Yuting Cai

Infected bone defects present a major clinical challenge, requiring precise sequential therapy that transitions from antibacterial activity to bone regeneration. Piezoelectric materials can transduce external stimulation into bioelectrical cues, providing a promising controllable handle to regulate antibacterial and osteogenic processes. However, conventional piezoelectric scaffolds often lack the capacity to distinctly separate these multifunctional roles, making it difficult to meet the therapeutic needs of different stages in the treatment of infected bone defects. Here, we develop a programmable NIR-responsive periosteum scaffold featuring a Janus bilayer architecture, in which a PDA-rich photothermal side and a non-photothermal piezoelectric side enable spatially separated antibacterial and osteogenic functions. This system integrates a thermoresponsive hydrogel with a piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride/barium titanate (PVDF/BT) electrospun membrane, achieving three switchable functional modes: continuous NIR irradiation for antibacterial therapy, intermittent irradiation for immunomodulation, and no irradiation for mechanical support and Ca²⁺ release to facilitate mineralization. In vitro studies demonstrated effective antibacterial efficacy and enhanced pro-healing M2 macrophage polarization, while comprehensive in vivo studies in rat models of 8 mm infected bone defect models achieved over 60% bone healing rate through programmable sequential therapy at 4 weeks. This programmable multi-mode periosteum scaffold provides a promising strategy for temporally orchestrating complex microenvironments, advancing the regenerative medicine for infected bone repair.

Glaucoma remains a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, yet conventional topical therapies are often hampered by poor patient adherence, and standard in-office applanation tonometry captures only static measurements, failing to capture the dynamic nature of intraocular pressure (IOP). Smart contact lenses have emerged as promising tools for home-based, real-time IOP monitoring and feedback-guided therapy; however, most rely on bulky or rigid electronics that impair comfort, safety, and visual performance. Here, we report a battery-free, all-polymer microfluidic theranostic smart contact lens (AP-TSCL) that enables autonomous IOP-responsive glaucoma therapy without bulky electronic components. The AP-TSCL integrates a noninvasive microfluidic IOP sensor with a multistage, pressure-gated drug delivery architecture. Embedded microchannels define distinct activation thresholds, enabling lens deformation under elevated IOP to drive staged release from multiple drug reservoirs. Across in vitro (artificial eye model), ex vivo (enucleated bovine eyes), and in vivo (rabbit ocular hypertension) studies, the device achieved tonometry-aligned IOP tracking, pressure-triggered delivery of timolol or brimonidine above preset thresholds, and IOP lowering comparable to conventional topical therapy. This preclinical evidence suggests that the fully integrated platform may overcome key limitations of existing technologies and offers a clinically translatable solution for personalized ocular care.

Multichannel nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) have demonstrated superior efficacy in the regeneration of large nerve defects. Here, we present the incorporation of three synergistic guiding cues into a single multichannel hydrogel conduit: topographical guidance, a conductivity gradient, and a nerve growth factor (NGF) gradient. The aligned hydrogel conduit is fabricated through directional lyophilization of a graphene oxide (GO)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution. The conductivity gradient is achieved via the dopamine-induced reduction of GO, during which amino groups with a concentration gradient are simultaneously generated, facilitating the eventual formation of an NGF gradient. In vitro experiments validate the excellent guidance effect and promotion of neuritogenesis by the NGF-gradient/aligned PVA/reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/polydopamine (PDA)/heparin hydrogel conduit (denoted as NGF-AGHC) on PC12 neuronal cells. Furthermore, in vivo testing reveals that NGF-AGHC exhibits a stronger longitudinal attraction to axons and promotes remyelination. Additionally, functional recovery assessments, histological analyses, and morphological evaluations all indicate that NGF-AGHC significantly enhances peripheral nerve regeneration, with performance comparable to that of the autograft group. Altogether, through a straightforward preparation method integrating topographical guidance, conductivity gradients, and NGF gradients, our NGCs offer a promising approach to peripheral nerve repair.

With a high specific capacity and low electrochemical potentials, metal anode batteries that use lithium, sodium and zinc metal anodes, have gained great research interest in recent years, as a potential candidate for high-energy-density storage systems. However, the uncontainable dendrite growth during the repeated charging process, deteriorates the battery performance, reduces the battery life and more importantly, raises safety concerns. With their unique properties, two-dimensional (2D) materials, can be used to modify various components in metal batteries, eventually mitigating the dendrite growth, enhancing the cycling stability and rate capability, thus leading to safe and robust metal anodes. In this paper, we review the recent advances of 2D materials and summarize current research progress of using 2D materials in the applications of (i) anode design, (ii) separator engineering, and (iii) electrolyte modifications by guiding metal ion nucleation, increasing ion conductivity, homogenizing the electric field and ion flux, and enhancing the mechanical strength for safe metal anodes. The 2D material modifications provide the ultimate solution for obtaining dendrite-free metal anodes, realizes the high energy storage application, and indicates the importance of 2D materials development. Finally, in-depth understandings of subsequent metal growth are lacking due to research limitations, while more advanced characterizations are welcome for investigating the metal deposition mechanism. The more facile and simplified preparation of 2D materials possess great prospects in high energy density metal anode batteries, and thus fulfils the development of EVs.

We demonstrate the use of the machine learning (ML) tools to rapidly and accurately predict the electric field as a guide for designing core-shell Au-silica nanoparticles to enhance ¹O₂ sensitization and selectivity of organic synthesis. Based on the feature importance analysis, obtained from a deep neural network algorithm, we found a general and linear dependent descriptor (θ ∝ aD^0.25t^-1, where a, D, and t are the shape constant, size of metal nanoparticles, and distance from the metal surface) for the electric field around the core-shell plasmonic nanoparticle. Directed by the new descriptor, we synthesized gold-silica nanoparticles and validated their plasmonic intensity using scanning transmission electron microscopy-electron energy loss spectroscopy (STEM-EELS) mapping. The nanoparticles with θ = 0.40 demonstrate an ∼3-fold increase in the reaction rate of photooxygenation of anthracene and 4% increase in the selectivity of photooxygenation of dihydroartemisinic acid (DHAA), a long-standing goal in organic synthesis. In addition, the combination of ML and experimental investigations shows the synergetic effect of plasmonic enhancement and fluorescence quenching, leading to enhancement for ¹O₂ generation. Our results from time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations suggest that the presence of an electric field can favor intersystem crossing (ISC) of methylene blue to enhance ¹O₂ generation. The strategy reported here provides a data-driven catalyst preparation method that can significantly reduce experimental cost while paving the way for designing photocatalysts for organic drug synthesis.

We designed new nanoparticle rGO@MnO₂/MB/Dox, and applied to a CBT animal model, it has been proved to be a safe and effective photothermal materialin vitroandin vivo.