Contents 

Perspective Article

Nanoscience in the era of global science and global change—Cooperative, quantitative, and focused on benefit to humanity

A. Paul Alivisatos* University of California, USA

1–2

Review Articles

TiO2 nanosheets with exposed {001} facets for photocatalytic

applications

Chimmikuttanda Ponnappa Sajan1, Swelm Wageh2,3,

Ahmed. A. Al-Ghamdi2, Jiaguo Yu1,2,*, and Shaowen Cao1,*

1 Wuhan University of Technology, China 2 King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia 3 Menoufia University, Egypt

3–27

This review summarizes the recent progress in the preparation, modification, and photocatalytic applications of TiO2 with exposed{001} facets.

A mini review on nickel-based electrocatalysts for alkaline

hydrogen evolution reaction

Ming Gong1, Di-Yan Wang2, Chia-Chun Chen2,3,*,

Bing-Joe Hwang4,*, and Hongjie Dai1,* 1 Stanford University, USA 2 “National Taiwan Normal University”, Taiwan, China 3 “Academia Sinica”, Taiwan, China 4 “National Taiwan University of Science and Technology”,

Taiwan, China

28–46

The review summarizes earlier studies and recent progress on Ni-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline media.

Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016 

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Nano Research   Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016

Cooperative effects at the interface of nanocrystalline

metal–organic frameworks

Bunyarat Rungtaweevoranit*, Yingbo Zhao*, Kyung Min Choi,

and Omar M. Yaghi* University of California-Berkeley; Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory; Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at Berkeley,

USA 47–58

In this review, we present the strategies for introducing cooperativeeffects at the interface of nanocrystalline metal–organic frameworks(MOFs).

Biomimetic smart nanochannels for power harvesting

Ganhua Xie1, Liping Wen2,*, and Lei Jiang1,2,* 1 Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China2 Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy

of Sciences, China 59–71

Inspired from nature, scientists have developed numerousbiomimetic-smart-nanochannels-based materials for harvesting clean energy, which has become a promising field in the backgroundof energy crisis.

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Nano Research    Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016

Two-dimensional layered material/silicon heterojunctions

for energy and optoelectronic applications

Yuming Wang, Ke Ding, Baoquan Sun, Shuit-Tong Lee*,

and Jiansheng Jie* Soochow University, China 72–93

Recent advances of photovoltaics and photodetectors based on two-dimensional (2D) layered material/silicon heterojunctions are discussed and summarized.

Chemical routes toward long-lasting lithium/sulfur cells

Meinan Liu1, Fangmin Ye1, Wanfei Li1, Hongfei Li2, and

Yuegang Zhang1,2,* 1 i-Lab, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

2 Tsinghua University, China 94–116

Polysulfides can be efficiently trapped by functional groups (O–, B–, N–, S–) in the electrode materials or on separator through chemical bond formation.

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Nano Research   Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016

Research Articles

Thermoelectric properties of solution-synthesized n-type

Bi2Te3 nanocomposites modulated by Se: An experimental

and theoretical study

Haiyu Fang1,†, Je-Hyeong Bahk1,‡, Tianli Feng1,

Zhe Cheng2, Amr M. S. Mohammed1, Xinwei Wang2,

Xiulin Ruan1, Ali Shakouri1, and Yue Wu2,* 1 Purdue University, USA 2 Iowa State University, USA † Present address: UC Santa Barbara, USA ‡ Present address: University of Cincinnati, USA 117–127

The thermoelectric properties of Se-doped Bi2Te3 nanostructured pellets prepared from hot-pressed solution-grown nanowires are investigated. It is found that Se doping significantly enhances the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) by optimizing carrier con-centration and reducing thermal conductivity. Theoretical calculationresults show that further improvement of ZT relies on the simultaneous optimization of carrier concentration and mobility of the nanostructured pellets.

Carbon-supported and nanosheet-assembled vanadium

oxide microspheres for stable lithium-ion battery anodes

Chaojiang Niu, Meng Huang, Peiyao Wang, Jiashen Meng,

Xiong Liu, Xuanpeng Wang, Kangning Zhao, Yang Yu,

Yuzhu Wu, Chao Lin, and Liqiang Mai* Wuhan University of Technology, China 128–138

3D carbon-supported amorphous vanadium oxide microspheres andcrystalline V2O3 microspheres assembled with ultrathin nanosheets,exhibiting excellent high-rate and long-life performances, are demonstrated as promising lithium-ion battery anodes.

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Nano Research    Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016

Near-infrared light-activated cancer cell targeting and drug

delivery with aptamer-modified nanostructures

Yu Yang1, Jingjing Liu2, Xiaoqi Sun2, Liangzhu Feng2,

Wenwen Zhu2, Zhuang Liu2,*, and Meiwan Chen1,* 1 University of Macau, China 2 Soochow University, China 139–148

Gold nanorods and single-walled carbon nanotubes, as two model systems, have demonstrated excellent near-infrared (NIR)-light activated specific cancer cell binding and drug delivery via modification of NIR-absorbing nanodrug carriers with ssDNA cagedaptamers; these can be dehybridized under NIR laser irradiation and they can regain their structure and cell-binding ability. These NIR-activable cancer-targeted drug delivery systems show a dual-targeting capability, which is realized by exploiting the intrinsic cancer-cell binding ability of aptamers as well as spatially/temporally controllable laser irradiation (e.g., focusing the laser onthe tumor at the best treatment time); this is promising for further reduction of non-specific toxicity to normal tissues and enhanced treatment selectivity against tumor cells.

In situ development of highly concave and composition-

confined PtNi octahedra with high oxygen reduction

reaction activity and durability

Enbo Zhu, Yongjia Li, Chin-Yi Chiu, Xiaoqing Huang,

Mufan Li, Zipeng Zhao, Yuan Liu, Xiangfeng Duan, and

Yu Huang* University of California, Los Angeles, USA 149–157

Single-crystal PtNi octahedra with in situ-developed highly concavefeatures and self-confined composition with high activity and durability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are reported.

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Nano Research   Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016

Encapsulation of metal layers within metal–organic

frameworks as hybrid thin films for selective catalysis

Zhiling Xu, Weina Zhang, Jiena Weng, Wei Huang*,

Danbi Tian*, and Fengwei Huo* Nanjing Tech University, China 158–164

Metal layer/metal–organic framework (metal/MOF) hybrid thin films with high flexibility and tunability are fabricated by alternately growing MOF thin films and sputter-coating metal layers. The metal/MOF hybrid thin films, with well-defined sandwich structures, exhibit excellent selective catalytic activity derived from the MOFs acting as a molecular sieve and the metal layers providing active sites.

Hollow TiO2–X porous microspheres composed of well-

crystalline nanocrystals for high-performance lithium-ion

batteries

Chun Wang1, Faxing Wang1, Yujuan Zhao1, Yuhui Li1,

Qin Yue1, Yupu Liu1, Yong Liu1, Ahmed A. Elzatahry2,

Abdullah Al-Enizi3, Yuping Wu1, Yonghui Deng1,*, and

Dongyuan Zhao1,* 1 Fudan University, China 2 Qatar University, Qatar 3 King Saud University, Saudi Arabia 165–173

Uniform hollow TiO2–X porous microspheres composed of highly crystalline nanocrystals with robust walls have been successfully synthesized by a facile sol-gel template-assisted approach, and demonstrated as superior anode materials for LIBs.

Molecular dynamics simulations of the electric double

layer capacitance of graphene electrodes in mono-valent

aqueous electrolytes

Gengping Jiang, Chi Cheng, Dan Li*, and Jefferson Zhe Liu*

Monash University, Australia 174–186

By comparing different monovalent electrolyte, the ionic type dependent electrical double layer (EDL) structures were identified on graphene electrode surfaces and the water solvent was found to play a critical role in determining capacitance of the supercapacitors.

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Nano Research    Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016

A facile “ship-in-a-bottle” approach to construct nanorattles

based on upconverting lanthanide-doped fluorides

Shan Lu, Datao Tu, Xingjun Li, Renfu Li, and Xueyuan Chen*

Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China 187–197

Upconverting luminescent (UCL) nanorattles based on lanthanide-doped fluorides were synthesized by a novel “ship-in-a-bottle” strategy and were demonstrated for the application in UCL-monitoringof drug release.

Facile synthesis and electrochemical sodium storage of

CoS2 micro/nano-structures

Xue Liu, Kai Zhang, Kaixiang Lei, Fujun Li, Zhanliang Tao,

and Jun Chen* Nankai University, China 198–206

CoS2 with micro/nano-structures, which are synthesized via facile hydrothermal/solvothermal routes, have demonstrated promising performance as the anode of sodium ion batteries.

Controlled synthesis of porous spinel cobalt manganese

oxides as efficient oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts

Hongchao Yang1,2, Feng Hu2, Yejun Zhang2, Liyi Shi1, and

Qiangbin Wang2,* 1 Shanghai University, China 2 Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese

Academy of Sciences, China 207–213

We report a facile method to synthesize porous spinel cobaltmanganese oxides with tunable morphologies, chemical compositions,and crystalline phases as efficient oxygen reduction reactionelectrocatalyst along with superior durability.

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Nano Research   Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016

Facile construction of carbon dots via acid catalytic

hydrothermal method and their application for target

imaging of cancer cells

Zhenggang Wang1, Boshi Fu1, Siwei Zou1, Bo Duan1,

Chunyu Chang1, Bai Yang2, Xiang Zhou1,*, and Lina Zhang1,*

1 Wuhan University, China 2 Jilin University, China 214–223

Fast method to synthesize carbon dots for cancer cells’ target imagingwas developed.

Nonlinear infrared plasmonic waveguide arrays

Alessandro Salandrino1,†, Yuan Wang1, and Xiang Zhang1,2 ,*

1 University of California, Berkeley, USA 2 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA † Present address: University of Kansas, USA 224–229

The large negative permittivity of noble metals in the infrared region prevents the possibility of highly confined plasmons. We theoretically propose and numerically demonstrate that such limitation can be overcome by exploiting inter-element coupling effects in a plasmonic waveguide array, leading to significantly enhanced nonlinear optical interactions.

Confined growth of Li4Ti5O12 nanoparticles in nitrogen-

doped mesoporous graphene fibers for high-performance

lithium-ion battery anodes

Xilai Jia1, Yunfeng Lu3,*, and Fei Wei2,* 1 China University of Petroleum, China 2 Tsinghua University, China 3 University of California, Los Angeles, USA 230–239

Hierarchically structured lithium titanate/nitrogen-doped mesoporousgraphene fiber nanocomposites were synthesized through aconfined-growth strategy for high-performance electrode materialsof lithium ion batteries.

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Nano Research    Vol. 9, No. 1, January 2016

Three-dimensional graphene framework with ultra-high

sulfur content for a robust lithium–sulfur battery

Benjamin Papandrea1, Xu Xu1,2, Yuxi Xu1, Chih-Yen Chen1,

Zhaoyang Lin1, Gongming Wang1, Yanzhu Luo2, Matthew

Liu1, Yu Huang1, Liqiang Mai2,*, and Xiangfeng Duan1,* 1 University of California, Los Angeles, USA 2 Wuhan University of Technology, China 240–248

A free-standing mechanically strong 3D graphene–sulfur compositewith high sulfur content (90%) is used to create lithium–sulfur battery cathode with a record-high capacity when normalized by the total mass of the electrode.

Bioinspired synthesis of CVD graphene flakes and

graphene-supported molybdenum sulfide catalysts for

hydrogen evolution reaction

Ke Chen1,2, Cong Li1, Zhaolong Chen1, Liurong Shi1,

Sathish Reddy1, Huan Meng1, Qingqing Ji1, Yanfeng

Zhang1,*, and Zhongfan Liu1,* 1 Peking University, China 2 Henan University, China 249–259

A straightforward, bioinspired CVD strategy for growing large-quantity graphene flakes on cuttlebones is reported. The 3D highlycrystalline graphene flakes provide a highly exposed surface to load MoSx catalysts for highly efficient hydrogen generation.

Shell-thickness dependent optical properties of CdSe/CdS

core/shell nanocrystals coated with thiol ligands

Wanzhen Lin, Yuan Niu, Renyang Meng, Lin Huang, Hujia

Cao, Zhenxing Zhang, Haiyan Qin, and Xiaogang Peng* Zhejiang University, China 260–271

Thiol ligands are strong to offer outstanding solution processibilityyet excellent luminescent properties for core/shell quantum dots with a reasonable shell thickness.

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