Small

doi: 10.1002/smll.201370081pmid: N/A

Wang, Rui; Wang, Shengnan; Wang, Xiaowei; Meyer, Jakob A. S.; Hedegård, Per; Laursen, Bo W.; Cheng, Zhihai; Qiu, Xiaohui

doi: 10.1002/smll.201370078pmid: N/A

The flicker noise in a ‘fullerene + graphene’ hybrid transistor is measured by X. H. Qiu and co‐workers on page 2420 to reveal the electrical coupling between its graphene channel and C60 adsorbates. The charge associated with the trapping and detrapping processes at the C60/graphene interface induces current fluctuations in the device. The temperature‐dependent noise characteristics indicate that the two contributions are related to Coulomb scattering and charge‐exchange kinetics. This represents a practical template for developing graphene‐based biosensors and nanoelectrodes.

Liu, Yuexian; Wang, Peng; Wang, Yue; Zhu, Zhening; Lao, Fang; Liu, Xuefeng; Cong, Wenshu; Chen, Chunying; Gao, Yan; Liu, Ying

doi: 10.1002/smll.201370079pmid: N/A

C. Chen, Y. Gao, Y. Liu, and co‐workers compare the influence of the chemical composition and surface modification of seven cadmium‐based quantum dots (QDs) on living cells. These parameters determine the amount of Cd2+ released within the cell, and on page 2440 they find that CdTe@ZnS shelled QDs show much lower cytotoxicity than naked ones with similar surface modifications. Moreover, positively charged QDs are more toxic than negatively charged ones. Both positively and negatively charged QDs without ZnS coatings lead to multipolar spindles, misaligned chromosomes, and G2/M checkpoint failures.

doi: 10.1002/smll.201370082pmid: N/A

Zhao, Yuliang

doi: 10.1002/smll.201301914pmid: 23853122

Song, Chen; Wang, Zhen‐Gang; Ding, Baoquan

doi: 10.1002/smll.201300824pmid: 23776091

DNA‐based nanomachines are self‐assembled DNA superstructures that harness chemical free energy to perform mechanical work. The development of DNA machines has benefited greatly from the achievements in both structural and dynamic DNA nanotechnology. In this review, the configurations of DNA machines, fuel systems, and operations are discussed to outline the evolving paths of DNA machines. The focus is on the smart mechanical behavior of DNA machines, from the standpoint of upgrading the complexity of DNA nanostructures, cooperative activation of multimachinary systems, and the establishment of a network of the mechanical states. In the end, the challenges are highlighted and possible solutions are proposed to push forward smart DNA nanomachines, with the goal of creating biomimicking systems. Insights are also provided into the potential applications of the DNA machines with designable intelligence.

Guo, Chuan Fei; Zhang, Jianming; Wang, Meng; Tian, Ye; Liu, Qian

doi: 10.1002/smll.201370083pmid: N/A

The topological structure of a material can significantly affect its physical properties. For example, nanoparticles, nanowires, and nanosheets composed of the same material are observed to have different properties. In the last decade, scientists have elegantly shown that arrays of oriented nanostructures have desirable properties for high‐performance devices. To this end, a wafer‐scale, singlecrystalline, (001)‐oriented β‐Bi2O3 film is converted by Q. Liu and co‐workers into a large‐area network of nanowalls made of BiOCl, Bi2O2CO3, and β‐Bi2O3. On page 2394, the network is further transformed into nested self‐similar networks of Bi2S3 in a series of solution processes, directed by lattice matching among the different phases. The superstructures of these bismuth compounds reveal anisotropic electrical conductivity as a result of the oriented growth of nanostructures.

Guo, Chuan Fei; Zhang, Jianming; Wang, Meng; Tian, Ye; Liu, Qian

doi: 10.1002/smll.201300777pmid: 23754697

Epitaxial wafer scale superstructures of bismuth compounds are synthesized. Single crystalline β‐Bi2O3 films are obtained by sputtering amorphous BiOx onto (001)‐oriented strontium titanate with a buffer layer, followed by thermal crystallization. This is used as the precursor for the growth of the superstructures. The superstructures of bismuth compounds reveal anisotropic physical properties that are related to their unique morphology.

Wang, Bin; Li, Xianglong; Luo, Bin; Yang, Jingxuan; Wang, Xiangjun; Song, Qi; Chen, Shiyan; Zhi, Linjie

doi: 10.1002/smll.201300692pmid: 23653287

A scalable, low‐cost and environmentally benign strategy is developed for the facile construction of a unique kind of three‐dimensional porous electrode architecture for high‐performance lithium ion batteries. The methodology is based on the employment of pyrolyzed bacterial cellulose as a new three‐dimensional porous scaffold to support various nanostructured active electrode materials, such as SnO2 and Ge.

Yu, Fang; Zhou, Haiqing; Zhang, Zengxing; Wang, Gang; Yang, Huaichao; Chen, Minjiang; Tao, Li; Tang, Dongsheng; He, Jun; Sun, Lianfeng

doi: 10.1002/smll.201300617pmid: 23650121

Intramolecular junctions can be formed in single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by introducing a pentagon and/or heptagon into the hexagonal carbon lattice. The realization of these carbon‐based molecular electronics is still quite challenging. Here, it is reported that nickel or cobalt catalyzed etching can be applied to partially unzip an SWNT into an intermolecular junction of SWNT/graphene nanoribbon, directly confirmed by atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.