Colloidal nanocrystals are nanometer-sized, solution-grown inorganic particles stabilized by a layer of surfactants attached to their surface. The inorganic cores exhibit useful properties controlled by composition as well as size and shape, while the surfactant coating ensures that these structures are easy to fabricate and process. It is this combination of features that makes colloidal nanocrystals attractive and promising building blocks for advanced materials and devices. But their full potential can only be exploited if we achieve exquisite control over their composition, size, shape, crystal structure and surface properties. Here we review what is known about nanocrystal growth and outline strategies for controlling it.

Colloidal nanocrystal synthesis and the organic-inorganic interface

Bi2Se3 attracts intensive attention as a typical thermoelectric material and a promising topological insulator material. However, previously reported Bi2Se3 nanostructures are limited to nanoribbons and smooth nanoplates. Herein, we report the synthesis of spiral Bi2Se3 nanoplates and their screw-dislocation-driven (SDD) bidirectional growth process. Typical products showed a bipyramid-like shape with two sets of centrosymmetric helical fringes on the top and bottom faces. Other evidence for the unique structure and growth mode include herringbone contours, spiral arms, and hollow cores. Through the manipulation of kinetic factors, including the precursor concentration, the pH value, and the amount of reductant, we were able to tune the supersaturation in the regime of SDD to layer-by-layer growth. Nanoplates with preliminary dislocations were discovered in samples with an appropriate supersaturation value and employed for investigation of the SDD growth process.

Screw-dislocation-driven bidirectional spiral growth of Bi₂Se₃ nanoplates.

Herein, a wet-chemical synthetic approach has been adopted, taking advantage of electrostatic interactions between positively charged [CTA]+ capped Au NRs and negative functionalities of graphene oxide (GO), to fabricate dog-bone shaped Au NRcore–Pt/Pdshell decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets (GMTs) for efficient ethanol electrooxidation reaction (EOR). This new strategy is based on an exceptionally efficient immobilization of trimetallic nanoparticles onto rGO sheets. It is important to note that the sequential addition of Pt and Pd precursor salts into the reaction mixture evolves Pd as the surface layer in the trimetallic assembly (described as GMT-1), whereas reversal of the sequence of addition results in spongy Pt NPs at the outer surface (designated as GMT-2), and thus two different types of Aucore–Pt/Pdsandwich–Pd/Ptshell nanoparticle-decorated rGO nanocomposites have been fabricated. The well recognized electrocatalytic performance of Pt is improved towards EOR by controlled assembling of Au and Pd in the rGO support in both the GMTs, exceeding the performance of the corresponding bimetallic composites. The presence of Pd and rGO decreases the CO poisoning of Pt and rGO supports restrict the aggregation of the nanoparticles during CV cycles. Thus the durability of the GMT catalysts has been improved in contrast to other related materials. Interestingly, the exposed spongy Pt NPs, present at the exterior of the trimetallic particles in GMT-2, help to exhibit better EOR activity (∼1.22 times) but lower durability (∼10%) in comparison to its analogue, GMT-1. The observed electrocatalytic efficiencies of GMTs are superior to commercial Pt/C (more than 6 times better mass utilization and ∼40% higher durability) and most of the recently reported related materials, which suggest cost-effective and efficient practical fuel cell application of GMTs.

Fabrication of dog-bone shaped Au NRcore–Pt/Pdshell trimetallic nanoparticle-decorated reduced graphene oxide nanosheets for excellent electrocatalysis

A new magnetic-fluorescent bifunctional coaxial nanobelt structure has been successfully fabricated by specially designed coaxial-spinneret electrospinning technology. As an example, terbium complexes [Tb(BA)3 (phen)] (BA=benzoic acid, phen=1,10-phenanthroline) and ferroferric oxide nanoparticles were incorporated into polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and electrospun into coaxial nanobelts with Fe3 O4 /PMMA as the core and [Tb(BA)3 (phen)]/PMMA as the shell. The morphology and properties of the final products have been investigated in detail by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), biological microscopy (BM), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results show that the [Fe3 O4 /PMMA]@[[Tb(BA)3 (phen)]/PMMA] magnetic-fluorescent bifunctional coaxial nanobelts possess superior magnetic and fluorescent properties owing to their special nanostructures. The magnetic-fluorescent bifunctional coaxial nanobelts provide higher performance than Fe3 O4 /[Tb(BA)3 (phen)]/PMMA composite nanobelts. This new type of magnetic-fluorescent bifunctional coaxial nanobelt has the potential to be used in novel nano-biolabel materials, drug delivery materials, and future nanodevices owing to their excellent magnetic-fluorescent properties, flexibility, and insolubility.

Fabrication of Magnetic-Fluorescent Bifunctional Flexible Coaxial Nanobelts by Electrospinning Using a Modified Coaxial Spinneret.

Submicrometer scaled spheres are realized by a laser-induced reshaping process. An irregular shaped particle absorbs the laser-energy and turns into a spherical liquid droplet dispersed in deionized water. Subsequently, the spherical liquid droplet is “frozen” by the fast cooling of the surrounding deionized water, giving rise to the formation of submicrometer scale spheres. This is a versatile, simple, low-cost, fast and high-throughput technique to prepare submicrometer scale spheres with multiple structural controlling capabilities. These submicrometer scale spheres show excellent friction coefficient-reduction (>50%) properties when they are used as lubricant oil additives, opening the door to the possibility of saving energy by reducing friction caused energy loss.

Laser-induced reshaping of particles aiming at energy-saving applications

T he applications of nanostructures critically depend on their morphologies. Although signifi cant progress has been made in the chemical synthesis of nanostructures with a variety of different morphologies, it is still highly desired to develop an approach that allows one to quickly identify the best set of parameters for nanostructure syntheses. Herein, an on-chip approach to the rapid screening of experimental conditions pivotal to the production of nanostructures with different morphologies is reported. The key component of this approach is an array of reactors containing solutions with a one- or two-dimensional gradient in reagent concentration, pH value, or reaction temperature. In the proof-of-concept experiments, the parameters needed for the production of Au and Pd nanostructures with various morphologies are quickly identifi ed. In principle, this approach can be extended to other systems for rapid screening and optimization of experimental conditions involved in the syntheses of different types of nanostructures.

/pdf/on-chip-screening-of-experimental-conditions-for-the-biwbbn8k52.pdf

On-Chip Screening of Experimental Conditions for the Synthesis of Noble-Metal Nanostructures with Different

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Morphologies Zhou

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

On-Chip Screening of Experimental Conditions for the Synthesis of Noble-Metal Nanostructures with Different