Volume 12 Issue 6, June 2017

Permeation experiments and simulations show that physically confined graphene oxide allows water molecules to pass through while hindering hydrated ions

Applying high-potential alternating current to a carbon-nanotube–polymer composite film provides a self-heating membrane that enhances desalination performance of high-salinity brines by membrane distillation.

Using in situ environmental transmission electron microscopy, the structural and phase changes of the reaction products of an air cathode during discharging and charging can be visualized in real time.

An organogel is made of molecular motors and modulators that act cooperatively to perform a full mechanical cycle of contraction and expansion at the macroscale.

A sacrificial overcoat layer directs self-assembly of block copolymers into lamellae with features smaller than 10 nm.

This Review examines the development of nanoporous atomically thin membranes, focusing on fundamental mechanisms of gas- and liquid-phase transport, membrane fabrication techniques, and advances towards practical applications.

Analysis of the development of drug products containing nanomaterials identifies several trends as well as the relative rate of approval of these products.

Air-stable, non-encapsulated Bi₂O₂Se ultrathin films grown by chemical vapour deposition display high electron mobility and exceptional semiconducting transport properties, making the observation of quantum oscillations possible and suggesting potential applications in electronics.

In situ characterization of the full reaction pathways of a solid state LiO₂ battery shows the formation of hollow nanostructures as a result of the interplay between lithium ion diffusion, electron transport and oxygen gas evolution at the cathode.

A set of independently light-controlled motor and modulator subunits embedded in a polymer gel matrix enables controlled macroscopic expansion and retraction of the material.

Ion permeation and selectivity of graphene oxide membranes with sub-nm channels dramatically alters with the change in interlayer distance due to dehydration effects whereas permeation of water molecules remains largely unaffected.

A virus-like artificial structure responds to variations in pH by switching helicity.

Electro-oxidation of CNT Joule heaters can be eliminated through the application of sufficiently high a.c. frequencies, which enables their use as self-heating membranes in membrane distillation.

Graphene nanoconstrictions achieved via mechanical exfoliation of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite evidence clear signatures of one-dimensional transport via zigzag edges.

Nonmagnetic colloidal nanocrystals demonstrate magnetic properties due to spins of dangling bonds at their surface resulting in formation of dangling-bond magnetic polarons.

A thin topcoat that grafts directly to block copolymer films does not need to be removed prior to further fabrication steps.

DNA origami nanocages are used to directly probe the thermodynamic stability and transition kinetics of G-quadruplex in confined media.

The transitional link from robust clearance of intravenously injected nanoparticles by strategically placed macrophages in systemic circulation to adverse haemodynamic reactions can be overcome by changing nanoparticle geometry or by prior nanoparticle attachment to erythrocytes

Steffen Foss Hansen and Anders Baun present some of the approaches that they have implemented in their Nanotechnology and the Environment course.