Reviews & Analysis

This review summarizes recent developments in the direct synthesis and ion exchange-based reactions leading to hybrid organic–inorganic and all-inorganic lead halide perovskite nanocrystals. Optical properties related to quantum confinement effects, single emission spectroscopy and lasing are considered. Perovskite nanocrystals have been employed as an active material in several applications such as light-emitting devices, solar cells and photodetectors.

A huge interest shows that optical contrast agents to probe biological specimen both functionally and structurally with deeper action depth and better spatial resolution is closely related with the development of near-infrared (NIR) light excitation and nonlinear optics and new imaging methods. This review will go beyond the state-of-the-art by revisiting the up-to-date progress in developing smart NIR-to-NIR and upconverted nanomaterials for in vivo bioapplications. The latest advances in the development of novel NIR-to-NIR linear and nonlinear optical nanomaterials and their potential applications in cancer targeting, diagnosis and therapeutics and deep-tissue imaging are described.

PHAs are natural biodegradable polyesters synthesized by microorganisms. However, several disadvantages such as their poor mechanical properties and limited functionalities limit their competition with traditional synthetic plastics or their application as ideal biomaterials. To circumvent these drawbacks, PHAs need to be modified to ensure improved performance in specific applications. Well-established modification methods of PHAs are summarized and discussed. The improved properties of PHA that blends with natural raw materials or other biodegradable polymers are summarized. The functionalization of PHAs by block copolymerization and graft copolymerization is described. The expanded utilization of the modified PHAs as (bio)engineering materials is addressed.

The facile conduction of alkali ions in a crystal host is of crucial importance in rechargeable alkali-ion batteries. This review provides a comprehensive survey of the various computational approaches, such as transition state, molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods, to study solid-state alkali diffusion, discusses how these methods have provided useful insights into the design of crystalline materials that form the main components of a rechargeable alkali-ion battery, namely the electrodes, superionic conductor solid electrolytes and their interfaces, and provides our perspective on the future challenges and directions in computational alkali diffusion studies.