Nanoporous polymer films have been prepared using immiscible blends of polyetherimide (PEI) and poly(caprolactone diol) (PCLD). The films were prepared by spin-coating from a common solvent – dichloromethane (DCM). To create the nanoporous films, PCLD was removed by immersing the films in acetone, which dissolves PCLD only. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was used to study the porou...

Oxidative etching of graphene flakes was observed to initiate from edges and the occasional defect sites in the basal plane, leading to reduced lateral size and a small number of etch pits. In contrast, etching of highly defective graphene oxide and its reduced form resulted in rapid homogeneous fracturing of the sheets into smaller pieces. On the basis of these observations, a slow and more co...

The crystalline Ti50Cu50 ribbon was prepared by annealing its amorphous counterpart at 773K, 84K higher than its crystallization temperature. An equiatomic TiCu intermetallic phase dominated in the matrix coexisting with trace Ti2Cu phase segregated on the grain boundary. A bi-continuous nanoporous copper from tenths of nanometers to hundredths of nanometers was obtained after dealloying the cr...

Multitasking nanoparticles are gaining great attention for smart drug delivery systems. The exploration of the nano-scale opens new concrete opportunities for revealing new properties and undiscovered cell-particle interactions. Here we present a biodegradable nanoporous silicon nanoparticle that can be successfully employed for in vivo targeted drug delivery and sustained release. The bare nan...

We demonstrate a recycled ion-flux through heterogeneous nanoporous junctions, which induce stable ion concentration polarization with an electric field. The nanoporous junctions are based on integration of ionic hydrogels whose surfaces are negatively or positively charged for cationic or anionic selectivity, respectively. Such heterogeneous junctions can be matched up in a way to achieve cont...

Nanoporous silicon (Si) networks with controllable porosity and thickness are fabricated by a simple and scalable electrochemical process, and then released from Si wafers and transferred to flexible and conductive substrates. These nanoporous Si networks serve as high performance Li-ion battery electrodes, with an initial discharge capacity of 2570 mA h g(-1), above 1000 mA h g(-1) after 200 c...

To apply mobile crystalline material 41 (MCM-41), which has a larger specific surface area than many other nanoporous silicas, for energy absorption, chlorotrimethylsilane treatment is performed to adjust the structure of inner surfaces of nanopores. As the treatment time is sufficiently long, the pore surface can be changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic, leading to an energy absorption effic...

During the last decade, a great variety of nanostructures (nanotubes, nanofibers or nanowires) based on metals, carbons, polymers or semiconductors, have been synthesized following different synthesis procedures by using nanoporous anodic alumina membranes (AAM) as templates [1]. The principal reason for using templates of nanoporous AAM as precursor patterns lies on the possibility to obtain, ...

Synthetic nanoporous carbons are prepared by polymerization of mixtures containing coal tar pitch and furfural in different proportions, followed by carbonization of obtained solid product and steam activation of the carbonizate. The chemical composition of the initial mixture significantly affects the physicochemical properties (surface area, pore structure, electro resistance and amount of ox...

Nanoengineering of electrode materials can directly facilitate sodium ion accessibility and transport, thus enhancing electrochemical performance in sodium ion batteries. Here, highly sodium-accessible carbon coated nanoporous TiO2 microfibers have been synthesised via the facile electrospinning technique which can deliver an enhanced capacity of ≈167 mAh g-1 after 450 cycles at current density...