Solid-State Reaction Synthesis of Nanoscale Materials: Strategies and Applications.

Nanomaterials (NMs) with unique structures and compositions can give rise to exotic physicochemical properties and applications. Despite the advancement in solution-based methods, scalable access to a wide range of crystal phases and intricate compositions is still challenging. Solid-state reaction (SSR) syntheses have high potential owing to their flexibility toward multielemental phases under feasibly high temperatures and solvent-free conditions as well as their scalability and simplicity.

Silica Jar-with-Lid as Chemo-Enzymatic Nano-Compartment for Enantioselective Synthesis inside Living Cells.

Nanodevices, harvesting the power of synthetic catalysts and enzymes to perform enantioselective synthesis inside cell, have never been reported. Here, we synthesized round bottom jar-like silica nanostructures (SiJARs) with a chemo-responsive metal-silicate lid. This was isolated as an intermediate structure during highly controlled solid-state nanocrystal-conversion at the arc-section of silica shell.

Magnetothermia-Induced Catalytic Hollow Nanoreactor for Bioorthogonal Organic Synthesis in Living Cells.

Nanoreactors, in which the reactions are remotely controlled by magnetic fields, are potentially valuable in bioorthogonal chemistry for future applications. Here, we develop a silica-confined magnetothermia-induced nanoreactor (MAG-NER) by selectively growing Pd nanocrystals on a preinstalled iron-oxide core inside a hollow silica nanoshell. The growth is achieved by magnetic induction.