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Graphene has now enabled the development of faster and more powerful batteries and supercapacitors. In this Review, we discuss the current status of graphene in energy storage, highlight ongoing research activities and present some solutions for existing challenges.
In this Review, the structure, bonding and defects of half-Heusler compounds are explained in terms of the framework of Zintl (or valence-precise) chemistry. This deeper understanding of the structure and electronic properties of half-Heusler compounds should aid the design of improved thermoelectric materials.
Piezotronics and piezo-phototronics offer new means of implementing adaptive electronics and optoelectronics, taking advantage of the coupling between piezoelectric polarization and semiconductor properties in piezoelectric semiconductor nanomaterials. This Review discusses the recent progress in piezotronics and piezo-phototronics, as well as future research directions.
Mesoporous materials are finding increasing uses in energy conversion and storage devices. This Review highlights recent developments in the synthesis of mesoporous materials and their applications as electrodes and/or catalysts in solar cells, solar fuel production, rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells.
Recent research into semiconductor nanowire lasers has resulted in the advent of new materials, a broader wavelength selection and effective electrical pumping schemes, thereby bringing these nanoscale lasers much closer to application in fields like communications, computing, sensing and imaging.
Assisted by rationally designed novel plasmonic nanostructures, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy has presented a new generation of analytical tools (that is, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy) with an extremely high surface sensitivity, spatial resolution and broad application for materials science and technology.
This Perspective explores and explains the fundamental dogma of nanoparticle delivery to tumours and answers two central questions: ‘how many nanoparticles accumulate in a tumour?’ and ‘how does this number affect the clinical translation of nanomedicines?’
The polymer materials of the twenty-first century will be complex chemical systems that can respond and adapt to their environment. Such materials can be attained by synthesizing precision macromolecules with controlled architectures, and by mastering polymer interactions and self-organization.
Far-sighted research policies, comprehensive research platforms, talent programmes and huge domestic markets are the impetuses for the fast progress of China's research in materials science.
Membranes have an increasingly important role in alleviating water scarcity and the pollution of aquatic environments. Promising molecular-level design approaches are reviewed for membrane materials, focusing on how these materials address the urgent requirements of water treatment applications.
Post-lithium-ion batteries are reviewed with a focus on their operating principles, advantages and the challenges that they face. The volumetric energy density of each battery is examined using a commercial pouch-cell configuration to evaluate its practical significance and identify appropriate research directions.
The incorporation of structural defects, in particular of interfaces, into crystalline lattices results in enhanced material properties. In this Review, different types of boundaries and interfaces are discussed, including high- and low-angle grain boundaries, twin boundaries, nanotwinned and nanolaminated structures, and gradient nanostructures.
