Celebrating the 20th anniversary of NCNST

Guest edited by Xinfeng Liu, Qing Dai, Zhixiang Wei, Chunying Chen and Yuliang Zhao

Last year we were delighted to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) with a special collection in Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances highlighting the breadth of high-quality work from the institute. We’re pleased to share this collection of research and reviews covering the most recent research progress in a wide spectrum of nanoscience and nanotechnology from researchers currently affiliated with NCNST as well as esteemed alumni. You can explore the collection and read the introductory editorial from our guest editors below, with all articles free to access until the end of April 2024. Read the collection

Professor Xinfeng Liu, Professor Qing Dai, Professor Zhixiang Wei, Professor Chunying Chen and Professor Yuliang Zhao served as guest editors for this collection and highlight the history of NCNST and significance of this anniversary in their introductory editorial.

Read the introductory editorial

All of the articles in the collection are free to access until the end of April 2024. Read some of the featured articles below.

Reviews

Material design, development, and trend for surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates Yue Ying, Zhiyong Tang and Yaling Liu Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR01456H

RNA-cleaving DNAzymes for accurate biosensing and gene therapy Xin Gao, Yixin Liu, Wendi Huo, Yuwei Song, Yu Chen, Jinchao Zhang, Xinjian Yang, Yi Jin and Xing-jie Liang Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR01482G

Research articles

Scalable engineering of hierarchical layered micro-sized silicon/graphene hybrids via direct foaming for lithium storage Mathar Hamza, Siyuan Zhang, Wenqiang Xu, Denghui Wang, Yingjie Ma and Xianglong Li Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR02840B

A wearable AuNP enhanced metal–organic gel (Au@MOG) sensor for sweat glucose detection with ultrahigh sensitivity Dengfeng Zhou, Shuangbin Zhang, Atta Ullah Khan, Lan Chen and Guanglu Ge Nanoscale, 2024, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR05179J

Cascade energy transfer boosted near-infrared circularly polarized luminescence of nanofibers from an exclusively achiral system Chen Xiao, Chengxi Li, Kang Huang, Pengfei Duan and Yafei Wang Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR01515G

Nanoscale Horizons and Nanoscale are high-impact international journals, publishing high-quality experimental and theoretical work across the breadth of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Nanoscale Advances is our gold open access member of the nanoscale journal family. Our broad scope covers cross-community research that bridges various disciplines, and the journal series allows full coverage of interdisciplinary advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology. We hope you will consider Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances for your future submissions.

We hope you enjoy reading this collection and look forward to showcasing more work from NCNST in the future. Please continue to submit your exciting work to Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances.

Celebrating 25 years of the Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials at Henan University

Guest edited by Feng Bai, Gang Cheng, Zuliang Du and Guohua Jia

Last year we were delighted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education at Henan University with a special collection in Nanoscale highlighting the breadth of high-quality work from the institute. We’re pleased to share this collection of research and reviews covering the most recent research progress in a wide spectrum of nanoscience and nanotechnology from researchers currently affiliated with the Key Lab as well as esteemed alumni.

You can explore the collection and read the introductory editorial from our guest editors below, with all articles free to access until the end of April 2024.

Read the collection

Professor Feng Bai, Professor Gang Cheng, Professor Zuliang Du and Professor Guohua Jia served as guest editors for this collection and highlight the history of the Key Laboratory for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education and significance of this anniversary in their introductory editorial.

Read the introductory editorial

All of the articles in the collection are free to access until the end of April 2024. Read some of the featured articles below.

Reviews

Transformation mechanism of high-valence metal sites for the optimization of Co- and Ni-based OER catalysts in an alkaline environment: recent progress and perspectives Chen Qiao, Yingying Hao, Chuanbao Cao and JiaTao Zhang Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D2NR05783B

Polyoxometalate-based frameworks for photocatalysis and photothermal catalysis Xiaofei Chen, Hongzhuo Wu, Xinjian Shi and Lixin Wu Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR01176C

Research articles

Selection of an aggregation-caused quenching-based fluorescent tracer for imaging studies in nano drug delivery systems Xin Ji, Yifan Cai, Xiaochun Dong, Wei Wu and Weili Zhao Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR01018J

A layer-stacked NiO nanowire/nanosheet homostructure for electrochromic smart windows with ultra-large optical modulation Yi Gao, Pengyang Lei, Siyu Zhang, Huanhuan Liu, Chengyu Hu, Zhu Kou, Jinhui Wang and Guofa Cai Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR01211E

Nanoscale is a high-impact international journal, publishing high-quality experimental and theoretical work across the breadth of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Our broad scope covers cross-community research that bridges the various disciplines involved with nanoscience and nanotechnology. We are always interested in considering high-quality articles and we would be delighted if you would consider the journal for your next submission, which can be made via our online submission service. All submissions will be subject to initial assessment and peer review as appropriate according to the journal’s guidelines.

We hope you enjoy reading this collection and look forward to showcasing more work from the institute in the future. Please continue to submit your exciting work to Nanoscale.

Call For Papers: Metal nanoclusters

Guest edited by Sukhendu Mandal, Yuichi Negishi, Di Sun and Anindita Das

We are delighted to announce a call for papers for our latest online themed collection in Nanoscale on metal nanoclusters that is being guest edited by Professor Sukhendu Mandal (IISER Thiruvananthapuram, India), Professor Yuichi Negishi (Tokyo University of Science, Japan), Professor Di Sun (Shandong University, China) and Professor Anindita Das (South Methodist University, USA).

Atomically precise metal nanoclusters are novel materials that have the potential to address everyday needs from energy to health. Luminescent metal clusters can be used for effective and efficient energy harvesting and conversion technologies, while water-soluble luminescent metal clusters offer more efficient and personalized biomedical approaches. Furthermore, nanoclusters can be used as building units to form higher-dimensional cluster-assembled materials and can modulate the optoelectronic properties of desired device materials. To create a hierarchy of structures and applications, a fundamental understanding of the structure-property relationship at the atomic level is vital.

This special collection aims to look at new structures, photophysical, chemical and electrochemical catalysis reactions, and structure-property correlations within the themes of atomically precise metal nanoclusters. We wish to highlight research communicating novel structures, properties and phenomena, where applications for societal needs are appreciated as well as reports of new and exciting basic science. Prospective topics include but are not limited to:

• New nanocluster structures
• Transformation reactions
• Luminescent materials
• Light-matter interactions
• Catalysis
• Electrocatalysis
• Bio-imaging and sensing
• Drug delivery
• Optoelectronic devices
• New techniques for characterization

This call for papers is open for the following article types:

• Communications
• Full papers

Open for submissions until 1 July 2024

If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, you can submit your article directly through the Nanoscale online submission system. Please mention that this submission is an open call contribution to the metal nanoclusters collection in the “Themed issues” section of the submission form and add a “Note to the Editor” that this is from the Open Call. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of both the journal and the collection, and inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed issue is not guaranteed.

Please also note that all submissions will undergo our normal rigorous peer review processes including an initial assessment prior to peer review, and that peer review and acceptance are not guaranteed.

If you have any questions about the journal or the collection, then Edward Gardner, the Development Editor for Nanoscale, would be happy to answer them. You can contact him by emailing the journal inbox.

With best wishes,

Professor Sukhendu Mandal (IISER Thiruvananthapuram, India)
Professor Yuichi Negishi (Tokyo University of Science, Japan)
Professor Di Sun (Shandong University, China)
Professor Anindita Das (South Methodist University, USA)

Call For Papers: Nanocatalysis

Guest edited by Zhiqun Lin, In Young Kim and Michelle Personick

We are delighted to announce a call for papers for our latest online themed collection in Nanoscale on Nanocatalysis that is being guest edited by Dr Zhiqun Lin (National University of Singapore, Singapore), Dr In Young Kim (Ewha Womans University, South Korea) and Dr Michelle Personick (University of Virginia, USA).

Nanocatalysis represents an exciting subfield in nanoscience and nanotechnology which involves the use of nanomaterials and subnano-sized materials (nanoclusters, diatoms, single atoms) as catalysts for a wide variety of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic applications. Along with significant advances in nanomaterial design and synthesis assisted by machine learning, in-situ/ex-situ characterization techniques, and computational chemistry, the past several decades have witnessed a flood of research activities in this rapidly evolving area with most of the studies focusing on the effects of size, shape, chemical composition and morphology on catalytic properties and performance. This has led to the development of highly effective catalysts with enhanced activity, selectivity, and stability. This special themed collection aims to provide a platform to showcase the recent progress and challenges in the field of nanocatalysis. The scope of the collection is broad, including but not limited to:

• Novel design and synthesis strategies
• Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis
• Theoretical understanding of the catalytic mechanisms
• Reaction pathway optimization
• Nanointerface engineering
• Support effects
• Dynamic evolution of active sites
• Applications in electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, and thermocatalysis, etc.
• Advanced characterization techniques

We hope that readers will find this themed collection informative and useful for the rational design and construction of highly efficient nanocatalysts to enable sustainable technologies for catalysis. This call for papers is open for the following article types:

• Communications
• Full papers

Open for submissions until 18 March 2024

If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, you can submit your article directly through the Nanoscale online submission system. Please mention that this submission is an open call contribution to the Nanocatalysis collection in the “Themed issues” section of the submission form and add a “Note to the Editor” that this is from the Open Call. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of both the journal and the collection, and inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed issue is not guaranteed.

Please also note that all submissions will undergo our normal rigorous peer review processes including an initial assessment prior to peer review, and that peer review and acceptance are not guaranteed.

If you have any questions about the journal or the collection, then Edward Gardner, the Development Editor for Nanoscale, would be happy to answer them. You can contact him by emailing the journal inbox.

With best wishes,

Professor Zhiqun Lin (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
Professor In Young Kim (Ewha Womans University, South Korea)
Professor Michelle Personick (University of Virginia, USA)

Halide perovskite optoelectronics

Guest edited by Lakshminarayana Polavarapu, Maria Antonietta Loi, Haibo Zeng and Joseph M. Luther

Over the past decade, metal halide perovskites, both in the form of thin films and colloidal nanocrystals, have emerged as a leading candidate for optoelectronic applications because of their exciting properties including defect tolerance, long charge carrier diffusion lengths, high photoluminescence quantum yield, and facile fabrication using relatively low-cost precursors. We have witnessed a steep increase in the efficiency of perovskite optoelectronic devices and now Nanoscale is delighted to introduce a new online collection covering the latest developments that address the challenges of halide perovskite optoelectronics.

You can explore the collection and read the introductory editorial from our guest editors below, with all articles free to access until the end of November 2023.

Read the collection

Dr Lakshminarayana Polavarapu (University of Vigo, Spain), Professor Maria Antonietta Loi (University of Groningen, Netherlands), Professor Haibo Zeng (Nanjing University, China) and Dr ‪Joseph M. Luther (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA) served as guest editors for this collection and highlight the importance of perovskite materials in optoelectronics in their introductory editorial.

Read the introductory editorial

Read some of the featured articles below.

Generating spin-triplet states at the bulk perovskite/organic interface for photon upconversion
Colette M. Sullivan and Lea Nienhaus
Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D2NR05767K

Recent progress in layered metal halide perovskites for solar cells, photodetectors, and field-effect transistors
Chwen-Haw Liao, Md Arafat Mahmud and Anita W. Y. Ho-Baillie
Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D2NR06496K

Atomic layer deposition of SnO₂ using hydrogen peroxide improves the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells
Sang-Uk Lee, Hyoungmin Park, Hyunjung Shin and Nam-Gyu Park
Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D2NR06884B

Transforming exciton dynamics in perovskite nanocrystal through Mn doping
Soumen Mukherjee, Swarnali Ghosh, Dibyendu Biswas, Mainak Ghosal, Kheyali De and Prasun K. Mandal
Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: 10.1039/D3NR00241A

Nanoscale is always interested in considering high-quality articles on perovskite materials and devices and we would be delighted if you would consider the journal for your next submission, which can be made via our online submission service. All submissions will be subject to initial assessment and peer review as appropriate according to the journal’s guidelines.

We hope you enjoy reading this collection and look forward to seeing how this field progresses! Please continue to submit your exciting work on perovskite optoelectronics to Nanoscale.