The photocatalytic activity of a material is contingent on efficient light absorption, fast electron excitation, and control of the recombination rate by effective charge separation. Inorganic materials manufactured in unique shapes via controlled synthesis can exhibit significantly improved properties. Here, n-type Bi₂S₃ nanorods (with good optical activity) were wrapped with two-dimensional (2D) p-type MoS₂ sheets, which have good light absorption properties. The designed p-n junction Bi₂S₃/MoS₂ composite exhibited enhanced light absorption over the entire wavelength range, and higher carbon dioxide adsorption capacity and photocurrent density compared to the single catalysts. Consequently, the activity of the 1Bi₂S₃/1MoS₂ composite catalyst for the photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide was more than 20 times higher than that of the single catalysts under visible-light irradiation at ≤400 nm, with partial selectivity for CO conversion. This is attributed to the p-n heterojunction Bi₂S₃/MoS₂ composite designed in this study, the high light absorption of n-Bi₂S₃, accelerated electron excitation, and the electron affinity of the 2D sheet-p-MoS₂, which quickly absorbed excited electrons, resulting in effective charge separation. This ultimately improved the catalytic performance by continuously supplying catalytically active sites to the heterojunction interfaces.

Efficient delivery of functional factors into target cells remains challenging. Although extracellular vesicles (EVs) are considered to be potential therapeutic delivery vehicles, a variety of efficient therapeutic delivery tools are still needed for cancer cells. Herein, we demonstrated a promising method to deliver EVs to refractory cancer cells via a small molecule-induced trafficking system. We generated an inducible interaction system between the FKBP12-rapamycin-binding protein (FRB) domain and FK506 binding protein (FKBP) to deliver specific cargo to EVs. CD9, an abundant protein in EVs, was fused to the FRB domain, and the specific cargo to be delivered was linked to FKBP. Rapamycin recruited validated cargo to EVs through protein-protein interactions (PPIs), such as the FKBP-FRB interaction system. The released EVs were functionally delivered to refractory cancer cells, triple negative breast cancer cells, non-small cell lung cancer cells, and pancreatic cancer cells. Therefore, the functional delivery system driven by reversible PPIs may provide new possibilities for a therapeutic cure against refractory cancers.

This study introduces NiWO₄ as a main photocatalyst, where the Ni component promotes methanation to generate a WO₃-based catalyst, as a new type of catalyst that promotes the photoreduction of carbon dioxide by slowing the recombination of electrons and holes. The bandgap of NiWO₄ is 2.74 eV, which was expected to improve the initial activity for the photoreduction of carbon dioxide. However, fast recombination between the holes and electrons was also expected. To overcome this problem, attempts were made to induce structural defects by partially replacing the Ni²⁺ ions in NiWO₄ with Li⁺. The resulting CO₂ conversion reaction was greatly enhanced with the Ni_1-xLi_2xWO₄ catalysts containing Li⁺, compared to that of the pure NiWO₄ catalysts. Notably, the total amount of CO and CH₄ produced with the Ni_0.8Li_0.4WO₄ catalyst was 411.6 nmol g⁻¹. It is believed that the insertion of Li⁺ ions into the NiWO₄ skeleton results in lattice defects due to charge and structural imbalance, which play a role in the capture of CO₂ gas or excited electrons, thereby inhibiting recombination between the electrons and holes in the Ni_1-xLi_2xWO₄ particles.