Volume 2 Issue 7, July 2017

Nanotheranostics are nanoscale agents with both therapeutic and diagnostic functions. Cancer nanotheranostics that can be used for characterizing individual tumours, understanding and predicting nanoparticle–tumour interactions, and tailoring nanomedicines for optimized treatment hold great potential to revolutionize drug research and development, and clinical oncology.

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin whirls that hold promise for applications because they can be controllably moved, created and annihilated. In this Review, the underlying physics of the stabilization of skyrmions at room temperature and their prospective use for spintronic applications are discussed.

Studying nature to reveal the mechanisms of special wetting phenomena in biological systems can effectively inspire the design and fabrication of functional interfacial materials with superwettability. In this Review, the historical development, new phenomena and emerging applications of superwettability systems are discussed.

This Review summarizes advances in understanding the unique physical properties of hybrid perovskites that enable the fabrication of high-efficiency solar cells with high open-circuit voltages, which is crucial for their further development towards commercialization.