Chemical Society Reviews

Squaraines, a celebrated class of organic dyes known for their remarkable photophysical properties, particularly fluorescence behaviour in the near infrared (NIR) region, have emerged as versatile molecular tools in the domain of biophotonics. They offer unparalleled opportunities for molecular sensing, bioimaging and theranostics. This review delves into the unique capabilities of these dyes, sp…

Perylene bisimide (PBI) dyes are the quintessential and most well-studied class of dyes for designing biomimetic light harvesting (LH) self-assembled systems owing to their exceptional photophysical features such as excellent absorption, high molar extinction coefficient and high fluorescence quantum yield, thermal robustness, high charge carrier mobilities, and efficient exciton diffusion proper…

Amino acid-based biomaterials, encompassing sequence-defined peptides, synthetic poly(amino acid)s, and self-assembling materials, garner increased attention for their advanced potential in biomedical fields. Traditionally, these materials have been employed primarily as carriers or scaffolds for drug delivery or tissue engineering. However, recent research has uncovered their capacity to modulat…

Peripheral nerve injury remains a major clinical challenge due to its complex pathophysiology and limited intrinsic regenerative capacity. Effective nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) therefore require not only structural support but also bioinstructive cues capable of actively regulating cellular behavior. Spatial gradients play a fundamental biological role in directing cell migration and axonal el…

Emissive organic crystals represent a rapidly advancing frontier in materials science, offering a unique platform that merges the superior optoelectronic characteristics of crystalline order with high-efficiency light emission. This review comprehensively surveys the field, from the fundamental molecular design principles and photophysical mechanisms, such as aggregation-induced emission, thermal…

Electrocatalytic CO₂ conversion (CO₂CR) offers a promising route for addressing carbon emissions while simultaneously generating valuable chemical feedstocks. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted significant attention due to their maximized metal atom utilization and precisely defined coordination architectures. Accumulating evidence indicates that CO₂CR ov…

The advancement of micro-nano fabrication techniques has enabled the precise modification of material surfaces, allowing for unique physical and chemical properties to emerge, catering to diverse application requirements. Black silicon, a well-studied material compatible with CMOS technology, provides an excellent model for exploring the overall properties of micro-nano surface morphologies. This…

Nanoclusters constitute an interdisciplinary field bridging chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, and materials science. Its broad appeal is fueled not only by the expectation that one can gain a fundamental understanding of how the structure and properties of matter evolve one atom at a time, but also, how they could be designed, with specific size and composition, to mimic the chemistry of ato…

This review provides an overview of vibration-induced emission (VIE), a new approach that allows molecules to emit multiple colors by undergoing conformational changes. The focus is on sterically hindered dihydrophenazine (DHP) derivatives, especially the <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>'-diphenyl-dihydrodibenzo[<i>a</i>,<i>c</i>]phenazine (DPAC) core, illustrating how large-amplitude "butterfly" vibrational mo…

Perovskite photovoltaics have demonstrated impressive performance in controlled laboratory tests, with power conversion efficiencies as high as 27%, positioning them as promising alternatives to conventional silicon-based solar cells for various applications. However, despite these major advances, operational stability remains a limiting factor for commercial applications. Large-scale implementat…

Tetrapodal zinc oxide (T-ZnO) represents a distinctive ZnO architecture, characterized by a central core and four tetrahedrally arranged monocrystalline arms. Beyond its role as a conventional particle, T-ZnO is increasingly recognized as a microscopic building block whose three-dimensional geometry governs tightly coupled multiphysics properties. This review critically examines the structural li…

Correction for 'Functionalization of <i>o</i>-carboranes <i>via</i> carboryne intermediates' by Zaozao Qiu <i>et al.</i>, <i>Chem. Soc. Rev.</i>, 2022, <b>51</b>, 3164-3180, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CS00024E.

A wide range of chemical transformations proceed at immiscible boundaries, including solid dielectric-liquid, gas-liquid, and liquid-liquid interfaces, even in the absence of light, heat or externally applied potentials. At these boundaries, intense interfacial electric fields emerging from interfacial charge transfer, molecular orientation, and asymmetric charge distributions can profoundly resh…

Correction for 'A practical guide to pulsed laser deposition' by Nick A. Shepelin <i>et al.</i>, <i>Chem. Soc. Rev.</i>, 2023, <b>52</b>, 2294-2321, https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CS00938B.

Molecular engineering has played a pivotal role in biomedical fields, driving significant advancements in gene therapy, disease diagnosis, and biosensing. However, nucleic acid molecular engineering faces various challenges including vast design spaces, complex structure-function relationships, lengthy application validation cycles, and inefficient optimization processes. Machine learning (ML), w…

The precise fabrication of nanostructured materials on surfaces is paramount for advancing next-generation technologies in catalysis, electronics, biomedicine, <i>etc.</i> Recently, surface-initiated living crystallization-driven self-assembly (SIL-CDSA) has enabled unprecedented control over the architecture, orientation, and functionality of solid-state nanostructures on desired substrates. Thi…

The unusual slow cooling of hot carriers (HCs) in halide perovskites presents a promising route to harvest the excess carrier energy and exceed the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) efficiency limit of single-junction perovskite solar cells. Spectroscopic interrogation of HC dynamics is a crucial step toward an in-depth understanding of the HC properties and underlying cooling mechanisms in these materials.…

Beyond elemental composition and molecular structure, ordered multiscale architectures (self-assembled structure, crystal structure, phase structure, <i>etc.</i>) play a comparably important role in determining material functions, especially the optoelectronic properties. Light, a unique external stimulus with superior spatiotemporal resolution and non-invasive nature, provides unparalleled capab…

The electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) in aqueous electrolytes is a cornerstone technology for achieving a carbon-neutral society. Beyond the direct CO₂RR, the sequential reduction of CO₂ to CO followed by the CO reduction reaction (CORR) offers an alternative pathway. Water plays a pivotal and complex multi-scale role in CO₂RR/C…

The complex mechanisms of tumorigenesis and the inherent limitations of conventional therapies have severely restricted the clinical efficacy of tumor treatment. Owing to their pivotal roles in macromolecular degradation, energy metabolism, autophagy, and signal transduction, lysosomes are increasingly recognized as important targets for precision oncology. In this review, we summarize advances m…