In Situ Formation of Heterojunction in Composite Lithium Anode Facilitates Fast and Uniform Interfacial Ion Transport.

Lithium metal is a highly promising anode for next-generation high-energy-density rechargeable batteries. Nevertheless, its practical application faces challenges due to the uncontrolled lithium dendrites growth and infinite volumetric expansion during repetitive cycling. Herein, a composite lithium anode is designed by mechanically rolling and pressing a cerium oxide-coated carbon textile with lithium foil (Li@CeO2/CT). The in situ generated cerium dioxide (CeO2) and cerium trioxide (Ce2O3) form a heterojunction with a reduced lithium-ion migration barrier, facilitating the rapid lithium ions migration. Additionally, both CeO2 and Ce2O3 exhibit higher adsorbed energy with lithium, enabling faster and more distributed interfacial transport of lithium ions. Furthermore, the high specific surface area of 3D skeleton can effectively reduce local current density, and alleviate the lithium volumetric changes upon plating/stripping. Benefiting from this unique structure, the highly compact and uniform lithium deposition is constructed, allowing the Li@CeO2/CT symmetric cells to maintain a stable cycling for over 500 cycles at an exceptional high current density of 100 mA cm-2. When paired with LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 (NCM91) cathode, the cell achieves 74.3% capacity retention after 800 cycles at 1 C, and a remarkable capacity retention of 81.1% after 500 cycles even at a high rate of 4  C.

Si@Fe3O4/AC composite with interconnected carbon nano-ribbons network for high-performance lithium-ion battery anodes.

Si-based anode materials have a relatively high theoretical specific capacity and low operating voltage, greatly enhancing the energy density of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, their practical application is seriously hindered by the instability of active particles and anode electrodes caused by the huge swelling during cycling. How to maintain the stability of the charge transfer network and interface structure of Si particles is full of challenges. To address this issue, we have developed a novel Si@Fe3O4/AC/CNR anode by in-situ growing one-dimensional high elastic carbon nano-ribbons to wrap Si nanoparticles. This special structure can construct fast channels of electron transport and lithium ion diffusion, and stabilize the surface structure of Si nanoparticles during cycling. With these promising architectural features, the Si@Fe3O4/AC/CNR composite possesses a high specific capacity of 1279.4 mAh/g at 0.5 A/g, and a superior cycling life with 80 % capacity retention after 700 cycles. Even at a high current density of 20.0 A/g, the composite still delivers a capacity of 621.2 mAh/g. The facile synthetic approach and high performance of Si@Fe3O4/AC/CNR anodes provide practical insight into advanced anode materials with large volume expansion for high-energy-density LIBs.

Preparation of carbon-coated Fe2 O3 @Ti3 C2 Tx composites by mussel-like modifications as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries.

Fe2 O3 with high theoretical capacity (1007 mA h g-1 ) and low cost is a potential anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), but its practical application is restricted by its low electrical conductivity and large volume changes during lithiation/delithiation. To solve these problems, Fe2 O3 @Ti3 C2 Tx composites were synthesized by a mussel-like modification method, which relies on the self-polymerization of dopamine under mild conditions. During polymerization, the electronegative group (-OH) on dopamine can easily coordinate with Fe3+ ions as well as form hydrogen bonds with the -OH terminal group on the surface of Ti3 C2 Tx , which induces a uniform distribution of Fe2 O3 on the Ti3 C2 Tx surface and mitigates self-accumulation of MXene nanosheets. In addition, the polydopamine-derived carbon layer protects Ti3 C2 Tx from oxidation during the hydrothermal process, which can further improve the electrical conductivity of the composites and buffer the volume expansion and particle agglomeration of Fe2 O3 . As a result, Fe2 O3 @Ti3 C2 Tx anodes exhibit ~100 % capacity retention with almost no capacity loss at 0.5 A g-1 after 250 cycles, and a stable capacity of 430 mA h g-1 at 2 A g-1 after 500 cycles. The unique structural design of this work provides new ideas for the development of MXene-based composites in energy storage applications.

Quasi-dynamic study of electrochemical properties of O3-high-Ni ternary single-crystal cathode materials with mirror symmetry: a first-principles study.

A total of 16 O3-type high-Ni ternary crystal structures with mirror symmetry were constructed based on the relative locations of Ni, Co, and Mn in order to design high operating voltage and high-capacity cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Transition states, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, intercalation potentials, and (spin) electronic structures are computed and simulated based on first-principles calculations. The results show that the Li ion diffusion energy barrier, in the structure of the lowest energy counterpart a'aa', is only 0.9 eV. When charged to 75% state of charge (SOC), the Li layer spacing reaches a maximum under electrostatic attraction and Coulomb repulsion forces. The operating voltage and theoretical capacity are up to 4.79 V and 275 mA h g-1, respectively. High-spin Ni2+ participates in the reduction reaction as the main substance and is eventually oxidized to low-spin Ni4+. Intermediate-spin Co3+ also participates in the reduction reaction and is oxidized to low-spin Co4+, with charge compensation provided by O atoms. Mn does not participate in the redox reaction. This study is expected to enrich the library of high-nickel ternary cathode materials and provides a certain reference for the design of (ultra)high-nickel ternary cathode materials with excellent electrochemical properties.

Comparative studies of hexagonal boron phosphide/V2CS2 heterostructure and homogeneous bilayers as metal-ion battery anodes.

Heterostructures can not only maintain/avoid the desired characteristics/defects of their monolayers, but also have synergistic effects due to the contribution of an internal electric field from the heterostructure interlayer. Hexagonal boron phosphide (h-BP) and V2CS2 were constructed into heterostructure (h-BP/V2CS2) and homogeneous bilayers (Dh-BP and DV2CS2), which were studied comparatively for their storage performances as anodes for metal (Li/Na/Mg/Ca)-ion batteries (LIBs/NIBs/MIBs/CIBs) using first-principles. The h-BP/V2CS2 can adsorb five layers of Mg atoms while Dh-BP cannot adsorb any Mg atoms; heterostructures with a maximum adsorption concentration are stable at room temperature, while Dh-BP structures are unstable in the same cases, which make Dh-BP unsuitable as LIB/NIB/MIB/CIB anodes. h-BP/V2CS2 completely exceeds DV2CS2 in capacity, average OCV or interlayer barrier for LIBs/NIBs/MIBs/CIBs owing to its stronger internal electric field. In particular, for MIBs/NIBs, the capacity of heterostructure is 1219/732 mA h g-1, which is much higher than the 753/226 mA h g-1 of DV2CS2; the average OCV of heterostructure is 0.07/0.35 V, as low as half of that of DV2CS2. The excellent storage performance of the heterostructure in NIBs/MIBs makes it very worthy of attention due to the urgent need for NIBs/MIBs with high energy density.

Three-dimensional porous structured germanium anode materials for high-performance lithium-ion full-cells.

Germanium (Ge) has a high specific capacity when used as an alloying anode in lithium-ion batteries. However, a large volume of expansion that occurs during charging and discharging hampers its practical applications. In order to improve the stability of the alloying anode, a three-dimensional (3D) germanium/carbon porous composite was produced. In situ X-ray diffraction and electrochemical dilatometry are used to study the alloying electrode's structural evolution during cycling, revealing that the carbon matrix and the linked porosity structure provide a high reversible lithiation and delithiation, resulting in limited electrode volume expansion and high stability. Moreover, combined with a high nickel content cathode, i.e., LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2, the composite achieved a specific energy density of 396 W h kg-1 and stable cycling performance, which show potential for its application in lithium-ion full cells.

Rapid synthesis of polyimidazole functionalized MXene via microwave-irradiation assisted multi-component reaction and its iodine adsorption performance.

The adsorption applications of MXene-based adsorbents have intensively investigated recently. However, the performance of MXene-based adsorbents has been largely limited owing to their lack of functional groups and adsorptive sites. Therefore, surface functionalization of MXene is an important route to achieve better performance for environmental adsorption. Herein, polyionic liquid functionalized MXene (named as MXene-PIL) was prepared through a multi-component reaction and adsorptive removal of iodine by MXene-PIL was also evaluated. The successful generation of PIL on MXene was confirmed by a series of characterization measurements. Furthermore, the effects of contact time, iodine concentration, environmental temperature and other factors on the adsorption performance of MXene-PIL were investigated. Adsorption kinetic analysis including pseudo-first-order dynamic model, pseudo-second-order dynamic model and Weber-Morris model, adsorption thermodynamic analysis such as Langmuir and Freundlich models and Van't Hoff equation were used for further analysis the adsorption behavior of iodine by MXene-PIL. We demonstrated that the adsorption capacity could be as high as about 170 mg/g, which is obviously larger than the unmodified MXene and most of other reported adsorbents. Taken together, a simple strategy has been developed for in-situ generation of PIL on MXene and the resultant composites show potential application for adsorptive removal of iodine.

Construction of ionic liquid functionalized MXene with extremely high adsorption capacity towards iodine via the combination of mussel-inspired chemistry and Michael addition reaction.

In this work, a highly efficient adsorbent based on ionic liquid functionalized MXene has been fabricated through the combination of mussel-inspired chemistry and Michael addition reaction. The surface of MXene was first coated with polydopamine (PDA) through self-polymerization of dopamine and the amino groups were introduced on the surface of MXene simultaneously. After that, the ene bond-containing ionic liquid was further immobilized on the surface of MXene-PDA to obtain MXene-PDA-IL. As a concept, the adsorptive removal of iodine using MXene-PDA-IL was conducted and the effects of various factors on the adsorption behavior were examined. The experimental data were analyzed by intermittent adsorption experiments, the adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherm, adsorption thermodynamics, and cyclic adsorption experiments. We found that the adsorption procedure could reach equilibrium within 10 min after mixing adsorbent and iodine. The maximum adsorption capacity of MXene-PDA-IL towards iodine was as high as 695.4 mg g-1, which is greater than most of reported adsorbents. Considered the advantages of mussel-inspired chemistry for surface functionalization and the adsorption capacity of ionic liquids, the method could be used for construct a number of composites with potential for adsorption applications.

Fabrication of claviform fluorescent polymeric nanomaterials containing disulfide bond through an efficient and facile four-component Ugi reaction.

Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have attracted broad interest for preparation of functional nanomaterials especially for the synthesis of functional polymers. Herein, we utilized an "old" MCR, the four-component Ugi reaction, to synthesize disulfide bond containing poly(PEG-TPE-DTDPA) amphiphilic copolymers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature. This four-component Ugi reaction was carried out under rather mild reaction conditions, such as room temperature, no gas protection and absent of catalysts. The amphiphilic poly(PEG-TPE-DTDPA) copolymers with high number-average molecular weight (up to 86,440 Da) can self-assemble into claviform fluorescent polymeric nanoparticles (FPNs) in aqueous solution, and these water-dispersed nanoparticles exhibited strong emission, large Stokes shift (142 nm), low toxicity and remarkable ability in cellular imaging. Moreover, owing to the introduction of 3,3'-dithiodipropionic acid with disulfide bond, the resultant AIE-active poly(PEG-TPE-DTDPA) could display reduction-responsiveness and be utilized for synthesis of photothermal agents in-situ. Therefore, the AIE-active poly(PEG-TPE-DTDPA) could be promising for controlled intracellular delivery of biological activity molecules and fabrication of multifunctional AIE-active materials. Therefore, these novel AIE-active polymeric nanoparticles could be of great potential for various biomedical applications, such as biological imaging, stimuli-responsive drug delivery and theranostic applications.

The combination of Diels-Alder reaction and redox polymerization for preparation of functionalized CNTs for intracellular controlled drug delivery.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a novel type of one-dimensional carbon nanomaterials that have been widely utilized for biomedical applications such as drug delivery, cancer photothermal treatment owing to their high surface area and unique interaction with cell membranes. However, their biomedical applications are still impeded by some drawbacks, including poor water dispersibility, lack of functional groups and toxicity. Therefore, surface modification of CNTs to overcome these issues should be importance and of great interest. In this work, we reported for the first time that CNTs could be surface modification through the combination of Diels-Alder (D-A) reaction and redox polymerization, this strategy shows the advantages of mild reaction conditions, water tolerance, low temperature and hydroxyl-surfaced initiator. In this modification procedure, the hydroxyl groups were introduced on the surface of CNTs through the D-A reaction that was adopted for grafting the copolymers, which were initiated by the Ce(IV)/HNO3 redox system using the hydrophilic and biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) and carboxyl-rich acrylic acid (AA) as monomers. The final CNTs-OH-PAA@PEGMA composites were characterized by a series of characterization techniques. The drug loading and release results suggested that anticancer agent cis­platinum (CDDP) could be loaded on CNTs-OH-PAA@PEGMA composites through coordination with carboxyl groups and drug release behavior could be controlled by pH. More importantly, the cell viability results clearly demonstrated that CNTs-OH-PAA@PEGMA composites displayed low toxicity and the drug could be transported in cells and still maintain their therapeutic effects.

Highly efficient removal of iodine ions using MXene-PDA-Ag2Ox composites synthesized by mussel-inspired chemistry.

Herein a simple and novel approach has been developed for surface modification of delaminate MXene with nano-mixed silver oxide which combined with mussel-inspired chemistry. Surface modification with dopamine as a secondary reaction platform for loading nano-silver compounds for removal of iodine was achieved. The internal structure and morphology were characterized by SEM and TEM. The element content and distribution analysis of EDS and XPS proved that nano silver compounds were successfully supported and uniformly dispersed on the surface of MXene. Then the adsorption batch experiment was carried out, adsorption time, pH and other factors on the adsorption performance of the adsorbents were studied in details. By calculating the enthalpy change, Gibbs free energy and thermodynamic parameters, the adsorption reaction was found to be an exothermic process. The adsorption kinetics measured the maximum adsorption capacity of 80 mg/g and the removal efficiency is as high as 80% and the adsorption equilibrium time has also been improved. The adsorption kinetics were well fitted by pseudo first-order and second-order models. All the above results demonstrated that the composite from mussel-inspired chemistry has excellent adsorption properties towards iodine ions. This study not only deepens the research on the adsorption behavior of iodine adsorption, but also provides new research directions and experimental methods for pseudo-iodine adsorption.

Red aggregation-induced emission luminogen and Gd3+ codoped mesoporous silica nanoparticles as dual-mode probes for fluorescent and magnetic resonance imaging.

Fluorescence imaging and magnetic resonance imaging have been research hotspots for adjuvant therapy and diagnosis. However, traditional fluorescent probes or contrast agents possess insurmountable weaknesses. In this work, we reported the preparation of dual-mode probes based on mesoporous silica nanomaterials (MSNs), which were doped with an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) dye and Gd3+ through a direct sol-gel method. In this system, the obtained materials emitted strong red fluorescence, in which the maximum emission wavelength was located at 669 nm, and could be applied as effective fluorescence probes for fluorescence microscopy imaging. Furthermore, the introduction of Gd3+ made the nanoparticles effective contrast agents when applied in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging because they could improve the contrast of MR imaging. The excellent biocompatibility of these nanoparticles, as demonstrated via a typical CCK-8 assay, and their performance in fluorescence cell imaging and MR imaging shows their potential for applications in biomedical imaging.

Click multiwalled carbon nanotubes: A novel method for preparation of carboxyl groups functionalized carbon quantum dots.

As potential alternatives to conventional semiconductor quantum dots, fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have received increasing research attention in biomedical fields owing to their splendid advantages of low cytotoxicity, strong fluorescence and excellent water dispersion. However, the preparation procedures of CQDs with designable chemical properties and functions are complicated and low efficient. In this work, we developed a facile, economical and straightforward strategy to prepare CQDs by a one-step thiol-ene click reaction between multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and thiomalic acid (TA). The successful synthesis of CQDs was confirmed by a series of characterization data. The results manifested that CQDs were well combined with TA through surface thiol-ene click chemistry. In addition, the optical property is also desirable, the maximum emission wavelength was located in 500 nm and CQDs still could emit strong blue fluorescent light after irradiation with UV irradiation for 3 h. Besides, the pH value makes no significant changes for fluorescence emission wavelength of CQDs and CQDs can emit strongest fluorescence in weak acid solution. Furthermore, CQDs could be internalized by cells and show great cell dyeing performance and low cytotoxicity. All these features imply that TA functionalized CQDs possess great potential for biological imaging. The one-step thiol-ene click strategy provided a novel tool to prepare functionalized CQDs with great potential for biomedical applications.

Recent development and prospects of surface modification and biomedical applications of MXenes.

MXenes, as a novel kind of two-dimensional (2D) materials, were first discovered by Gogotsi et al. in 2011. Owing to their multifarious chemical compositions and outstanding physicochemical properties, the novel types of 2D materials have attracted intensive research interest for potential applications in various fields such as energy storage and conversion, environmental remediation, catalysis, and biomedicine. Although many achievements have been made in recent years, there still remains a lack of reviews to summarize these recent advances of MXenes, especially in biomedical fields. Understanding the current status of surface modification, biomedical applications and toxicity of MXenes and related materials will give some inspiration to the development of novel methods for the preparation of multifunctional MXene-based materials and promote the practical biomedical applications of MXenes and related materials. In this review, we present the recent developments in the surface modification of MXenes and the biomedical applications of MXene-based materials. In the first section, some typical surface modification strategies were introduced and the related issues were also discussed. Then, the potential biomedical applications (such as biosensor, biological imaging, photothermal therapy, drug delivery, theranostic nanoplatforms, and antibacterial agents) of MXenes and related materials were summarized and highlighted in the following sections. In the last section, the toxicity and biocompatibility of MXenes in vitro were mentioned. Finally, the development, future directions and challenges about the surface modification of MXene-based materials for biomedical applications were discussed. We believe that this review article will attract great interest from the scientists in materials, chemistry, biomedicine and related fields and promote the development of MXenes and related materials for biomedical applications.

Facile preparation of luminescent cellulose nanocrystals with aggregation-induced emission feature through Ce(IV) redox polymerization.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are a novel type of natural nanomaterials that have attracted tremendous research interest for various applications especially in the biomedical fields owing to their natural origin, biodegradable potential, remarkable biocompatibility and massive reactive hydroxyl groups. In this work, a novel strategy has been developed for fabrication of luminescent CNCs with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature for the first time through a facile one-step Ce(IV) redox polymerization for direct surface grafting of AIE dye (PhE) and hydrophilic monomer Poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether acrylate (PEGMA) on CNCs. Various characterization techniques would demonstrate the successful preparation of resultant CNC-PhE-PEGMA with uniform nanoscale size, remarkable fluorescent properties and extremely low cytotoxicity. Furthermore, compared with conventional modification strategy of CNCs, Ce(IV) redox polymerization only need moderate temperature and can operate in aqueous solution utilizing surface hydroxyl groups of CNCs as polymerization activity sites. More importantly, CNC-PhE-PEGMA show desirable fluorescent properties and can be used for cell dyeing, indicating their potential for biomedical applications.

Insights into the Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Mechanism on Two-Dimensional Transition-Metal Carbonitrides (MXene).

Developing highly active, non-noble-metal H2 -evolution catalysts is appealing yet still remains a great challenge in the field of electrocatalytic and photocatalytic H2 production. In this work, high quality transition-metal carbonitrides M3 CN (MXene) are investigated using well-defined density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The structural configurations, H-adsorption free energy (ΔGH ) and charge transfer for bare, surface-terminated and transition-metal (TM)-modified M3 CNO2 are systematically studied. The calculated results indicate that all bare transition metal carbonitrides exhibit strong binding between H atom and catalysts. In addition, only Ti3 CNO2 and Nb3 CNO2 have the potential to be HER active catalysts based on the ΔGH results. In an attempt to overcome poor HER activity limitations, we apply O as well as OH mixed groups and TMs modification on the Ti3 CNO2 surface for tuning HER activity, and a significant improvement of HER activity is observed. Overall, this work presents in-depth investigations for transition-metal carbonitrides (MXene) and opens up new designs for robust metal carbonitrides as noble-metal-free cocatalysts for highly efficient and low-cost MXene-based nanocomposites for water splitting applications.

A one-step ultrasonic irradiation assisted strategy for the preparation of polymer-functionalized carbon quantum dots and their biological imaging.

Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (FCNs) have gradually become the most promising alternative candidates to other traditional fluorescent nanomaterials for biological applications on account of their excellent fluorescence property and remarkable biocompatibility. Although many methods have reported on the preparation of FCNs, to date, no studies have reported the preparation of polymers of functionalized FCNs. A high-efficiency method was developed in this work to synthesize high-quality poly(ethylene oxide) (PEG)-functionalized FCNs from cigarette ash and thiol group-containing PEG via a facile one-pot ultrasonic irradiation treatment. A series of characterization techniques demonstrated the uniform nanoscale size, good fluorescence stability, high water dispersibility and remarkable biocompatibility of the generated FCNs. Furthermore, cell imaging was easily achieved at high resolution using the synthetic FCNs as probes, which validates their potential for bioimaging applications. In summary, an efficient one-pot strategy is reported for the first time on the preparation of PEG-functionalized FCNs with the assistance of ultrasonic irradiation. This method should be of great research interest for the fabrication of other polymer-functionalized FCNs with designable properties and functions.

Fabrication and characterization of hyperbranched polyglycerol modified carbon nanotubes through the host-guest interactions.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are novel carbon composites that have received extensive research attention for biomedical applications thanks to their excellent cell membrane penetration capability and large specific surface areas. Nevertheless, the poor dispersibility in aqueous solution still perplexes the biomedical applications of CNTs. Although, there are many researched about that modify hydrophilic polymers to the surface of CNTs, facile and efficient strategies are still highly desirable to be developed. In this produce, an efficient and facile strategy for surface modification of CNTs with excellent water dispersibility was developed via supramolecular chemistry. On the one hand, we synthesize the ß-CD-HPG via anionic polymerization. On the other hand, adamantane chloride was first reacted with the hydroxyl group of radiant CNTs through esterification to obtain CNT-Ad. Finally, it only need mild reaction conditions and fast reaction time (30 min) that ß-CD-HPG form an exact 1:1 inclusion complex with CNT-Ad via host-guest interaction. The successful preparation of CNT-ß-CD-HPG composites could be confirmed via a series of characterization techniques. Then, we further verify that CNT-ß-CD-HPG composites possess the remarkable water dispersibility and enormous potential for controlled drug delivery systems. Therefore the facile strategy for the preparation of CNT-ß-CD-HPG composites with excellent water dispersibility via supramolecular chemistry would possess rosy prospects in biomedical applications.

A novel thiol-ene click reaction for preparation of graphene quantum dots and their potential for fluorescence imaging.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs), as a kind of carbon dots with the structure of graphene, possess fascinating properties of both carbon dots and graphene have attracted increasing attention for various applications especially in the biomedical fields. It is therefore, many methods for preparation of GQDs have been developed over the last decade. However, most of the previous reports are required tedious experimental procedure and hazardous agents. In this study, we developed an unparalleled preparation method for preparation of GQDs from graphene oxide through a one-step thiol-ene click reaction. More importantly, many carboxyl groups have been introduced on the surface of GQDs during this procedure. The characterization results demonstrated that these GQDs display small size, uniform morphology, high water dispersibility and strong green fluorescence. Biological assays suggested that these GQDs are of low cytotoxicity and efficient cell uptake performance. More importantly, many other GQDs could also been fabricated through the thiol-ene click reaction owing to the universality of thiol-ene click reaction. Therefore, this novel strategy based on thiol-ene click reaction should be of great importance for advancing the preparation and biomedical applications of GQDs.

Facile modification of nanodiamonds with hyperbranched polymers based on supramolecular chemistry and their potential for drug delivery.

Due to their excellent chemical stability and remarkable biocompatibility, nanodiamonds (NDs) have received widespread research attention by the biomedical field. The excellent water dispersibility of NDs has significant importance for biomedical applications. Therefore, surface modification of NDs with hydrophilic polymers has been extensively investigated over the past few decades. In this study, we synthesize ß-CD containing hyperbranched polymer functionalized ND (ND-ß-CD-HPG) composites with high water dispersibility via supramolecular chemistry based on the host-guest interactions between ß-Cyclodextrin (ß-CD) and adamantine (Ad). The hydroxyl groups of NDs first reacted with 1, 1-adamantanecarbonyl chloride to obtain ND-Ad, which was further functionalized with ß-CD containing hyperbranched polymers to form the final ND-ß-CD-HPG composites. The successful preparation of ND-ß-CD-HPG composites was confirmed by several characterization techniques. Furthermore, the loading and release of the anticancer agent doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) on ND-ß-CD-HPG composites was also examined to explore its potential in drug delivery. When compared with traditional methods of surface modification of NDs, this method was convenient, fast and efficient. We demonstrated that ND-ß-CD-HPG composites have great water dispersibility, low toxicity, high drug-loading capacity and controlled drug-release behavior. Based on these characteristics, ND-ß-CD-HPG composites are expected to have high potential for biomedical applications.