Themed collection Nanoscale 2025 Emerging Investigators

Cu-based bimetallic catalysts show enhanced electrochemical CO₂ reduction performance via the tandem effect. This review traces their progress, highlighting design advances, mechanisms, and challenges to guide efficient CO₂ conversion.

This review explores advancements, applications, challenges, and future prospects of flexible fibrous electrodes for implantable biosensing, highlighting their potential in biomedical monitoring and human–machine interfaces. Images reproduced with permission, full details in paper.

Polymeric nanoparticles represent an innovative approach to drug delivery, particularly for addressing complex diseases like cancer.

External strategies such as electrode design, stress/heat transfer improvements, microstructure optimization, and multifunctional synergy show great potential for improving sensing performance of PVDF-based sensors. Images reproduced with permission, full details in paper.

The increasing demand for sustainable solutions to address environmental and energy challenges has driven the development of advanced materials. This paper highlights recent advancements in the development of sustainable nanofibrous membranes.

The dual role of ROS in liver diseases, and the potential of nanomaterials with catalytic activity for therapeutic applications are examined.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent biomedical applications of upconversion nanomaterials specifically within the near-infrared two-region (NIR-II) window (1000–1700 nm).

The emerging integrated power supplies for self-powered bioelectronic devices over the past few years are summarized. Additionally, the challenges and future perspectives in self-powered device design and manufacturing are also indicated.

Lithium metal is considered one of the most promising anode materials for lithium batteries due to its high theoretical specific capacity (3860 mA h g⁻¹) and low redox potential (−3.04 V).

This minireview highlights recent progress in BHJ-based photoelectrochemical cells and photocatalysts for solar-to-chemical conversions.

Guidelines for tailored enzyme-induced electrospun nanofiber immobilization techniques: aligning fabrication methods with future application requirements.

Engineered nanoparticles exhibit superior physicochemical, antibacterial, optical, and sensing properties, rendering them attractive for biomedical applications. Multiscale modeling aids in understanding and optimizing these properties.

DNA origami provides precise addressable self-assembly templates, demonstrating the tremendous potential of DNA origami technology in promoting interdisciplinary integration and driving technological progress.

The emerging functionalization strategy of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) offers transformative potential for enhancing the performance of nanostructured metal oxides (MOXs)-based gas sensors.

In this review, we present the recent progress on transition metal dichalcogenide-based composites, including their typical categories, key fabrication strategies, and transformative roles in the field of cancer therapy.

This review involves advances in the mechanics of 2D materials, including measurement methods, sample transfer, materials design, and mechanisms covering the impact of defects and thickness for highly-bendable 2D materials.

This review provides an overview of linear, circular, and full-Stokes photodetectors, discussing how to simplify their design from complex to simple. Images by permission of: RSC 2021, WLY 2023, Optica Publishing Group 2016 and ACS 2020.

This review highlights recent advances in flexible, wearable mechano-acoustic sensors for body sound measurement, emphasizing their potential for ambulatory health monitoring. Created in BioRender. Dang, T. (2025) https://BioRender.com/l15d184.

This review comprehensively summarizes the recent development of flexible multifunctional electrochromic devices, including energy harvesting, energy storage, multicolor displays, and smart windows.

This review highlights the advantages of non-annealing synthesis, emphasizing the importance of in situ characterization, multi-level simulations and machine learning to accelerate photo-/thermocatalytic research in nanoscale high-entropy alloys.

This review systematically describes the preparation of poly(amino acids) and peptides, and their use in drug loading for various diseases, offering insights for research and clinical applications of degradable biomedical polymers.

This comprehensive review of (K,Na)NbO₃-based perovskites explores design strategies, mechanisms, and applications in piezocatalysis and photo-piezocatalysis for sustainable environmental and energy solutions.

A comprehensive summary of patterning technologies of quantum dots for construction of color-conversion layers in full-color micro-LED displays is provided.

The state-of-art progress in single-atom tuned two-dimensional materials is reviewed to clarify the distinctive advantages in photocatalysis and present the crucial structure–activity relationship for improved performance.

Nanoparticle-mediated approaches to plant genetic engineering represent key advances in agriculture, offering benefits beyond conventional techniques. This review discusses essential nanoparticle design considerations to optimize delivery efficiency.

Applications of WO_x in photochromic, electrochromic, and gasochromic materials and devices.

The burgeoning initiatives implementing self-driven 2D layered material photodetectors have been presented, heralding new avenues for the next-generation integrated and miniaturized optoelectronic industry.

The use of array micro-holes is becoming increasingly prevalent across a range of industries, including the aerospace, automotive, electronics, medical and chemical industries.

The study reports the biodegradability of 2D antimonene sheets by human peroxidase isolated from the primary immune cells, neutrophils and the impact of functionalization of antimonene with cyclodextrin on biodegradation and immune modulation.

Enhancing the pure-red perovskite emission via Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) in a polymer–perovskite blend system, leveraging optimal spectral overlap between polymer emission and perovskite absorption.

The performance of a SnSb Na-ion battery anode composed of nanolayers of Sn and Sb is reported, wherein the cycle life was significantly enhanced by the use of a high concentration electrolyte.

Fluid slip and drag reduction induced by durable slippery liquid-like surfaces (SLLSs) made from flexible polymers.

Nanoparticle-assembled interconnected PbO_1.44 hollow spheres (NAHSs) were crafted by a robust strategy of PVP-driven transformation of β-PbO₂ microspheres (MSs) combined with a self-sacrificial templating mechanism for superior lithium storage.

Triazole-based C₃N₇ nanosheets exhibit excellent photocatalytic ammonia production performance, attributed to their inherent properties of an optimised conduction band position and efficient charge separation.

CLASSIC is a label-free DNA detection platform with single-nucleotide specificity and attomolar sensitivity. This assay offers rapid and sequence-specific DNA analysis through single-strand conversion and split light-up aptamer probes.

An LiF-enriched (composition-wise) and organic/inorganic uniform-distributed (structure-wise) SEI film architecture was derived by fluorinated graphene (F-Gr) sacrificial additive to promote efficient Li-metal protection.

Bioinspired 1D helical and 2D sheet-like assemblies are combined to form a 3D homochiral assembly that allows spontaneous resolution.

We designed 1T-MoS₂/CNFs with different thicknesses of MoS₂ layer, which affect conductivity, charge storage and transfer. Optimized 1T-MoS₂/CNFs enhance supercapacitance and hydrogen evolution performance, offering a strategy for energy devices.

A high piezoelectricity and excellent temperature stability were achieved in PNN–PZT relaxor ferroelectrics, outperforming those of other typical piezoceramics.

A new class of bright, transparent colloidal glasses with 100% nanoparticle loading was developed via self-assembly, addressing the longstanding trade-offs between optical transparency and scintillation efficiency in X-ray imaging technology.

Herein, we describe the design and implementation of an ultrasensitive enzyme inhibition-based biosensor for 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) detection.

The intercalation/deintercalation mechanism of copper ions in iron hexacyanoferrate (FeHCF) was explored, and an aqueous battery with a voltage range of 1.6–2.5 V was prepared. These findings highlight the potential of FeHCF-based aqueous batteries.

We report the colloidal synthesis of Cr–Se nanocrystals with tunable morphologies for cation exchange reactions to produce metal selenide nanocrystals.

The confined synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) in solid matrixes is a promising avenue for developing new afterglow materials.

This work reveals ultra-confined SP³ modes and the transition from plasmonic waves to moiré patterns in TBG, highlighting solitonic boundaries as reflective channels for plasmonic waves. Image created via Blender Foundation (http://www.blender.org).

Photoactive films made from poly(3-hexylthiophene)-graft-poly(ε-caprolactone) copolymers with tunable nanostructured morphologies through thermo-oxidation, modulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation upon photostimulation.

DNA-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes enabled a point-of-care uric acid testing in human urine with a robust NIR fluorescence response without an enzyme through corona phase molecular recognition.

Intra-unit-cell charge imbalance in the charge-neutral Sb-doped MnBi₆Te₁₀ crystal leads to a nanoscale p–n junction, resulting in the multiple surface photovoltage effects at the boundaries of crystal domains in time-resolved ARPES measurements.

Through rational surface engineering of ultrasmall NIR-II luminescent gold nanoclusters, brain glioblastoma-targeted NIR-II photoluminescence imaging has been achieved.

This study offers atomistic insights into the adsorption of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on graphene, highlighting how the stability of adsorbed PFAS is influenced by fluoroalkyl chain length, headgroup characteristic, and pH condition.

In this study, we demonstrate that the combination of seed-mediated growth routes with pulsed laser irradiation produces high-quality colloidal AuPdPt alloy nanocrystals featuring spherical shapes, tunable compositions, and defined numbers of atoms.

Channel patterning precision in vOECTs enables efficient modulation of key transistor parameters, including drain current, transconductance, transient times, etc.

A self-healing and highly adhesive conductive electrode was fabricated using crosslinked block PDMS-based elastomer–doped CNTs for chronic epilepsy monitoring.

We developed a magnetically targeted delivery strategy to achieve controlled probiotic residence in the intestine based on electrostatic interactions between electropositive magnetic nanoparticles and electronegative probiotics.

As the thickness of the Bi₂Te₃ film increases, its photoelectric response mechanism changes from a photoconductive effect to a photobolometric effect.

Depending on the direction of the Marangoni effects, gas bubble locations and consequently the force balance determining gas bubble detachment can vary significantly.

MnBi₂Te₄ is one of the most recent materials that integrates the class of topological quantum materials exhibiting topological insulating properties and magnetic ordering to investigate topological quantum states and design novel spintronic devices.

Highly selective hydrogenation of CO of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes to unsaturated alcohols was achieved over a fluffy mesoporous Al₂O₃-supported Ag–In₂O₃ Schottky junction catalyst.

The key fabrication technologies for domestic 300 mm wafer-level RF-SOI are demonstrated for the first time. The 300 mm RF-SOI wafers with less than 3 Å Top-Si roughness and −95 dB m 2^nd harmonic distortion at 900 MHz were successfully fabricated.

Ionizable lipid nanoparticles (iLNPs) were used as lung-delivery carriers to improve the alleviating efficiency of anti-inflammatory gold-nanoclusters in acute lung injury.

Hollow carbon nitride spheres with a well-designed architecture and excellent optical properties serve as promising polymers for high-value chemical production and heavy metal treatment.

Bridging the gap between DFT-calculated and experimental optical gap of conjugated polymers using machine learning, side-chain features, and a modified oligomer model.

The image illustrates the effect of nanoparticle-treated lettuce on locusts, showing their initial avoidance, eventual feeding, and subsequent death, suggesting a potential pest control strategy.

The PEDOT and Fe₃C co-decorated carbon nanofibers provide a fast electron transfer pathway and high catalytic activity for sulfur reduction reactions, which can significantly improve the cyclic stability of lithium sulfur batteries.