Nanoscale & Nanoscale Advances Blog

Nanoscale ‘HOT’ Article

Zhen Zhou and co-workers have synthesised and characterised a doughnut-like Ni(OH)₂–Co(OH)₂ composite for use in pseudocapacitors.

The specific capacitance for the first discharge of the composite was calculated as 2193 F g^-1 at a discharge current density of 2 A g^-1, which is significantly larger than the corresponding value of 1914 F g^-1 for pristine Ni(OH)₂ at the same current density. The composite also exhibited better cycling performance and rate capability than Ni(OH)₂.

This study has shown that the overall electrochemical performance is considerably enhanced for the doughnut-like Ni(OH)₂–Co(OH)₂ composite.

Read the Nanoscale Article today:

Preparation and electrochemical performances of doughnut-like Ni(OH)₂–Co(OH)₂ composites as pseudocapacitor materials
Jinxiu Li, Mei Yang, Jinping Wei and Zhen Zhou
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30936J

Nanoscale ‘HOT’ Article

Xueyuan Chen and co-workers have synthesised and characterised a variety of water soluble lanthanide-doped KLaF₄ luminescent nanocrystals.

Doping with Er³⁺/Yb³⁺, Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺ or Tm³⁺/Yb³⁺ gave upconversion (UC) phosphors, whereas doping with Ce³⁺/Tb³⁺ or Eu³⁺ gave downconversion (DC) phosphors.

The authors believe that these nanocrystal phosphors have potential for use in bioassays, DNA hybridisation, and bio-imaging.

Read the Nanoscale Article today:

Controlled synthesis and optical spectroscopy of lanthanide-doped KLaF₄ nanocrystals
Rui Liu, Datao Tu, Yongsheng Liu, Haomiao Zhu, Renfu Li, Wei Zheng, En Ma and Xueyuan Chen
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30794D

Nanoscale ‘HOT’ Communication

Roya Maboudian and co-workers have developed an easy and versatile way to decorate graphene with metal nanoparticles via electroless deposition.

This method has been used in the fabrication of a gas sensor which, although not optimised, has successfully detected hydrogen sulfide.

The authors believe that their decoration process could be used with existing roll-to-roll fabrication methods for the mass production of sensors.

Read the Nanoscale Communication today:

Graphene decoration with metal nanoparticles: Towards easy integration for sensing applications
Albert Gutés, Ben Hsia, Allen Sussman, Willi Mickelson, Alex Zettl, Carlo Carraroa and Roya Maboudian
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C1NR11537E