AIBN Seminar Series HDR Student Seminar

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We are pleased to present Jingjing Wang to speak on Biomimetic layered double hydroxide nanosheets for cancer immunotherapy

Abstract
Cancer nano-vaccines have successfully been applied in antitumor immunotherapy. However, low accumulation in the antigen presentation cells (APCs) and weak immunity limited their clinical application in cancer immunotherapy. Cell membranes, such as cancer cell membrane (CCM), red blood cell membrane, and bacterial cell membrane, are potential nano-vaccine vesicles for immune-stimulation due to the sufficient membrane antigens. On the other hand, mannose functionalized nanoparticles could target APCs through C-type lectin receptors (CLRs). Hence, we devised CCM-encapsulated CpG-loaded and mannose-modified layered double hydroxide (LDH) nano-vaccine (LGCMB) for targeting APCs, presenting tumor-associated antigens (TAA), and inducing robust immune responses. The LGCMB nano-vaccine could efficiently target and stimulate the maturation of dendritic cells (DC)/macrophages in vitro. Meanwhile, the LGCMB nano-vaccine can migrate to draining lymph nodes (LNs), activate DC maturation, and trigger tumor-specific CD8+ T cell responses in vivo. As expected, tumor growth is suppressed significantly in mice vaccinated with LGCMB nano-vaccine. Collectively, biomimetic LDH nano-vaccine with mannose modification could effectively target APCs, promote TAA presentation and induce strong immune responses for cancer immunotherapy.

Bio

Jingjing Wang is a PhD student in the Trau Group in AIBN. Her PhD project is to develop advanced nanostrategies for liquid biopsy analysis.

We are pleased to present Chengxi Zhang to speak on Dual Metal-assisted Defect Engineering towards High-performance Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract
The organic-inorganic lead halide perovskites have been developed as promising new materials for low-cost, high-efficiency photovoltaics. Further efficiency enhancement to approach the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit is desirable, but is of great challenge owing to the presence of imperfections in perovskites. In this abstract, we report a dual metal-modification strategy for simultaneously reducing the defect densities in bulk perovskites and across the devices. The deliberate introduction of cadmium (Cd) could partially replace lead (Pb) to suppress the formation of defects in the bulk, while the concurrent incorporation of potassium (K) could simultaneously passivate the defects located at grain boundaries and film surface of perovskite, respectively. The dual metal-modification effectively prolonged the carrier lifetime and largely suppress the non-radiative recombination. Thereby, a champion PCE of 21.5% and a remarkable high open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.16 V were achieved for the dual metal-modified PSCs. This work provides a feasible way to manage the defect profiles of perovskites in an omnibearing manner, showcasing great potential in boosting the performance of PSCs.

BIO

Chengxi Zhang received his M.S. degree in materials engineering from Chongqing University of Technology in 2016. During 2017-2018, he worked as a research assistant at the School of Energy and Environment at City University of Hong Kong. He is currently a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Lianzhou Wang at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), the University of Queensland. His research focuses on developing highly efficient and stable perovskite-based optoelectrical devices.