P-n junctions based on vertically stacked van der Waals (vdW) materials have attracted a great deal of attention and may open up unforeseen opportunities in electronics and optoelectronics. However, due to the lack of intrinsic p-type vdW materials, most previous studies generally adopted electrical gating, special electrode contacts, or chemical doping methods to realize p-n vdW junctions. GaTe is an intrinsic p-type vdW material with a relatively high charge density, and it has a direct band gap that is independent of thickness. Here, we report the construction of ultrathin and tunable p-GaTe/n-MoS2 vdW heterostructure with high photovoltaic and photodetecting performance. The rectification ratio, external quantum efficiency, and photoresponsivity are as high as 4 × 10(5), 61.68%, and 21.83 AW(-1), respectively. In particular, the detectivity is up to 8.4 × 10(13) Jones, which is even higher than commercial Si, InGaAs photodetectors. This study demonstrates the promising potential of p-GaTe/n-MoS2 heterostructures for next-generation electronic and optoelectronic devices.

The application of blood plasma for soft tissue wound healing is receiving much more attention recently. Exosomes are critical paracrine mediators that can be obtained from biological fluids including plasma and be able to induce regenerative effects by transferring bioactive molecules such as microRNAs (miRNAs). This study aimed to investigate the effects of exosomes from human umbilical cord blood plasma (UCB-Exos) on wound healing and to elucidate the underlying mechanism.Methods: UCB-Exos were isolated by ultracentrifugation and subcutaneously injected into full-thickness skin wounds in mice. The efficacy of UCB-Exos on wound healing was evaluated by measuring wound closure rates, histological analysis and immunofluorescence examinations. In vitro, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis was performed to detect the expression levels of a class of miRNAs that have positive roles in regulating wound healing. The scratch wound assay, transwell assay and cell counting kit-8 analysis were conducted to assess the effects of UCB-Exos on migration and proliferation of human skin fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Tube formation assay was carried out to test the impact of UCB-Exos on angiogenic tube formation ability of endothelial cells. Meanwhile, by using specific RNA inhibitors or siRNAs, the roles of the candidate miRNA and its target genes in UCB-Exos-induced regulation of function of fibroblasts and endothelial cells were assessed.Results: The local transplantation of UCB-Exos into mouse skin wounds resulted in accelerated re-epithelialization, reduced scar widths, and enhanced angiogenesis. In vitro, UCB-Exos could promote the proliferation and migration of fibroblasts, and enhance the angiogenic activities of endothelial cells. Notably, miR-21-3p was found to be highly enriched in UCB-Exos and served as a critical mediator in UCB-Exos -induced regulatory effects through inhibition of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and sprouty homolog 1 (SPRY1).Conclusion: Our results suggest that UCB-Exos are important effectors of plasma activity and can be used as a novel promising strategy for soft tissue wound healing.

The exponentially growing works on 2D materials have resulted in both high scientific interest and huge potential applications in nanocatalysis, optoelectronics, and spintronics. Of especial note is that the newly emerged and promising family of metal phosphorus trichalcogenides (MPX 3 ) contains semiconductors, metals, and insulators with intriguing layered structures and architectures. The bandgaps of the members in this family range from 1.3 to 3.5 eV, significantly enriching the application of 2D materials in the broad wavelength spectrum. In this review, emphasizing their remarkable structural, physicochemical, and magnetic properties, as well as the numerous applications in various fields, the innovative progress on layered MPX 3 crystals is summarized. Different from other layered materials, these crystals will advance a fascinating frontier in magnetism and spintronic devices with their especially featured atomic layered nanosheets. Thus, their crystal and electronic structures, along with some related researches in magnetism, are discussed in detail. The assortments of growth methods are then summarized. Considering their potential applications, the prominent utilization of these 2D MPX 3 nanoscrystals in catalysis, batteries, and optoelectronics is also discussed. Finally, the outlook of these kinds of layered nanomaterials is provided. Metal Phosphorus Trichalcogenidesions. Friedel [17] and Ferrand [18,19] discovered them in the late 1800s. Based on the interesting structure of these materials, significant research works were reported in the early 2000s. As expected, 2D MPX 3 phases share most of the abovementioned specific properties of 2D TMDs. According to the theoretical and experimental results, MPX 3 compounds are the most sought functional materials for their intermediate bandgaps ranging from 1.3 to 3.5 eV, [20,21] indicating their enhanced light absorption efficiency as compared to the TMD materials. In addition, their unusual intercalation-substitution or intercalation-reduction behavior as well as the incipient ionic conductivity promote their usage in Li-ion batteries, [22,23] gas storage, [24] and photo-electrochemical reactions. [25] Unlike TMDs, several MPX 3 materials show intrinsic anti-ferromagnetism below the Neel temperatures of 78 K for MnPS 3 , 116 K for FePS 3 , and 155 K for NiPS 3 . [26,27] Recently, Li et al. [28] predicted that transformation from the anti-ferromagnetism to ferromagnetism for exfoliated MnPSe 3 nanosheet will be reduced by carrier doping. And the Monte Carlo simulation reveals the Curie temperature of the doped MnPSe 3 nanosheets can reach 206 K, rendering it with potential for utilizations in spintronic devices at high temperature. Therefore, the members in the MPX 3 family have the abovementioned properties along with structural flexibility stemming from their van der Waals nature; thus, it is reasonable to assume that they will contribute to the next major frontier in 2D vdW layered materials.Herein, we emphasize on reviewing the impressive recent progress...

Chronic non-healing wounds represent one of the most common complications of diabetes and need advanced treatment strategies. Exosomes are key mediators of cell paracrine action and can be directly utilized as therapeutic agents for tissue repair and regeneration. Here, we explored the effects of exosomes from human urine-derived stem cells (USC-Exos) on diabetic wound healing and the underlying mechanism.Methods: USCs were characterized by flow cytometry and multipotent differentiation potential analyses. USC-Exos were isolated from the conditioned media of USCs and identified by transmission electron microscopy and flow cytometry. A series of functional assays in vitro were performed to assess the effects of USC-Exos on the activities of wound healing-related cells. Protein profiles in USC-Exos and USCs were examined to screen the candidate molecules that mediate USC-Exos function. The effects of USC-Exos on wound healing in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice were tested by measuring wound closure rates, histological and immunofluorescence analyses. Meanwhile, the role of the candidate protein in USC-Exos-induced regulation of angiogenic activities of endothelial cells and diabetic wound healing was assessed.Results: USCs were positive for CD29, CD44, CD73 and CD90, but negative for CD34 and CD45. USCs were able to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes and chondrocytes. USC-Exos exhibited a cup- or sphere-shaped morphology with a mean diameter of 51.57 ± 2.93 nm and positive for CD63 and TSG101. USC-Exos could augment the functional properties of wound healing-related cells including the angiogenic activities of endothelial cells. USC-Exos were enriched in the proteins that are involved in regulation of wound healing-related biological processes. Particularly, a pro-angiogenic protein called deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1) was highly expressed in USC-Exos. Further functional assays showed that DMBT1 protein was required for USC-Exos-induced promotion of angiogenic responses of cultured endothelial cells, as well as angiogenesis and wound healing in diabetic mice.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that USC-Exos may represent a promising strategy for diabetic soft tissue wound healing by promoting angiogenesis via transferring DMBT1 protein.

Owing to the excellent potential for fundamental research and technical applications in optoelectronic devices and catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), transition metal dichalcogenides have recently attracted much attention. Transition metal sulfide nanostructures have been reported and demonstrated promising application in transistors and photodetectors. However, the growth of transition metal selenide nanostructures and their applications has still been a challenge. In this work, we successfully synthesized high-quality WSe2 nanotubes on carbon fibers via selenization. More importantly, through optimizing the growth conditions, ternary WS2(1–x)Se2x nanotubes were synthesized and the composition of S and Se can be systematically controlled. The as-grown WS2(1–x)Se2x nanotubes on carbon fibers, assembled as a working electrode, revealing low overpotential, high exchange current density, and small series resistance, exhibit excellent electrocatalytic properties for hydrogen evolution reaction. Our study provides the experimental groundwork for the synthesis of low-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides and may open up exciting opportunities for their application in electronics, photoelectronics, and catalytic electrochemical reactions.