Encapsulation Structure Research Articles

N-doped graphitized carbon-coated Fe2O3 nanoparticles in highly graphitized carbon hollow fibers for advanced lithium-ion batteries anodes

Ferric oxide (Fe2O3) has become one of the most competitive candidates for the next-generation lithium-ion batteries anode materials due to its high theoretical reversible specific capacity (Cs, 1007 mAh g−1) and low price. However, the rapid capacity fading and poor rate performance deriving from drastic volume expansion (∼200 %), low Coulombic efficiency (CE), and poor electrical conductivity limit its application in LIBs. Herein, a novel encapsulation structure of Fe2O3 nanoparticles has been developed. Fe2O3 nanoparticles inlaid in the shells of hollow highly graphitized carbon fibers are coated by N-doped graphitized carbon (GF-FeO@NGC) by a catalytic graphitization, oxidation route of Fe-based catalyst. The GF-FeO@NGC electrode shows the first specific discharge/charge capacities of 1355/974 mAh g−1 with high initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 72.0%, and excellent reversibility of lithiation/delithiation reaction. After 200 cycles at 0.1 A g−1, the GF-FeO@NGC electrode keeps a high reversible Cs of 918 mAh g−1 (retention of 94.3%) with a CE of 99.6%. It is noticeable that the GF-FeO@NGC electrode has good rate performance and robust cycling stability at high current density. After 300 cycles at 2 A g−1, the Cs retention is up to 97.1% with a CE of 99.7%. These are far superior to those of the GF-FeO (without NGC coating) and the most reported Fe2O3-based electrode materials. The mechanism behind these phenomena are studied.

Domain-limited growth strategy to construct Fe3C@C@CNTs heterogeneous interfaces for multi-functional high-performance lithium-ion storage and microwave absorption

Rational designed cost-effective material is significant in the field of electric energy storage and microwave absorber. In this work, carbon coated Fe3C nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulated carbon nanotubes (Fe3C@C@CNTs) is delicately constructed through in-situ chemical vapor deposition (CVD) strategy. As a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the Fe3C@C@CNTs nanocomposite facilitates electron transport with intensive interfacial interaction, making it an ideal prototype to thoroughly understand the mechanisms of interatomic charge transfer mechanism. As a result, this well-designed Fe3C@C@CNTs anode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1027 mAh g−1 after 150 cycles at 0.1 A g−1 and excellent cycling stability with 71 % capacity retention at 519 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at 1.0 A g−1. Electrochemical kinetic results confirm that the pseudocapacitance contributions reach up to 90.1 % at 1.0 mV s−1, and the higher pseudocapacitance characteristic is ascribed to the multi-dimensional encapsulated by CNT layer and carbon layer. Meanwhile, depending on the peculiar cavity structure and heterogeneous interfaces effects constructed by multi-dimensional encapsulated structure, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of Fe3C@C@CNTs nanocomposite can reach up to −67.63 dB in effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 7.12 GHz with the optimal matching thickness of 2.28 mm, suggesting its extensive potential application as practical alternative absorber. This domain-limited growth strategy opens a new horizon to achieve multi-functional application and beyond for Fe-based nanomaterial.

Boosting lithium storage performance of Co-Sn double hydroxide nanocubes in-situ grown in mesoporous hollow carbon nanospheres

Herein, facile in-situ synthesis of double hydroxide CoSn(OH)6 nanocubes within mesoporous hollow carbon nanospheres (MHCSs) has been successfully developed through solution impregnation and solid-phase molten reaction, using MHCSs as nanoreactors. Several CoSn(OH)6 nanocubes with side length of 50∼80 nm are encapsulated in every MHCS with a diameter of 300–400 nm. When CoSn(OH)6@MHCS is evaluated as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, it achieves exceptional rate capability (1684 and 626 mAh g−1 at 0.1 and 10 A g−1) and excellent cycle performance (1512 mAh g−1 at 0.2 A g−1 after 140 cycles, 1023 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 after 400 cycles, 512 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1 after 500 cycles). The outstanding electrochemical performance is mainly attributed to the unique “ship-in-a-bottle” encapsulation structure. The mesoporous carbon shells of MHCSs facilitate electrolyte penetration and electron transfer. The large inner cavity of MHCSs promotes full contact between CoSn(OH)6 with electrolyte, and accommodates free expansion/contraction of CoSn(OH)6. The semi-enclosed carbon shell prevents the detachment and aggregation of the inner CoSn(OH)6. These structure merits can remarkably enhance reaction kinetics and structure stability of CoSn(OH)6. The stable and high-capacity output of the full cell demonstrates the great potential of CoSn(OH)6@MHCS in practical applications.

Rational Design of Covalent Bond Engineered Encapsulation Structure toward Efficient, Long‐Lived Multicolored Phosphorescent Carbon Dots (Small 31/2023)

Rational Design of Covalent Bond Engineered Encapsulation Structure toward Efficient, Long‐Lived Multicolored Phosphorescent Carbon Dots (Small 31/2023)

Synthesis and adsorption properties of H4Ti5O12@CNT ion sieves

AbstractIn this study, H4Ti5O12@CNT ion sieves with an encapsulated structure were fabricated by combining pretreated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a template and carbon source, C16H36O4Ti as a titanium source, and CH3COOLi as a lithium source. By characterizing and analyzing the pretreated and untreated CNTs, numerous COOH and OH functional groups were introduced into the pretreated CNTs, which improved their dispersion in aqueous solutions and ethanol and facilitated the adsorption of lithium ions. The ion sieves prepared with the precursor roasted at 700 °C showed the best adsorption performance. Moreover, the structural integrity of the ion sieves was not affected by acid washing. For the first adsorption cycle, the ion sieves had a lithium‐ion saturated adsorption capacity of 32.32 mg/g. After five adsorption–desorption cycles, the adsorption capacity only decreased by 5.1% to 30.68 mg/g, which shows that they had good cycling stability.

Constructing N, Se co-doped carbon nanofibers encapsulated with hollow FeSe2 nanospheres as electrodes for energy storage

Iron selenide (FeSe2), a p-type narrow band gap (1.0 eV) semiconductor, has been considered as a potential electrode material for electrochemical energy storage owing to its many benefits, including quick electron transfer, excellent electrical conductivity and exceptional theoretical specific capacity. Nevertheless, the volumetric expansion, agglomeration, low ion-diffusion capacity and other inadequacies in the process of discharging and charging. Therefore, FeSe2 is far short of high initial coulomb efficiency, long-cycle stability, and excellent rate performance. The greatest obstacle to the practical use of energy storage systems is these drawbacks. Herein, the electrospinning and a thermally-induced selenization route are adopted to encapsulate the FeSe2 hollow nanospheres into the intertwined Se, N co-doped carbon nanofibers (Se, N-FeSe2CNFs). Density functional theory calculation delivers that Se, N-FeSe2CNFs nanocomposite presents extremely low bandgap and high density of states at the Femi level, demonstrating significantly increased conductivity. When assembling into the all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitors (ASSSCs), the Se, N-FeSe2CNFs ASSSCs provide a remarkable specific capacity of 330.2 F g−1 and maintain 92.0% after 5000 cycles at 2 A g−1. Meanwhile, the resistance of charge transfer decreases from 0.73 Ω (FeSe2) to 0.28 Ω (Se, N-FeSe2CNFs). Moreover, the Se, N-FeSe2CNFs ASSSCs deliver 128.6 Wh kg−1 (energy density) at about 800 W kg−1 (power density). Additionally, the Se, N-FeSe2CNFs anodes also have outstanding reversible capacity (549.5 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1) and stability of long-circulation (481.3 mAh g−1 after 100 circles and 480.9 mAh g−1 after 200 circles at 0.1 A g−1) for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). The superb property of energy storage can be due to the encapsulated structure that can maintain the integrity of structures for electrodes during electrochemical reactions and the Se, N heteroatoms doped CNFs that can conducive to ions/charges transport and storage. The designed encapsulated structure and synthesis approach have broad application prospects in electrochemical energy storage.

S-doped core–shell heterojunction Fenton catalyst (Fe3O4-S@PVP@UIO-66-(SH)2) for enhanced activation of hydroxyl radicals: Synergistic enrichment and degradation mechanism

The design of catalysts for the rapid activation of H2O2 and synergistic enrichment of pollutants is an effective strategy to improve catalytic performance. Herein, an Fe3O4-S@PVP@UIO-66-(SH)2 (FPUSH) heterojunction was successfully synthesized to form a core–shell-doped multiphase Fenton catalyst with both internal doping and outer encapsulation structures, which had excellent mass and efficient electron transfer performance. Levofloxacin can be adsorbed (Qmax was 141.44 mg g−1) and degraded at a removal efficiency of 97.70% within 120 min. The recycled efficiency of FPUSH was maintained at more than 90% after five recycles. The experimental and DFT results showed that the introduction of S improved the electron density of Fe atomic orbitals, promoted the electron transfer of Fe(II)/Fe(III), and enhanced the catalytic performance of Fe active sites. The degradation pathway of LVFX and the toxicity of intermediate products were predicted. This work provides new ideas and insights for the application of nonmetals in high-performance multiphase Fenton systems.

Electrochemical Visualization of an Ion-Selective Membrane Using a Carbon Nanoelectrode.

Molecular and physical probes have been widely employed to investigate physicochemical properties and mechanisms of interfaces due to their ability to provide accurate measurements with temporal and spatial resolution. However, the direct measurement of electroactive species diffusion in ion-selective electrode (ISE) membranes and quantification of the water layer have been challenging due to the high impedance and optical opacity of polymer membranes. In the present work, carbon nanoelectrodes with ultrathin insulating encapsulation and good geometrical structure are reported as physical probes for direct electrochemical measurement of the water layer. The scanning electrochemical microscopy experiment exhibits positive feedback at the interface of the fresh ISE, and negative feedback after conditioning for 3 h. The thickness of the water layer was estimated to be ca. 13 nm. For the first time, we provide direct evidence that, during conditioning, the water molecules diffuse through the chloride ion selective membrane (Cl-ISM) until a water layer establishes at almost 3 h. Furthermore, the diffusion coefficient and concentration of oxygen molecules in the Cl-ISM are also directly electrochemical measured by introducing ferrocene (Fc) as a redox molecule probe. The oxygen concentration in the Cl-ISM decreases during conditioning, suggesting the diffusion of oxygen from ISM to the water layer. The proposed method can be used for the electrochemical measurement of solid contact, providing theoretical guidance and advice for the performance optimization of ISEs.

Cu and Cu-Fe Bi-Metal Nanoparticles Encapsulated in Hollow S-1 Zeolite for Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction

The hollow hierarchical structure Cu@S and CuFe0.5@S catalysts were successfully synthesized through the “dissolution-recrystallization” (D-R) method for the reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS). The encapsulated catalysts had a hierarchical porous structure and better dispersion of Cu particles than the Cu-S and CuFe0.5-S samples prepared via the conventional impregnation method. Furthermore, CuFe0.5-S and CuFe0.5@S catalysts showed higher CO2 conversion and 100% selectivity of CO at the entire temperature range investigated in this work compared to the monometallic catalysts Cu-S and Cu@S. Interestingly, the reaction activity of all the samples increased according to the sequence: CuFe0.5@S > CuFe0.5-S > Cu@S > Cu-S at 400–550 °C under atmospheric pressure. These results indicate that the higher dispersion of encapsulation structure and the enhanced surface basicity derived from the addition of Fe play crucial roles in enhancing the catalytic performance of Cu-based catalysts in the RWGS reaction.

One-Step Synthesis of a High Entropy Oxide-Supported Rhodium Catalyst for Highly Selective CO Production in CO2 Hydrogenation.

High entropy oxide (HEO) has shown to be a new type of catalyst support with tunable composition-function properties for many chemical reactions. However, the preparation of a metal nanoparticle catalyst supported on a metal oxide support is time-consuming and takes multiple complicated steps. Herein, we used a one-step glycine-nitrate-based combustion method to synthesize highly dispersed rhodium nanoparticles on a high surface area HEO. This catalyst showed high selectivity to produce CO in CO2 hydrogenation with 80% higher activity compared to rhodium nanoparticle-based catalysts. We also studied the effect of different metal elements in HEO and demonstrated that high CO selectivity was achieved if one of the metals in the metal oxide support favored CO production. We identified that copper and zinc were responsible for the observed high CO selectivity due to their low *CO binding strength. During hydrogenation, a strong metal-support interaction was created through charge transfer and formed an encapsulated structure between rhodium nanoparticles and the HEO support to lower the *CO binding strength, which enabled high CO selectivity in the reaction. By combining different metal oxides into HEO as a catalyst support, high activity and high selectivity can be achieved at the same time in the CO2 hydrogenation reaction.

Mo-doped CoP nanoparticles anchored on porous Co-N-C framework as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for pH-universal water splitting

Designing highly active and stable noble-metal-free electrocatalysts for water splitting over a wide pH range is critical yet remains significantly challenging. In this work, Mo-doped CoP nanoparticles (Mo-CoP) supported and enwrapped by porous single-atomic-Co doped carbon framework (Co-N-C) were designed and prepared by a simple one-pot pyrolysis method. The Mo-CoP/Co-N-C electrocatalyst exhibits superior performance with low overpotentials of only 45 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 201 mV for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in 1 M KOH at 10 mA cm–2 current density. Such excellent catalytic activity can be ascribed to enhanced intrinsic activity, large surface area, and highly exposed active sites. Meanwhile, an extremely small overpotential of only 250 mV is required for a large current density of 500 mA cm–2 in HER, which exceeds the performance of benchmark 10% Pt/C. Besides, Mo-CoP/Co-N-C also exhibits superior HER performance in acidic and neutral mediums, with overpotentials of only 41 and 98 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4, and 1 M PBS, respectively, thus achieving efficient water splitting at a wide pH range. The long-term stabilities are guaranteed with no significant decline of catalytic activities for more than 24 h in all electrolytes, which can be ascribed to the carbon layer encapsulation structure. Additionally, in overall water splitting, the electrocatalytic cell consisting of the as-synthesized Mo-CoP/Co-N-C only requires a cell voltage of 1.611 V at 100 mA cm–2 with excellent stability, exceeding that of the benchmark Pt/C||RuO2 couple (1.645 V at 100 mA cm–2). This work not only presents a highly efficient electrocatalyst for pH-universal water splitting but also provides a new perspective for the design and construction of transition metal catalysts with excellent stability.

Research on Force-Frequency Coefficient of Square Quartz Crystal With Encapsulation Body

Because the square quartz crystal is very sensitive and easily affected by the environment, it needs to be encapsulated to maintain the performance of the sensor. However, the characteristics of its encapsulation structure will change the boundary conditions of the crystal, which makes it difficult to determine the sensitivity and measurement range of the sensor. In order to solve this problem, the relationship between the force-frequency coefficient and the stiffness of the encapsulation structure is established and verified by finite element analysis, and experiments are presented in this paper. The experiment shows that the encapsulation structural stiffness and the force-frequency coefficient of the crystal are equivalent, so the design results of the encapsulation structural stiffness can be used to express the force-frequency coefficient of the sensor. In addition, SEM analysis was used to verify that the structural characteristics of the encapsulation were better when the thickness of the adhesive was thinner, and the influence of the thickness of epoxy and AuSn on the sensor performance was analyzed by FEA.

Covalent Coating of Micro‐Sized Silicon With Dynamically Bonded Graphene Layers Toward Stably Cycled Lithium Storage

AbstractState‐of‐the‐art carbon coatings are sought to protect high‐capacity silicon anodes, which suffer from low conductivity, large volume change and fast degradation. However, this approach falls short when handling physical–electrical disconnections between carbon shells and silicon microparticulate (SiMP) with drastic size variations. Here, a strategy of covalent coating is developed to establish a robust encapsulation structure. The obtained covalent SiC bonds enable an effectively dynamic connection between the electrochemically deforming SiMP and the sliding graphene layers, preventing the evolution of gaps between SiMP and the carbon shell and maintaining persistent electrical connections as well as mechanical toughness. As a result of high structure reversibility, the cycling stability of thick SiMP anodes is greatly improved, up to a high areal capacity of 5.6 mAh cm−2 and volumetric capacity of 2564 mAh cm−3. This interface bonding effect demonstrates the great potential for suppressing deformation involved degradation of high‐capacity materials through coating strategies.

A Flexible Sensor with Excellent Environmental Stability Using Well-Designed Encapsulation Structure.

The hydrogel-based sensors suffer from poor stability and low sensitivity, severely limiting their further development. It is still "a black box" to understand the effect of the encapsulation as well as the electrode on the performance of the hydrogel-based sensors. To address these problems, we prepared an adhesive hydrogel that could robustly adhere to Ecoflex (adhesive strength is 4.7 kPa) as an encapsulation layer and proposed a rational encapsulation model that fully encapsulated the hydrogel within Ecoflex. Owing to the excellent barrier and resilience of Ecoflex, the encapsulated hydrogel-based sensor can still work normally after 30 days, displaying excellent long-term stability. In addition, we performed theoretical and simulation analyses on the contact state between the hydrogel and the electrode. It was surprising to find that the contact state significantly affects the sensitivity of the hydrogel sensors (the maximum difference in sensitivity was 333.6%), indicating that the reasonable design of the encapsulation and electrode are indispensable parts for fabricating successful hydrogel sensors. Therefore, we paved the way for a novel insight to optimize the properties of the hydrogel sensors, which is greatly favorable to developing hydrogel-based sensors to be applied in various fields.

Chitooligosaccharide-catechin conjugate loaded liposome using different stabilising agents: characteristics, stability, and bioactivities

Aim To determine the optimum condition for preparing chitooligosaccharide-catechin conjugate (COS-CAT) liposomes using different stabilising agents. Methods COS-CAT liposomes (0.1–1%, w/v) were prepared using soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC) (50–200 mM) and glycerol or cholesterol (25–100 mg). Encapsulation efficiency (EE), loading capacity (LC), physicochemical characteristics, FTIR spectra, thermal stability, and structure of COS-CAT liposomes were assessed. Results COS-CAT loaded liposome stabilised by cholesterol (COS-CAT-CHO) showed higher stability as shown by the highest EE (76.81%) and LC (4.57%) and the lowest zeta potential (ZP) (−76.51 mV), polydispersity index (PDI) (0.2674) and releasing efficiency (RE) (53.54%) (p < 0.05). COS-CAT-CHO showed the highest retention and relative remaining bioactivities of COS-CAT under various conditions (p < 0.05). FTIR spectra revealed the interaction between the choline group of SPC and -OH groups of COS-CAT. Phase transition temperature of COS-CAT-CHO was shifted to 184 °C, which was higher than others (p < 0.05). Conclusion SPC and cholesterol-based liposome could be used as a promising vesicle for maintaining bioactivities of COS-CAT.

Tannic Acid Assisted Construction of Au-Ti Integrated Catalyst Regulating the Local Environment of Framework Ti toward Propylene Epoxidation under H2/O2

The local environment of framework Ti determines the catalytic properties of titanium silicalites (TS-1) for olefin epoxidation. As for the Au/TS-1 catalyst toward vapor phased propylene epoxidation with H2/O2, regulating the framework Ti site from the Au-Ti integration level remains difficult due to the lack of Au-Ti interfacial interaction. To address this issue, an Au-Ti integrated catalyst with a zeolite encapsulation structure was first proposed herein via in situ solvent-free synthesis, exploiting tannic acid as functional agent to anchor the bifunctional components. The as-prepared [email protected] catalyst features highly dispersed and integrated Au-Ti active sites, as mutually confirmed by HR-TEM, ICP and UV-vis. Thus, the Au-Ti interfacial interaction is enhanced to regulate the Ti-O-Si micro-environment, thus improving the electronic-positivity of framework Ti to stabilize the active species. Such crucial regulation effects were stepwise elucidated by mutually complementary characterizations including X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), adsorption infrared spectra (IR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray near edge structure (XANES) and density functional theory (DFT) simulations. As anticipated, the integrated catalyst [email protected] exhibits a concomitant increment in PO selectivity (90.2%) and H2 efficiency (26.7%). The methodology and insights stated herein could guide the rational optimization of Au-Ti catalysts and help unravel the role of tannic acid assisted strategies for various integrated catalyst preparations.

An Ultrahighly Pressure Sensitive Electronic Fish Skin for Underwater Wave Sensing

Underwater flexible sensors have a future for wide application, which is promising for attaching them to underwater creatures to monitor vital signals and biomechanical analysis of their motion and perceive tiny environmental disturbances. However, the pressure waves induced by biological swimming are extremely weak and susceptible to undercurrents, making them difficult to sense. Here, we report an ultrahighly sensitive biomimetic electronic fish skin designed by embedding an artificial pseudocapacitive-based hair cell into a simulated canal neuromast encapsulation structure, in which the artificial hair cell, as the key sensitive unit, is assembled from hybrid film electrodes and polyurethane-acidic electrolyte foam. Such a film is prepared by inter-cross-linking MXene and holey reduced graphene oxide with the assistance of l-cysteine, effectively increasing the interfacial capacitance and alleviating the oxidation issues of MXene. Meanwhile, the acidic foam with high porosity shows great compressibility to adapt to a high-pressure underwater environment. Consequently, the device exhibits ultrahighly sensitivity (maximum sensitivity ∼173688 kPa-1) over a wide range of depths (0-100 m) and remains stable after 10000 repeated tests. As an example case, the device is integrated as a motion monitoring system to identify the minor disturbances triggered by instantaneous postural changes of fish. The electronic fish skin is expected to demonstrate enormous potentials in flow field monitoring, ocean current detecting, and even seismic waves warning.

Electrical Properties of Silicone Gel for WBG-Based Power Module Packaging at High Temperatures

Trends toward high power density designs and emerging wide bandgap (WBG)-based semiconductors will lead to a severe temperature rise in power electronic modules. In this regard, the insulation performance of silicone gel used for power module packaging deteriorates at high temperatures and frequencies is a concern and has not been well studied. This study focuses on the electrical properties of silicone gel at high temperatures, including its dielectric properties, volume resistivity, and breakdown strength. A Cole-Cole model was used to describe the dielectric response process. In particular, the dielectric loss density under PWM voltage was calculated, and the temperature rise of the encapsulation structure caused by the dielectric loss was observed. It was found that the high-frequency dielectric constant at 200°C decreases by 24% compared to room temperature; when the temperature is raised to 180°C, the volume resistivity drops by three orders of magnitude, and the 50 Hz AC and 10 kHz unipolar square wave breakdown strength of silicone gel is reduced by 50% and 42% compared with those at room temperature. The dielectric loss under PWM voltage increases by four orders of magnitude as the temperature increases up to 200°C but does not lead to a significant temperature rise in the encapsulation structure.

Insights into the Conductive Network of Electrochemical Exfoliation with Graphite Powder as Starting Raw Material for Graphene Production.

Electrochemical exfoliation starting with graphite powder as the raw material for graphene production shows superiority in cost effectiveness over the popular bulk graphite. However, the crucial conductive network inside the graphite powder electrode along with its formation and influence mechanisms remains blank. Here, an adjustable-pressure graphite powder electrode with a sandwich structure was designed for this. Appropriate encapsulation pressure is necessary and conducive to constructing a continuous and stable conductive network, but overloaded encapsulation pressure is detrimental to the exfoliation and graphene quality. With an initial encapsulation pressure (IEP) of 4 kPa, the graphite powders expand rapidly to a final stable expansion pressure of 49 kPa with a final graphene yield of 46.3%, where 84% of the graphene sheets are less than 4 layers with ID/IG values between 0.22 and 1.24. Increasing the IEP to 52 kPa, the expansion pressure increases to 73 kPa, but the graphene yield decreases to 39.3% with a worse graphene quality including higher layers and ID/IG values of 1.68-2.13. In addition, small-size graphite powders are not suitable for the electrochemical exfoliation. With the particle size decreasing from 50 to 325 mesh, the graphene yield decreases almost linearly from 46.3% to 5.5%. Conductive network and electrolyte migration synergize and constrain each other, codetermining the electrochemical exfoliation. Within an encapsulated structure, the electrochemical exfoliation of the graphite powder electrode proceeds from the outside to the inside. The insights revealed here will provide direction for further development of electrochemical exfoliation of graphite powder to produce graphene.

Engineering Telodendrimer Nanocarriers for Monomeric Amphotericin B Delivery

Systemic fungal infections are an increasingly prevalent health problem. Amphotericin B (AmB), a hydrophobic polyene antibiotic, remains the drug of choice for life-threatening invasive fungal infections. However, it has dose-limiting side effects, including nephrotoxicity. The efficacy and toxicity of AmB are directly related to its aggregation state. Here, we report the preparation of a series of telodendrimer (TD) nanocarriers with the freely engineered core structures for AmB encapsulation to fine-tune AmB aggregation status. The reduced aggregation status correlates well with the optimized antifungal activity, attenuated hemolytic properties, and reduced cytotoxicity to mammalian cells. The optimized TD nanocarrier for monomeric AmB encapsulation significantly increases the therapeutic index, reduces the in vivo toxicity, and enhances antifungal effects in mouse models with Candida albicans infection in comparison to two common clinical formulations, i.e., Fungizone and AmBisome.