In(OH)₃ nanomaterials with different morphologies or hierarchical structures, such as nanoparticles, monodispersed hierarchical nanocubes and nanospheres, have been successfully synthesized via a ligand-assisted aqueous process. The shape and size of these as-prepared architectures can be tuned effectively by controlling the reaction conditions, such as the molar ratio of ligand/In³⁺ and different ligands. Further studies reveal that both Na₃cit and urea are necessary for the formation of monodispersed hierarchical nanospheres and nanocubes. Furthermore, In₂O₃ nanoparticles and monodispersed hierarchical nanocubes and nanospheres with well-defined morphologies of the precursors can be also obtained by annealing the corresponding In(OH)₃ samples. The gas sensing properties of the as-prepared In₂O₃ samples demonstrate that hierarchical In₂O₃ architectures exhibit a superior response to ethanol gas, and the hierarchical In₂O₃ nanocubes have excellent selectivity and sensitivity. Further more, XPS spectra and N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms achieve a deeper understanding of the effects of the final product morphologies on their gas sensing properties.

The anticancer treatment is largely affected by the microenvironment of the tumors, which not only resists the tumors to the thermo/chemo-therapy, but also promotes their growth and invasion. In this work, the angiogenesis factor is balanced by combining with the breathing hyperoxygen, for regulating the tumor microenvironment and also for relieving hypoxia and high tissue interstitial pressure, which promote drug delivery to tumor tissues by increasing the in vivo perfusion and reversing the immunosuppressive tumor. In addition, the designed multifunctional nanoparticles have a great potential for applications to the tumor dual-mode imaging including magnetic resonance (MR) and photoacoustic (PA) imaging. This work proposes a promising strategy to enhance the thermo/chemo-therapy efficacy by remodeling the tumor microenvironment, which would provide an alternative to prolong the lifetime of tumor patients. Graphical Abstract

FC-77, a kind of perfluorocarbon compound, was inclusion-complexed with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) in an attempt to improve their stability and bioavailability. Analyses by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) proved the formation of the inclusion complex between FC-77 and β-CD, and high performance ion chromatography revealed that FC-77 content in the inclusion complex is 9.77% at 5 : 1 molar ratio of β-CD and FC-77. Furthermore, the inclusion constant and capacity were evaluated by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and double reciprocal method. The results show that the nanoparticle of 1 : 1 FC-77/β-CD inclusion complex with an inclusion constant of 242.7 M⁻¹ was formed. Furthermore, ultrasound imaging experiments were performed to demonstrate biomedical application of FC-77/β-CD inclusion complex, which indicated that FC-77/β-CD inclusion complex could be employed as an ultrasound contrast agent for increasing ultrasound contrast.

A universal platform with Mn doping and hyaluronic acid (HA) modification, based on mesoporous silica (mSiO₂), was designed and used as a basic multifunctional material with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Furthermore, we added flexible functions through the addition of functional molecules. Specially, two typical compounds, hydrophobic perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB) and hydrophilic doxorubicin (DOX), were loaded into the channels to obtain PFOB@Mn@mSiO₂@HA (PMMH) or DOX@Mn@mSiO₂@HA (DMMH) nanoparticles for dual-mode imaging or imaging and therapy, respectively. The PMMH and DMMH nanoparticles were highly targeted to the lymph system in vitro and in vivo. MR and ultrasound imaging of PMMH nanoparticles were performed in the lymph system, while MR imaging and chemotherapy of DMMH nanoparticles was used to detect cancer. These results showed that both PMMH and DMMH nanoparticles can be designed with high lymph targeting efficiency. PMMH nanoparticles are a dual-mode contrast agent for both ultrasound and MR imaging for the lymph system and DMMH nanoparticles are powerful agents for the combined diagnosis and therapy of cancer in vivo.