Attributing to the unique AIE properties, real-time intracellular tracking of siRNA delivery and long-term tumor tissue imaging were successfully realized. What's more, an anticancer efficacy up to 75% was achieved in small animal experiments without obvious toxicity. It presented excellent efficiencies in siRNA delivery, target gene knockdown, and cancer cell inhibition in vitro. Herein, by taking advantage of aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen), we developed a novel class of nanocarriers with regulable and uniform morphology. Exploration of novel vehicles for small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery with high efficiency, low cytotoxicity, and self-monitoring functionality is persistently pursued. RNA interference (RNAi) is demonstrated as one of the most powerful technologies for sequence-specific suppression of genes in disease therapeutics.
Matsumi highlights this significant application of their study by saying “our methodology offers an effective avenue for the development of high-performance anode materials for energy-efficient lithium-ion batteries, which is an essential building block towards creating a sustainable and low-carbon tomorrow. This is particularly important for producing low-cost electric vehicles, which can appreciably reduce carbon emissions. The upscaling ability of this synthesis process can act to help bridge the gap between laboratory research and industrial applications in the field of energy storage. Indeed, these materials have opened up new pathways for the application of silicon in next-generation secondary lithium-ion batteries. The results strongly indicate the superiority of the new SiMP-based active anode materials. In addition to the superlative energy storage abilities, the material also exhibited great mechanical stability throughout the testing process. The superior electrochemical properties of this new material were further established by the 99.4% retention of energy capacity even after 775 cycles of charging and discharging. This screening showed that the material has great lithium diffusion ability, reduced internal resistance, and overall volumetric expansion. The prepared materials were then used in an anodic half-cell configuration to test their ability to reversibly store lithium under different potential windows. The team designed a core-shell type material where the core was made up of SiMP coated in a layer of carbon and then the silicon oxycarbide black glasses were grafted on as the shell layer. Matsumi when asked about the rationale behind the study. Our material is not only high performing but also conducive to scale opportunities,” explained Prof. SiMPs are the most appropriate, low-cost, and easily available alternatives, especially when combined with materials that have exceptional structural properties, such as silicon oxycarbide black glasses. “Silicon nanoparticles might provide increased effective surface area but that comes with its own drawbacks like increased consumption of electrolyte as well as poor initial coulombic efficiency after a few cycles of charging and discharging. Rajashekar Badam, a former Senior Lecturer at JAIST.
The research team included Ravi Nandan, a research fellow, Noriyuki Takamori, a doctoral course student, Koichi Higashimine, a technical specialist, and Dr. In their study published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A on 18 July 2022, the team reported a holistic approach to synthesizing novel highly resilient SiMPs consisting of black glasses (silicon oxycarbide) grafted silicon as anode material for lithium-ion batteries. Noriyoshi Matsumi propose a solution to these issues plaguing silicon micronparticles (SiMP). Now, a group of researchers from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) led by Prof.