Themed collection Popular Advances

The classifications, fabrications and corresponding applications of typical gradient monolayered porous membranes are introduced and further prospected on the basis of their current development.

This review summarizes the representative works of MOFs for gas adsorption/separation in recent years, analyses the host–guest interaction, structure–performance relations, and the adsorption/separation mechanism.

Based on the dimensional scale, this review summaries the use of nanomaterials in the modulation of amyloid aggregation. The effects include intermolecular interaction, chelation, photothermal effect, photocatalytic oxidation, and drug delivery.

The review focuses on the recent relevant progresses observed about PuO₂ nanoparticle syntheses and characterizations including the recently deciphered electronic, structural and physico-chemical properties.

This review highlights the versatility of antibacterial LigNPs, their multiple functionalities, and their compatibility with a variety of materials, demonstrating their enormous potential in food packaging and biomedical applications.

Nanotechnology holds great promise and is hyped by many as the next industrial evolution.

An insight into the synthesis of 2-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and classification of the phases with various synthesis methods. Herein, the 1T phase of TMDs is reviewed with a unique synthetic method with cold plasma (plasma enhanced CVD).

In this review, we mainly summarize the important progress in the development of organic–inorganic hybrid photocatalysts for the production of hydrogen using biomass and its derivatives. Recent progresses and challenges are also discussed.

Herein, a summary of the fluorescent sensing applications of carbon nanoparticles for the detection of chemicals and ions is reported.

Extensive research in nanotechnology has been conducted to investigate new behaviours and properties of ZnO materials with nanoscale dimensions.

The fabrication technology of vertical nanostructures, the formation of cellular nanointerfaces and the effects of cellular nanointerfaces on cells' fates and functions, as well as its applications.

We present the progress in doping of 2D perovskites including synthesis strategies and their impact on structure and optoelectronic properties. Applications of doped 2D perovskites for photovoltaic, LED and other emerging applications are presented.

The review presents the recent advances in small-angle scattering techniques for the characterization of magnetic nanoparticles and highlights the potential of these methods to facilitate the application-oriented nanoparticle design & synthesis.

Owing to the great development potential of porous anodic oxides (PAO) in many fields, research on their formation mechanisms, fabrication processes and applications has a history of more than ten years.

Conjugation of maltopentaose to water-soluble homo-poly(sarcosine) induced self-association and formed nanospheres (−150 nm) in water although homo-poly(sarcosine) was water-soluble and did not form any aggregates.

Herein, we have established a sequential two step continuous flow process for generating graphene oxide with properties comparable to the conventional Hummers' GO. The process is high yielding and with a dramatic reduction in the generation of waste.

We report highly emissive higher-order assembled structures of BSA gold nanoclusters using the supramolecular host–guest chemistry of cucurbit[7]uril. It exhibits 40% absolute fluorescence quantum yield.

The influence of plasmonic coupling effects between different components in Au NRs@Cu_2−xSe nanostructures on their characteristics was studied.

Uniform size of Si nanowires (NWs) is highly desirable to enhance the performance of Si NW-based lithium-ion batteries.

Scanning probe block co-polymer lithography was utilized to fabricate silver nanoparticles on graphene surfaces with spatial and dimensional control. The downstream etching process produced holey graphene with uniformly distributed holes.

Traditional MW ablation may result in insufficient ablation and aggravation of tumor hypoxia. Our strategy for MW ablation with ZIF67@Gr-PEG NCs achieved the combined effects of enhanced MW ablation and tumor hypoxia relief.

Co doping resulted in an enhancement of the electrocatalytic properties of copper vanadate towards the HER and the GOR to form formic acid.

Photothermal activation of CalB enzymes, co-immobilised with gold nanoparticles onto a silica scaffold and shielded by a nanometre-thin organosilica layer, allows the enzymes to function better at low temperatures.

Solvothermal treatment of amorphous titania in trifluoroacetic acid modifies the surface and crystallises the anatase phase, yielding dispersible hybrid nanocrystals.

The photocatalytic degradation of uranium–arsenazo complex followed by photocatalytic reduction of hexavalent uranium to insoluble tetravalent uranium via the synthesized Co@TiO₂-C photocatalyst under UV irradiation.

Nanostructure-induced L1₀-ordering of twinned single-crystals in CoPt ferromagnetic nanowires on Si/SiO₂ substrates is demonstrated, where nanostructure-induced L1₀-ordering is driven by ultrasmall 10 nm-scale curvature radii of the nanowires.

We use nonlocal manipulation of single molecules as a nanoprobe for the fate of hot charge carriers to extract quantitative measurement from the scanning tunnelling microscope before the charges have thermalised.

We present a facile synthetic approach for the growth of two-dimensional CsPbBr₃ nanoplatelets (NPLs) in the temperature range of 50–80 °C via the vacuum-assisted low-temperature (VALT) method.

Plasmon-driven photocatalytic effects generate azo reactions.

The proton conductivity and activation energy of core–shell type nanoparticles were increased with increasing PVPA (shell) thickness. It is difficult to achieve both high proton conductivity and low activation energy with excessive PVPA thickness.

Through a comprehensive study, we demonstrate that single-molecule junctions formed from asymmetric molecules with different terminal groups can exhibit Seebeck coefficients, whose sign depends on the orientation of the molecule within the junction.

Modelling morphological transformation in Flavivirus proteinaceous shells at maturation. Locally periodic arrangement of pr peptides makes the dimeric state energetically more favorable at a low pH level.

A rationally controlled, seedless, and position-selective hydrothermal method is applied to fabricate high-performance self-activated (ZnO) nano-needle (ZNN) GSs directly on a substrate.

Ultra-long silver nanowires (AgNWs) with an aspect ratio of >2000 were prepared by the hydrothermal synthesis method.

Transmission electron microscopy revealed size-dependent shape distributions in platinum nanoparticles, which were consistent with trends observed by applying Boltzmann statistics to the energy computed with atomistic models.

Assessment of three different shapes of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), viz. nanorods (AuNRs), nanotriangles (AuNTs), and nanospheres (AuNSs), towards the development of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme-mediated etching-based plasmonic ELISA strategy.

Non-covalent intermolecular hybridization in a 2D molecular self-assembly gives rise to a narrow electronic energy band, a promising prospect for organic nanoelectronics.

The cone-[Au]⁺ was activated by the continuous Ag⁺-doping, and then, it was exchanged to participate in the size growth of Au₆P₈ to Au₇P₈.

We have studied the structural, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of the VO₂(B) polymorph using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT).

As the characteristic dimensions of modern top-down devices are getting smaller, such devices reach their operational limits imposed by quantum mechanics.

We report the structural and electronic properties of narrow chevron-like graphene nanoribbons with a band gap of 1.5 eV. Molecular heterojunctions are formed during on-surface synthesis via a coupling defect consisting of a 5- and 6-membered ring.

The higher porosity film with bending flexibility exhibits not only a 50% higher electrical conductivity of ∼90 S cm⁻¹ and a high Seebeck coefficient of ∼135 μV K⁻¹, but also a thermal conductivity as low as ∼1 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹.

Ag-NP networks poised at the percolation threshold were fabricated. Their network dynamics are tuned to criticality, irrespective of presence or absence of an insulating matrix inside the memristive gaps.

Coarse-grained models are essential to capture the self-assembly of supramolecular materials.

Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to unravel the morphology dependence of interfacial nanobubbles on surface wettability and gas species.

We developed a facile and eco-friendly synthesis strategy for large-scale preparation of undoped and Cr-doped hybrid organometallic halide perovskite nanocrystals.

Gd and Tb-ions incorporated into the magnetosome structure modify the magnetic properties of magnetotactic bacteria. The modification gets particularly remarkable by the dramatic reduction of the uniaxial (and magnetocrystalline) anisotropy terms below the Verwey transition.

Formation of nanostructured carbon films on nascent Ag clusters during room-temperature electrochemical CO₂ reduction.

The fibrillar assembly of Akd^NMCPy peptidomimetics with cyclic dipeptide and pyrene units was engineered into Cu-guided differential architectures that stabilize Cu^II and Cu^I states and exhibit distinct catalytic activities.

The propensity of fullerene complex to photoinduced electron transfer is determined by electron-donating properties of the bowl. More extended π-conjugated molecular bowls with nitrogen atom in pentagonal rings promote faster charge separation.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles modified with peptides for targeting cancer tissue are radiolabeled in the core or in the targeting peptide. Advanced information on the fate of the nanoparticles is obtained comparing biodistribution patterns.

Development of a high throughput screening workflow to characterize the impact of unique PEG-lipid parameters on oligonucleotide-loaded lipid nanoparticle structure and function.

Riboflavin-coated multicore SPIONs show specific binding with RCP, enhanced uptake in breast cancer cells and excellent MRI response.

Formation of hydrocarbon monolayers at the graphene–water interface can be predicted from the concentration in ambient air and the free energies of hydration, adsorption from the aqueous phase, and subsequent integration into the monolayer phase.

Carbon dot-labelled antibody for human brain tissue immunofluorescent staining.

A multiscale 3D approach combining three advanced volumetric imaging techniques was employed for obtaining direct information on the hierarchical porosity in Coscinodiscus sp. diatoms having an internal organization ranging from micrometer to nanometer.

Bright fluorescent nanoparticles with excitation and emission towards the red end of the spectrum are highly desirable in the field of bioimaging.

A multi-band metamaterial absorber in the terahertz regime using a periodically arranged surface structure placed on an ultra-thin insulating dielectric slab backed by a metallic ground plane is demonstrated in this paper.

We present a soft-stamping method to selectively print a homogenous layer of CdSeTe/ZnS core–shell quantum dots (QDs) on top of Si nanocylinders with Mie-type resonant modes. Depending on the cylinder shape, we direct the QD emission up or down.

In this work, Co-SnO₂ NPs with zero-dimensional structure were synthesized by hydrothermal method. At the optimal temperature, the selectivity and response of 0.5% Co-SnO₂ to formaldehyde are excellent (for 30 ppm formaldehyde, R_a/R_g = 163 437).

Contact electrification (triboelectrification) has been a long-standing phenomenon for 2600 years.

It represents the supercapacitor performance of the MoS₂ nanosheets and CTAB assisted MoS₂ nanoflower morphology have been investigated.

Cyclic PEG without any chemical inhomogeneity was physiosorbed onto AgNPs to PEGylate and drastically enhance the dispersion stability against a physiological condition, white light, and high temperature, while its linear counterparts could not.

Bulky hydrophobic counterions were applied for encapsulation of near-infrared cyanine dyes into biodegradable polymer matrix with minimized self-quenching, yielding fluorescent nanoparticles with stealth PEG shell for in vivo imaging.

Novel pyromellitic diamide–diacid bridged mesoporous organosilica nanospheres with controllable morphologies and acidic centers were designed and prepared through a convenient method by altering the addition sequence of precursors, solvent, and aging time.