Research on high performance electrode materials is significant for further development of sodium ion batteries (NIBs). The Sb2O4 anode can be employed as a promising anode material for NIBs owing to its high theoretical capacity of 1227 mAh·g–1. In this paper, we report the Sb2O4@rGO nanocomposite anode for NIBs which exhibit good cyclability and rate capability due to the formation of wrinkled rGO nanosheets during cycling. Well-formed nanowrinkles act as a template for anchoring Sb2O4 particles during cycling and effectively alleviate the strain due to the volume expansion. The improved electrochemical performance is attributed to the shorter Na+ ion diffusion path length from the small nanoparticles and good electrons as well as ion transport from the intimate contact between the active Sb2O4 particles and rGO matrix. At a current density of 0.1 A·g–1, it retains the 94.2% (890 mAh·g–1) of initial reversible capacity after 100 cycles. Over prolonged cycling (after 500 cycles), the Sb2O4@rGO electrode still delivers a reversible capacity of 626 mAh·g–1 at a current density of 0.6 A·g–1. These significant results offer hope for the exploration of making high capacity anodes combined with a reduced graphene oxide matrix to alleviate the strain during cycling.

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Multi-stimuli responsive carrier systems, specifically targeting tumor cells are of high significance to improve the efficacy of cancer chemotherapy. In the present study, we have developed, characterized, and biologically evaluated magnetic casein-calcium ferrite hybrid biopolymeric carrier conjugated with biotin for targeted delivery of cinnamaldehyde to lung carcinoma. The dual stimuli-responsive carrier was successfully synthesized with small size, good stability, and high drug encapsulation efficiency. Natural drug cinnamaldehyde was encapsulated in the hybrid carrier, on which biotin was conjugated to facilitate selective cellular uptake. The prepared drug-carrier system exhibited pH-responsive drug release behavior with a higher release rate under acidic conditions, which can be effectively applied in targeted cancer chemotherapy. The superparamagnetic nature of calcium ferrite enabled magnetically-modulated drug delivery with faster drug release, reaching 85.5% within 4 h, in response to magnetic field stimulus. Kinetic modeling of drug release projected the diffusion-controlled release mechanism. Cell viability assay performed on L929 fibroblast and A549 lung cancer cells verified the biocompatibility and cytotoxicity of the developed formulation, respectively. The nanohybrid carrier significantly increased the anticancer potential of cinnamaldehyde with an 18-fold reduction in the IC 50 value, signifying the biotinfunctionalized protein-inorganic nanohybrid as an efficient multifunctional platform for targeted drug delivery.