Themed collection Popular Advances

Emergence of surface-modified polyamine dendrimer-based vesicles (or dendrimersomes) as promising alternatives to lipid vesicles for biomedical applications.

This mini-review reports the most recent results on plasmonic nanocavities applied to enhanced single-molecule detection and spectroscopy.

We review several recent advancements of peptide-based nanomaterials and highlight their important roles in the application of gene therapy.

Integration of molecular photoswitches in porous materials i.e. MOFs, COFs, PAFs provides responsive materials with a variety of functions ranging from switchable gas adsorption to macroscopic actuation.

Engineered nanomaterials integrated with molecular assays or miniature sensing devices formed a promising nanodiagnostic tool box for plant diseases.

This is a progress report on liquid metal (LM) nanocomposites with focus on synthesis of LM nanodroplets, suspension of nanodroplets within various matrix materials, and methods for incorporating metallic nanoparticles within an LM matrix.

This review covers the recent progress of magnetic nanolights, fabrication strategies, and application in cancer theranostics.

Advances and challenges of CNM nanocomposite-based sensors from the period 2011–2021 are discussed.

WO₃ nanosheets, which can be synthesized through a wide variety of both bottom-up and top-down methods, can achieve better performance than bulk WO₃ in many catalytic, sensing, electrochromic, and charge storage applications.

The schematic illustration of the new effects, advanced fabrication and crucial applications of plasmonic metal nanostructures with extremely small features.

This review provides a comprehensive understanding of the chemical structure and overall development trend for solution-processable NIR-absorbing ultra-narrow-bandgap (UNBG; below 1.5 eV) polymer donors used in organic solar cells.

From shaping to functionalization of micro-droplets and particles in passive and active methods, and their applications.

Ligand exchange reaction in monolayer-protected metal clusters is a versatile post-synthesis method to modify the surface properties of the clusters and to introduce functionality to them. Here we summarize the more recent knowledge in the field.

We focus on recent advances in wafer-scale monolayer MoS₂ synthesis and 2D MoS₂-FET for applications in logic gate circuits, memory devices and photodetectors, from fundamental MoS₂ research to MoS₂ devices development for next-generation electronics and optoelectronics.

Proteins and peptide fragments are highly relevant building blocks in self-assembly for nanostructures with plenty of applications.

Latest advances in THz protection metamaterials and intrinsic materials based on two-dimensional materials are reviewed, and their future developments are prospected.

The chemistry and physics of intercalated layered 2D materials (2DMs) are the focus of this review article.

The work provides a detailed overview of the newest research of polymers and polymer composites being used as efficient EMI shields.

Ni–Fe compounds are used in water electrolysis due to low cost, modulated structure, and simple syntheses. We summarize developments in Ni–Fe based electrocatalysts with focus on hollow structures, interface engineering, phase control and carbon coating.

Illustration of transition metal-based electrode materials (oxides, sulfides, and phosphides) for supercapacitors. Recent researches, current challenges, and next generation materials design will be discussed.

Biological systems possess photonic nanoarchitectures that can modulate the flow of light. They inspire new approaches to incorporate structural colour into innovative devices with many applications, namely in health, and safety fields.

This review explores the rapidly emerging field of hetero-nanotubes consisting of a carbon core and hexagonal boron nitride shell.

The formation and characterization of oxygen defects and their structure–activity relationship with CO₂ reduction are reviewed in this article.

This review focuses on micro- and nanoplastic particles with the main focus on oral uptake and transport at the intestinal epithelium and potential toxic consequences.

This review introduces biological metal–organic frameworks (bio-MOFs) designed and prepared using biological ligands for bio-sensing, bio-imaging, and drug delivery.

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have generated keen interest among researchers in recent years due to their excellent physicochemical properties.

This report is a representative review article which deeply describes lead-free piezoelectric nanofillers and related composite nanogenerator devices.

In this review, recent progress in MOF-based composites was summarized with an effort to clarify the structure–performance relationship of MOF-based composites, with particular emphasis on the functions of MOF components for practical applications.

The importance of PEG architecture on nanoparticle (NP) functionality is known but still difficult to investigate. Here, DNA-PAINT and qPAINT are used to quantify this phenomenon at a single particle and molecular level.

Uncovering the chemistry behind the self-assembly of copper nanoclusters: cuprophilic, π–π stacking, and agostic interactions are elicited to arrange into ordered rods, platelets, and ribbon-like structures.

2D metal oxides (2DMOs) have drawn intensive interest in the past few years owing to their rich surface chemistry and unique electronic structures.

The enzyme PETase can be attached to superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles through a His-tag facilitating a high enzymatic activity for the degradation of PET microplastic particles.

Hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HOF) membranes with excellent separation performance have been successfully fabricated via thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) method.

A nanocomposite of core@shell Sb@Sb₂O₃ particles anchored on 3D porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets is synthesized and employed as a anode for Li-ion battery, demonstrating excellent rate capability and cycle performance.

The study details the electrochemical characterization of NVP anodes and symmetric NVP cells in a DME electrolyte for the first time.

Catalyst free disulfide exchange promoted epoxy/PDMS/GO-based self-healing vitrimeric material is reported, where efficiency of healing is extended through the presence of graphene, whereas PDMS is useful to enhance the toughness of the vitrimers.

We report a tailor-made multiplexed super-resolution imaging method using the lifetime fingerprints from luminescent nanoparticles, which can resolve the particles within the diffraction-limited spots and enable higher multiplexing capacity in space.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has long been used in catalysis and is a promising material for energy conversion devices.

BNNTs/PVA fibers with improved mechanical properties are produced from the wet spinning of dispersions containing as low as 0.1 mass% of nanotube concentration.

A direct current (DC) resistance sensor based on two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) was developed to enable cancer cell-specific detection via micro-changes in the cancer cell membrane.

Due to the refocusing optical feedback in the silver-coated capillary, the uniform SERS sensitivity across the end face of large-size liquid channel is realized.

A specific and non-covalent approach is reported to associate the targeting ability of nanobodies with the detectability of 2.4 nm gold nanoparticles for immunolabelling of cellular effectors using light and high-resolution electron microscopy.

Quantitative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 variant-specific immunization from finger prick blood sample within minutes.

A self-supplying O₂ nanosystem based on MOF combined with hyaluronate-modified CaO₂ (PCN-224-CaO₂-HA) was constructed. This nanosystem can be used for targeted and enhanced photodynamic therapy in vitro and in vivo.

We developed a supramolecular nanozyme through the strategy of multicomponent coordination self-assembly using a bio-derived amino acid, glucose oxidase and Fe²⁺ as building blocks, which exhibited great potential towards biomedical applications.

The dynamics of layer growth in nanowires with a solid catalyst is compared to that with a liquid catalyst.

A novel rose-with-thorn ternary MoS₂@C@polyaniline nanocomposite composed of carbon and polyaniline nanoneedles co-coated on rose-like MoS₂ is developed, displaying a high energy-storage performance for Mg batteries.

A three-dimensional foam is fabricated to enhance the interfacial interaction between adjacent MXene sheets and polyimide (PI) macromolecules; then a composite film with a dense and well-ordered layer-by-layer structure, good flexibility and flame retardancy is produced.

The detected wavelength of perovskite quantum dots embedded in IGZO TFT can be tuned by replacing the quantum dot halogen ions. It is expected that a color-distinguishable artificial human vision system can be developed.

Time-dependent evolutive RTP from N,S-doped carbon dots-based co-crystallizations.

Chiral DNA structures can tile snugly together to form regular structures that alternate between left-and right-handed forms.

Emerging defect- and oxidation-induced extrinsic phases are discovered in low-dimensional CrCl₃.

A green-synthesized nanocarbon phosphorescent material was applied to multilevel anti-counterfeiting fields, with ultra-long phosphorescence lifetime and humidity sensitivity.

The thermal processing of specific precursor mixtures under relatively mild conditions does not result in “red/near-IR carbon dots” as previously claimed, but instead chemical reactions for molecular chromophores of red/near-IR absorptions.

A nanocomposite made of exfoliated vermiculite nanosheets and epoxy is developed for extinguishing fire and protecting wood from fire degradation.

A simple hydrothermal method is used to synthesize molybdenum disulfide with nano-level interlayer spacing, which effectively improves the zinc storage performance as a cathode electrode in aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

Recently, two-dimensional (2D) metal halide perovskite materials with wide application in perovskite-based solar cells have attracted significant attention.

Nickel–cobalt oxalate (Ni_2.5Co₅C₂O₄–nH₂O) based block-like nanostructure has been introduced as superior electrocatalyst compared to nickel–cobalt oxide (NiCo₂O₄) for alkaline water oxidation.

PEDOT:PSS-glued MoO₃ nanowires were anchored on AgNFs network to build all-solid-state flexible transparent supercapacitors with high performances.

A rapidly rotating tube in the vortex fluidic device imparts submicron topological mass transport regimes, as moulded through crystallisation, polymerisation, and ‘molecular drilling’.

A flexible and transparent memristive synapse is fabricated by inserting NCQDs into the PVP, which the biorealistic realization of several essential synaptic functions.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a trending water desalination method during which the impurity ions in water can be removed by electrosorption.

John Cunningham virus-like particles (JC VLPs) are able to cross the blood-brain barrier in vitro and in vivo.

Interface passivation plays a pivotal role in achieving high-efficiency organic metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs).

Interconnected NiCo₂O₄ nanosheet arrays grown on carbon cloth as an efficient host and catalyst for sulfur species enabling high-performance Li–S batteries.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the coronavirus disease that began in 2019 (COVID-19), has been responsible for 1.4 million deaths worldwide as of 13 November 2020.

A 3D porous SERS powder was developed in this study. Highly sensitive and homogeneous SERS detections on liquid and gas have been achieved, demonstrating potential application for an artificial “nose”.

The embedding of MoS₂ quantum dots in polyvinyl alcohol matrices produces long afterglow phosphorescent materials.

Prominent iodide oxidation performance is achieved over Ni doped Co(OH)₂ nanosheet arrays obtained by a substrate oxidation strategy at room temperature.

A method of pelletizing raw materials was used to tackle unwarranted variations in MXene products depending on the parent MAX phases, manufacturing techniques, and preparation parameters, enabling a direct painting process on various surfaces for ink applications.