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Uniform Co 9 Se 8 quantum dots (CSQDs) were successfully synthesized through a facile solvothermal method. The obtained CSQDs with average size of 3.2 ± 0.1 nm and thickness of 1.8 ± 0.2 nm were demonstrated good stability and strong fluorescence under UV light after being easily dispersed in both of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and deionized water. We demonstrated the flexible resistive switching memory device based on the hybridization of CSQDs and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (CSQDs-PVP). The device with the Al/CSQDs-PVP/Pt/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) structure represented excellent switching parameters such as high ON/OFF current ratio, low operating voltages, good stability, and flexibility. The flexible resistive switching memory device based on hybridization of CSQDs and PVP has a great potential to be used in flexible and high-performance memory applications.

An in situ simple and effective synthesis method is effectively exploited to construct MOF-derived grape-like architecture anchoring on nitrogen-doped graphene, in which ultrafine Fe3O4 nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed (Fe3O4@C/NG). In this hybrid hierarchical structure, new synergistic features are accessed. The graphene oxide plane with functional groups is expected to alleviate the aggregation problem in the MOFs' growth. Moreover, the morphology and size of iron-based MOFs and carbon content are conveniently controlled by controlling the solution concentration of precursor. Through making use of in situ carbonization of the organic ligands in MOFs, Fe3O4 subunits are effectively protected by 3D interconnected conductive carbon at microscale. Consequently, when applied as anode materials, even as high as 10 A g(-1) after 1000 cycles, Fe3O4@C/NG still maintains as high as 458 mA h g(-1).

The 2H phase and 1T phase coexisting in the same molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) nanosheets can influence the electronic properties of the materials. The 1T phase of MoS2 is introduced into the 2H-MoS2 nanosheets by two-step hydrothermal synthetic methods. Two types of nonvolatile memory effects, namely write-once read-many times memory and rewritable memory effect, are observed in the flexible memory devices with the configuration of Al/1T@2H-MoS2 -polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/indium tin oxide (ITO)/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and Al/2H-MoS2 -PVP/ITO/PET, respectively. It is observed that structural phase transition in MoS2 nanosheets plays an important role on the resistive switching behaviors of the MoS2 -based device. It is hoped that our results can offer a general route for the preparation of various promising nanocomposites based on 2D nanosheets of layered transition metal dichalcogenides for fabricating the high performance and flexible nonvolatile memory devices through regulating the phase structure in the 2D nanosheets., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We report a high-performance chemiresistive sensor for detection of volatile organic compound (VOC) vapors based on core-shell hybridized nanostructures of Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-conducting polymers. The MNPs were prepared using microwave-assisted synthesis in the presence of polymerized ionic liquids (PILs), which were used as a linker to couple the MNP and PEDOT. The resulting PEDOT-PIL-modified Fe3O4 hybrids were then explored as a sensing channel material for a chemiresistive sensor to detect VOC vapors. The PEDOT-PIL-modified Fe3O4 sensor exhibited a tunable response, with high sensitivity (down to a concentration of 1 ppm) and low noise level, to VOCs; these VOCs include acetone vapor, which is present in the exhaled breath of potential lung cancer patients. The present sensor, based on the hybrid nanostructured sensing materials, exhibited a 38.8% higher sensitivity and an 11% lower noise level than its PEDOT-PIL-only counterpart. This approach of embedding MNPs in conducting polymers could lead to the development of new electronic noses, which have significant potential for the use in the early diagnosis of lung cancer via the detection of VOC biomarkers.

We developed a simple but efficient method to synthesize protein-inorganic hybrid nanostructures with a flower-like shape (nanoflowers), which relies on sonication to facilitate the synthesis of the nanoflowers. With this technique, we synthesized nanoflowers containing laccase as a model protein and copper phosphate within 5 minutes at room temperature. The resulting laccase nanoflowers yielded greatly enhanced activity, stability, and reusability, and their usefulness was successfully demonstrated by applying them in the colorimetric detection of epinephrine. The strategy developed could be used to rapidly synthesize nanoflowers for various applications in biosensor and enzyme catalysis and would expand the utilization of nanoflowers in diverse fields of biotechnology.

3D hybrid plasmonic nanomaterials are composed of 3D-stacked Ag nanowires and nanoparticles separated by a nanoscale-thick alumina interlayer. The 3D hybrid plasmonic nanostructures exhibit strong plasmonic coupling between the ultrahigh populations of plasmonic nanomaterials, overcoming the physical limitation of inefficient plasmonic coupling of the Ag nanowire stacks., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Explorations of 1D nanostructures have led to great progress in the area of nanophotonics in the past decades. Based on either dielectric or metallic materials, a variety of 1D photonic devices have been developed, such as nanolasers, waveguides, optical switches, and routers. What's interesting is that these dielectric systems enjoy low propagation losses and usually possess active optical performance, but they have a diffraction-limited field confinement. Alternatively, metallic systems can guide light on deep subwavelength scales, but they suffer from high metallic absorption and can work as passive devices only. Thus, the idea to construct a hybrid system that combines the merits of both dielectric and metallic materials was proposed. To date, unprecedented optical properties have been achieved in various 1D hybrid systems, which manifest great potential for functional nanophotonic devices. Here, the focus is on recent advances in 1D dielectric/metallic hybrid systems, with a special emphasis on novel structure design, rational fabrication techniques, unique performance, as well as their wide application in photonic components. Gaining a better understanding of hybrid systems would benefit the design of nanophotonic components aimed at optical information processing., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We examine charge transfer interactions in the hybrid system of a film of C60 molecules deposited on single-layer graphene using Raman spectroscopy and Terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy. In the absence of photoexcitation, we find that the C60 molecules in the deposited film act as electron acceptors for graphene, yielding increased hole doping in the graphene layer. Hole doping of the graphene film by a uniform C60 film at a level of 5.6 × 10(12)/cm(2) or 0.04 holes per interfacial C60 molecule was determined by the use of both Raman and THz spectroscopy. We also investigate transient charge transfer occurring upon photoexcitation by femtosecond laser pulses with a photon energy of 3.1 eV. The C60/graphene hybrid exhibits a short-lived (ps) decrease in THz conductivity, followed by a long-lived increase in conductivity. The initial negative photoconductivity transient, which decays within 2 ps, reflects the intrinsic photoresponse of graphene. The longer-lived positive conductivity transient, with a lifetime on the order of 100 ps, is attributed to photoinduced hole doping of graphene by interfacial charge transfer. We discuss possible microscopic pathways for hot carrier processes in the hybrid system.

A key limitation to the practical incorporation of nanostructured materials into emerging applications is the challenge of achieving low-cost, high throughput, and highly replicable scalable nanomanufacturing techniques to produce functional materials. Here, we report a benchtop roll-to-roll technique that builds upon the use of binary solutions of nanomaterials and liquid electrophoretic assembly to rapidly construct hybrid materials for battery design applications. We demonstrate surfactant-free hybrid mixtures of carbon nanotubes, silicon nanoparticles, MoS2 nanosheets, carbon nanohorns, and graphene nanoplatelets. Roll-to-roll electrophoretic assembly from these solutions enables the controlled fabrication of homogeneous coatings of these nanostructures that maintain chemical and physical properties defined by the synergistic combination of nanomaterials utilized without adverse effects of surfactants or impurities that typically limit liquid nanomanufacturing routes. To demonstrate the utility of this nanomanufacturing approach, we employed roll-to-roll electrophoretic processing to fabricate both positive and negative electrodes for lithium ion batteries in less than 30 s. The optimized full-cell battery, containing active materials of prelithiated silicon nanoparticles and MoS2 nanosheets, was assessed to exhibit energy densities of 167 Wh/kgcell(-1) and power densities of 9.6 kW/kgcell(-1).

Chemoradiotherapy is a well-established treatment paradigm in oncology. There has been strong interest in identifying strategies to further improve its therapeutic index. An innovative strategy is to utilize nanoparticle (NP) chemotherapeutics in chemoradiation. Since the most commonly utilized chemotherapeutic with radiotherapy is cisplatin, the development of an NP cisplatin for chemoradiotherapy has the highest potential impact on this treatment. Here, we report the development of an NP comprised of polysilsesquioxane (PSQ) polymer crosslinked by a cisplatin prodrug (Cisplatin-PSQ) and its utilization in chemoradiotherapy using non-small cell lung cancer as a disease model. Cisplatin-PSQ NP has an exceptionally high loading of cisplatin. Cisplatin-PSQ NPs were evaluated in chemoradiotherapy in vitro and in vivo. They demonstrated significantly higher therapeutic efficacy when compared to cisplatin. These results suggest that the Cisplatin-PSQ NP holds potential for clinical translation in chemoradiotherapy., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A facile strategy to prepare MoS2 -MoO3 hybrid nanomaterials is developed, based on the heat-assisted partial oxidation of lithium-exfoliated MoS2  nanosheets in air followed by thermal-annealing-driven crystallization. The obtained MoS2 -MoO3 hybrid nanomaterial exhibits p-type conductivity. As a proof-of-concept application, an n-type SiC/p-type MoS2 -MoO3 heterojunction is used as the active layer for light-emitting diodes. The origins of the electroluminescence from the device are theoretically investigated. This facile synthesis and application of hybrid nanomaterials opens up avenues to develop new advanced materials for various functional applications, such as in electrics, optoelectronics, clean energy, and information storage., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Hybrid nanomaterial based on quantum dots and SWCNTs is used for cellular imaging and photothermal therapy. Furthermore, the ligand conjugated hybrid system (FaQd@CNT) enables selective targeting in cancer cells. The imaging capability of quantum dots and the therapeutic potential of SWCNT are available in a single system with cancer targeting property. Heat generated by the system is found to be high enough to destroy cancer cells., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The formation of donor/acceptor junctions in hybrid nanomaterials is predicted to enhance photocatalytic activity as compared to single-component semiconductor systems. Specifically, nanomaterials containing a junction of n-type cadmium sulfide (CdS) and p-type copper sulfide (Cu2S) formed via cation exchange have been proposed as potential photocatalysts for reactions such as water splitting. Herein, we study the elemental distribution of Cu within these nanostructures using analytical transmission electron microscopy techniques. The resulting effects of this elemental distribution on photocatalytic activity and charge dynamics were further studied using a model photoreduction reaction and transient absorption spectroscopy. We find that copper diffusion in the hybrid nanostructure quenches the exciton lifetime and results in low photocatalytic activity; however, this effect can be partially mitigated via selective extraction. These results provide a deeper understanding of the physical processes within these hybrid nanostructures and will lead to more rational design of photocatalyst materials.

Self-assembled nanodiamond-lipid hybrid particles (NDLPs) harness the potent interaction between the nanodiamond (ND)-surface and small molecules, while providing a mechanism for cell-targeted imaging and therapy of triple negative breast cancers. Epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted NDLPs are highly biocompatible particles that provide cell-specific imaging, promote tumor retention of ND-complexes, prevent epirubicin toxicities and mediate regression of triple negative breast cancers., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)