Plasma‐Induced Hetero‐Nanostructures on a Polymer with Selective Metal Co‐Deposition

Plasma‐induced pattern formation is explored on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using an oxygen plasma glow discharge. The nanostructures on PET are formed through preferential etching directed by the co‐deposition of metallic elements, such as Cr or Fe, sputtered from a stainless‐steel cathode. The local islands formed by metal co‐deposition have significantly slower etching rates than those of the pristine regions on PET, generating anisotropic nanostructures in pillar‐ or hair‐like form during plasma etching. By covering the cathode with the appropriate material, the desired metallic or polymeric elements can be co‐deposited onto the target surfaces. When the cathode is covered by a relatively soft material composed of only carbon and hydrogen, such as polystyrene, nanostructures typically induced by preferential etching are not observed on the PET surface, and the surfaces are uniformly etched. A variety of metals, such as Ag, Cu, Pt, or Si, can be successfully co‐deposited onto the PET surfaces by simply using a cathode covered in the desired metal; high‐aspect‐ratio nanostructures coated with the co‐deposited metal are subsequently formed. Therefore this simple single‐step method for forming hetero‐nanostructures—that is, nanoscale hair‐like polymer structures decorated with metals—can be used to produce nanostructures for various applications, such as catalysts, sensors, or energy devices.     

不同合金元素对FINEMET合金的性能和纳米结构的影响的研究进展(英文)

随着世界范围内对高性能软磁材料的需求日益增加,添加不同合金元素的FINEMET合金的性能及其纳米结构的研究近年来引起了广大科研工作者的兴趣.本文回顾了不同合金元素对软磁合金材料的纳米结构和性能的影响的研究进展,并讨论了不同热处理工艺对合金软磁性能的影响.要更进一步的降低成本和提高材料性能,我们必须对合金成分,合金制备方法及热处理工艺进行优化.     

Recent progress in molten salt synthesis of low-dimensional perovskite oxide nanostructures,structural characterization,properties, and functional applications: A review

Molten salt synthesis (MSS) method has advantages of the simplicity in the process equipment, versatile and large-scale synthesis, and friendly environment, which provides an excellent approach to synthesize high pure oxide powders with controllable compositions and morphologies. Among these oxides, perovskite oxides with a composition of ABO3 exhibit a broad spectrum of physical properties and functions (e.g. ferroelectric, piezoelectric, magnetic, photovoltaic and photocatalytic properties). The downscaling of the spatial geometry of perovskite oxides into nanometers result in novel properties that are different from the bulk and film counterparts. Recent interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology has led to great efforts focusing on the synthesis of low-dimensional perovskite oxide nanostructures (PONs) to better understand their novel physical properties at nanoscale. Therefore, the low-dimensional PONs such as perovskite nanoparticles, nanowires, nanorods, nanotubes, nanofibers, nanobelts, and two dimensional oxide nanostructures, play an important role in developing the next generation of oxide electronics. In the past few years, much effort has been made on the synthesis of PONs by MSS method and their structural characterizations. The functional applications of PONs are also explored in the fields of storage memory, energy harvesting, and solar energy conversion. This review summarizes the recent progress in the synthesis of low-dimensional PONs by MSS method and its modified ways. Their structural characterization and physical properties are also scrutinized. The potential applications of low-dimensional PONs in different fields such as data memory and storage, energy harvesting, solar energy conversion, are highlighted. Perspectives concerning the future research trends and challenges of low-dimensional PONs are also outlined.     

Indium Selenides: Structural Characteristics,Synthesis and Their Thermoelectric Performances

Indium selenides have attracted extensive attention in high‐efficiency thermoelectrics for waste heat energy conversion due to their extraordinary and tunable electrical and thermal properties. This Review aims to provide a thorough summary of the structural characteristics (e.g. crystal structures, phase transformations, and structural vacancies) and synthetic methods (e.g. bulk materials, thin films, and nanostructures) of various indium selenides, and then summarize the recent progress on exploring indium selenides as high‐efficiency thermoelectric materials. By highlighting challenges and opportunities in the end, this Review intends to shine some light on the possible approaches for thermoelectric performance enhancement of indium selenides, which should open up an opportunity for applying indium selenides in the next‐generation thermoelectric devices.     

Modification of Electrical Properties and Magnetic Domain Structures in Magnetic Nanostructures by AFM Nanolithography

Nanolithography techniques using a scanning probe microscopy have recently attracted much attention. Here, the fabrication of magnetic nanostructures, and modification of their electrical and magnetic properties are introduced. Advantages of lateral structures for magnetic devices fabricated by the nanolithography using an atomic force microscopy are discussed. In order to develop these spin‐related devices, control of magnetic domains in nanoscale ferromagnetic materials is significant. Experimental results on the direct modification of magnetic domain structures in Co nanostructures by the nanolithography are lastly described.     

Novel Bimorphological Anisotropic Bulk Nanocomposite Materials with High Energy Products

Nanostructuring of magnetically hard and soft materials is fascinating for exploring next‐generation ultrastrong permanent magnets with less expensive rare‐earth elements. However, the resulting hard/soft nanocomposites often exhibit random crystallographic orientations and monomorphological equiaxed grains, leading to inferior magnetic performances compared to corresponding pure rare‐earth magnets. This study describes the first fabrication of a novel bimorphological anisotropic bulk nanocomposite using a multistep deformation approach, which consists of oriented hard‐phase SmCo rod‐shaped grains and soft‐phase Fe(Co) equiaxed grains with a high fraction (≈28 wt%) and small size (≈10 nm). The nanocomposite exhibits a record‐high energy product (28 MGOe) for this class of bulk materials with less rare‐earth elements and outperforms, for the first time, the corresponding pure rare‐earth magnet with 58% enhancement in energy product. These findings open up the door to moving from a pure permanent‐magnet system to a stronger nanocomposite system at lower costs.     

One‐Dimensional Hybrid Nanostructures for Heterogeneous Photocatalysis and Photoelectrocatalysis

Semiconductor‐based photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis have received considerable attention as alternative approaches for solar energy harvesting and storage. The photocatalytic or photoelectrocatalytic performance of a semiconductor is closely related to the design of the semiconductor at the nanoscale. Among various nanostructures, one‐dimensional (1D) nanostructured photocatalysts and photoelectrodes have attracted increasing interest owing to their unique optical, structural, and electronic advantages. In this article, a comprehensive review of the current research efforts towards the development of 1D semiconductor nanomaterials for heterogeneous photocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis is provided and, in particular, a discussion of how to overcome the challenges for achieving full potential of 1D nanostructures is presented. It is anticipated that this review will afford enriched information on the rational exploration of the structural and electronic properties of 1D semiconductor nanostructures for achieving more efficient 1D nanostructure‐based photocatalysts and photoelectrodes for high‐efficiency solar energy conversion.     

Coordination‐Driven Hierarchical Assembly of Hybrid Nanostructures Based on 2D Materials

2D materials have received tremendous scientific and engineering interests due to their remarkable properties and broad‐ranging applications such as energy storage and conversion, catalysis, biomedicine, electronics, and so forth. To further enhance their performance and endow them with new functions, 2D materials are proposed to hybridize with other nanostructured building blocks, resulting in hybrid nanostructures with various morphologies and structures. The properties and functions of these hybrid nanostructures depend strongly on the interfacial interactions between 2D materials and other building blocks. Covalent and coordination bonds are two strong interactions that hold high potential in constructing these robust hybrid nanostructures based on 2D materials. However, most 2D materials are chemically inert, posing problems for the covalent assembly with other building blocks. There are usually coordination atoms in most of 2D materials and their derivatives, thus coordination interaction as a strong interfacial interaction has attracted much attention. In this review, recent progress on the coordination‐driven hierarchical assembly based on 2D materials is summarized, focusing on the synthesis approaches, various architectures, and structure–property relationship. Furthermore, insights into the present challenges and future research directions are also presented.     

有序纳米结构体系的模板合成法

利用具有特定结构的物质作为模板,来引导纳米有序结构的制备与组装,从而实现对纳米材料的组成、结构、形貌、尺寸、取向和排布等的控制,为研究纳米有序体系的性质提供了有利途径.模板可以分为软模板和硬模板两种,本文介绍了氧化铝、胶体晶体、胶束、生物大分子等几种常见模板的特点.利用模板法,可以制备金属、合金、氧化物、半导体和聚合物及其复合组份等多种纳米结构有序体系.本文结合我实验室最近的研究工作综述了利用模板法制备纳米有序结构体系的研究进展.     

Hybrid Nanostructures for Energy Storage Applications

Materials engineering plays a key role in the field of energy storage. In particular, engineering materials at the nanoscale offers unique properties resulting in high performance electrodes and electrolytes in various energy storage devices. Consequently, considerable efforts have been made in recent years to fulfill the future requirements of electrochemical energy storage using these advanced materials. Various multi‐functional hybrid nanostructured materials are currently being studied to improve energy and power densities of next generation storage devices. This review describes some of the recent progress in the synthesis of different types of hybrid nanostructures using template assisted and non‐template based methods. The potential applications and recent research efforts to utilize these hybrid nanostructures to enhance the electrochemical energy storage properties of Li‐ion battery and supercapacitor are discussed. This review also briefly outlines some of the recent progress and new approaches being explored in the techniques of fabrication of 3D battery structures using hybrid nanoarchitectures.     

Functional Macromolecule‐Enabled Colloidal Synthesis: From Nanoparticle Engineering to Multifunctionality

The synthesis of well‐defined inorganic colloidal nanostructures using functional macromolecules is an enabling technology that offers the possibility of fine‐tuning the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials and has contributed to a broad range of practical applications. The utilization of functional reactive polymers and their colloidal assemblies leads to a high level of control over structural parameters of inorganic nanoparticles that are not easily accessible by conventional methods based on small‐molecule ligands. Recent advances in polymerization techniques for synthetic polymers and newly exploited functions of natural biomacromolecules have opened up new avenues to monodisperse and multifunctional nanostructures consisting of integrated components with distinct chemistries but complementary properties. Here, the evolution of colloidal synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles is revisited. Then, the new developments of colloidal synthesis enabled by functional macromolecules and practical applications associated with the resulting optical, catalytic, and structural properties of colloidal nanostructures are summarized. Finally, a perspective on new and promising pathways to novel colloidal nanostructures built upon the continuous development of polymer chemistry, colloidal science, and nanochemistry is provided.     

Progress and Design Concerns of Nanostructured Solar Energy Harvesting Devices

Integrating devices with nanostructures is considered a promising strategy to improve the performance of solar energy harvesting devices such as photovoltaic (PV) devices and photo‐electrochemical (PEC) solar water splitting devices. Extensive efforts have been exerted to improve the power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of such devices by utilizing novel nanostructures to revolutionize device structural designs. The thicknesses of light absorber and material consumption can be substantially reduced because of light trapping with nanostructures. Meanwhile, the utilization of nanostructures can also result in more effective carrier collection by shortening the photogenerated carrier collection path length. Nevertheless, performance optimization of nanostructured solar energy harvesting devices requires a rational design of various aspects of the nanostructures, such as their shape, aspect ratio, periodicity, etc. Without this, the utilization of nanostructures can lead to compromised device performance as the incorporation of these structures can result in defects and additional carrier recombination. The design guidelines of solar energy harvesting devices are summarized, including thin film non‐uniformity on nanostructures, surface recombination, parasitic absorption, and the importance of uniform distribution of photo‐generated carriers. A systematic view of the design concerns will assist better understanding of device physics and benefit the fabrication of high performance devices in the future.     

25th Anniversary Article: Hybrid Nanostructures Based on Two‐Dimensional Nanomaterials

Two‐dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), receive a lot of attention, because of their intriguing properties and wide applications in catalysis, energy‐storage devices, electronics, optoelectronics, and so on. To further enhance the performance of their application, these 2D nanomaterials are hybridized with other functional nanostructures. In this review, the latest studies of 2D nanomaterial‐based hybrid nanostructures are discussed, focusing on their preparation methods, properties, and applications.     

核/壳结构复合纳米材料研究进展

核/壳结构复合纳米材料是具有特殊性能的功能材料,是由一种纳米材料通过化学键或其他相互作用将另一种纳米材料包覆起来形成的纳米尺度的有序组装结构.这种结构可以产生单一纳米粒子无法得到的许多新性能,因而具有许多不同于核、壳材料的独特的光、电、磁、催化等物理和化学性质.主要介绍了核/壳型复合纳米材料的特点、形成机理以及制备方法,并结合最近的科研工作对其研究进展进行了综述.     

有机-无机纳米复合材料的制备、性能及应用

综述了有机-无机纳米复合材料的最新发展,包括该类材料的制备方法、性能研究和应用前景.纳米复合技术主要有3种:溶胶-凝胶法、嵌入法和纳米微粒填充法.纳米复合材料的光学和磁学等性能可用Maxwell形态理论、层状结构理论和分形结构理论等来研究.这类材料已在力学、热学、电学、磁学、光学、宇航和生物仿生等领域表现出广阔的应用前景.     

Structural colors: from plasmonic to carbon nanostructures

In addition to colorant-based pigmentation, structure is a major contributor to a material's color. In nature, structural color is often caused by the interaction of light with dielectric structures whose dimensions are on the order of visible-light wavelengths. Different optical interactions including multilayer interference, light scattering, the photonic crystal effect, and combinations thereof give rise to selective transmission or reflection of particular light wavelengths, which leads to the generation of structural color. Recent developments in nanofabrication of plasmonic and carbon nanostructures have opened another efficient way to control light properties at the subwavelength scale, including visible-light wavelength selection, which can produce structural color. In this Concept, the most relevant and representative achievements demonstrated over the last several years are presented and analyzed. These plasmonic and carbon nanostructures are believed to offer great potential for high-resolution color displays and spectral filtering applications.     

Structurally Controlled Cellular Architectures for High‐Performance Ultra‐Lightweight Materials

The design and synthesis of cellular structured materials are of both scientific and technological importance since they can impart remarkably improved material properties such as low density, high mechanical strength, and adjustable surface functionality compared to their bulk counterparts. Although reducing the density of porous structures would generally result in reductions in mechanical properties, this challenge can be addressed by introducing a structural hierarchy and using mechanically reinforced constituent materials. Thus, precise control over several design factors in structuring, including the type of constituent, symmetry of architectures, and dimension of the unit cells, is extremely important for maximizing the targeted performance. The feasibility of lightweight materials for advanced applications is broadly explored due to recent advances in synthetic approaches for different types of cellular architectures. Here, an overview of the development of lightweight cellular materials according to the structural interconnectivity and randomness of the internal pores is provided. Starting from a fundamental study on how material density is associated with mechanical performance, the resulting structural and mechanical properties of cellular materials are investigated for potential applications such as energy/mass absorption and electrical and thermal management. Finally, current challenges and perspectives on high‐performance ultra‐lightweight materials potentially implementable by well‐controlled cellular architectures are discussed.     

A Systematic Nomenclature for Codifying Engineered Nanostructures

Nanotechnology's growing applications are fueled by the synthesis and engineering of a myriad nanostructures, yet there is no systematic naming or classification scheme for such materials. This lack of a coherent nomenclature is confusing the interpretation of data sets and threatens to hamper the pace of progress and risk assessment. A systematic nomenclature that encodes the overall composition, size, shape, core and ligand chemistry, and solubility of nanostructures is presented. A typographic string of minimalist field codes facilitates digital archiving and searches for desired properties. This nomenclature system could also be used for nanomaterial hazard labeling.     

Multiferroic bismuth ferrite-based materials for multifunctional applications: Ceramic bulks,thin films and nanostructures

Among the different types of multiferroic compounds, bismuth ferrite (BiFeO₃; BFO) stands out because it is perhaps the only one being simultaneously magnetic and strongly ferroelectric at room temperature. Therefore, in the past decade or more, extensive research has been devoted to BFO-based materials in a variety of different forms, including ceramic bulks, thin films and nanostructures. Ceramic bulk BFO and their solid solutions with other oxide perovskite compounds show excellent ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties and are thus promising candidates for lead-free ferroelectric and piezoelectric devices. BFO thin films, on the other hand, exhibit versatile structures and many intriguing properties, particularly the robust ferroelectricity, the inherent magnetoelectric coupling, and the emerging photovoltaic effects. BFO-based nanostructures are of great interest owing to their size effect-induced structural modification and enhancement in various functional behaviors, such as magnetic and photocatalytic properties. Although to date several review papers on BFO and BFO-based materials have been published, they were each largely focused on one particular form of BFO. There have been very few papers addressing the different forms of BFO in a comprehensive manner and providing a comparison across the different forms. As BFO has been extensively studied over the past more than one decade especially in the past several years, there have been new phenomena arising more recently. Naturally they were not included in the early reviews. Here, we provide an updated comprehensive review on the progress of BFO-based materials made in the past fifteen years in the different forms of ceramic bulks, thin films and nanostructures, focusing on the pathways to modify different structures and to achieve enhanced physical properties and new functional behavior. We also prospect the future potential development for BFO-based materials in the cross disciplines and for multifunctional applications. We hope that this comprehensive review will serve as a timely updating and reference for researchers who are interested in further exploring bismuth ferrite-based materials.     

生物模板制备纳米材料的研究进展

生物模板法是一种融合了生命科学和材料科学而发展起来的制备纳米材料和纳米结构的新方法.自然进化形成的组织结构互不相同的各种生物体为模板的选择提供了丰富而廉价的素材,并且对研究结构与性能的关系有着重要意义.综述了近年来生物模板在纳米材料制备中的应用进展,并对此领域未来的发展进行了展望.