Templating is one of the most important techniques for the controlled synthesis of nanostructured materials. This powerful tool uses a pre-existing guide with desired nanoscale features to direct the formation of nanomaterials into forms that are otherwise difficult to obtain. As a result, templated synthesis is capable of producing nanostructures with unique structures, morphologies and properties. In this review, we summarize the general principles of templated synthesis and cover recent developments in this area. As a wide variety of synthesis techniques are utilized to produce nanomaterials using template-based methods, the discussion is organized around the various types of common templates. We examine the use of both physical and chemical hard colloidal templates, soft templates, and other non-colloidal templates, followed by our perspective on the state of the field and potential future directions.

Figure 6. (a) Total organic carbon (TOC) removal during MB degradation. (b) XRD pattern showing evolution of crystal phase with increasing tungsten oxide content. (c) XPS fitting spectrum of 3% WO x −TiO 2 powder showing W 4f: arrows indicate the presence of WO 3 , W 6+ 4f spectrum, W x O y a mixed spectrum of W 5+ and W 6+ , and WO 2 W 4+ 4f. Adapted from ref 174, with permission from Elsevier.

Point-of-interest (POI) recommendation is an important service to Location-Based Social Networks (LBSNs) that can benefit both users and businesses. In recent years, a number of POI recommender systems have been proposed, but there is still a lack of systematical comparison thereof. In this paper, we provide an all-around evaluation of 12 state-of-the-art POI recommendation models. From the evaluation, we obtain several important findings, based on which we can better understand and utilize POI recommendation models in various scenarios. We anticipate this work to provide readers with an overall picture of the cutting-edge research on POI recommendation.

A linker-free connected reduced graphene oxide/CdSe nanoparticle (R-GO/CdSe NP) nanocomposite was produced by directly anchoring CdSe NPs onto R-GO. The morphological and structural characterizations evidence that the single-crystal CdSe NPs with the size of a few tens of nanometers can be efficiently decorated on the R-GO. The photoresponse of this nanocomposite is drastically enhanced compared with that of the pure CdSe NPs, the bare R-GO, and the physically mixed R-GO/CdSe NPs, while the photoluminescence of the CdSe NPs in the composite is much quenched, indicating that the photoinduced carriers generated from the CdSe NPs can be transferred to the R-GO effectively and separately. This ability makes the R-GO/CdSe NP nanocomposite a great promise for wide potential applications in optoelectronics.

We report the development of a stress-responsive colorimetric film that can memorize the stress it has experienced. The system is designed by taking advantage of the plasmonic shift associated with the disassembly of one-dimensional gold nanoparticle chains driven by the plastic deformation of the surrounding polymer matrix. By modifying the plasticity of the polymer, we demonstrate that the plasmonic shift and colorimetric change respond to a large range of stresses. This novel pressure indicating film can be used to capture and record the pressure distribution and magnitude between two contacting or impacting surfaces by outputting color information.