Nano-and Micromotors Designed for Cancer Therapy.

Research on nano- and micromotors has evolved into a frequently cited research area with innovative technology envisioned for one of current humanities' most deadly problems: cancer. The development of cancer targeting drug delivery strategies involving nano-and micromotors has been a vibrant field of study over the past few years. This review aims at categorizing recent significant results, classifying them according to the employed propulsion mechanisms starting from chemically driven micromotors, to field driven and biohybrid approaches. In concluding remarks of section 2, we give an insight into shape changing micromotors that are envisioned to have a significant contribution. Finally, we critically discuss which important aspects still have to be addressed and which challenges still lie ahead of us.

Highly Luminescent and Water-Resistant CsPbBr3-CsPb2Br5 Perovskite Nanocrystals Coordinated with Partially Hydrolyzed Poly(methyl methacrylate) and Polyethylenimine.

All inorganic lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) typically suffer from poor stability against moisture and UV radiation as well as degradation during thermal treatment. The stability of PNCs can be significantly enhanced through polymer encapsulation, often accompanied by a decrease of photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) due to the loss of highly dynamic oleylamine/oleic acid (OLA/OA) ligands. Herein, we propose a solution for this problem by utilizing partially hydrolyzed poly(methyl methacrylate) (h-PMMA) and highly branched poly(ethylenimine) (b-PEI) as double ligands stabilizing the PNCs already during the mechanochemical synthesis (grinding). The hydrophobic polymer of h-PMMA imparts excellent film-forming properties and water stability to the resulting NC-polymer composite. In its own turn, the b-PEI forms an amino-rich, strongly binding ligand layer on the surface of the PNCs being responsible for the significant improvement of the PLQY and the stability of the resulting material. Moreover, the introduction of b-PEI promotes a partial phase conversion from CsPbBr3 to CsPb2Br5 to obtain CsPbBr3/CsPb2Br5 nanocrystals with a core-shell-like structure. As-prepared PNCs solutions are directly processable as inks, while their PLQY drops only slightly from 75% in colloidal solution to 65% in films. Moreover, the final PNC-polymer film exhibits excellent stability against water, heat, and ultraviolet light irradiation. These superior properties allowed us to fabricate a proof of concept thin film OLED with h-PMMA/b-PEI-stabilized PNCs as an easily processable, narrowly emitting color conversion composite material.

Colloidal PbS nanoplatelets synthesized via cation exchange for electronic applications.

In this work, we present a new synthetic approach to colloidal PbS nanoplatelets (NPLs) utilizing a cation exchange (CE) strategy starting from CuS NPLs synthesized via the hot-injection method. Whereas the thickness of the resulting CuS NPLs was fixed at approx. 5 nm, the lateral size could be tuned by varying the reaction conditions, such as time from 6 to 16 h, the reaction temperature (120 °C, 140 °C), and the amount of copper precursor. In a second step, Cu+ cations were replaced with Pb2+ ions within the crystal lattice via CE. While the shape and the size of parental CuS platelets were preserved, the crystal structure was rearranged from hexagonal covellite to PbS galena, accompanied by the fragmentation of the monocrystalline phase into polycrystalline one. Afterwards a halide mediated ligand exchange (LE) was carried out in order to remove insulating oleic acid residues from the PbS NPL surface and to form stable dispersions in polar organic solvents enabling thin-film fabrication. Both CE and LE processes were monitored by several characterization techniques. Furthermore, we measured the electrical conductivity of the resulting PbS NPL-based films before and after LE and compared the processing in ambient to inert atmosphere. Finally, we fabricated field-effect transistors with an on/off ratio of up to 60 and linear charge carrier mobility for holes of 0.02 cm2 V-1 s-1.

Influence of the average molar mass of poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) on the dimensions and conductivity of silver nanowires.

We investigate the influence of the average molar mass (Mw) of the capping agent poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) on the conductivity of a silver nanowire (AgNW) network. During the polyol process, the chain length of PVP is known to influence the AgNW diameters and lengths. By altering the reaction temperature and time and using PVP of different chain lengths, we synthesized AgNWs with varying diameters, lengths and PVP coverage. The obtained plethora of AgNWs is the basis for conductivity investigations of networks made of AgNWs with a diameter of either 60 nm or 80 nm. The results show a negative influence of long-chain PVP on the conductivity of the subsequent network if 60 nm thick AgNWs are employed. Overall, we obtain well performing AgNW transparent electrodes on glass with RS = 24.4 Ω sq-1 at 85.5%T550nm.

Multimetallic Hierarchical Aerogels: Shape Engineering of the Building Blocks for Efficient Electrocatalysis.

A new class of multimetallic hierarchical aerogels composed entirely of interconnected Ni-Pdx Pty nano-building-blocks with in situ engineered morphologies and compositions is demonstrated. The underlying mechanism of the galvanic shape-engineering is elucidated in terms of nanowelding of intermediate nanoparticles. The hierarchical aerogels integrate two levels of porous structures, leading to improved electrocatalysis performance.

Degradation of Flexible, ITO-Free Oligothiophene Organic Solar Cells.

We investigate the degradation of organic solar cells based on an oligothiophene (DCV5T-Me) small molecule donor and the acceptor C60. Two different flexible, transparent bottom electrode types are employed: a transparent metal electrode (TME) and silver nanowires (AgNWs). They exhibit high optical transparency up to 86% and a sheet resistance as low as 12Ω/□. Power conversion efficiencies of 7.0%, 5.7%, and 7.2% on TME, AgNWs, and indium tin oxide (ITO, reference) are reached, respectively. The solar cells are protected against moisture ingress utilizing a flexible alumina thin-film, exhibiting water vapor transmission rates down to 3 × 10(-5) g m(-2) day(-1) at 38 °C and 90% relative humidity (RH). Implementation of this ultrabarrier as top and bottom encapsulation enables fabrication of fully flexible devices. A decrease in PCE to 80% of initial values is observed after 1000 ± 50 h on flexible, encapsulated TME but only 20 ± 5 h on AgNWs in a climate of 38 °C/50% RH. Degradation in AgNW-based devices is attributed to electrode decomposition.

3D Assembly of All-Inorganic Colloidal Nanocrystals into Gels and Aerogels.

We report an efficient approach to assemble a variety of electrostatically stabilized all-inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) by their linking with appropriate ions into multibranched gel networks. These all-inorganic non-ordered 3D assemblies benefit from strong interparticle coupling, which facilitates charge transport between the NCs with diverse morphologies, compositions, sizes, and functional capping ligands. Moreover, the resulting dry gels (aerogels) are highly porous monolithic structures, which preserve the quantum confinement of their building blocks. The inorganic semiconductor aerogel made of 4.5 nm CdSe colloidal NCs capped with I(-) ions and bridged with Cd(2+) ions had a large surface area of 146 m(2) g(-1) .