Focus collections

Research on Nanoelectronic, Nanofluidic and Bioelectronic Systems: Focus Collection in Memory of Prof Mark A Reed
Editors: Laurie Calvet, Weihua Guan, James Klemic, Takhee Lee, Mohsen Nami, Jeffrey Sleight, Eric Stern, Shari Yosinski and Chongwu Zhou
This focus collection is dedicated to the life and work of Professor Mark A Reed and aims to review many areas that were of interest to Professor Reed during his career.

Focus on Amorphous and Nano-Crystalline Semiconductors
Editors: Jun Xu, John Robertson, Xiaodan Zhang, Yuan Lin, Yuzheng Guo, Linwei Yu
In collaboration with the 29th International Conference on Amorphous and Nano-crystalline Semiconductors (ICANS), this Focus Collection aims to showcase the latest progresses and exciting breakthroughs and ideas, on the topics of amorphous and nanocrystalline thin film or other nanostructure materials.

Focus on Manipulations of Atomic and Molecular Layers and its Applications in Energy, Environmental Sciences and Optoelectronic Devices
Editors: Sheng Hsiung Chang, Xiangbo Meng, Jian Liu, Dung-Sheng Tsai, Xinwei Wang, ChiaShain Chung, Cheng-Ying Chen, Aidong Li
Through this focus collection, we aim to highlight the new progresses and research trends of atomic and molecular layers for novel materials and emerging devices. This focus collection includes fundamental research and practical applications, experimental studies and computational simulations.

Focus on Green Nanomaterials for a Sustainable Internet of Things
Editors: Vincenzo Pecunia, Luigi G Occhipinti, Sylvain G Cloutier, Shuhui Sun, Andrews Nirmala Grace and Wei Lin Leong
This Focus Collection aims to showcase the best work in environmentally friendly nanomaterials for IoT device applications, with a view to catalysing further progress towards a sustainable IoT.

Focus on Nanomaterial-Based Sensor Arrays for the Development of Electronic Noses
Editors: Suwarna Datar, Dhananjay Bodas and Julian Gardner
This collection focuses upon recent advances in nanomaterial technology employed in sensor-based electronic noses from the point of view of new odor-sensitive materials, including inorganic, organic and biological films.

Focus on Nanomaterials for Self-Powered Sensing
Editors: Zhong Lin Wang, Zhiyi Wu, M A Parvez Mahmud, Amir H Alavi, Renyun Zhang
This focus collection aims to showcase the most recent advances in nanomaterials for self-powered sensing, including nanomaterials preparation and characterization, sensor design and manufacture, and smart sensing applications.

Focus on Machine Learning and Deep Learning Assisted Nanoscience and Engineering
Editors: Jingchao Zhang, Yanan Yue, Bo Hou and Yang Hong
This Focus Collection aims to bring together the most up-to-date and outstanding research articles reporting machine learning and deep learning methods to solve nanotechnology science and engineering problems.

Focus on Waste-Heat Harvesting via Thermoelectric Conversion: Materials, Devices and Systems for Sustainable Energy Technologies
Editors: Cristina Artini, Eleonora Isotta, Valeria Demontis, Giovanni Pennelli, Alberto Castellero, Alberto Ferrario, Francesco Rossella
Through this focus collection, we aim to showcase the most recent advances in the research activity on different branches of thermoelectricity in Italy and worldwide.

Focus on Advances in Engineering and Characterization of Nanostructures and Atomically Thin Layered Materials
Editors: Kiran Mangalampalli, Hannah Joyce, Radha Boya, Abha Mishra, Siva Krishna Karuturi, Maria F Pantano, Han Weizhong, Nagamani Jaya Balila, Keun Heo, S Chandra Mohan and Nilesh Gurao
Through this focus collection, we aim to showcase the best works in the field of advanced engineering and characterization (electrical, optical, and mechanical) of low dimensional materials.

Focus on Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices Made of Two-Dimensional Materials
Editors: He Tian, Han Zhang, Yang Xu, Fei Hui, Tao Deng, Peng Zhou, Yi Yang, Tian-Ling Ren
This focus collection highlights 2D materials based electronic devices with novel working principles, materials and structures, as well as high performance and stability.

Focus on Perovskite-Inspired Materials for Energy Applications
Editors: Robert Hoye, Aron Walsh, Shijing Sun, Nadja Glück, Lakshminarayana Polavarapu, Angshuman Nag, Byungha Shin, Yiqiang Zhan, Haibo Zeng, Prashun Gorai and Sachin Rondiya.
This Focus collection on perovskite-inspired materials aims to bring together this interdisciplinary community to highlight the many opportunities and open questions in this growing field.

Special Issue on Materials Science in the Global South
Editors: Fanny Béron, K Khairurrijal, Marisa A Frechero, Nor Aishah Saidina Amin, Sandro Scandolo, Sidney Jurado de Carvalho, Simiso Mkhonta, Ncholu Manyala
The purpose of this joint special issue is to showcase some of the most significant advances in materials science research from underrepresented countries in the Global South, bringing together researchers from across physics, chemistry and related fields in materials science, led by an Editorial Advisory Panel.

Focus on Advanced Nanomaterials for Energy, Environmental Science and Optoelectronic Devices
Editors: Sheng Hsiung Chang, Wei-Ren Liu, Chi-Tsu Yuan and Chiashain Chuang
This focus collection highlights the recent developments and breakthroughs in the fields of nanomaterials based devices, including light-emitting diodes, photo-detectors, lasers, solar cells, batteries, energy converters, sensors, memory devices and flexible devices.

Focus on Multi-Physics Coupling in Nanoscale Spintronics and Quantum Devices
Editors: Gang Zhang, Yuan Cheng and Tian-Ling Ren
In recent years, scientists and engineers from different fields have drawn particular attention to explore physical properties and application of spintronics device, as well as quantum devices. In practical application, the coupling with external field, such as electric field, strain, and temperature, has significant impact on the performance of these devices. Thus, it is an appropriate time to organize a Focus issue on this field.

Focus on Nanowires 2021–2022
The Focus Collection on Nanowires 2021–2022 will be publishing articles on all aspects of nanowire physics and technology, including growth methods, optical, electrical, thermal and mechanical properties, and their applications in sensing, biology, optical devices and energy conversion.

Focus on Nanomaterials and Nano-Engineering for High Performance Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries
Editors: Dhamodaran Santhanagopalan, Byoung-Sun Lee and Chengcheng Fang
This focus colleciton aims to provide a platform for reporting high performance lithium and sodium ion batteries covering both fundamental and applied aspects through experimental or computational means. Review, perspective and original research articles that generate significant interest towards nano-scale effects on high performance lithium and sodium ion batteries are welcome.

Focus on Topological Science and Technologies in Nano-Structures
Editors: Su-Yang Xu, Fengqi Song, Zhi-Min Liao, Faxian Xiu, Xufeng Kou and Haiwen Liu
This focus collection highlights theoretical predictions or experimental studies of new topological phases in 1D and 2D nano-structures, novel electronic, magnetic, transport or optical responses of topological nano-structures as well as topological hybrid systems and hetero-structures where topological phases and broke symmetry (magnetic, superconducting, charge-density) orders coexist.

2D Materials for Microelectronic Devices and Nanoscale heat Dissipation
Editors: Eilam Yalon, Miguel Munoz Rojo, Ilya Goykhman and Hans Hilgenkamp
This focus collection is dedicated to 2D materials for microelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Aspects related to energy dissipation that may limit the performance of 2D materials devices will also be covered, as well as photonic applications. Due to the rapid advances in the field we expect that this collection will provide an update on the state-of-the-art as well as key fundamentals and application insights for future generation of microelectronic devices based on 2D materials.

Focus on Advances in Eco-Friendly Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies: Design, Processing and Applications
Editors: Wenbin Cao, Sanjay Mathur, Yin Shu, Qipeng Lu
The focus collection includes research on the innovative synthesis, advanced characterization and practical applications of eco-friendly nanomaterials. All the participants who present their work at the ISEPD 2020 conference, as well as other authors who are involved in research on eco-friendly nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, are invited to contribute their recent research works to this focus collection

Focus on Thermal Management Materials
Editors: Changzeng Yan, Yagang Yao,Cheng-Te Lin and Xiulin Ruan
The scope of this special issue is to give a multidisciplinary overview of cutting-edge thermal management techniques and applications, all original research papers or letters, and short reviews are welcome.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: thermal conductive fillers (MXenes, graphene, graphite, carbon nanotubes, boron nitride, aluminium nitride, silicon carbide, transition metal dichalcogenides, heterostructures); interfacial thermal conductive mechanism; thin film heat spreaders; thermal interface materials.

Focus on Bio-inspired Sensors and Electronics
Editors: Linwei Yu, Yang Chai and Hongzhong Liu
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2020
Mimicking the natural structure, design and function mechanisms of bio-systems is now a rapidly developing field that draws in constantly more and more research efforts and extensive attentions from industrial communities. The mission of this Focus collection is thus to identify, recognise and showcase the latest progresses and the key milestones accomplished in this field, aiming at providing a unique perspective for the readers to cultivate in-depth understanding, stimulate new idea/thinking, encourage interdisciplinary collaborations and, eventually, explorations into the uncharted realms of bio-sensing, interfacing and neuromorphic computing.

Focus on Perovskite Thin Films and Nanomaterials for Applications in Optoelectronic Devices
Editors: Sheng Hsiung Chang, Wei-Chen Tu, Chia-Lung Tsai
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2020
The surface and optoelectronic properties of perovskite thin films and nanomaterials can be manipulated by varying the compositions and the nanoscale morphologies. The focus collection will address the latest developments and breakthroughs in the fields of perovskite-based optoelectronic devices, including solar cells, LEDs, PDs, lasers, x-ray detectors, memory devices and flexible devices.

Focus on Advanced Electrocatalysts with Architected Surfaces
Editors: Wei Zhang, Bingsen Zhang, Wenjing (Angela) Zhang and Weitao Zheng
In this focus collection, we discuss the design of high-performance electrocatalysts from nanoscale and atomic-level, their morphology and structure control methods, their application to various practical electrocatalytic systems combined with theoretical calculations of electrocatalysis, and the mechanism of electrocatalytic reactions assisted with advanced in-situ characterization technologies.

Focus on 2D Van Der Waals Heterojunction and its Applications
Editors: Huijun Liu, Chendong Zhang and Zhiping Wang
This focus collection highlights recent remarkable progresses in 2D Van Der Waals heterojunction and its applications, providing a broad overview of the current status as well as a guidance for the future.

Focus on Nanophase Materials for Next-generation Lithium-ion Batteries and Beyond
Editors: Xiangbo Meng, Zonghai Chen, Jianlin Li, Katharine Harrison, Wenquan Lu and Xueliang Sun
This special issue focuses on the applications of nanophase materials in various batteries for high performance.

Focus on 3D Micro/Nano Structures Based on Atomically Thin 2D Materials
Editors: Weinan Xu, Zhao Qin, Joonki Suh and Pingwei Liu
This focus issue will collect the cutting-edge research in 3D Micro/Nano Structures Based on Atomically Thin 2D Materials. The topic will span from assembly and fabrication of 2D materials-based 3D structures to 3D electronic and optoelectronics devices transformed from 2D materials, as well as their applications in bioelectronics, biosensing, bioimaging and energy storage.

Focus on Physics of Advanced Nanomaterials
Editors: Andrews Nirmala Grace, Krishnamoorthi C, Raja Sellappan, George Jacob, Vimala R, Swati G, John Kennedy
This focus issue, inspired by the 2nd International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICNAN 2019), will include topics such as physics and properties (optical, thermal and magnetic) of advanced nanomaterials. Participants who presented their research work at the conference were invited to contribute their research work to this focus issue. The theme of the conference included synthesis and fabrication of advanced nanostructures, thin film deposition techniques, advanced nanomaterials characterization, molecular nanoscience, catalysis and applications, nanomaterials for energy harvesting, storage and conversion.

Focus on Gas-Solid Interface Charging Physics
Editors: Chuanyang Li, Yang Cao, Qi Li, Uwe Riechert, Davide Fabiani
Gas-solid charging physics covers a wide range of research areas, including surface charging of insulators used for outdoor high voltage DC energy transmission systems, spacer surface charging inside compressed gas insulated transmission systems, surface charging of low voltage DC cables in aerospace and unclear power plants, as well as in submarine related projects, etc. With this Focus Collection we want to offer a better understanding of the charging physics of dielectrics

Focus on Advanced Photocatalysts and Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting
Editors: Jimin Du, Changzeng Yan, Kan Zhang and Xianzhu Fu
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2020
In this special issue of Nanotechnology, we look at the role of nanostructured materials in the development of low-cost, high-efficiency, and durable photocatalysts/electrocatalysts for water splitting. The editors welcome original research papers or letters and short reviews.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: transition metal oxide, transition metal dichalcogenides, transition metal phosphides, metal organic framework, two-dimensional materials, MXenes

Focus on Non-Boolean Computing with Nanomagnetic Devices
Editor: Supriyo Bandyopadhyay
Closing date for submissions: 28 February 2020
The focus collection will address the latest developments in the field of non-Boolean computing with nanomagnetic devices.

Focus Issue on Materials for Neuromorphic Computing
Closing date for submissions: April 2020
This focus issue highlights recent progress on the key neuromorphic engineering in the view of materials and systems aspects. This includes progress on the design of novel neuromorphic materials, elucidation of mechanisms, advanced memristive devices, fabrication processing, in-situ analytics, and bio-inspired architectures including modeling. The focus issue intends to propel the recent, remarkable interest on alternative hardware electronics and novel computing architectures.

Focus on Nanowires 2019
In collaboration with the International Conference Nanowire Week 2019, the Focus Collection on Nanowires 2019 will be publishing articles on all aspects of nanowire physics and technology, including growth methods, optical, electrical, thermal and mechanical properties, and their applications in sensing, biology, optical devices and energy conversion.

Focus on Gene Sequencing and Editing
Editors: Dan Peer and Daniel Rosenblum
Closing date for submissions: 31 December 2018
This Focus Collection will report on recent research in gene sequencing and editing.

Focus on bionic nanotechnology
Editors: Nicola Pugno and Luca Valentini
Closing date for submissions: 31 March 2019
Biogenic materials are often formed in the nanometer scale through diverse metabolic activities and by passive surface reactions on cell walls or extracellular structures. This focus collection will include multidisciplinary techniques that cover innovative synthesis, multiscale modelling and advanced characterization. In this context, this study could have future implications for bionic materials in the manufacture of physical smart objects with multifunctional properties.

Focus on stretchable electronics
Closing date for submissions: 31 December 2018
Flexible and stretchable electronics are the next generation of smart devices, enabling applications that are impossible with rigid, planar electronics. This collection highlights recent progress on the technologies that will allow flexible and stretchable electronics to realize their potential, and looks forward towards the obstacles that must be overcome. This includes progress on advanced electronic materials, novel flexible and stretchable substrates, additive manufacturing techniques, fabrication processes for flexible devices, and power sources.

Focus on Electrochemical Nanomaterials for Energy Storage
Editors: Alex Yan Qingyu, Yonggang Wang and Yanguang Li
Closing date for submissions: 31 June 2019
Electrochemistry related to energy conversion and storage is extremely important for progressive development of clean energy generation and solving environmental issues. In this special issue of Nanotechnology, we focus on development of new materials or devices for batteries, electrocatalytic and photocatalytic applications.

Focus on Spin Memory
Editors: Jagadeesh Moodera and Markus Munzenberg
Closing date for submissions: 31 June 2019
This focus collection in Nanotechnology looks at various approaches and progress in the field of spin memory, both from the fundamental science point of view and technological status, including where we are, the bottle necks, new concepts and the future direction.

Focus on tunneling through nanoscience
Editors: Antonio Di Bartolomeo, Filippo Giubileo and Sergio Pagano
Closing date for submissions: 15 April 2019
The scope of this Collection includes scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy, superconductivity and magnetism, and nanostructured materials in tunneling applications. The aim of the Collection is to provide a forum for researchers working across the field to publish their work in a shared space.

Focus on Low Dimensional Electronic and Photonic Materials and Devices
Editor: Yongfeng Mei
Closing date for submissions: 28 February 2019
This Focus Collection in Nanotechnology intends to summarize the recent progress in developments of low-dimensional materials and their applications in electronic and photonic devices.

Focus on Nanoscale Electrocatalysts
Editors: Guihua Yu, Xinhui Xia and Shuangyin Wang
Closing date for submissions: 30 April 2019
Emerging multiscale nanomaterials have been widely explored in recent decades and have demonstrated promise for applications in electrochemical energy conversion. This Focus Collection will present a collection of the most recent advances in electrocatalytic materials with well-defined nanostructures for electrochemical energy conversion (HER, OER, ORR, CRR) and will give a broad overview on emerging strategies to develop high-performance electrochemical energy conversion devices.

Focus on Extracellular Electron Conduits
Editors: Moh El-Naggar and Julea Butt
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2019
This collection will include (but is not limited to) the state-of-the-art in our understanding at all length scales, from individual cofactors and metalloproteins to bacterial nanowires, single cells, bacterial cables, and multicellular biofilms. The collection will also include emerging directions on the development of new bioelectronic concepts and living electronics that interface synthetic biology and EET.

Focus issue on Eco-friendly Multifunctional Nanomaterials
Editors: Wen-Bin Cao, Jian-Feng Yang, Tohru Sekino and Yuwaraj K. Kshetri
Closing date for submissions: 28 August 2019
This focus collection is inspired by the ISEPD conference held in Asan, Korea on January 4-7, 2019. It will include research into the design, characterisation and production of structures, devices and systems that involve the manipulation and control of materials and phenomena at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales.

Focus on Photodetectors Based on Emerging Nanomaterials
Editors: Weida Hu, Jiansheng Jie, Linbao Luo and Jinshui Miao
Closing date for submissions: 31 December 2019
This Focus collection aims to address the current challenges of in the field of optoelectronics. The scope of this special issue includes Light-matter interactions in novel low-dimensional nanomaterials, photodetection mechanisms in nanomaterials and 2D structures, as well as heterostructures of 2D and nD photodetectors.

Focus on nanowires 2018
Closing date for submissions: 31 October 2018
This focus collection comprises eight topical collections covering all aspects of nanowire research, experimental, theoretical and technological, across all fields.

Focus on personalised medicine and theranostics
Editors: Avi Schroeder and Delphine Felder
Closing date for submissions: 31 October 2018
New nanomaterials and devices have the potential to support truly personalised medicine and theranostics. This Focus Collection brings together research from across communities on the latest developments in the synthesis, properties and clinical validations of nanoparticles and targeted nanomedicines.

Focus on multifunctional nanomaterials
Editors: Wen-Bin Cao, Yan Yu, Shu Yin and Hyeongtag Jeon
Closing date for submissions: 28 February 2018
Nanomaterials have an ever expanding range of new physicochemical properties, each with a wealth of potential applications. This Focus Collection gathers some of the most recent work on novel synthesis, advanced characterisation, and practical applications of these multifunctional nanomaterials.

Focus on nanophotonics and nano-optics
Editor: Ray LaPierre
Closing date for submissions: 1 September 2018
This collection will focus on advanced nanophotonics, and nanophotonic devices. The collection will cover a variety of topics including optical properties of nanostructures, plasmonics, spasers, photonic crystals, and metamaterials.

Focus on versatile 2D materials: growth and devices
Editors: Liming Xie, Peng Zhou and Zhongming Wei
Closing date for submissions: 30 August 2018
Two-dimensional (2D) materials are of great interest due to their novel properties and potential applications. This collection will cover the synthesis of novel 2D materials, electronic structure engineering, and the fabrication of electronic devices.

Focus on ion beam technology
Editors: Xiangheng Xiao, Feng Chen and Yugang Wang
Closing date for submissions: 30 June 2018
Ion beam technology has attracted interest from the research community for many years and enjoyed significant applications in modern industry, particularly in catalysis, solar cell, electron device and nuclear security. Such technology has been proven to be successful in modulating the physical-chemical properties of materials, and compared with conventional doping methods, it can break the solid solution restriction to realise near-surface doping. On the other hand, it is a powerful technique for synthesising nanometer-scale clusters and crystals embedded in the near-surface region of a variety of hosts to create nanocomposite materials with unique optical and magnetic properties. Due to these unique attributes, ion beam technology is an advantageous technique for fabricating new materials and structures.

Focus on nanomedicine
Editors: Xing-Zhong Zhao, Wei Liu and Feng Guo
Closing date for submissions: 30 June 2018
Nanomedicine is an emerging interdisciplinary field across physics, chemistry, engineering, life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical sciences, and applies nanotechnology to drug delivery, diagnostics or/and regenerative medicine. This focus collection highlights recent progress within nanomedicine and includes research articles focusing on both theoretical and experimental studies as well as perspectives discussing practical applications and topical reviews pointing to a particular research direction in this field.

Focus on hierarchical nanostructures
Editors: Markus Buehler and Zhao Qin
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
Advanced manufacture techniques can now precisely control the nanoscale feature of small molecules, but the astounding ability of natural materials to integrate disparate properties, and multiple length-scales, goes far beyond our current ability in designing and synthesizing materials. This special issues will explore scientific advances at this frontier, and explore the analysis, design and making of new functional materials.

Focus on 2D material nanophotonics
Editor: Anlian Pan, Kai Zhang, Xinfeng Liu & Cheng-Wei Qiu
Closing date for submissions: 20 January 2017
Two-dimensional (2D) materials have triggered intensive research and progress in electronic and optoelectronic devices. This Focus Collection in Nanotechnology is instead dedicated to the advancement of the optical and photonic applications of 2D atomic layered materials.

Focus on metamaterials
Editors: Anatoly Zayats and Stefan Maier
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
The Focus Collection in Nanotechnology presents a collection of contributions that describe recent progress in the development of metamaterials and their applications, specifically relating to the designs at the nanoscale.

Focus on the lifecycle of nanomaterials
Editors: Boris Lau, Jessica D Schiffman and Weile Yan
Opens for submissions: 1 August 2015
Closing date for submissions: 31 October 2017
This Collection will focus on two key areas concerning the lifecycle of nanomaterials, the synthesis of nanomaterials, and the fate and transport of nanomaterials released into the natural environment or engineering treatment facilities.

Nanotechnology for aerospace
Editors: Debbie G Senesky and Jessica E Koehne
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
The harsh space environment and extreme costs of space missions place new demands on materials and electronics used in aerospace systems. This has led engineers and scientists to identify new material and electronic platforms that can operate under extreme radiation and temperature swings with reduced payloads.

Focus on electronics, photonics and renewable energy
Editors: Stephen Goodnick, Anatoli Korkin & Robert Nemanich
Closing date for submissions: 31 December 2017
The scope of the focus collection covers all aspects of nanoelectronics, photonics and renewable energy science and technology innovations from materials to devices to system architecture.

Focus on 2D materials beyond graphene
Editors: Jun He, Yang Chai and Lei Liao
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
Inspired by the success of graphene and especially its intrinsic shortcoming of zero band-gap, research on 2D layered semiconductors has triggered tremendous worldwide interest over the past few years. These materials exist in bulk form as stacks of strongly bonded layers with weak interlayer attraction, allowing exfoliation into individual, atomically thin layers.

Focus on inorganic semiconductor nanowires for device applications
Editors: Adam Micolich, Ming Li and Philippe Caroff
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
This focus collection is devoted to canvassing recent progress on the on the growth, fabrication, characterisation and applications development of device-oriented structures that use inorganic semiconductor nanowires of various compositions from elemental semiconductors.

Focus on graphene and related materials
Editors: Antonio Di Bartolomeo, Filippo Giubileo, Nadia Martucciello
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
Since the isolation of graphene in 2004, much research has been undertaken to isolate or synthesise other 2D materials. This focus collection will centre on the increasing array of 2D materials, their structures, synthesis and properties.

Focus on unconventional lithography
Editors: Yue Li, Qingfeng Yan and Naoto Koshizaki
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
The objective of this focus collection is to provide a unique forum that permits scientists to present their recent results in any of the research areas related to unconventional lithography. This collection of papers is open for any advanced topics in the field of unconventional lithography.

Focus on scanning probe microscopy
Editors: Johannes Barth, Franz Giessibl and Rodolfo Miranda
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
The Focus Collection celebrates two key anniversaries in the field of scanning probe microscopy. The year 2016 represents thirty years since the Nobel prize was awarded for the design of the scanning tunnelling microscope and thirty years since the first publication in the field of atomic force microscopy.

Focus on RNAi delivery
Editors: Dan Peer and Jeff Karp
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
This Focus Collection in Nanotechnology celebrates the 10 year anniversary of the Nobel prize award for the discovery of RNAi interference and includes articles featuring RNAi interference and more generally the future of molecular medicine. Specific challenges include cell specific targeting of nano-scale RNAi delivery systems and endosomal escape.

Focus on sub-10 nm nanofabrication
Editor: Michele Perego
Closing date for submissions: 31 August 2017
An extensive and complete overview of current nanofabrication approaches, discussing their present limitations and future developments. We cover all the scientific and technological aspects related to the fabrication of nanostructures, offering the possibility to dispatch recent experimental and theoretical results about the development of key enabling technologies for the manipulation of matter at the nanoscale.

Focus on CO₂ reduction
Editors: Wee-Jun Ong, Zhigang Zou and Rongchao Jin
Closing date for submissions: 31 October 2017
This focus collection will highlight the significant accomplishments made by leading scientists in the exciting and fast-growing research hotspot to provide solutions to the daunting challenges in the anthropogenic CO₂ emission in order to advance CO₂ reduction process to the next new level.

Focus on organic photovoltaics
Editors L. Jay Guo and Ayse Turak
The Focus Collection will centre on the rapidly blossoming field of organic photovoltaics and will feature predominantly original research articles together with handful of Topical Reviews. The scope of the collection will focus on the key areas of OPVs: efficiency, degradation, and scale-up.

Focus on biohybrid solar cells
Editor: Raoul Frese
By converting solar energy into chemical energy, photosynthesis supports basically all life on Earth. Key to this process is the use of light energy to trigger electron transfers and couple charge transfer reactions to catalyses for chemical synthesis. Recently, great progress is being made in interfacing the photoactive protein complexes with conducting materials for photovoltaics and photocatalyses.

Focus on electronics, photonics and renewable energy
Editors: Stephen Goodnick, Anatoli Korkin & Robert Nemanich
The scope of the focus collection covers all aspects of nanoelectronics, photonics and renewable energy science and technology innovations from materials to devices to system architecture.

Focus on nanoporous membranes
Editors: Chuanhua Duan and Zhiping Xu
This focus collection highlights some of the recent progress on the novel nanoporous membrane structures. It will include both theoretical and experimental primary research papers, as well as perspectives looking at practical applications and topic reviews that focus on a particular research direction of this envolving field.

Focus on organic LEDs
Editors: Lei Ying and Junbiao Peng
The Focus Collection in Nanotechnology covers the following main areas of OLEDs and incorporates New LED materials, OLED Technology, Device Concepts, Processing Techniques and Quantum Dot OLEDs.

Focus on perovskite solar cells
Editors: Tze-Chien Sum and Nam-Gyu Park
This focus collection aims to highlight the recent progress in the synthesis, preparation and characterization studies of perovskite-based solar cells; and to showcase the wide array of experimental, theoretical and computational tools available to cross-discipline researchers to tackle the challenges in the field.

Focus on quantum information processing
Editors: Jonathan Baugh and Xuedong Hu
The aim of this collection is to capture the latest advances in solid-state systems for quantum information processing (QIP) and quantum communication. The focus is on meso- and nano-scale devices and structures that host, measure and control qubits or other quantum states useful for QIP.

Focus on big, deep and smart data in nanotechnology
Editors: Sergei Kalinin, Bobby Sumpter and Ichiro Takeuchi
This collection captures the recent advances in the application of big data to materials science. This is in terms of the output of imaging, theoretical, computational and synthesis tools to physically and chemically relevant information, and establishing synergies across the field. It further explores the transition of big data science of dimensionality reduction and classification to physically based deep data approaches and history- and context-informed smart data technology.

Focus on biosensing
Editors: Logan Liu, Frank Vollmer and Xianqiang Mi
This Focus Collection centres on the rapidly blossoming field of biosensing, with a particular focus on the use of nanotechnology to facilitate research within this area.

Focus on chemical imaging
Editors: Olga Ovchinnikova, Albina Borisevich and Tessa Calhoun
This focus collection brings together the important chemical imaging techniques that are being developed to provide a clear and accurate view at the nanometer-scale. Techniques that are featured include nonlinear optical microscopy, multimodal chemical imaging, near-field optical microscopy and ambient surface analysis.

Focus on 3D printing
Editors: Ghassan Jabbour and Madhusudan Singh
Three-dimensional (3D) printing methods have received a great deal of attention in the last few years as some of the constituent technologies have matured, and some long standing patents expired, enabling hobbyist use. The associated methods have been correctly called "game changers", as they upend traditional manufacturing paradigms and enable several new functionalities.

Focus on supercapacitors
Editors: Liming Dai, Yury Gogotsi and Husnu Unalan
The rapid increase in global energy consumption and the environmental impact of traditional energy resources has led to tremendously increased research activities on clean and renewable energy sources. As these new energy forms are intermittent or regionally limited, there is a need to develop advanced energy storage systems, such as supercapacitors, for efficient storage of electrical energy at all scales ranging from solar through wind farms to wearable electronics.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) in energy, environment, and sustainability
Editors: Hongjin Fan, Mato Knez and Yongfeng Mei
Atomic layer deposition techniques are playing an important role in developing innovative nanoscale materials, processes, devices, and systems relating to energy and environmental applications.

Focus on DNA sequencing
Editors: Stuart Lindsay and Daniel Branton
This focus collection highlights some of the DNA sequencing techniques being developed using nanotechnology. It will include both theoretical and experimental primary research papers, as well as perspectives looking at technology moving into industry and topical reviews that provide an overview of segments of the field.

Focus on nanophotonics
Editors: Tony Low and Fengnian Xia
In 2015, the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL2015) will commence. This collection will focus on all aspects of the fabrication and application of nanostructures and devices that help to understand or harness and utilise the behaviour of light.

Focus on creating novel materials on the basis of mathematics and nanoarchitectonics
Editors: Motoko Kotani and Masakazu Aono
This focus collection collates results from research based on two design strategies: nanoarchitectonics and mathematics.

Focus on protein folding
Editors: Jorge Alegre-Cebollada, Sergi Garcia-Manyes and Raul Perez-Jimenez
This Focus Collection in Nanotechnology features research that covers the subject area of protein folding; the means by which a protein chain acquires its native three dimensional configuration. Articles are welcome that present information regarding protein folding mechanisms, folding and unfolding rates, kinetics and structure.

Focus on solar water splitting
Editors: Samuel Mao and Shaohua Shen
The Focus Collection will centre on the rapidly blossoming field of solar water splitting and will feature articles that cover emerging photocatalysts and photoelectrodes, new devices and systems, electronic structures and energetics of semiconductors and heterostructures as well as new concepts and theoretical strategies for solar water splitting.