition, and the assembled structure may result in emulsions to give new applications in fuel cells and other fields.