Themed collection Recent Review Articles

We reviewed the recent progress on solar-driven interfacial steam generation under different optical intensities and provided energy and water management strategies to improve evaporation performance.

Recently emerged metal phenolic networks (MPNs) show promise as molecularly designable heterogeneous electrocatalysts for various electrochemical reactions owing to their unique features.

In this mini-review, the state-of-the-art knowledge on the rational artificial interphase engineering of zinc metal anodes for high performance aqueous zinc ion batteries are presented.

The minireview summarizes the advances in the heteroatom doping of perovskite oxides towards efficient electrocatalytic reactions, based on the classification of different doping sites, A site, B site, O site and dual sites in ABO₃ perovskite oxides.

Tuning magnetism in 2D magnets via external stimuli is reviewed, such as by the electric field, magnetic field, strain, optics, chemical functionalization, and spin–orbit engineering.

Artificial intelligence-powered microfluidics has greatly promoted the development of nanomedicine and material synthesis.

In this minireview, single-particle-level coated APbX₃ NCs are introduced, mainly including their preparations and properties.

This minireview elaborately presents the spin selectivity of chiral metal–halide semiconductors in photonic/electronic processes, and their applications in optoelectronic/spintronic devices, with the structure–property relationship highlighted.

Schematic illustration of virus-inspired nanosystems to overcome physiological barriers in drug delivery.

Recent advances combining FRET and super-resolution techniques are presented. This merger of methods is opening exciting opportunities to study the spatial organization and functional state of (bio)molecules and materials at the nanoscale.

Progress in developing advanced Si nanosheets from silicate minerals for energy storage is reviewed.

Photoredox organic transformation have been growing, and this perspective highlights recent advances in mechanistic understanding, providing strategies to construct high efficiency and low-cost photocatalytic systems.

The synergistic combination of noble metal nanoparticles and bacterial cells results in hybrid systems that offer new useful properties for the development of future applications and tools.

This review discussed the typical high ZT materials, traditional optimized strategies, and focused on the Rashba-type thermoelectric (TE) materials, which highlights the development and challenges of Rashba effect in breaking the bottleneck of ZT.

An overview of the development of droplet-based nanogenerators: from droplet properties towards energy harvesting and self-powered sensors.

Recent academic breakthroughs in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) deposited h-BN are presented. The techniques, catalysts, and mechanisms are fully studied. The great advances in expanding the size of h-BN single crystals will largely push forward the way to h-BN.

Metal sulfides (MSs) are considered as potential candidates for electron transport layers in perovskite solar cells. In this review, we summarized MSs-based electron transport layers (ETLs) according to their preparation strategies and the mechanism.

This review highlights recent progress concerning the ligand effect of gold clusters in tailoring catalytic activity and selectivity, in order to guide the improvement of catalytic properties and design new gold clusters aimed at the demand in catalysis.

Here, we summarize our previous efforts and reports from other groups on P containing noble metal catalysts for direct liquid fuel cells, including synthetic methods, composition, shape and electrochemical performance.

Direct seawater electrolysis opens a new opportunity to lower the cost of hydrogen production from current water electrolysis technologies.

Highlights of various emerging inorganic photothermal nanomaterials and their up-to-date applications in photothermal therapy, photothermal sterilization, solar-driven steam generation and photothermal catalysis.

The structure, morphology, composition and performance characterization techniques of rare-earth-containing perovskites were reviewed, providing in-depth and systematical research strategies.

This minireview provides a comprehensive discussion on recent advances in plasmon-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for catalytic reactions on bifunctional metallic nanostructures.

The review examines the areas: (i) routes for synthesis of transition metal-based LDHs, (ii) recent developments in transition metal-based LDHs for photo(electro)chemical water splitting, (iii) a summary of the structure–property relationships therein.

This minireview presents the current state of knowledge in the field of peptide foldamer-based self-assembled nanostructures containing cyclic beta-amino acids.

The recent progress in nonmetal doped noble metal-based catalysts for advanced electrocatalysis is summarized.

The various utilities of DNA that render it as a multifunctional bio-nanomaterial for electrochemical biosensing applications.

Here, we reviewed the electrochromic behaviour and underlying mechanisms of plasmonic metal nanoparticles in the visible spectral range, and discussed the recent key progresses in understanding, controlling and utilizing plasmonic electrochromism.

Molecular photosensitizers (PS) allow to exploit visible (Vis) and near-infrared (NIR) light for photocatalytic production of solar fuels, organic synthesis and environmental remediation.

Light-driven multi-charge accumulation (i.e., photodoping) of doped metal oxide nanocrystals opens the way to innovative solutions for the direct conversion and storage of the solar energy.

Recent design and applications of emerging genetically encoded RNA nanodevices in regulating cellular gene expression, imaging, logic operation, structural biology, and optogenetics.

MgAl-layered double hydroxide (LDH) has a similar composition to the commercial aluminum adjuvant, but is highly biocompatible. The excellent adjuvanticity and biocompatibility make LDH the most potential clinical candidate adjuvant.

By rationally designing and modifying their heterostructures, carbon dots have the potential to be used as solar absorbers for solar evaporation. The roles of carbon dots to improve solar-to-vapor efficiency are thoroughly discussed.

This review summarizes the state of the art design and construction of nanosystems used for mitochondria-targeted delivery.

This review provides a deep discussion on the recent progress in the synthetic methodology, structural exploration, and promising applications of Anderson-type polyoxometalates.

Ferroelectric catalysts possess the advantages of boosted catalytic efficiency as a result of polarization, which suppresses electron–hole pair recombination, and superior selectivity via the ferroelectric switch.

Valley pseudospin of 2D transition-metal dichalcogenides is promising for information technologies, but its robust manipulation is challenging. This minireview highlights recent progress on using nanophotonic strategies to address this challenge.

This review summarizes the recent advances of transition metal oxide and chalcogenide-based antibacterial nanomaterials, with emphasis on their inactivation mechanisms and highlighting their practical applications.

Hierarchically constructed metal–organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks toward emergent electrochemical applications.

Cooperativity in single atom catalysis greatly exceeds the (important) metal–support interaction, and other types of synergies (with a nanoparticle – NP, a second SA – SA₂, or a ligand/heteroatom – X) are described in this mini-review.

Review on crystal structures, material synthesis methods, defect engineering strategies for molybdenum oxides' SERS mechanism and application investigation.

Printing holds potential for low-cost and large-area patterning of thermoelectric materials. The process can be also engineered to induce morphological anisotropy in (in)organic materials, which boost the performance along a preferential direction.

This work provides an overview of the emerging literature on the interaction of graphene-based materials with glial cells, aiming to define the challenges and perspectives of graphene glial-interfaces.

This schematic shows strong plasmon–exciton coupling in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) coupled with plasmonic single nanoparticles, nanoparticles-over-mirrors, and plasmonic arrays.

Human beings learn from creatures in nature and imitate them to solve drag reduction challenges in daily life.

Recent efforts for alleviating energy dissipation and enhancement of energy collection are reviewed to combat thermal quenching in UCNPs.

Micro/nanostructured bioelectronic devices for various biofluid detection applications are systematically summarized and discussed with new insights for future health monitoring.

This review summarizes the recent advances of colour-tunable soft actuators, with emphasis on their colour-change mechanisms and highlighting their applications.

The purpose of this minireview is to build a bridge between two research fields: surface-enhanced resonant Raman spectroscopy (SERRS) and the branch of plasmonics treating strong coupling between plasmons and molecular excitons.

In this minireview, we summarize recent advances in electrocatalysis in confined spaces. Emerging electrochemical reactions are covered and discussed.

Overall electrocatalytic water splitting can efficiently and sustainably produce clean hydrogen energy to alleviate the global energy crisis and environmental pollution.

The past few decades have witnessed growing research interest in developing powerful nanofabrication technologies for three-dimensional (3D) structures and devices to achieve nano-scale and nano-precision manufacturing.

Metal and covalent organic frameworks (MOFs and COFs) are increasingly finding exceptional utility in electrocatalytic systems.

Modeling and simulation of bacteria-nanostructure interactions can reveal critical insights underlying the physics of the process, verify and predict bacterial behaviour, or optimize bactericidal activity.

The field of single molecule electronics has progressed remarkably in the past decades by allowing for more versatile molecular functions and improving device fabrication techniques.

Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water has the potential to fulfil future energy needs by producing a clean and storable fuel. Here the discuss the recent advances in using nanosized materials as photocatalysts.

This review focuses on anisotropic nanomaterials and considers the state-of-the-art progress in asymmetric synthesis catalysed by 1D, 2D and 3D nanostructures.

The review introduces the mechanisms of heterogeneous hydrogen evolution (HER) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER), summarizes in-situ characterization techniques and surveys strategies to boost the activities of metal oxide electrocatalysts.

This review highlights the synthesis strategy, surface/heterointerface engineering, and potential applications of the hierarchical MXene/TMC heterostructures.

The debates on the crystallographic details of the hexagonal phase of NaREF₄ (RE = rare earth elements) are reviewed, and a fresh perspective is proposed to understand the superior luminescence properties of the materials.

The summary and perspective on fabrication, structure tuning, and elemental-gas-involved catalytic applications of amorphous materials have been outlined in this review.

2D materials and in situ and operando characterization techniques for the development of next-generation CO₂ conversion systems.

2D multiferroics achieve multiple functions and new mechanisms through magnetoelectric, piezoelectric, and magnetoelastic coupling phenomena, opening up new research avenues.

Silver chalcogenide (Ag₂X, where X = S, Se, or Te) nanoparticles have been extensively investigated for their applications in electronics but have only recently been explored for biomedical applications.

In this review, we evaluate and summarize the application of expanded graphite-based materials in rechargeable batteries, including alkaline ions (such as Na⁺, K⁺) storage and multivalent ion (such as Mg²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ca²⁺ and Al³⁺) storage batteries.

We review the chemistry that leads or could lead to colloidal metal nitride nanocrystals, via solution-based methods.

Well-defined Cu-based nanoparticles represent a valuable catalytic tool for synthesis purposes due to their structural and electronic versatility, requiring thorough mechanistic understanding inputs into their rational design.

Harnessing the unique advantages of 2D materials towards separator functionalization for boosting both the sulfur cathode and lithium anode in Li–S batteries.

In this review, we highlight recent advances in the application of Janus membranes and Janus particles, as well as our understanding of the construction of Janus materials, with a particular emphasis on the microstructure of Janus materials.

The ever-growing portable, flexible, and wearable devices impose new requirements from power sources.