Improving the Lifetime of CsPbBr3 Perovskite in Water Using Self-Healing and Transparent Elastic Polymer Matrix.

This study developed a simple and efficient strategy to stabilize inorganic halide perovskite CsPbX3 at high relative humidity by embedding it into the matrix with elastic and self-healing features. The polymer matrix has a naturally hydrophobic characteristic of n-butyl acrylate segment (n-BA) and cross-linkable and healable moiety from N-(hydroxymethyl) acrylamide segment (NMA). It was chosen due to the provisions of both a surrounding protective layer for inorganic perovskite and elastic, as well as healing ability to the whole organic-inorganic composite. This fabricated CsPbBr3/PBA-co-PNMA composite was demonstrated to stably persist against the suffering from hydrolysis of perovskites when exposed to a high moisture environment. The PL intensity of the composite after crosslinking was found to be relatively stable after 30 days of exposure to air. Upon water immersion, the PL intensity of composite only showed a decrease of 32% after the first 6 h, then remained stable for 6 h afterward. Furthermore, this fabricated composite was not only flexible and relatively transparent but also exhibited excellent self-healing capability in ambient conditions (T = 25°C), in which the self-healing efficiency after 24 h was above 40%. The tensile strength and stretching ability of 5 wt% perovskite content in the random copolymer were observed to be 3.8 MPa and 553.5% respectively. Overall, flexible and self-healing properties combining with high luminescence characteristics are very promising materials for next-generation soft optical devices.

To develop a novel animal model of myocardial infarction: A research imperative.

Although great progress has been made in therapeutic interventions for coronary artery disease (CAD), it is still the deadliest disease in the world. Currently animals that are similar to human beings in their cardiovascular pathophysiology are being used to explore the pathogenesis and therapy of CAD. There have been a series of developments in creating CAD animal models using mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, and pigs, but unfortunately there is still no acceptable model for human CAD. The ideal CAD animal model should satisfy several conditions as follows. First of all, it should have a pathophysiological process for CAD that is similar to humans. Second, it should be useable for assessing drug efficacy. The last and most important condition is that the model can be used to duplicate clinical therapeutic skills. The limitations of current methods for making animal models have meant that these models not only do not duplicate the actual pathogenesis, but also cannot be used to simulate clinical therapy, and do not support scientific evaluation of drug efficacy. Therefore, the development of a fit-for-purpose animal model for CAD is imperative for future research. Such a development will lead to rapid progress and greater efficiency in CAD research. This paper summarizes the present situation in the field of CAD animal models, and puts forwards ideas for developing a novel animal model of myocardial infarction.