Themed collection Nanoscale Most Popular 2022 Articles

We review how crystal facets, structural reconstructions and disorder impact the performance of electrodes for energy conversion.

This minireview highlights the recent progress in the construction of self-supported MOF-based nanostructures including pristine MOFs, MOF composites and MOF derivative arrays, and their application in SCs.

Hyaluronic acid-based nanoparticles can be promising tools for gene delivery in in vivo reprogramming CAR T cells, as well-designed carriers are needed for targeting and transducing circulating T cells.

This review paper provides an overview of the fundamental and applied aspects of advancing carbon dioxide electrolysis for the integrated amine-based CO₂ capture and conversion.

The ever-increasing energy demand leads to fast depletion of fossil fuels and excessive CO₂ emission into the atmosphere, and requires efficient capture and conversion of CO₂ to achieve negative carbon emission and energy sustainability.

Green synthesis approaches are gaining significance as promising routes for the sustainable preparation of nanoparticles, offering reduced toxicity towards living organisms and the environment.

In this article we report a new laser processing method, combining the in situ graphitization of polyimide with simultaneous transfer of the graphene patterns to arbitrary substrates.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide capture by supercapacitors is found to depend strongly on charging protocols. Varying the charging polarity leads to increases in capture capacities and improved mechanistic understanding of the capture process.

DNA nanocages are developed for the encapsulation and delivery of freely diffusing drug cargo molecules. The cargo was attached to the nanotube, and subsequently detached via toehold-mediated strand displacement after tube sealing with lids.

We developed original methods to confirm the liberation of the imprinted binding cavities by electrochemical template removal and identified the amino acid motif of the template which is determinant for the affinity of the epitope-imprinted polymer.

Tailoring the MOF structure through ligand optimization and MOF derived electrocatalyst exhibit excellent ORR/OER kinetics and ZABs performance due to the synergetic effects of the CoNi alloys and the N and S-incorporated carbon skeleton.

The prepared CuCoZn–S-3 electrode has a unique nanoflower-like structure and exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance and durability under alkaline conditions.

Self-trapped exciton-derived energy transfer is a possible strategy to enhance the emission of Er at 1540 nm in lead-free double perovskite structures.

Ultrasonication-assisted, ligand-free synthesis of CsPbBr₃/Cs₄PbBr₆ dual-phase MCs exhibit diverse morphologies, confirming that CsPbBr₃ NCs are the photoluminescent sites with PLQY of 82.7%.

We observe that different growth conditions and resulting morphologies of CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals yield opposite stokes shift size-dependent trends. This emphasizes the different photo-physics for quantum-confined nanoplate and nanocube morphologies.

We demonstrate near-infrared-to-green upconversion using 1-chloro-9,10-bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene. The replacement of rubrene highlights that triplet generation at the perovskite/annihilator interface is a universal process.

Multichromic energy storage devices improve human–machine interfacing. Here, MOF-derived V₂O₅ is integrated as a negative electrode in a multi-colored electrochromic supercapacitor assembly along with electrochromic PANI as the positive electrode.

Perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) have attracted widespread attention as promising materials for the optoelectronic field due to their remarkable photophysical properties and structural tunability.

The hydrogel-based printing strategy was proposed to fabricate the high-performance flexible thermoelectric generators with the high-power density, where the stable water-locking network can limit the fluidity of the pastes.

Use of asymmetrically passivated seeds provides a pathway to regioselective overgrowth and nanoparticles with exciting plasmonic properties.

We perform hierarchical assembly of gold nanoparticles into core–satellite–satellite nanostructures that possess two different types of controllable nanogaps. We investigate their plasmon coupling properties and nanogap-dependent SERS enhancements.

Yolk(CaO)–shell(ZrO₂)-structured sorbents yield superior materials for high-temperature CO₂ capture by mitigating deactivation via sintering and mixed phase (CaZrO₃) formation.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) can selectively adsorb CO₂, but are often ineffective in the presence of H₂O, which binds more strongly. By selecting MOF ‘shells’ to keep water out of MOF ‘cores’ this limitation may be overcome.

The Bi³⁺ and Te⁴⁺ co-doping strategy and in situ growth regulation via external oxygen vacancies were applied to Cs₂AgInCl₆ nanocrystals, resulting in a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 34%, as a consequence of restrained Ag/In vacancies.

We have explored the ultrafast carrier dynamics of core state and surface state in C-Dots with myriad use of steady-state, time-resolved spectroscopy and tried to establish a well-defined answer of the puzzling optical properties of C-Dots.

The chirality-dependent stacking of bile salt surfactants on single-wall carbon nanotubes is investigated by systematic aqueous two-phase separations.

The 3D sub-nanometre distribution of individual dopant species in organic semiconductors determines the electrical properties. The distribution and cluster shape have been determined by electron tomography and shown to depend on dopant concentration.

A novel self-assembly mechanism for hexagonal β-1,3-glucan microparticles with defined lamellar nanostructure. Phosphorylase catalyzed enzymatic synthesis can be successfully carried out at temperatures ranging from 25 to 80 °C.

The biocatalytic design of nanomaterials with enzyme-like activity is considered a reliable and promising toolkit for the generation of diagnostic agents in complex biological microenvironments.

Many European sculptures and altarpieces from the Middle Ages were decorated with Zwischgold, a bilayer metal leaf with an ultra-thin gold face backed by silver.

A multifunctional hydrogel complex consisting of the GCNE composite and thermo-responsive chitosan can perform cascade catalytic reactions to continuously supply oxygen and strengthen the antibacterial activities in diabetic wound healing.

In this first quantitative proteomic analysis of the protein corona formed on Carbon dots (CDs), we showed that protein corona identity is influenced by CD surface charge properties, which in turn impacts CD uptake and viability loss in macrophages.

Engineering different nanomaterials into a single functional material can impart unique properties of the parental nanoparticles, especially in the field of bio imaging and therapy.

The hydrogenation of CO₂ is a structure sensitive reaction over copper nanoparticles. The particle size effect has been related to the differences in reaction intermediate coverage for different Cu facets whose abundancy vary with the particle size.

In this work we show that it is possible to design “switchable” dual function materials that can directly convert carbon dioxide into useful products using hydrogen or methane. These DFMs offer a means to respond to changes in the energy sector.

Nanotubes may provide interfacial effects for viscosity reduction and align in the flow direction. However, the graphene nanoflake surface area is only limited by its mean free path while nanotubes can entangle with each other.

We propose a facile femtosecond laser technology to achieve superhydrophobicity on various substrate surfaces with anti-friction ability.

An unconventional fluorophore, 5-oxopyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid, was discovered as the fluorescence origin of polymeric carbon dots. This unique fluorophore has aggregation-enhanced emission which contributes to carbon dot fluorescence.

The alarming and prevailing antibiotic resistance crisis urgently calls for innovative “outside of the box” antibacterial agents, which can differ substantially from conventional antibiotics.

Iron–cobalt (FeCo) oxides dispersed on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were synthesized from nitrate precursors at loading levels from 10 wt% to 60 wt%.

Novel 3D hierarchical needlelike array architecture integrates excellent EMI shielding, thermal insulation and supercapacitor performance, which offers a new inspiration for the design and construction of portable intelligent devices.

Semiconductor doping using liquid metals.

Large-area uniform MoSe₂@WSe₂ HS prepared by EPD, achieves better catalytic activity, HER, and supercapacitor performance.

The efficiency of traditional solar cells is constrained due to the Shockley–Queisser limit, to circumvent this theoretical limit, the concept of solar thermophotovoltaics (STPVs) has been introduced.

There is still a significant technical hurdle in the integration of better electrocatalysts with coordinated functional units and morphological integrity that improves reversible electrochemical activity, electrical conductivity, and mass transport capabilities.

This study compared results of nanoparticle number concentration measurements collected from 74 instruments hosted across 50 laboratories, providing users with useful discussion and reference data to assess and benchmark their measurement capability.

The nature and positions of defects, i.e., whether they are at the surface or in the lattice, in ZnO and carbonaceous electrodes were identified via EPR spectroscopy. It was shown that defects play a crucial role in supercapacitor device performance.

W-shaped diamines prepared by catalytic arene–norbornene annulation and their employment in the synthesis of novel β-ketoenamine-linked norbornane-based covalent organic frameworks for CO₂/N₂ and CH₄/N₂ separation.

A 5 × 5 ionotronic junctionless indium-tin oxide (ITO) transistor array is reported for emulating a nociceptor network based on controlling the gate-to-channel distance.

Using 1,4-conjugate addition reaction, PEI/TMSPA/SiO₂/DTMS fabrics with excellent superhydrophobic property are fabricated, which can be used for high-efficiency oil/water separation and oil spill cleanup.