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This article establishes the bases for a vacuum and plasma supported methodology for the fabrication at mild temperatures of nanostructured platinum in the form of porous layers and nanocolumns using platinum octaethylporphyrin as precursor. In addition, the application of these materials as tunable optical filters and nano-counterelectrodes is proved. On one hand, the transparency in the ultraviolet-visible-near infrared range can be adjusted precisely between 70% and 1% by tuning the deposition and processing conditions, obtaining a high spectral planarity. Deviations of the spectra from an ideal flat filter are below 4%, paving the way to the fabrication of neutral density filters. The transparency limit values yield a sheet resistivity of ≈1350 and 120 Ω □−1, respectively. On the other hand, the catalytic properties of the nanostructures are further demonstrated by their implementation as counterelectrodes of excitonic solar cells surpassing the performance of commercial platinum as counterelectrode in a 20% of the overall cell efficiency due to simultaneous enhancement of short-circuit photocurrent and open-circuit photovoltage. One of the most interesting features of the developed methodology is its straightforward application to other metal porphyrins and phthalocyanines readily sublimable under mild vacuum and temperature conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the fabrication of highly porous 1D nanostructures by a vacuum and plasma etching combined protocol is presented. Zn-phthalocyanine (ZnPc) is utilized as a solid precursor to form the ZnO. First the ZnPc is sublimated in low argon pressure. Depending on the substrate temperature and microstructure, polycrystalline films or single crystal ZnPc nanowires are grown. These starting materials are then subjected to a remote plasma oxidizing treatment. Experimental parameters such as substrate position, plasma power, treatment duration, and substrate temperature determine the microstructure and properties of the final ZnO nanostructures. The article gathers an in depth study of the obtained porous nanostructured films following scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis transmittance, and fluorescence spectroscopies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Damage‐free encapsulation of molecular structures with functional nanolayers is crucial to protect nanodevices from environmental exposure. With nanoscale electronic, optoelectronic, photonic, sensing, and other nanodevices based on atomically thin and fragile organic matter shrinking in size, it becomes increasingly challenging to develop nanoencapsulation that is simultaneously conformal at atomic scale and does not damage fragile molecular networks, while delivering added device functionality. This work presents an effective, plasma‐enabled, potentially universal approach to produce highly conformal multifunctional organic films to encapsulate atomically thin graphene layers and metalorganic nanowires, without affecting their molecular structure and atomic bonding. Deposition of adamantane precursor and gentle remote plasma chemical vapor deposition are synergized to assemble molecular fragments and cage‐like building blocks and completely encapsulate not only the molecular structures, but also the growth substrates and device elements upon nanowire integration. The films are insulating, transparent, and conformal at sub‐nanometer scale even on near‐tip high‐curvature areas of high‐aspect‐ratio nanowires. The encapsulated structures are multifunctional and provide effective electric isolation, chemical and environmental protection, and transparency in the near‐UV–visible–near‐infrared range. This single‐step, solvent‐free remote‐plasma approach preserves and guides molecular building blocks thus opening new avenues for precise, atomically conformal nanofabrication of fragile nanoscale matter with multiple functionalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platinum layers show a superior catalytic performance as counterelectrodes in dye‐sensitized solar cells. Combined vacuum and plasma processing of Pt‐porphyrin opens a versatile route for the development of nanostructured platinum including two‐dimensional extended percolated layers and one‐dimensional porous nanocolumnar films. This is demonstrated by Juan Ramon Sanchez‐Valencia, Ana Borras, and co‐workers in article number 1601233. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Front Cover: Nowadays, highly porous ZnO materials play a key role as nanosensors, solar cells, photonics devices and photo‐catalysts. The protocol developed in this work combines physical vapour deposition and remote plasma etching using Zn‐phthalocyanine as vacuum processable precursor for foam‐like layers and 1D nanostructures. The methodology for the fabrication of ZnO nanostructures is straightforwardly extensible to an ample range of porous metal oxides just selecting the metal‐phthalocyanine/porphyrin sublimable precursors. Further details can be found in the article by Maria Alcaire et al. on page 287. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]