Current Nanoscience - Volume 13, Issue 4, 2017

Background: Increasing demand on the large scale H2 generation with the uttermost purity as required by the fuel cells is now totally depending on water splitting. The major energy consuming reaction in water splitting is the thermodynamically un-favoured oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for which the noble metal oxides such as IrO2 and RuO2 have so far been extensively used as efficient electrocatalysts. However, the increa Read More

Background: Bismuth (Bi) has been studied due to its high theoretical gravimetric capacity of 385 mAh g−1, which is as important as gravimetric capacity for the practical application of battery systems in electronic mobile devices. However, there have been limited fundamental explorations on the electrochemical performances of Bi. Furthermore, the mechanism differences for the Bi anodes in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and Read More

Background: Extensive theoretical efforts in active nematics have been carried out in the past decade, but the effects of initial and boundary conditions are scarcely studied. Most studies only consider either tangential or normal anchoring boundary conditions. However, it is well known that boundary effects and confinement can play a very important role in the formation of self-organized patterns. We consider an obliqu Read More

Background: Due to the wide range of the mixed convection dilemma, it becomes one of the main topics of research in the last two decades. These types of fluid flow and heat transfer occur in technological and industrial applications, such as electronic cooling, crystal growth, and solar collectors, energy-saving household, double-wall thermal insulation and oil extraction. In addition, the view of nanofluid and convection i Read More

Background: Since the discovery of X-rays by Röntgen in 1895, X-rays have been widely applied in multiple disciplines and industries. Since the X-rays are well beyond human visibility, materials are used for the high-energy X-ray detections. This review focuses on the X-ray detection using nanomaterials. Methods: X-rays can be detected by (1) X-ray films, which is a traditional method for imaging; (2) phosphor- or scintillator Read More

Background: We present a review on recent progress in the research and development of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanomaterials. Based on the studies reported in the literature, titanium oxide nanoparticles and nanotubes (NPs and NTs) can be fabricated by inexpensive methods, such as solgel deposition and anodization process. Typically, TiO2 NPs are synthesized in a particle size less than 10 nm, and the featured dimen Read More

Background: Many studies on the electrochemical properties of electrospun nanofiber in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been performed. To the best of our knowledge, no work has yet summarized the use of electrospun one-dimensional materials as anode materials and also assessed the influence of this unique morphology on the properties of LIBs properties. This review describes recent advances in the synthesis and cha Read More

Background: Despite of the fact that nanocarbon can effectively improve mechanical properties and reduce mass density of Cu-matrix composites, there are lacking comprehensive reviews on preparation and properties of nanocarbon-reinforced Cu-matrix composites synthesized with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or graphene nanoplates (GNPs). This review presents research on interfaces between nanocarbon/Cu and strengtheni Read More

Background: One of the important molecules in the human body is protein. The proteins are incredibly complex chains of smaller molecules namely amino acids. After the invention of biosensor, optical sensing mechanisms received considerable attention in the applications of the chemical and biochemical sensors in various applications such as industrial process control. Photonic crystals (PhCs) are as an attractive sensing platf Read More

Background: Liquid coolants are generally used for increasing the heat transfer rate of electronic devices. However, the fluids such as normal chemicals like water or ethylene glycol have very low thermal properties. A nanofluid is the mixture of suspended nanoparticles in the base fluid. It is recognized as an advanced heat transfer fluid that exhibits superior heat transfer properties. The aim of this paper is to investigating t Read More

Background: Studies about fascinating nonlinear optical effects are a promise to the development of high-sensitive instruments and ultrafast all-optical systems. Particularly, the optical Kerr effect exhibited by bimetallic nanoparticles can be employed to determine vibrations and the vectorial nature of mechanical actions in low-dimensional materials. With this motivation, this work has been devoted to analyze third-order nonli Read More