Nanoscience and technology articles within NPG Asia Materials

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  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Development of methylammonium lead halide perovskites for efficient solar cell is best approach towards efficient building photovoltaic. This article demonstrates the synthetic strategy for the synthesis of efficient and stable CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dots for efficient mesoscopic solid-state perovskite solar cells. The influence of different CH3NH3PbBr3 quantum dot size and different hole-transporting materials has been discussed systematically.

    • Sawanta S Mali
    • , Chang Su Shim
    •  & Chang Kook Hong

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Regenerative underwater superhydrophobicity was achieved in hierarchical ZnO/Si surfaces via hydrogen gas from photoelectrochemical reaction and unique surface structures for capturing and retaining a stable gas layer. Furthermore, we developed a model to determine the optimum structural factors of hierarchical ZnO/Si for complete regeneration of superhydrophobicity.

    • Junghan Lee
    •  & Kijung Yong

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    We made ‘Gd-peapod’, which is a double-walled carbon nanotube filled with gadolinium chloride. After Gd-peapods were injected to a rat via tail vein, we evaluated the organs by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As a result, the peapods in rats were easily visualized by MRI and the change in signal intensity was dose dependent. This newly developed method can be used to monitor carbon nanotube biokinetics in vivo without tedious tissue preparation.

    • Shinsuke Kobayashi
    • , Shuji Tsuruoka
    •  & Naoto Saito

  • Research Highlight
    | Open Access

    Silicene is the silicon counterpart of graphene, that is, it consists of a single layer of Si atoms arranged in a hexagonal network. This new two-dimensional material, first predicted by theory, has been recently grown on different metallic surfaces.1, 2, 3 An obvious advantage of silicene (over graphene) for nanoelectronic applications is its better compatibility and expected integration with the existing Si nanotechnology platform. A new breakthrough on this material has been recently reported by Tao et al.,4 who have successfully fabricated the first silicene-based field effect transistors (FETs) operating at room temperature. Their success relies on the development of a layer transfer process, called ‘silicene-encapsulated delamination with native electrodes’ (SEDNE). This innovative process includes the following key steps: (1) epitaxial growth of silicene on Ag(111) thin films grown on mica substrates; (2) Al2O3 in situ encapsulation of the silicene layer, followed by its delamination transfer on a p++Si/SiO2 substrate; and (3) subsequent Ag source/drain contact formation by e-beam lithography. A resulting silicene-based FET, with the p++Si substrate used as a back-gate contact, is shown in Figure 1a.

    • Michel Houssa

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Applying in situ TEM techniques to GST-based vertical PCRAM cells, we directly observed the DC set switching process of real devices for the first time. The results show that the microstructure of crystalline GST matrix is an important structural parameter determining the local temperature distribution. In the case of highly crystallized GST matrix, the device failure occurred via two-step void formation due to the polarity-dependent electromigration.

    • Kyungjoon Baek
    • , Kyung Song
    •  & Sang Ho Oh

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoporous metals made by dealloying can take the form of macroscopic bodies that exhibit a uniform and highly interconnected network of nanoscale ‘ligaments’. Our study used this material as the reinforcement phase in novel interpenetrating-phase nanocomposites. Tensile tests on our cm-sized composite samples for the first time demonstrate tensile ductility in a nanoporous-metal-based material. Whereas the strength, σ, of pure nanoporous metal scales with the phase faction, ϕ, as σ ∝ ϕ3/2, the composite has a linear scaling relation σ ∝ ϕ that favors strengthening at small solid fraction. We find this strengthening also in quantitative agreement with the data behind the well-known ‘smaller is stronger’ of metal nanostructures. Thus, our material’s design strategy exploits the high strength of individual metal nano-objects such as nanowires for making a strong and ductile material from which macroscopic things can be formed.

    • Ke Wang
    • , Aaron Kobler
    •  & Jörg Weissmüller

  • Review
    | Open Access

    The development of scalable chemistries for the production and processing of graphene is essential if its potential in structures and devices is to be realized. This review is a chemist’s perspective on the methods developed for the production of processable graphene and graphene precursors dispersion, their integration into polymers and fabrication into a variety of structures.

    • Sanjeev Gambhir
    • , Rouhollah Jalili
    •  & Gordon G Wallace

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    We report a new ‘one stone two birds’ strategy to fabricate a bicontinuous Cu/L4T5O12 electrode consisting of nanoporous Cu scaffold and the encapsulated nanoparticles with highly exposed (111) planes. These architectures provide rapid pathways for ion and electron transport and realize the additional lithium storage capacity on the surfaces of LTO, realizing the high-rate and high-capacity lithium storage.

    • Xi Wang
    • , Dequan Liu
    •  & Chao Zhang

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Nanoheterostructures (NHSs) have fostered structural diversity and functional multiplicity owing to a combination of two nanosegments and the consequent charge carrier redistribution. In this article, we review the recent progress in the combinative study of the NHSs from both the experimental and theoretical perspectives in terms of the growth mechanisms down to the atomic level and the electronic structure from ab initio.

    • Biao Xu
    • , Gang Zhou
    •  & Xun Wang

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    By intercalating monolayer titania nanosheets (TO) into graphene oxide (GO) laminates, assisted with mild ultraviolet reduction, the as-prepared hybrid membranes exhibit excellent water desalination performances. The photoreduction of GO by TO is responsible for the effective rejection of ions, while the photoinduced hydrophilic conversion of TO is responsible for the well-retained water permeabilities.

    • Pengzhan Sun
    • , Qiao Chen
    •  & Hongwei Zhu

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    We demonstrated for the first time highly flexible N-doped SiC nanoneedle field emitters with low turn-on fields and excellent emission stabilities. The characterizations of their field emission properties under repeated bending cycles and different bending states confirmed that such emitters are mechanically and electrically robust. These findings underscore the importance of concurrent morphology and composition controls in nanomaterial synthesis and establish SiC nanoneedles as the most promising candidate for flexible FE applications.

    • Shanliang Chen
    • , Pengzhan Ying
    •  & Tom Wu

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene is an emerging material for nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) due to its intriguing electronic properties and promising mechanical character. However, intrinsic graphene has long been considered devoid of piezoelectric effect which restricts its electromechanical coupling ability. We report on a giant two-dimensional (2D) piezoelectric effect on an intrinsic graphene-based NEMS platform, which results from dynamical adjustment of band structure-induced polarization instead of occurrence of electric dipoles at the molecular level. These findings not only open an avenue for dynamical strain-engineered 2D electronics, but also pave the way for low-cost sensing and energy harvesting applications.

    • Xiaomu Wang
    • , He Tian
    •  & Tian-Ling Ren

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    A novel release mechanism of microcapsules is demonstrated, where the rate of core release can be solely controlled by magnetic field-induced deformation of microcapsules. Composite microcapsules are prepared with magnetic particles embedded in the polymer wall. It shows that the release rate is highly dependent on the strengths of the magnetic field and deformation frequency of the microcapsules.

    • Yue Long
    • , Chuanyong Liu
    •  & Chen-Ho Tung

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    A topotactic reaction strategy has been reported to achieve the oriented attachment of colloidal metal chalcogenide quantum dots into micrometer-sized nanosheets and nanobelts (up to 6-7 μm) on both mechanically rigid and flexible substrates. The non-stoichiometric compositions, crystallization, Ag doping and good contact with substrate were controlled well. The observation of weak anti-localization phenomena and Hall effect sensitivity, the improved I-V and photoresponse property and the stable I-V property of these nanosheet films on flexible substrates under bending force testify their potential electronic device application.

    • Hong-mei Qian
    • , Qian Zhao
    •  & He-sun Zhu

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    For the first time, we investigate the synergistic effect of one-dimensional nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) and two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO) to facilitate low-cost, mechanically strong hybrid microfibers. Both experimental and molecular dynamics simulations were carried out. Such GO-NFC hybrid microfibers show an elastic modulus of 34.1 GPa, an ultimate tensile strength of 442.4 MPa and a toughness of 4.9 MJ m−3, which outperform among the best GO fibers in literature. This study promotes a new design strategy to create high-performance microfibers for a range of applications.

    • Yuanyuan Li
    • , Hongli Zhu
    •  & Liangbing Hu

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Architectured ZnO nanostructures were grown by van der Waals (vdW) heteroepitaxy on hexagonal BN (hBN) layers with artificially patterned atomic ledges. Electron microscopic and theoretical computational analyses presented non-covalent epitaxial features of domain-aligned incommensurate ZnO/hBN heterostructure. The vdW epitaxial ZnO/hBN heterostructures exhibited excellent electrical insulation of hBN, and were applied to fabricate the ultraviolet photodetector devices, as an example of functional optoelectronic device applications.

    • Hongseok Oh
    • , Young Joon Hong
    •  & Gyu-Chul Yi

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    This work reports a simple and robust approach to integrate MnOx nanoparticles onto flexible graphite paper using an ultrathin CNT/RGO supporting layer. Supercapacitor electrodes employing the MnOx/CNT/RGO nanohybrids without any conductive additives or binders yielded a high specific capacitance. The cycling stability of the nanohybrid electrodes was further improved through functionalizing the CNT/RGO supporting layer with atmospheric-pressure plasmas, demonstrating the synergistic use of nanohybrids and plasma-related effects for enhanced device performance.

    • Zhao Jun Han
    • , Dong Han Seo
    •  & Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    We constructed a novel and universal biosensing platform based on polymerase-nicking enzyme synergetic isothermal quadratic DNA machine (ESQM). It tactfully integrates two signal amplification modules including strand displacement amplification (SDA) and nicking enzyme signal amplification (NESA) into a one-step biosensing system via a bifunctional DNA probe with stem-loop structure. ESQM can be activated to afford a high amplified signal in the presence of target. The ultrasensitive detection of Pb2+ (30 fM) even in real water sample was achieved within 40 min, and the practicability of ESQM in DNA methyltransferase activity analysis demonstrated the universality of this biosensing platform.

    • Yongxi Zhao
    • , Feng Chen
    •  & Chunhai Fan

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    A highly stretchable CuNW electrode was fabricated on PDMS substrate by the vacuum filtration method. The fundamental stretchability of CuNW films was demonstrated with a newly structured PDMS matrix. Our novel helix-structured CuNW/PDMS electrode showed excellent stretchability at an extremely high strain of 700%, showing a resistance variation of 3.9.

    • Yulim Won
    • , Areum Kim
    •  & Jooho Moon

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene-supported polymer brushes were developed as a new type of functional quasi-2D polymers that are transparent, lightweight, freestanding, flexible, transferable and patternable. These 2D objects are demonstrated to be functional sheets for the responsive control of surface wettability and DNA biosensors.

    • Tingting Gao
    • , Sze-Wing Ng
    •  & Zijian Zheng

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Mesoporous low-temperature LiCoO2 nanowire arrays can be directly prepared by a two-step hydrothermal method and they can be easily converted into chain-like high-temperature LiCoO2 nanowire arrays through further calcination. The layered LiCoO2 nanowire arrays exhibit both high gravimetric capacity and areal capacity, while maintaining good cycling stability and rate capability, make them promising for application in microbatteries.

    • Hui Xia
    • , Yunhai Wan
    •  & Li Lu

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Efficient thermal spin injection can be achieved by using CoFeAl alloy in which the sign of the Seebeck coefficients for up and down spins are opposite each other.

    • Shaojie Hu
    • , Hiroyoshi Itoh
    •  & Takashi Kimura

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Combining a stimulus-responsive material and the Marangoni effect, a smart microactuator consisting of UV-responsive photoresist and surfactant was fabricated. The locomotion of a device loaded with the microactuator was initiated upon irradiation with 365-nm UV light, stopped when the light was turned off, and restarted when the light was turned back on. This work is the first example using the chemical Marangoni effect to produce photoresponsive motion on a water surface.

    • Meng Xiao
    • , Chao Jiang
    •  & Feng Shi

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    A novel and cost-effective activation process has been developed to macroscopically produce three-dimensional (3D) porous Ni@NiO core-shell electrode by activated Ni foam (ANF) in HCl aqueous solution. The ANF electrode yielded a remarkable areal capacitance of 2.0 F cm−2 at a high current density of 8 mA cm−2 and exhibited ultrahigh long-term cycling stability without any decay of capacitance after 100 000 cycles.

    • Minghao Yu
    • , Wang Wang
    •  & Yexiang Tong

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Au/Ni12P5 core/shell nanocrystals with single crystalline shells are synthesized via an in situ phosphorization of dumbbell-like Au–Ni nanoparticles (NPs) as precursors. The obtained core/shell Au/Ni12P5 NPs are served as supercapacitor electrode materials with distinct enhanced super-capacitance characteristics compared with pure Ni12P5 and oligomer-like Au–Ni12P5 NPs. This synthesis method provides a new strategy to fabricate metal–semiconductor nanomaterials for enhanced properties.

    • Sibin Duan
    •  & Rongming Wang

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    A novel two-step approach is presented for the fabrication of self-assembled monolayers of platinum nanocrystals (SAM-Pt) uniformly deposited on a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) surface to serve as a counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A true self-assembled Pt nanocrystalline monolayer with a mean particle size of ∼3 nm at facet {111} was unambiguously observed in the high-resolution TEM images. We emphasize that the SAM-Pt films feature a clean surface, uniform morphology, narrow size distribution, small Pt loading and great catalytic activity; the present approach is hence not only suitable for DSSCs but is also promising for many other energy-related applications that require platinum as an efficient catalyst to expedite the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

    • Lu-Lin Li
    • , Hsin-Hui Wu
    •  & Eric Wei-Guang Diau

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Four oligonucleotide strands are hybridized to form the 3D DNA nano-pyramid. Three thiol groups-terminated vertex can immobilize the pyramid firmly onto the surface of gold electrode, while the remaining non-thiolated vertex at the top with carboxyl group allows the covalent binding of anti-IgG antibody. Through traditional sandwich immunoreaction, the electroactive tag, ferrocene (FeC) generates electrochemical signals used to detect the analyte IgG. The pyramidal structure with higher rigidity encourages more uniform surface assembly and less steric effect, resulting in lower background interference. The pyramid's hollow structure further contributes to efficient electron transfer and makes this immunoassay system achieve an ultrasensitive detection limit.

    • Liang Yuan
    • , Marcella Giovanni
    •  & David Tai Leong

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    We report a novel design of graphene as electrical sensor for single-molecule detection, by employing natural self-assembly properties of graphene/multilayered h-BN/graphene for single-molecule detection. The novelty of our design is that we use the top and bottom graphene layers as two separate electrodes while the sandwiched h-BN layers as the insulating dielectric. Our theoretical study indicates that the ordered stacking of h-BN dielectric in the nanopore will result in intriguing quantum interference effects, which can be utilized for enhancing the sensitivity of the proposed device.

    • Yuhui He
    • , Makusu Tsutsui
    •  & Tomoji Kawai

  • Review
    | Open Access

    In this review, we highlight the recent achievements in the DNA-programmed self-assembly of homo- and/or hetero-photonic nanoarchitectures comprising gold nanoparticles, gold nanorods and quantum dots in one, two and three dimensions, and overview their optical properties and potential photonic functionalities.

    • Xiang Lan
    •  & Qiangbin Wang

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) are prominent materials for a wide variety of application including catalysis, drug and gene transfer, sensing and imaging, optics, electronic devices, gas sensing, gas adsorption, biomolecule adsorption and chromatographic phases owing to their outstanding pore wall tuning properties. Since each organic molecule in their framework has different chemical behavior, incorporating different organic functionalities into the PMO framework make the materials with unique properties for specific applications. A wide range of PMOs with various bridged organic functionalities and morphologies have been prepared. However, some aspects remain to be studied. The current results and the forthcoming advances in PMOs will make them the materials of excellent for some high-technology applications. PMOs proved to be very useful in a variety of applications, and many others can be envisaged for the near future.

    • Sung Soo Park
    • , Madhappan Santha Moorthy
    •  & Chang-Sik Ha

  • Review
    | Open Access

    New methods of integrating aptamers with various types of nanomaterials are summarized, highlighting promising classes of aptamer-conjugated nanoparticles for efficient cancer cell recognition and the targeted delivery of drugs. In addition, emerging technologies for cancer treatment using nanomaterials as therapeutic drugs are discussed. These aptamer-conjugated nanomaterials will benefit cancer treatment through increased specificity and efficacy as well as reduced toxicity.

    • Qiaoling Liu
    • , Chen Jin
    •  & Weihong Tan

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Various spherical nanocarbon materials, including fullerenes, carbon nanohorn aggregates, nanodiamonds etc., have shown potential anti-cancer effects. Fullerenes and metallofullerenes possess outstanding ROS-scavenging capability, as well as other biological effects like immunity enhancement etc., affording promising tumor suppression potential. Carbon nanohorn aggregates and nanodiamond particles have demonstrated effective drug delivery ability for cancer therapy. Moreover, it is noteworthy that these spherical nanocarbon materials show positive toxicological evaluation results, encouraging possible practical usage for biomedical applications.

    • Jing Wang
    • , Zhongbo Hu
    •  & Yuliang Zhao

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    A simple and universal DNA-based platform is developed to implement the required two logic gates of a half adder (or a half subtractor) in parallel triggered by the same set of inputs. The developed half adder and half subtractor are operated with the same DNA platform in an enzyme-free system. The investigations provide a new way for the prototypical DNA-based arithmetic operations and also the development of advanced circuits.

    • Shanling Xu
    • , Hailong Li
    •  & Erkang Wang

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Upconversion nanophosphors have unique ability to generate anti-Stokes luminescence. The rapid developments of nanotechnology in recent years have demonstrated the successful synthesis and optimization of such upconversion nanophosphors. This review summarizes the recent advances using upconversion nanophosphors as bioprobe for in vivo applications.

    • Wei Feng
    • , Xingjun Zhu
    •  & Fuyou Li

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) derived from double-walled carbon nanotubes with strong emission were prepared through solution chemistry. The introduction of GQDs in a bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell based on Poly (3-hexylthiophene):(6,6)-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) resulted in the significant enhancement of power conversion efficiency (PCE). The efficiency can be further improved by adjusting the PCBM content in the active layer, with the highest PCE of 5.24%.

    • Fushan Li
    • , Lijie Kou
    •  & Tailiang Guo

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    In this article, we propose several kinds of simple nano-structures constructed by BP and SiC nanoribbons, which show peculiar electronic properties and might have promising applications in nano-electronics. SiC-BP-SiC nanoribbons are found to exhibit not only significant field-effect characteristics but also tunable negative differential resistance. ‘Y’- and ‘Δ’-shaped SiC-BP structures show significant spin polarization at their edges. Under the transverse electric field, the non-magnetic direct bandgap zigzag BP nanoribbons can change to non-magnetic indirect bandgap semiconductors, ferrimagnetic semiconductors or half-metals depending on the field strength and direction. These findings reveal the possibility of using SiC-BP nano-structures to construct multi-functional electronics.

    • Jichen Dong
    • , Hui Li
    •  & Li Li

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Along with the rapid merge and development of biotechnology and nanotechnology, various DNA nanostructure scaffolds have been designed, characterized and exploited for a range of applications. Particularly, we have seen the evolution of surface-confined DNA probes with rational design from one-dimensional to two-dimensional and then to three-dimensional, which greatly improve our ability to control the density, orientation and passivation of the surface. In this review, we aim to summarize recent progress on the improvement of probe–target recognition properties by introducing DNA nanostructure scaffolds. A range of new strategies have proven to provide significantly enhanced spatial positioning range and accessibility of the probes on surface over previously reported linear structures. We will also describe applications of DNA nanostructure scaffold-based biosensors.

    • Hao Pei
    • , Xiaolei Zuo
    •  & Chunhai Fan

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Lipid-nanostructure hybrids possess dimensions that are comparable to biological molecules as well as unique and useful physicochemical properties arising from both lipids and nanomaterials. Therefore, the hybrids allow mimicking of the assembled structure and function of subcellular membrane components and monitoring of the membrane-associated reactions in a highly sensitive and controllable manner. In this review, we present recent advances in the synthesis of various lipid-nanostructure hybrids and the use of these structures for applications in nanobiotechnology. We further describe the scientific and practical applications of lipid-nanostructure hybrids for detecting membrane-targeting molecules, interfacing nanostructures with live cells and creating membrane-mimicking platforms to investigate cell–cell communication and intracellular processes.

    • Young Kwang Lee
    • , Hyojin Lee
    •  & Jwa-Min Nam

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoscale graphene oxide (NGO) has emerged as extremely attractive nanomaterials for diagnostics and therapeutics. In this work, we present a systematic study on the in vivo distribution and pulmonary toxicity of NGO for up to 3 months after exposure. Radioisotope tracing and morphological observation demonstrated that intratracheally instilled NGO was mainly retained in the lung. NGO could result in acute lung injury (ALI) and chronic pulmonary fibrosis, which raises environmental concerns about the large-scale production of graphene oxide. Nevertheless, we also noted that the NGO-induced ALI was related to oxidative stress and could effectively be relieved with dexamethasone treatment.

    • Bo Li
    • , Jianzhong Yang
    •  & Chunhai Fan

  • Review
    | Open Access

    In this review, nanoporous thin-film template was obtained from the self-assembly of block copolymer PS-PLLA, at which the PLLA block can be hydrolyzed to form the nanopatterns. Nanoporous PS thin films with well-oriented cylinder nanochannels can be used for pore-filling with various ingredients to create specific drug delivery systems and optoelectronic devices. Moreover, nanoporous ceramics with high-specific surface area and high porosity can be fabricated for optical applications using hydrolyzed gyroid-forming PS-PLLA for templated sol–gel reaction. In addition, the formation of inorganic nanoporous templates from self-assembled PS-PDMS after oxygen plasma treatment and its corresponding applications in nanolithography will be discussed.

    • Ming-Shiuan She
    • , Ting-Ya Lo
    •  & Rong-Ming Ho

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    The key factor and mechanism for reported toxicity of CNTs are unclear. Here we firstly quantify the contribution of metal residues and fiber structure to the toxicity of CNTs. Significant quantities of metal can be mobilized from CNTs into surrounding fluids, depending on the properties and constituent of biological microenvironment and metal particles. Hydroxyl radicals were generated by CNT containing metal impurities and leachable metal, while several inherent biomolecules facilitate the generation of free radical. Cell viability is highly dependent on the amount of metal residues and iron in particular but not tube structure, while the negative effect of CNT was limited in a certain concentration range below 80 μg ml−1.

    • Cuicui Ge
    • , Yang Li
    •  & Chunying Chen

  • Review
    | Open Access

    In this article, we review recent progress in the rapidly developing area of biomolecular interaction detection with excellent selectivity and ultrahigh sensitivity, such as DNA-DNA hybridization, DNA-protein interaction, protein function, and cellular activity, using FET-based biosensors based on the carbon nanomaterials single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and graphenes. We also summarize some current challenges the scientific community is facing, including device-to-device heterogeneity and the lack of system integration for uniform device array mass-production.

    • Song Liu
    •  & Xuefeng Guo

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Strain-driven micro- and nanorolls fabrication is generally restricted to multilayer and multiprocessing systems, which limit the possibility of exploiting the self-organization at different length scales. We have designed a hybrid organic–inorganic film whose surface shows a selective response to external stimuli, which induces mechanical strain and self-rolling in one-step–one-layer fabrication. The scrolling is initiated by water and any aqueous solution that also contains molecules or colloidal particles. During scrolling, the different species in solution remain entrapped in the rolls, giving rise to functional microrolls.

    • Masahide Takahashi
    • , Cristiana Figus
    •  & Plinio Innocenzi

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Nonvolatile memory devices based on hybrid inorganic/organic nanocomposites have emerged as excellent candidates for promising applications in next-generation electronic and optoelectronic devices because of their advantages of high-mechanical flexibility, simple fabrication and low cost. As shown in the figure, the resistive switching of a nanocomposite sandwiched between two electrodes enables the cross-point where A and B cross to work as a memory cell for data storage. To date, various nanomaterials and device structures have been developed to optimize the memory properties of hybrid nanocomposites.

    • Tae Whan Kim
    • , Yang Yang
    •  & Wei Lek Kwan

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Highly conductive and stretchable conductors from bacterial cellulose (BC) can be fabricated through a simple and inexpensive method using bacterial cellulose pellicles as starting materials, which can be produced in large amounts on an industrial scale via a microbial fermentation process. The prepared pyrolyzed BC/polydimethylsiloxane composites exhibit highly stable electric conductivity even under high stretching and bending strain.

    • Hai-Wei Liang
    • , Qing-Fang Guan
    •  & Shu-Hong Yu

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Forming nanomaterials into hierarchic and organized structures is a rational way of preparing advanced functional materials. The term nanoarchitectonics can express this innovation. This review focuses on recent researches to develop functional materials by forming nanomaterials into organized structures, especially in well-ordered layered structural motifs. This layered nanoarchitectonics can be achieved by using the versatile technology of layer-by-layer assembly. Reassembly of bulk materials into novel layered structures through layered nanoarchitectonics has created many innovative functional materials in a wide variety of fields as can be seen in ferromagnetic nanosheets, sensors, flame-retardant coatings, transparent conductors, electrodes and transistors, walking devices, drug release surfaces, targeting drug carriers and cell culturing.

    • Katsuhiko Ariga
    • , Qingmin Ji
    •  & Masakazu Aono

  • Review
    | Open Access

    Recent developments in advanced semiconductor nanomaterials and methods for their assembly establish new, important capabilities in flexible and stretchable electronics and optoelectronics. This review describes the most successful materials, mechanics and manufacturing strategies, and illustrates their use in bio-integrated devices designed for basic measurements of cellular electrophysiology and multimodal sensing suitable for clinical applications. Opportunities span a variety of biomedical applications including skin-based, neural, and cardiovascular monitoring and therapy.

    • Dae-Hyeong Kim
    • , Nanshu Lu
    •  & John A Rogers

  • Original Article
    | Open Access

    Water-dispersed nanowires for phototherapy: Without passivation of any water-friendly functional groups in its backbone, one-dimensional zinc phthalocyanine nanowires show remarkably increased dispersibility in water. Upon irradiation with near infrared light, the zinc phthalocyanine nanowires exhibit dual photodynamic and photothermal properties, which enhance the cytotoxic efficiency against tumor cells.

    • Hye Kyung Moon
    • , Minhyeok Son
    •  & Hee Cheul Choi

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