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Upconversion (UC) nanostructures, which can upconvert near-infrared (NIR) light with low energy to visible or UV light with higher energy, are investigated for theranostic applications. The surface of lanthanide (Ln)-doped UC nanostructures can be modified with different functional groups and bioconjugated with biomolecules for therapeutic systems. On the other hand, organic molecular-based UC nanostructures, by using the triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) UC mechanism, have high UC quantum yields and do not require high excitation power. In this review, the major UC mechanisms in different nanostructures have been introduced, including the Ln-doped UC mechanism and the TTA UC mechanism. The design and fabrication of Ln-doped UC nanostructures and TTA UC-based UC nanostructures for theranostic applications have been reviewed and discussed. In addition, the current progress in the application of UC nanostructures for diagnosis and therapy has been summarized, including tumor-targeted bioimaging and chemotherapy, image-guided diagnosis and phototherapy, NIR-triggered controlled drug releasing and bioimaging. We also provide insight into the development of emerging UC nanostructures in the field of theranostics.

Food packaging plays a vital role in protecting food products from environmental damage and preventing contamination from microorganisms. Conventional food packaging made of plastics produced from unrenewable fossil resources is hard to degrade and poses a negative impact on environmental sustainability. Natural biopolymers are attracting interest for reducing environmental problems to achieve a sustainable society, because of their abundance, biocompatibility, biodegradability, chemical stability, and non-toxicity. Active packaging systems composed of these biopolymers and biopolymer-based composites go beyond simply acting as a barrier to maintain food quality. This review provides a comprehensive overview of natural biopolymer materials used as matrices for food packaging. The antioxidant, water barrier, and oxygen barrier properties of these composites are compared and discussed. Furthermore, biopolymer-based composites integrated with antimicrobial agents—such as inorganic nanostructures and natural products—are reviewed, and the related mechanisms are discussed in terms of antimicrobial function. In summary, composites used for active food packaging systems can inhibit microbial growth and maintain food quality.

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Silicone hydrogels coated with metallic nanostructures have attracted extensive attention because of their versatile applications in biomedical devices. However, few studies have been reported for characterizing the mechanical behavior of silicone hydrogel under biaxial tensile stresses. In addition, compared to most chemical coating processes, the deposition of nanostructures on silicone hydrogel by using a laser-assisted process can avoid chemical impurities and additional sterilization processes. Herein, a laser-assisted process is used for producing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) modified silver (Ag) nanoparticles (Ag-PVP NPs), which are further deposited on silicone hydrogel. In the uniaxial mechanical test, the value of Young's modulus of Ag-PVP NP coated silicone hydrogels is increased as compared to that of silicone hydrogel. The energy absorption of silicone hydrogel and Ag-PVP NP coated silicone hydrogel measured by the uniaxial mechanical test is 15.137 ± 0.412 and 22.014 ± 0.186 MJ/m3, respectively. Furthermore, the biaxial test is applied to study the mechanical properties of silicone hydrogel coated with Ag-PVP NPs. Meanwhile, a constitutive model was applied to further understand the mechanical behavior of silicone hydrogel coated with Ag-PVP NPs. The result indicates that silicone hydrogel coated with Ag-PVP NPs shows a pseudo-elastic nonlinear behavior which is similar to collagen-based tissue substitutes.