One-pot green synthesis of optically pH-sensitive carbon dots with upconversion luminescence

Fluorescent carbon dots, a new member of the carbon nanomaterial family, have been drawing attention for use as optoelectronic devices, biological labelling and biomedicine, as an alternative to metal containing quantum dots (nanocrystals).

Scientists in China have synthesised them in a green way: with low heat, in one pot, in water, using ascorbic acid as the precursor.

Read the ‘HOT’ Nanoscale article:

One-pot green synthesis of optically pH-sensitive carbon dots with upconversion luminescence
X Jia, J Li and E Wang,
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2nr31319g

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New High Impact Factor for Nanoscale – 5.91

New citation data just released by Thomson ISI shows the latest (2011) Impact Factor of Nanoscale as 5.914.

This shows a big increase of over 40% from it’s first Impact Factor released last year, which is testament to the high-quality research published in Nanoscale.

Nanoscale continues to attract work of the highest quality and impact; bridging the various disciplines involved with nanoscience and nanotechnology and disseminating the latest exciting research to its large, community-spanning international readership. We look forward to building on this success in the months and years ahead.

The Editorial Office thanks all our Board members, authors and readers for their support –  Nanoscale is your journal.

We welcome your future high-quality submissions to Nanoscalesubmit your best research today.

Find out how RSC journals are ranked in the latest Impact Factor release.

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Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9) – book your place soon!

Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9), 31 August – 3 September 2012, China

Don’t miss your chance to be part of the 9th conference in the International Symposia on Advancing the Chemical Sciences (ISACS) series – Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9).

Deadlines are fast approaching, so be sure to showcase your work by submitting a poster and take advantage of the reduced early bird registration rate before Friday 6 July 2012.

Professor Markus Niederberger, co-Editor-in-Chief of Nanoscale is part of the Scientific Committee behind the conference. It promises to be a great event!

For further details on this significant event, please visit the dedicated webpage.

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Confirming the structure of the Au20 cluster

First image of the structure of an Au20 cluster

The first image of the structure of an Au20 cluster has been captured by researchers in the UK. The team says that the cluster has a tetrahedral pyramid structure.

This particular structural arrangement had been proposed after gas-phase experiments and theoretical calculations, but this is the first time that real-space atomic resolution images using scanning transmission electron microscopy have proved its existence on a solid surface.

This is important because confirming the atomic structure is fundamental for understanding nanoparticle structures and for the cluster’s applications in, for example, heterogeneous catalysis.

Read the ‘HOT’ Nanoscale article today:

Direct atomic imaging and dynamical fluctuations of the tetrahedral Au20 cluster
Z W Wang and R E Palmer
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2nr31071f

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Back to carbon black

The electrochemical properties of amorphous carbon (right) and thermally reduced graphene oxide (left) are very similar

The electrochemical properties of amorphous carbon (right) and thermally reduced graphene oxide (left) are very similar

Scientists in Singapore have discovered the potential of a readily available material that could be used to replace expensive graphene analogues in a wide range of electrochemical processes.

Graphene consists of single layers of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice structure. This structure provides unique properties, making graphene an important material for sensing and electrochemical applications.

Read the full article in Chemistry World

Thermally Reduced Graphenes Exhibiting Close Relationship to Amorphous Carbon
Colin Hong An Wong,  Adriano Ambrosi and Martin Pumera
Nanoscale, 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30989K

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High impact plasmonics research from Nanoscale

Journal cover imageNanoscale Associate Editor Professor Jianfang Wang, an expert in the field of plasmonics, has highlighted some excellent plasmonics articles recently published in Nanoscale.

You can read these articles for free for a limited period by clicking on the links below.

Prof. Wang and Nanoscale co-Editor-in-Chief Francesco Stellacci will be attending the Gordon Research Conference on Noble Metal Nanoparticles – do say hello if you are there. Nanoscale is delighted to be a sponsor of the meeting.

With an international readership, across the many disciplines involved with nanoscience and nanotechnology, Nanoscale is the ideal place to publish your research.

Submit you best research to Nanoscale.

Read Professor Wang’s Editor’s choice selection for free today:

Review Articles

Controlled assembly of plasmonic colloidal nanoparticle clusters

José M. Romo-Herrera, Ramón A. Alvarez-Puebla and Luis M. Liz-Marzán
DOI: 10.1039/C0NR00804D

Free-standing one-dimensional plasmonic nanostructures
Lin Jiang, Yinghui Sun, Fengwei Huo, Hua Zhang, Lidong Qin, Shuzhou Li and Xiaodong Chen
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR11445J

Molding the flow of light on the nanoscale: from vortex nanogears to phase-operated plasmonic machinery
Svetlana V. Boriskina and Björn M. Reinhard
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR11406A

Emerging fabrication techniques for 3D nano-structuring in plasmonics and single molecule studies
F. De Angelis, C. Liberale, M. L. Coluccio, G. Cojoc and E. Di Fabrizio
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10124B

Original Research

Three-tiered Au nano-disk array for broadband interaction with light
Jung-Sub Wi, Masud Rana and Tadaaki Nagao
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30179B

Nanoplasmonic sensing of metal–halide complex formation and the electric double layer capacitor
Andreas B. Dahlin, Raphael Zahn and Janos Vörös
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11950A

Light concentration and redistribution in polymer solar cells by plasmonic nanoparticles
Jinfeng Zhu, Mei Xue, Ryan Hoekstra, Faxian Xiu, Baoqing Zeng and Kang L. Wang
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11920J

High-throughput ultrasensitive characterization of chemical, structural and plasmonic properties of EBL-fabricated single silver nanoparticles
Tao Huang, Wei Cao, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali and Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR11368B

Mechanism of nanoparticle actuation by responsive polymer brushes: from reconfigurable composite surfaces to plasmonic effects
Yuri Roiter, Iryna Minko, Dmytro Nykypanchuk, Ihor Tokarev and Sergiy Minko
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10932D

Surface plasmon resonance-induced visible light photocatalytic reduction of graphene oxide: Using Ag nanoparticles as a plasmonic photocatalyst
Tongshun Wu, Sen Liu, Yonglan Luo, Wenbo Lu, Lei Wang and Xuping Sun
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10128E

Strong photoluminescence enhancement of silicon quantum dots by their near-resonant coupling with multi-polar plasmonic hot spots
T. Nychyporuk, Yu. Zakharko, T. Serdiuk, O. Marty, M. Lemiti and V. Lysenko
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10241A

Enhancement of dye-sensitized photocurrents by gold nanoparticles: effects of dye–particle spacing
Tokuhisa Kawawaki, Yukina Takahashi and Tetsu Tatsuma
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10416K

Facile solvothermal synthesis of cube-like Ag@AgCl: a highly efficient visible light photocatalyst
Lei Han, Ping Wang, Chengzhou Zhu, Yueming Zhai and Shaojun Dong
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10247H

Nanoscale semiconductor–insulator–metal core/shell heterostructures: facile synthesis and light emission
Gong Ping Li, Rui Chen, Dong Lai Guo, Lai Mun Wong, Shi Jie Wang, Han Dong Sun and Tom Wu
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10352K

Dark-field microscopy studies of polarization-dependent plasmonic resonance of single gold nanorods: rainbow nanoparticles
Youju Huang and Dong-Hwan Kim
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10336A

Au@Ag core–shell nanoparticles: efficient all-plasmonic Fano-resonance generators
Ovidio Peña-Rodríguez and Umapada Pal
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10625B

Highly effective SERS substrates based on an atomic-layer-deposition-tailored nanorod array scaffold
Monan Liu, Li Sun, Chuanwei Cheng, Hailong Hu, Zexiang Shen and Hong Jin Fan
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10595G

Plasmon-induced modulation of the emission spectra of the fluorescent molecules near gold nanorods
Lei Zhao, Tian Ming, Huanjun Chen, Yao Liang and Jianfang Wang
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10544B

Can information of chemical reaction propagate with plasmonic waveguide and be detected at remote terminal of nanowire?
Mengtao Sun, Yanxue Hou and Hongxing Xu
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10981B

Development of a mass-producible on-chip plasmonic nanohole array biosensor
Kohei Nakamoto, Ryoji Kurita, Osamu Niwa, Toshiyuki Fujii and Munehiro Nishida
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10883B

Enhancing photocatalytic activity of one-dimensional KNbO3 nanowires by Au nanoparticles under ultraviolet and visible-light
Jinyao Lan, Xuemei Zhou, Gang Liu, Jiaguo Yu, Jingchang Zhang, Linjie Zhi and Guangjun Nie
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10953G

Excitation profile of surface-enhanced Raman scattering in graphene–metal nanoparticle based derivatives
Xiaoqi Fu, Fengli Bei, Xin Wang, Stephen O’Brien and John R. Lombardi
DOI: 10.1039/C0NR00135J

Sign up to receive our free table-of-contents e-alert at www.rsc.org/alerts and be among the first to read our newest articles.

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Mildred S. Dresselhaus wins Kavli Prize in Nanoscience

Mildred Dresselhaus photoProfessor Mildred S. Dresselhaus has been awarded the 2012 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience “for her pioneering contributions to the study of phonons, electron-phonon interactions, and thermal transport in nanostructures.”

The Kavli Prize is awarded biannually to scientists who have made a seminal contribution to the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience.

Read a selection of Prof. Dresselhaus’ recent articles including her popular Nanoscale review on graphene edges and her review of progress in the field of thermoelectrics in Energy & Environmental Science:

Graphene edges: a review of their fabrication and characterization
Xiaoting Jia, Jessica Campos-Delgado, Mauricio Terrones, Vincent Meunier and Mildred S. Dresselhaus
DOI: 10.1039/C0NR00600A

Perspectives on thermoelectrics: from fundamentals to device applications
M. Zebarjadi, K. Esfarjani, M. S. Dresselhaus, Z. F. Ren and G. Chen
DOI: 10.1039/C1EE02497C

Wall-to-wall stress induced in (6,5) semiconducting nanotubes by encapsulation in metallic outer tubes of different diameters: A resonance Raman study of individual C60-derived double-wall carbon nanotubes
Federico Villalpando-Paez, Hiroyuki Muramatsu, Yoong Ahm Kim, Hootan Farhat, Morinobu Endo, Mauricio Terrones and Mildred S. Dresselhaus
DOI: 10.1039/B9NR00268E

Functionalization of single-wall carbon nanotubes through chloroform adsorption: theory and experiment
Eduardo C. Girão, Yvonne Liebold-Ribeiro, Jerias A. Batista, Eduardo B. Barros, Solange B. Fagan, Josué Mendes Filho, Mildred S. Dresselhaus and Antonio G. Souza Filho
DOI: 10.1039/B916955E

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Top 10 most-read Nanoscale articles in April

This month sees the following articles in Nanoscale that are in the top ten most accessed for April:

Recent advances in solar cells based on one-dimensional nanostructure arrays 
Miao Yu, Yun-Ze Long, Bin Sun and Zhiyong Fan  
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 2783-2796 
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30437F  

3D branched nanowire heterojunction photoelectrodes for high-efficiency solar water splitting and H2 generation 
Ke Sun, Yi Jing, Chun Li, Xiaofeng Zhang, Ryan Aguinaldo, Alireza Kargar, Kristian Madsen, Khaleda Banu, Yuchun Zhou, Yoshio Bando, Zhaowei Liu and Deli Wang  
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 1515-1521 
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11952H  

Nanostructured metal oxide-based materials as advanced anodes for lithium-ion batteries 
Hao Bin Wu, Jun Song Chen, Huey Hoon Hng and Xiong Wen (David) Lou  
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 2526-2542 
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11966H  

Unique photocatalytic oxidation reactivity and selectivity of TiO2–graphene nanocomposites 
Shengwei Liu, Chan Liu, Wenguang Wang, Bei Cheng and Jiaguo Yu  
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 3193-3200 
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30427A  

Recent progress on metal core@semiconductor shell nanocomposites as a promising type of photocatalyst 
Nan Zhang, Siqi Liu and Yi-Jun Xu  
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 2227-2238 
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR00009A  

Graphene edges: a review of their fabrication and characterization 
Xiaoting Jia, Jessica Campos-Delgado, Mauricio Terrones, Vincent Meunier and Mildred S. Dresselhaus 
Nanoscale, 2011, 3, 86-95 
DOI: 10.1039/C0NR00600A  

Impacts of core–shell structures on properties of lanthanide-based nanocrystals: crystal phase, lattice strain, downconversion, upconversion and energy transfer 
Arik Kar and Amitava Patra  
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 3608-3619 
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30389B  

Large-scale parallel arrays of silicon nanowires via block copolymer directed self-assembly 
Richard A. Farrell, Niall T. Kinahan, Stefan Hansel, Karl O. Stuen, Nikolay Petkov, Matthew T. Shaw, Laetitia E. West, Vladimir Djara, Robert J. Dunne, Olga G. Varona, Peter G. Gleeson, Soon-Jung Jung, Hye-Young Kim, Maria M. Koleśnik, Tarek Lutz, Christopher P. Murray, Justin D. Holmes, Paul F. Nealey, Georg S. Duesberg, Vojislav Krstić and Michael A. Morris 
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 3228-3236 
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR00018K  

Gold nanoparticles: preparation, properties, and applications in bionanotechnology 
Yi-Cheun Yeh,  Brian Creran and Vincent M. Rotello  
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 1871-1880 
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR11188D  

A simple method for the preparation of hollow ZnO nanospheres for use as a high performance photocatalyst 
Chengquan Zhu, Bingan Lu, Qing Su, Erqing Xie and Wei Lan  
Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 3060-3064 
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR12010K

Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.

Fancy submitting an article to Nanoscale? Then why not submit to us today!

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Highlights from Issues 11 & 12 of Nanoscale

Issues 11 & 12 of Nanoscale are now online.

Issue 11 Highlights:

OFC_11The outside front cover of Issue 11 features an article on the Bundling dynamics regulates the active mechanics and transport in carbon nanotube networks and their nanocomposites by Myung Gwan Hahm, Hailong Wang, Hyun Young Jung, Sanghyun Hong, Sung-Goo Lee, Sung-Ryong Kim,  Moneesh Upmanyu and Yung Joon Jung.

IFC_11

Development of viral nanoparticles for efficient intracellular delivery is the article highlighted on the inside front cover by Zhuojun Wu, Kevin Chen, Ibrahim Yildiz, Anouk Dirksen, Rainer Fischer, Philip E. Dawson and Nicole F. Steinmetz.

Issue 11 also contains the following Feature and Review articles:

OFC_12

Issue 12 Highlights:

Issue 12 of Nanoscale highlights a Communication on Saddles, twists, and curls: shape transitions in freestanding nanoribbons by Hailong Wang and Moneesh Upmanyu on the outside front cover.

The inside front cover shows a Feature Article on the Impacts of core–shell structures on properties of lanthanide-based nanocrystals: crystal phase, lattice strain, downconversion, upconversion and energy transfer by Arik Kar and Amitava Patra. IFC_12

Issue 12 also contains the following high-impact Communications:

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Magnetic field affects packing of photonic crystals

Yadon Yin and coworkers of the University of California, Riverside have studied the magnetic properties of  Fe3O4@SiO2 core/shell particles. They found that the packing of the particles changed from a polycrystalline fcc to a single-crystalline-like hexagonal arrangement depending on the applied magnetic field.

The authors suggest their finding may have important implications in the creation of new materials based on colloids.

Read this exciting Nanoscale Communication in full today:

Self-assembly and magnetically induced phase transition of three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystals
Le He, Vikas Malik, Mingsheng Wang, Yongxing Hu, Francesca Edith Anson and Yadong Yin
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR31068F

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