Facile synthesis of nanoporous Li1+xV1−xO2@C composites as promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Nanoporous anode materials with composition Li_1+xV_1−xO₂@C have been prepared under mild synthetic conditions for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).

Surficial nanoporous carbon with high pyridinic/pyrrolic N-Doping from sp3/sp2-N-rich azaacene dye for lithium storage

Dye to carbon: Two rationally designed pyridinic/pyrrolic N-doped porous carbons as anodic materials could be achieved by carbonizing π-conjugated azaacene dye born with high ratio sp³/sp²-N.

Solid surface vs. liquid surface: nanoarchitectonics, molecular machines, and DNA origami

Comparisons of science and technology between these solid and liquid surfaces would be a good navigation for current-to-future developments.

Plasma-induced, nitrogen-doped graphene-based aerogels for high-performance supercapacitors

Commonly used energy storage devices include stacked layers of active materials on two-dimensional sheets, and the limited specific surface area restricts the further development of energy storage. Three-dimensional (3D) structures with high specific surface areas would improve device performance. Herein, we present a novel procedure to fabricate macroscopic, high-quality, nitrogen-doped, 3D graphene/nanoparticle aerogels. The procedure includes vacuum filtration, freeze-drying, and plasma treatment, which can be further expanded for large-scale production of nitrogen-doped, graphene-based aerogels. The behavior of the supercapacitor is investigated using a typical nitrogen-doped graphene/Fe3O4 nanoparticle 3D structure (NG/Fe3O4). Compared with 3D graphene/Fe3O4 structures prepared by the traditional hydrothermal method, the NG/Fe3O4 supercapacitor prepared by the present method has a 153% improvement in specific capacitance, and there is no obvious decrease in specific capacitance after 1000 cycles. The present work provides a new and facile method to produce large-scale, 3D, graphene-based materials with high specific capacitance for energy storage.

Nanoporous carbon materials with enhanced supercapacitance performance and non-aromatic chemical sensing with C1/C2 alcohol discrimination

We have investigated the textural properties, electrochemical supercapacitances and vapor sensing performances of bamboo-derived nanoporous carbon materials (NCM). Bamboo, an abundant natural biomaterial, was chemically activated with phosphoric acid at 400 °C and the effect of impregnation ratio of phosphoric acid on the textural properties and electrochemical performances was systematically investigated. Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the presence of various oxygen-containing surface functional groups (i.e. carboxyl, carboxylate, carbonyl and phenolic groups) in NCM. The prepared NCM are amorphous in nature and contain hierarchical micropores and mesopores. Surface areas and pore volumes were found in the range 218-1431 m² g^-1 and 0.26-1.26 cm³ g^-1, respectively, and could be controlled by adjusting the impregnation ratio of phosphoric acid and bamboo cane powder. NCM exhibited electrical double-layer supercapacitor behavior giving a high specific capacitance of c.256 F g^-1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s^-1 together with high cyclic stability with capacitance retention of about 92.6% after 1000 cycles. Furthermore, NCM exhibited excellent vapor sensing performance with high sensitivity for non-aromatic chemicals such as acetic acid. The system would be useful to discriminate C₁ and C₂ alcohol (methanol and ethanol).

Synthesis and Nanofiltration Membrane Performance of Oriented Mesoporous Silica Thin Films on Macroporous Supports

Silica thin films with accessible hexagonal close-packed (HCP) pores have been deposited on macroporous supports to achieve composite nanofiltration membranes. The properties of these pore channels have been characterized through solvent flux and solute diffusion experiments. A chemically neutral surface (provided by a cross-linked layer of P123 copolymer) for silica thin film synthesis on the alumina macroporous support promotes the alignment of HCP channels vertical to the substrate, where the mesopore templating agent is block copolymer P123 (poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)). Vertical pore alignment is achieved for thin films (less than ∼100 nm) on a neutral surface and by sandwiching thicker films (∼240 nm) between two chemically neutral surfaces. Solvent flux through the composite membranes is consistent with accessible 10 nm diameter pores. Size selectivity of the membranes is characterized from the permeability of fluorescently tagged solutes (ranging from 4000 to 70 000 Da), where a size cut off occurs at 69 000 Da for the model protein bovine serum albumin. These permeability studies of the nanofiltration membranes serve to demonstrate solute transport in oriented silica thin film membranes and also highlight their versatility for membrane-based separations.

Automatic Assembly of Ultra-Multilayered Nanotube-Nanoparticle Composites

Nanotube-nanoparticle composites are fabricated by template-directed automatic layer-by-layer assembly with the assistance of pressure. This assembly strategy above allows the facile construction of uniform complex nanostructures with ultra-multilayers (≈200). Importantly, it takes much less time than conventional manual manipulation.

Ordered Mesoporous Cobalt Phosphate with Crystallized Walls toward Highly Active Water Oxidation Electrocatalysts

A hexagonally ordered mesoporous cobalt phosphate (CoPi) material is prepared by a facile one-pot soft-templating strategy using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide template. Because of its highly accessible surface area and crystalline framework with abundant active sites, the mesoporous CoPi shows a high catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction compared to previously reported noble/transition-metal and nonmetal catalysts.

Nanoarchitectonics for Dynamic Functional Materials from Atomic-/Molecular-Level Manipulation to Macroscopic Action

Objects in all dimensions are subject to translational dynamism and dynamic mutual interactions, and the ability to exert control over these events is one of the keys to the synthesis of functional materials. For the development of materials with truly dynamic functionalities, a paradigm shift from "nanotechnology" to "nanoarchitectonics" is proposed, with the aim of design and preparation of functional materials through dynamic harmonization of atomic-/molecular-level manipulation and control, chemical nanofabrication, self-organization, and field-controlled organization. Here, various examples of dynamic functional materials are presented from the atom/molecular-level to macroscopic dimensions. These systems, including atomic switches, molecular machines, molecular shuttles, motional crystals, metal-organic frameworks, layered assemblies, gels, supramolecular assemblies of biomaterials, DNA origami, hollow silica capsules, and mesoporous materials, are described according to their various dynamic functions, which include short-term plasticity, long-term potentiation, molecular manipulation, switchable catalysis, self-healing properties, supramolecular chirality, morphological control, drug storage and release, light-harvesting, mechanochemical transduction, molecular tuning molecular recognition, hand-operated nanotechnology.

The Way to Nanoarchitectonics and the Way of Nanoarchitectonics

The critical differences between microtechnology and nanotechnology are discussed, and the necessity of a new paradigm, nanoarchitectonics, is proposed for the future development of nanotechnology. An important task in material fabrication is to harmonize various factors and effects, and to combine them into functional nanomaterials and nanosystems. It is the way of architectonics rather than that of an individual technology. Therefore, a novel terminology, nanoarchitectonics (nano + architecto +nics) has been proposed as a new paradigm of materials science and technology on the nanoscale. The statement by Feynman that "there's plenty of room at the bottom" is really true. With nanoarchitectonics in our hands, we can re-open the door to Feynman's huge room.

Nanoarchitectures for Mesoporous Metals

The field of mesoporous metal nanoarchitectonics offers several advantages which cannot be found elsewhere. These materials have been showcasing impressive enhancements of their electrochemical properties for further implementation, compared to their micro- and macroporous counterparts. Since the last few decades, various methods have been developed to achieve narrow pore size distribution with a tunable porosity and particle morphology. While hard templates offer a reliable and intuitive approach to synthesize mesoporous metals, the complexity of the technique and the use of harmful chemicals pushed several research groups to focus in other directions. For example, soft templates (e.g., lyotropic crystals, micelles assemblies) and solution phase methods (requiring to control reduction reactions) offer more and more possibilities in terms of available compositions and morphologies. Indeed, various metal (Pt, Pd, Au, Ru, etc.) can now be synthesized as dendritic, core@shell, hollow or polyhedral nanoparticles, with single- or multicomponents, alloyed or not, with unprecedented electrochemical activity.

Designed Assembly and Integration of Colloidal Nanocrystals for Device Applications

Colloidal nanocrystals have been intensively studied over the past three decades due to their unique properties that originate, in large part, from their nanometer-scale sizes. For applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices, colloidal nanoparticles are generally employed as assembled nanocrystal solids, rather than as individual particles. Consequently, tailoring 2D patterns as well as 3D architectures of assembled nanocrystals is critical for their various applications to micro- and nanoscale devices. Here, recent advances in the designed assembly, film fabrication, and printing/integration methods for colloidal nanocrystals are presented. The advantages and drawbacks of these methods are compared, and various device applications of assembled/integrated colloidal nanocrystal solids are discussed.

Eutectic Syntheses of Graphitic Carbon with High Pyrazinic Nitrogen Content

Mixtures of phenols/ketones and urea show eutectic behavior upon gentle heating. These mixtures possess liquid-crystalline-like phases that can be processed. The architecture of phenol/ketone acts as structure-donating motif, while urea serves as melting-point reduction agent. Condensation at elevated temperatures results in nitrogen-containing carbons with remarkably high nitrogen content of mainly pyrazinic nature.

Cellulose-Rich Nanofiber-Based Functional Nanoarchitectures

Surface self-assembly of functional molecules or nanoscale building blocks is an effective strategy for the syntheses of advanced materials. Natural cellulose-rich substances have unique macro-to-nano hierarchical structural features. The fabrication of nanoarchitectures, employing specific guest species on the surfaces of the fine structures of such substances, results in corresponding artificial nanomaterials that possess the chemical functionalities and physical properties of both sides. Metal oxide thin film coatings with nanometer precision on the nanofibers of bulk cellulose-rich substances not only yield replicas of nanostructured materials, but also make it possible for further assemblies of functional units on the surfaces. Hence, nanostructured metal oxides and further composites, as well as surface-functionalized cellulose-based composites are fabricated by employing cellulose-rich substances as templates or scaffolds. The three-dimensional cross-linked porous structures, with the high surface area of the resultant nanomaterials or composites, lead to superior performance when employed as photocatalysts, electrode materials, and sensing matrices, on which this report is focused.

Evaporation-induced Self-assembly Process Controlled for Obtaining Highly Ordered Mesoporous Materials with Demanded Morphologies

A large number of periodic mesoporous materials have been reported using amphiphilic organic molecules with increasing development of synthetic methods for mesostructural, morphological, and compositional designs. The evaporation-induced self-assembly (ESIA) process to fabricate ordered mesoporous films is one of the most essential synthetic methods, which has extensively been applied for obtaining a wide variety of samples (e.g., films and monoliths, including powders). It contains complicated physical variations and chemical reactions, but has been simply explained by several research groups. However, a current, exact understanding of such complicated systems should be given with respect to all the variations and reactions. In this article, I have mainly surveyed the exact EISA process by considering the difference between simple and controlled EISA processes on the basis of my own experiments. I believe that the insights are consequently helpful for obtaining highly ordered mesoporous materials with demanded morphologies.

Simulations of inorganic-bioorganic interfaces to discover new materials: insights, comparisons to experiment, challenges, and opportunities

Natural and man-made materials often rely on functional interfaces between inorganic and organic compounds. Examples include skeletal tissues and biominerals, drug delivery systems, catalysts, sensors, separation media, energy conversion devices, and polymer nanocomposites. Current laboratory techniques are limited to monitor and manipulate assembly on the 1 to 100 nm scale, time-consuming, and costly. Computational methods have become increasingly reliable to understand materials assembly and performance. This review explores the merit of simulations in comparison to experiment at the 1 to 100 nm scale, including connections to smaller length scales of quantum mechanics and larger length scales of coarse-grain models. First, current simulation methods, advances in the understanding of chemical bonding, in the development of force fields, and in the development of chemically realistic models are described. Then, the recognition mechanisms of biomolecules on nanostructured metals, semimetals, oxides, phosphates, carbonates, sulfides, and other inorganic materials are explained, including extensive comparisons between modeling and laboratory measurements. Depending on the substrate, the role of soft epitaxial binding mechanisms, ion pairing, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, and conformation effects is described. Applications of the knowledge from simulation to predict binding of ligands and drug molecules to the inorganic surfaces, crystal growth and shape development, catalyst performance, as well as electrical properties at interfaces are examined. The quality of estimates from molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations is validated in comparison to measurements and design rules described where available. The review further describes applications of simulation methods to polymer composite materials, surface modification of nanofillers, and interfacial interactions in building materials. The complexity of functional multiphase materials creates opportunities to further develop accurate force fields, including reactive force fields, and chemically realistic surface models, to enable materials discovery at a million times lower computational cost compared to quantum mechanical methods. The impact of modeling and simulation could further be increased by the advancement of a uniform simulation platform for organic and inorganic compounds across the periodic table and new simulation methods to evaluate system performance in silico.

Nanoarchitectonics for carbon-material-based sensors

Recently, the nanoarchitectonics concept has been proposed to fabricate functional materials on the basis of concerted harmonization actions to control materials organization.

High-resolution separation of thiolate-protected gold clusters by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

This perspective summarizes our work on high-resolution separation of thiolate-protected gold clusters using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, new findings obtained by those separation, and future prospects for this field.

A functional mesoporous ionic crystal based on polyoxometalate

A mesoporous ionic crystal is synthesized with a polyoxometalate and a macrocation with polar cyano groups. The compound possesses one-dimensional mesopores and shows high proton conductivity and catalytic activity, which are due to the water molecules in the mesopores.

Controlling an electrostatic repulsion by oppositely charged surfactants towards positively charged fluorescent gold nanoclusters

An anionic surfactant enabled the first accomplish of cationic-thiolate protected fluorescent gold nanoclusters by chemical reduction.

pulSED: pulsed sonoelectrodeposition of fractal nanoplatinum for enhancing amperometric biosensor performance

A technique for deposition of fractal nanometal as a transducer in electrochemical sensing is described. The effect(s) of duty cycle and deposition time were explored, and two sensors are demonstrated.

Preparation of Mesoporous Bimetallic Au-Pt with a Phase-Segregated Heterostructure Using Mesoporous Silica

Mesoporous bimetallic Au-Pt with a phase-segregated heterostructure has been prepared by using mesoporous silica SBA-15 as a template. Au nanoparticles were prepared as a seed metal within the mesopores, and subsequently Pt was deposited, sandwiching the Au seeds. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectral mapping showed that the framework of mesoporous bimetallic Au-Pt, prepared by removing the silica template with HF, was composed of Au nanoparticles joined with Pt nanowires. The Au/Pt ratio of the mesoporous bimetallic Au-Pt could be varied by controlling the number of Au deposition cycles. Pre-adsorbed CO (COad) stripping voltammetry of the mesoporous bimetallic Au-Pt showed that the surfaces of the joined bimetallic structure were electrochemically active. This could be attributed to the open framework structure having a high ratio of exposed bimetallic mesopore surfaces. The described preparative approach, involving a mesoporous silica template and stepwise deposition within the mesopores, enables control of the nanostructure of the bimetallic material, which is greatly promising for the further development of synthetic methodologies for bimetallic structures.

Host-guest chemistry of mesoporous silicas: precise design of location, density and orientation of molecular guests in mesopores

Mesoporous solids, which were prepared from inorganic-surfactant mesostructured materials, have been investigated due to their very large surface area and high porosity, pore size uniformity and variation, periodic pore arrangement and possible pore surface modification. Morphosyntheses from macroscopic morphologies such as bulk monolith and films, to nanoscopic ones, nanoparticles and their stable suspension, make mesoporous materials more attractive for applications and detailed characterization. This class of materials has been studied for such applications as adsorbents and catalysts, and later on, for optical, electronic, environmental and bio-related ones. This review summarizes the studies on the chemistry of mesoporous silica and functional guest species (host-guest chemistry) to highlight the present status and future applications of the host-guest hybrids.