Recently, a combination of chemotherapy with photothermal therapy (PTT) has received great attention for the construction of a near infrared (NIR)-controlled drug-delivery system for synergistic treatment of cancer, ultimately resulting in the enhancement of the therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs. Here, we developed a novel system for synergistic cancer therapy based on bismuth sulfide (Bi₂S₃) nanoparticle-decorated graphene functionalized with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (named PVP-rGO/Bi₂S₃). The as-prepared PVP-rGO/Bi₂S₃ nanocomposite has a high storage capacity for anticancer drugs (∼500% for doxorubicin (DOX)) and simultaneously has perfect photothermal conversion efficiency in the NIR region. The results of the in vitro accumulative drug release test manifests that the PVP-rGO/Bi₂S₃ nanocomposite could be applied as a dual pH- and NIR-responsive nanotherapeutic carrier for the controlled release of DOX from DOX-loaded PVP-rGO/Bi₂S₃ (PVP-rGO/Bi₂S₃@DOX). Moreover, the treatment of both cancer cells (including Hela, MCF-7, HepG2 and BEL-7402 cells) and BEL-7402 tumor-bearing mice with the PVP-rGO/Bi₂S₃@DOX complex followed by NIR laser irradiation produces significantly greater inhibition of cancer cell growth than the treatment with NIR irradiation alone or DOX alone, exhibiting a synergistic antitumor effect. Furthermore, due to the obvious NIR and X-ray absorption ability, the PVP-rGO/Bi₂S₃ nanocomposite could be employed as a dual-modal contrast agent for both photoacoustic tomography and X-ray computed tomography imaging. In addition to the good biocompatibility, the PVP-rGO/Bi₂S₃ nanocomposite paves a potential way for the fabrication of theranostic agents for dual-modal imaging-guided chemo-photothermal combined cancer therapy.

Supramolecular polymers have the combined properties of both traditional polymers and supramolecules. They are generally formed via the self-assembled polymerization driven noncovalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, π–π stacking, metal coordination, and host–guest interaction between building blocks. The driving force for the formation of supramolecular polymers has changed from single noncovalent interactions to multiple noncovalent interactions. The advantages of multiple noncovalent interactions driving the formation of supramolecular polymers are reviewed from four aspects: polymer construction, the enhancement of bonding strength, properties and topological structure. The applications are illustrated with detailed examples including self-healing, drug delivery, bioimaging, biomedicine, environmental sensing and electronics.

To satisfy the demand for multiple performances in the electromagnetic field, multi-interfaced graphene aerogel (GA)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites with an integral three-dimensional (3-D) structure were constructed. In the microwave frequency range (1 MHz–1 GHz), the GA/PDMS composites exhibited negative permittivity corresponding to the plasmonic state at low frequencies which resulted from efficacious multiple interfaces in the GA/PDMS composites. Importantly, the negative permittivity could be adjusted by changing the testing pressure and GA amount. Multiple interfaces belonging to the GA were beneficial to achieve microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. A much wider microwave absorption bandwidth, i.e., 9.15 GHz, was observed and was increased by more than 2–3 times compared with similar research, together with a total shielding effectiveness (SET) of over 60 dB from 2 to 18 GHz. The multi-functional GA/PDMS composites have the potential to be an effective electromagnetic protection material.