Complex and well-defined nanostructures are promising for emerging properties with broad applications. Self-assembly processes driven by diverse interactions generate varied nanostructures by using versatile nanocrystals as building blocks, while oriented attachment growth allows individual nanocrystals to be integrated and fused into highly anisotropic structures. By a combination of self-assembly technique and oriented attachment growth, many advanced nanostructures can be made. Such approaches can be viewed as an architecture of the nanoscale counterparts in the microworld, named as nanoarchitectures.

Flexible fiber-shaped supercapacitors have shown great potential in portable and wearable electronics. However, small specific capacitance and low operating voltage limit the practical application of fiber-shaped supercapacitors in high energy density devices. Herein, direct growth of ultrathin MnO₂ nanosheet arrays on conductive carbon fibers with robust adhesion is exhibited, which exhibit a high specific capacitance of 634.5 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 2.5 A g⁻¹ and possess superior cycle stability. When MnO₂ nanosheet arrays on carbon fibers and graphene on carbon fibers are used as a positive electrode and a negative electrode, respectively, in an all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC), the ASC displays a high specific capacitance of 87.1 F g⁻¹ and an exceptional energy density of 27.2 Wh kg⁻¹. In addition, its capacitance retention reaches 95.2% over 3000 cycles, representing the excellent cyclic ability. The flexibility and mechanical stability of these ASCs are highlighted by the negligible degradation of their electrochemical performance even under severely bending states. Impressively, as-prepared fiber-shaped ASCs could successfully power a photodetector based on CdS nanowires without applying any external bias voltage. The excellent performance of all-solid-state ASCs opens up new opportunity for development of wearable and self-powered nanodevices in near future.

Coupling between colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) with long-range order is critical for designing advanced nanostructures with controlled energy flow and charge carrier transport. Herein, under the premise of keeping long-range order in 2D NC monolayer, its native organic ligands are exchanged with halogen ions in situ at the liquid–air interface to enhance the coupling between NCs. Further treatments on the films with dimethyl sulfoxide, methanol, or their mixture effectively improve carrier mobility of the devices. The devices show repeatable enhanced p-type transport behavior with hole mobility of up to 0.224 ± 0.069 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, the highest value reported for lead sulfide NC solids without annealing treatment. Thanks to accurate control over the surface of NCs as well as the structure of NC film, the ordered NC monolayer film of high hole mobility suggests great potentials for making reliable high performance devices.

Controllable integration of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is leading to the creation of many new multifunctional materials. In this Research News, an emerging type of core–shell nanostructure, in which the inorganic NP cores are encapsulated by the MOF shells, is briefly introduced. Unique functions originating from the property synergies of different types of inorganic NP cores and MOF shells are highlighted, and insight into their future development is suggested. It is highly expected that this Research News could arouse research enthusiasm on such NP@MOF core–shell nanostructures, which have great application potential in devices, energy, the environment, and medicine.

A novel and general strategy to fabricate monodisperse hollow supraparticles (SPs) via selective chemical oxidation is developed. Core-shell SPs made of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) are first obtained by an in situ assembly method. Subsequently, the cores can be selectively removed by preferential oxidation with dilute H₂O₂, resulting in formation of monodisperse hollow SPs. The structural parameters of the products, such as size, shell thickness, and composition, are tailored easily. The hollow structures achieved from CdSe/CdS core-shell SPs possess high fluorescence quantum yields and a large Stokes shift, the latter is remarkably different from that of conventional organic dyes and quantum dots. In addition to simple hollow structures, rattle-type nanostructures composed of semiconductor SPs or noble metal-semiconductor hybrids are also prepared, exemplifying the versatility of the proposed strategy.

Nature bestows many gifts upon us, among which countless biomolecules have the ability to bridge metal ions and exert the important function in biology. By taking advantage of specific interactions between metal ions and biomolecules, this article highlights a novel concept for construction of nanoscale biocoordination polymers through replacement of synthetic organic molecules with natural biomolecules as building blocks. The most recent advances are summarized and future challenges are discussed. It can be anticipated that nanoscale biocoordination polymers will become a diverse and rapidly growing class of novel materials and potentially lead to a breakthrough in biological applications.

In this study the strong effect of surface density of stabilizers on the outcome of the typical cation replacement reaction in nanoparticles is demonstrated. The density of 2-aminoethanethiol coating determines the growth mode and morphology of the transformation products of CdTe nanoparticles induced by Ag cations. Using quantitative measurements of the stabilizer's surface density, it is demonstrated that CdTe nanoparticles produce Ag₂Te nanowire networks upon partial removal of the stabilizer. This process follows the kinetically controlled growth mode but the mechanism changes drastically once stabilizer density is increased. The formation of spherical Ag₂Te nanoparticles was observed when CdTe retained the original density of 2-aminoethanethiol. This study provides better understanding of (1) non-classical growth mechanisms of crystals at the nanoscale, (2) effect of stabilizer density on chemical transformations of nanoparticles, and (3) new routes for preparation of nanomaterials.