Themed collection 2020 Nanoscale HOT Article Collection

Understanding and passivating the traps in metal halide perovskites for the fabrication of more stable and efficient devices.

Over the past several decades, nanomaterials have been extensively studied owing to having a series of unique physical and chemical properties that exceed those of conventional bulk materials.

Facile charge transfer-modulated interfacial control and design for the development of high-performance transparent nanocomposite electrodes.

This minireview summarizes the recent advances in the emerging field of luminescent Ln-MOF nanoprobes, covering from fundamental insights to bioapplications.

New technologies for future electronics such as personal healthcare devices and foldable smartphones require emerging developments in flexible energy storage devices as power sources.

A huge variety of plants are harvested worldwide and their different constituents can be converted into a broad range of bionanomaterials.

The progress in developing advanced electrocatalysts mainly based on two-dimensional hydroxides and their composites for alkaline oxygen reduction reaction is reviewed.

CRISPR-Cas9, the breakthrough genome-editing technology, has emerged as a promising tool to prevent and cure various diseases.

Self-assembled nitride–metal nanocomposites offering flexible geometrical control and tunable functionalities towards metamaterial design and nanophotonic devices.

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) is currently an important chiroptical properties among chiral systems. By tuning the dimensional architectures of nanoassemblies, the CPL properties could be effectively tuned and boosted.

Recent study results on lithium metal anodes are systematically analyzed to sort out hints for the battery research community to tackle the key challenges facing the practical commercialization of lithium–metal batteries.

Ice-assisted synthesis for the development of tailor-made materials with desired morphology and properties.

This review highlights recent advances in the strategies for engineering active sites on surfaces and in open frameworks toward photocatalytic CO₂ reduction.

In this review, the progress in photodetector devices focusing on inorganic and hybrid photo-active materials by low cost wet-chemistry methods, which will bring about the prospect of a new era, has been carefully summarized.

Recent developments of functional supramolecular gel materials constructed from pillararenes have been overviewed.

The urgent need for clean and renewable energy drives the exploration of effective strategies to produce hydrogen.

In situ studies are crucial to demonstrate that magic-size clusters are always intermediates in the formation of regular NCs.

Among layered 2D semiconductors, MoS₂ is an excellent candidate for applications in optoelectronics and integrated circuits due to its layer-dependent tunable bandgap, high ON/OFF current ratio in FETs and strong light–matter interaction.

A high desalination rate with low energy consumption was enabled using a bi-functional Na₂VTi(PO₄)₃@C electrode in symmetrical cation-selective CDI.

Deciphering the behavior of degradable nanoparticles in biological fluids is demonstrated by interference-free assessment. The resultant vastly different erosion characteristics provide a necessary stepping stone for their design toward translation.

This work reports that aromatic molecules adsorbed on the Au surface can create “molecular hot spots” for electromagnetic enhancement of surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

This Communication describes diagnostic approaches to identify BCC twinning based on shape as well as electron microscopy and diffraction signatures.

g-C₃N₄/RGO/TiO₂ with nitrogen and oxygen vacancies possesses an efficient H₂ evolution rate, which exceeds that of g-C₃N₄/RGO/TiO₂ without vacancy defects.

Bone plays an increasingly critical role in human health and disease.

The self-assembly of DNA hybrids with tetraphenylethylene sticky ends into vesicular architectures is demonstrated.

Direct liquid-cell TEM investigations highlight the significance of thermodynamics and kinetics during the formation and growth of a Au triangular nanoplate.

Differentially functionalized graphene caused different neurotoxicities. G-COOH, G-OH, and RGO induced more severe acute toxicity than G-NH₂, while G-NH₂ caused more persistent toxicity and more disturbance of the cellular metabolism.

The strong exciplex emission of the supramolecular polymer I with yellow emission was a consequence of the intramolecular charge transfer interactions in a mixed DMSO/H₂O (60 : 40–1 : 99 v/v) solution.

A novel heterostructure consisting of highly ordered TiO₂ nanoarrays grown on the MXene nanosheets displays formidable dual chemisorption capability to trap polysulfides and superior electrochemical performance for Li–S batteries.

Unveiling the nanomechanical stability of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein

An unprecedented core–shell structure was constructed by a co-assembly process. The organic alloy BA_0.72BN_0.28 can deposit on the BA rod via a solution-epitaxy first and then spread out at the tip by turning it into its original helical morphology.

Microwave-induced thermoacoustic imaging (MTAI), combining the advantages of the high contrast of microwave imaging and the high resolution of ultrasonic imaging, is a potential candidate for breast tumor detection.

A hollow bimetallic metal organic framework was pyrolyzed to fabricate hollow ZnNiC nanocomposites for efficient microwave absorption.

A novel hypoxia-responsive fluorescent probe of a hydrophilic azobenzene containing copolymer combined with a carbamate linkage and anionic water-soluble tetraphenylethene by using the in situ self-assembly concept for tumor hypoxia imaging is reported.

A novel NIR-II probe QT-RGD consisting of a NIR-II fluorophore and two tumor-targeting cyclic-RGD peptides was reported. In vitro and in vivo studies show that it could be successfully used for multimodal NIR-II/PA/SPECT imaging and photothermal therapy of malignant tumor.

Ligand-assisted capping grown ultrathin FeNi-LDH nanosheet arrays with atomically dispersed Cr atoms afford an exceptional activity for the oxygen evolution reaction.

An optomechanical probe is introduced that operates at very high frequency, opening up a pathway to the measurement of atomic forces at shorter timescale.

a) Diagram depicting the preparation of drug delivery system of PLGA-lysoGM1/DOX micelles. b) Schematic illustration of micelles elicited antitumor. c) Micelles cross BBB via micropinocytosis and autophagy/lysosomal pathways.

Synthetic DNA-based oligonucleotides are loaded into porous silicon nanoparticles and incorporated into polymer nanofibers. The functionality of these input-responsive nanodevices is retained following release from the hybrid nanofibers.

A new type of AIE nanodots has been fabricated for both cell imaging and photodynamic therapy via a simple method using a highly negatively charged mini-ferritin protein as the scaffold.

Flat optics photon harvesting, based on cm-scale MoS₂ nanostripe arrays, induces an ultra-broadband enhancement (≈400%) of optical absorption.

The potassium storage performance is boosted by virtue of the fabrication of a heterostructure Bi₂S₃@RGO composite via the visible-light-assisted reaction.

A new type of COF with a double-ring pore shows a size-matching adsorption effect for uranium with removal rate up to 99.8%.

We report the elaboration of supercrystals made up of dodecanoic acid-coated 8.1 nm-Co nanocrystals with controlled supercrystallinity, morphology and magnetic properties.

Arginine deiminase nanocapsules possessing extremely weak cellular interaction could selectively deprive extracellular arginine to treat argininosuccinate synthetase-deficient tumors efficiently.

dPG@GNS nanocomposites exhibit functional group density-dependent influence on the osteogenesis of MSCs.

Complex solid solution electrocatalysts (often called high-entropy alloys) present a new catalyst class with highly promising features due to the interplay of multi-element active sites.

PEI/ZIF-FMN mediated the electron transfer from NADH to cytochrome c.

Intracluster bonds in hyperbranched DNA polymers prevent percolation transition.

Theoretical modeling of wavefunction overlap in nanocrystal solids elucidates the important role played by ligands in electron transport.

An inflammation-responsive nanodrug has been developed for RA therapy through releasing two inhibitors for regulating JAK-STAT and JNK pathways.

Engineering an addressable surface endows N doped WS₂ nanosheet arrays with abundant active sites and an optimal local electronic structure for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction.

Isolation of anti-N-cadherin DNA aptamers and high-efficiency capture of circulating tumor cells using dual aptamers targeting EpCAM and N-cadherin.

The folding pathway of holo-rubredoxin was elucidated by using optical tweezers-based single molecule force spectroscopy technique. The results revealed the critical importance of the two-coordinate ferric site for the folding of holo-rubredoxin.

Two dimensional (2D) organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites have attracted great interest due to their tunable band gap and structural stability.

A deconstructed MOCVD model process allows in-operando fingerprinting of the chemical reactions that underpin WS2 monolayer crystal growth, and highlights the enhancing role of Au support in conjunction with simple organosulfide precursors.

The reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated anti-cancer therapy that shows the advantages of tumor specificity, high curative effect, and less toxic side-effects has powerful potential for cancer treatment.

A dual nanostructure of NiCo₂S₄/nickel foam is built to achieve an electrode with structure-synergistical contribution from materials and current collectors.

Holey-NiMn-OH sheets with lattice disorder vertically grown on carbon cloth are synthesized via a solvothermal method for high-performance energy storage.

The BSA-MnO₂/IR820@OCNC nanosystem is a “one for all” system that allows highly efficacious real-time imaging-guided phototherapy of esophageal cancer.

Formation of gold nanoclusters within a C₆₀ matrix.

Branched chiral peptide nucleic acids br(4S/R)-PNA with three arms of PNA-C₄ strands were constructed on a central chiral core of 4(R/S)-aminoproline as the branching center.

The sodium-ion pouch cells with Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ cathode and hard carbon anode exhibited excellent power capability with a long lifespan.

Periodic mesoporous organosilicas with precisely controlled pore sizes (>10 nm) were prepared using silica colloidal crystals as a template.

We demonstrate enhanced rejection of nanoparticles and higher water permeance by boron nitride nanotube membranes compared to carbon nanotube ones.

SAPNet, a network of meta-models that is built layer by layer from the endpoint (e.g. toxicity or other properties of interest) to descriptors that describe the structure.

The specific capacitance of ultrathin organic self-assembled monolayers at metal/electrolyte interfaces is measured with nanoscale spatial resolution.

We propose a meso-scale approach that combines the strengths of continuum theory and coarse-grained molecular simulations.

SAXS reveals the specific effect of anions and lanthanide ions on the hierarchical structure of complex fluids in liquid-liquid extraction. The anion-dependency of the mesostructure indicates different lanthanide extraction mechanisms.

A novel strategy for combating bacteria is proposed based on MnO₂@Ag micromotors. Due to synergistic reaction of MnO₂ and Ag, rapid movement was realized and an enhanced E. coli death was achieved by coupling intense motion with Ag⁺ sterilization.