No abstract

The cancer drug delivery process involves a series of biological barriers, which require the nanomedicine to exhibit different, even opposite properties for high therapeutic efficacy. The prevailing design philosophy, i.e., integrating these properties within one nanomedicine via on‐demand property transitions such as PEGylation/dePEGylation, complicates nanomedicines’ composition and thus impedes clinical translation. Here, polyzwitterionic micelles of poly(tertiary amine‐oxide)‐ block ‐poly( ε ‐caprolactone) (PTAO‐PCL) amphiphiles that enable all the required functions are presented. The zwitterionic nature and unique cell membrane affinity confer the PTAO micelles long blood circulation, efficient tumor accumulation and penetration, and fast cellular internalization. The mitochondrial targeting capability allows drug delivery into the mitochondria to induce mitochondrial dysfunction and overcome tumor multidrug resistance. As a result, the PTAO/drug micelles exhibit potent anticancer efficacy. This simple yet multipotent carrier system holds great promise as a generic platform for potential clinical translation.

The widespread utilization of cellulose nanofibril (CNF) has been significantly hindered by its inherent flammability. To explore the potential of using CNF aerogel as sustainable material with good fire‐retardant and thermal‐insulating properties, CNF aerogel is modified by in situ supramolecular assembly of melamine (MEL) and phytic acid (PA). This strategy addresses CNF's flammability and avoids the environment issues associated with the incorporation of traditional fire‐retardant. The modified aerogel exhibits highly porous honeycomb structure with low density and good mechanical properties. After modification with MEL–PA, the aerogel exhibits highly improved shape integrity during burning, higher thermal stability, and favorable combustion behavior for fire retardancy. The heat transfer of the modified aerogel is well hindered, which demonstrated effective thermal insulation performance. In view of the excellent thermal and fire‐retardant properties, the MEL–PA/CNF composite aerogel can be a potential fire‐retardant and thermal‐insulating material for applications such as clothing, building, and electronic devices.