Gold nanorods have caused much attention due to their unique physical properties. Nowadays, gold nanorods have created a great promise for their use in nanoelectronic, optical and biomedical applications. By adjustment of experimental conditions, the morphology, size and aspect ratio of gold nanorod can be finely controlled, which finally affect the physical properties of gold nanorods. In this review, the various synthesis methods of gold nanorods, such as template method, electrochemical synthesis method, seeded growth method and even recently developed seedless growth method are summarized. The effects of experimental conditions on the crystal structures and physical properties of gold nanorods are discussed in detail, along with the recent research progress on the growth mechanism of single-crystalline and pentahedrally-twinned nanorods. Finally, general strategies to improve the purity of product are provided.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Synthesis of gold nanorods
2.1 Template method
2.2 Electrochemical synthesis
2.3 Seeded growth method
2.4 Seedless growth method
3 Crystal structure and growth mechanism
3.1 Crystal structure
3.2 Growth mechanism
4 Purification
5 Conclusion

The near-infrared(NIR)fluorescence imaging technologies have attracted considerable interest in recent years. They take great advantages for in vivo bioimaging because of their deep tissue penetration, minimum photo-damage to biological samples, and minimum interference from background auto-fluorescence by biomolecules in the living systems. It is still a crucial issue to develop NIR fluorescent dyes with high efficiency and low toxicity for fluorescence bioimaging technology. This article reviews the advances in the development of organic NIR fluorescent dyes including cyanines, BODIPYs, rhodamine analogues, squaraines, porphyrins; and the relationship between the structure and optical properties is highlighted to guide the design and preparation of NIR fluorescent dyes. In addition, We focus on discussing the main methodologies of functional modification to improve the biocompatibility and targeting capacities of organic NIR fluorescent dyes to realize multifunction and high performance. Finally, the future opportunities and challenges of NIR fluorescent dyes and NIR fluorescence imaging technologies are addressed to our understanding.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Organic NIR fluorescent dyes
2.1 Cyanines
2.2 BODIPYs
2.3 Rhodamine analogues
2.4 Squaraines
2.5 Others
3 Functional modification and bioimaging applications
3.1 Functional modification
3.2 Fluorescence bioimaging
4 Conclusion and outlook

The study of nitrogen-coordinating transition metal complexes has been a significant development in the recent decades. Designing different excellent nitrogen ligands coordinated with various transition metal complexes, which its of great value in hydrosilylation reaction. In this paper, the latest progress of the application in nitrogen-coordinating transition metal(Rh, Fe, Re, Co, Zn and so on)complexes to ketone hydrosilylation or alkene hydrosilylation is reviewed. The design of optimized bisoxazolines or dihydropyrrolo nitrogen-containing ligands will greatly facilitate the successful development of nitrogen-containing iron, rhenium, cobalt complexes in the hydrosilylation of ketone or imine.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 The application on nitrogen-coordinating transition metal complexes on hydrosilylation
2.1 The application on nitrogen-coordinating rhodium complexes on hydrosilylation
2.2 The application on nitrogen-coordinating iron complexes on hydrosilylation
2.3 The application on nitrogen-coordinating rhenium complexes on hydrosilylation
2.4 The application on nitrogen-coordinating cobalt complexes on hydrosilylation
2.5 The application on nitrogen-coordinating zinc complexes on hydrosilylation
2.6 The application on nitrogen-coordinating titanium complexes on hydrosilylation
3 The study of mechanism
4 Conclusion

Freshwater has become a strategic resource, which has severely impacted on the development of the sustainable development of the world in the future and the enhancement of the people living standard of our nation. Forward osmosis emerged as one of the emerging water purification and desalination technology, and it has attracted much attention. Forward osmosis membranes as the core of the forward osmosis technology have sparked a new round of research boom. The recent developments in forward osmosis membranes according to the separation performance are reviewed. This paper focus concentration on the membrane preparation methods, introducing the membrane materials, the membrane structure and the membrane performance in detail, mainly including phase inversion forward osmosis membranes, thin film composite forward osmosis membranes and chemically modified membranes. The applications of forward osmosis technology are introduced briefly. Finally, bright prospect as well as challenges on the forward osmosis membranes deserve to be further investigated.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 The characteristics and development process of forward osmosis membranes
3 The research progress of the forward osmosis membranes
3.1 Phase inversion forward osmosis membranes
3.2 The thin film composite forward osmosis membranes
3.3 Chemically modified forward osmosis membranes
4 Conclusion

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is by far one of the most promising living /controlled radical polymerization methods in industrial application. It is able to get the polymers with narrow molecular weight distribution and regular chain structure. Furthermore, many kinds of monomers can be polymerized by ATRP, and its reaction condition is mild and easy to control. Surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) is a good method for grafting the polymers with regular structure on the surfaces of inorganic materials or synthesizing inorganic/organic composite materials. In recent years, SI-ATRP technique has attracted much attention from domestic and abroad researchers. In this paper, the reaction process and characteristics of SI-ATRP are elaborated, and then the progress in preparation of inorganic/organic core-shell structured composite nanoparticles based on non-metal oxide nanoparticles, metal oxide nanoparticles, metal nanoparticles, and other inorganic nanoparticle as core by SI-ATRP is highly reviewed. Finally, the outlook on future development of SI-ATRP for synthesizing inorganic/organic composite nanoparticles is presented.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Reaction process and characteristics of SI-ATRP
3 Grafting polymer on different nanoparticles by SI-ATRP
3.1 Inorganic/organic core-shell structured composite nanoparticles based on non-metal oxide nanoparticle as core
3.2 Inorganic/organic core-shell structured composite nanoparticles based on metal oxide nanoparticle as core
3.3 Inorganic/organic core-shell structured composite nanoparticles based on metal nanoparticle as core
3.4 Inorganic/organic core-shell structured composite nanoparticles based on other inorganic nanoparticle as core
4 Conclusion and outlook

Among supramolecular interaction styles, a multisite statistical interaction is fundamentally different from multivalent or multiligand interactions because the former has no rigorous requirement on the morphology, size and electronic environment of the host, thus is ready to realize. Multisite statistical interactions are dynamic and random in nature, with reasonable design of the electronic environment of a host, the host-guest interaction strength can be significantly enhanced.While by topology design, the competitive statistical interaction by other molecules can be weakened. This can similarly lead to enhanced host-guest complement, and the binding constant can be improved by 10⁵-fold. With the aid of multisite statistical interactions, highly effective capture of the micro- and trace pollutants in water is realized, including small-sized heavy metals, dyes and the highly hydrophobic and carcinogenic aromatic compounds. It can also be applied in peptide extraction at sub-femtomolar level. Tuning the host-guest statistical probability can lead to thermodynamically well-controlled release of a guest from a nanocapsule. The feature and application of multisite statistical interactions are here reviewed in this article.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Application of multisite statistical host-guest interactions
2.1 Eliminating micro- and trace pollutants in water by multisite statistical interaction promoted adsorption
2.2 Application of multisite statistical interactions on peptide extraction
2.3 Selective encapsulation, separation and controlled release promoted by multisite statistical interactions
3 Influencing factors on multisite statistical interactions and their design and applications
4 Conclusion

Au-nanoparticles have volume effect, surface effect, quantum size effect, macroscopic quantum tunneling effect and other excellent properties. In addition, there are some special properties for Au-nanoparticles, such as good stability, antibacterial function, surface absorption, fluorescence effect belt and so on. Quantum chemistry calculation provides a method to investigate the factors that affect the catalytic and reactive activity of gold clusters at the molecular level, such as the gold cluster size, shape, electronic state, active site and structure, etc. The interaction modes of nanoparticles with ligands and solvent can be better simulated by molecular dynamics, which can also give the behavior of thermodynamic and kinetic. Dissipative particle dynamics mesoscopic simulation method is applied to study the self-assembly process of Au-nanoparticles and polymer composite system, which would be an effective scheme to control the self-assembled structure. To clear the dominant factors influencing the complex structure and properties, to explore the complex regulation mechanism, to propose the main control factors, which is good for the further understanding the nature of Au-nanoparticles and polymer composite system. It is also providing a reliably theoretical help for experiments to prepare and optimize the new kinds of composite materials.

Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Au-nanoparticles
1.2 Polymers
2 Computer simulation methods
2.1 Quantum chemistry,QC
2.2 Molecular dynamics,MD
2.3 Brownian dynamics,BD
2.4 Dissipative particle dynamics,DPD
3 Assembly of Au-nanoparticles and polymer composites
3.1 Au-nanoparticles and homopolymer
3.2 Au-nanoparticles and copolymer
4 Conclusion

Ferrocene-based epoxy of the special chemical structure is composed of epoxy and ferrocene. These materials behave as structurally diverse monomers and multifunctional polymers. In recent years, more attention is focused on synthetic approaches and applications due to their high chemical activity and multifunctionality. More than twenty small molecules of ferrocene-based epoxy have been synthesized via ferrocenyl aldehydes, ketones, alkene, chlorohydrins, diols, or chloroacetyl intermediates, and polymerized derivatives have also been developed by ferrocene-modified epoxy polymers or free radical copolymerization of glycidyl ether and vinylferrocene. This review intends to offer relevant synthetic strategies for the preparation of covalent systems based on epoxy and ferrocene. Particular attention has been paid to understand the fundamental stability of these systems. The vicinal epoxy facilitates the formation of ferrocenyl carbonium ions, and is labile toward ring opening and consequent isomerization to the aldehyde. A variety of architectures have a wide range of potential applications in areas such as functional materials, biomedical mediators, chiral ferrocenyl ligands, burn-rate catalysts and antitumor agents, among others. Detailed examples with different chemical structures of polymers are provided to illustrate about their applications. Finally, the future development at the surface and interface of materials is prospected.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Stability of ferrocene-based epoxys
3 Synthesis of ferrocene-based epoxys
3.1 Base catalysis chlorohydrins
3.2 Corey-Chayovsky reaction
3.3 Sulphur ylide-mediated epoxidation
3.4 Dimethyldioxirane oxidation
3.5 Vicinal diols dehydration
3.6 Darzens reaction
4 Applications of ferrocene-based epoxys
4.1 Functional polymers or resins
4.2 Biomedical mediators
4.3 Chiral ferrocenyl ligands
4.4 Burn-rate catalysts
4.5 Antitumor agents
5 Conclusion

Chiral nematic liquid crystals, which consist of mesogens organized into a long-range helical assembly, exhibit unique properties, such as the selective reflection of circularly polarized light. The incorporation of chiral nematic organization into solid-state materials could give rise to novel properties. Chiral assembled materials have received increasing attention in many research areas as new functional composite materials, especially focusing on their potential application in sensors and enantiomeric resolution. Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) is a kind of rod-like nanomaterial obtained from inexpensive renewable biomass, which organizes into a chiral nematic liquid crystal phase via self-assembly in certain circumstance. Taking advantage of the chiral nematic order and nanoscale of the NCC templates, new functional materials can be prepared. Chiral assembled materials based on NCC represent a major branch of future research because of their abundance, simple synthesis and other novel properties. In this paper, the formation, tuning and application of NCC chiral nematic structure are reviewed, especially for the tuning method which included the effect of NCC properties, circumstance, additives. Recent efforts to use NCC chiral nematic structure for application in optical and electronic materials and template are also summarized. The examples covered in this account demonstrate that there is a rich diversity of composite materials accessible using NCC templating.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Formation and characterization of NCC chiral nematic liquid crystal phase
2.1 Formation of NCC chiral nematic liquid crystal phase
2.2 Characterization of NCC chiral nematic liquid crystal phase
3 Tuning of NCC chiral nematic liquid crystal phase
3.1 NCC properties
3.2 Ion strength
3.3 Sonication
3.4 Temperature
3.5 Additives
4 Application of NCC chiral nematic liquid crystal phase
4.1 Optical and electronic materials
4.2 Chiral carbon materials
4.3 Chiral inorganic materials
4.4 Chiral organic materials
5 Conclusion

CD4 +T lymphocytes are the main infected targets of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in bodies. CD4 level will gradually decrease in HIV hosts when their immune systems are becoming more and more weak, which finally causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Therefore, the number of CD4 +T lymphocytes for HIV hosts at different stages is critical to the diagnosis and therapy of HIV/AIDS. For example, Antiretroviral therapy (ART) normally requires four periodical CD4 +T tests in one year for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Population with HIV/AIDS is increasing significantly all over the world in the past ten years. The existing methods for CD4 +T lymphocyte counting are unavailable to developing countries or undeveloped areas because of expensive devices, complicated procedures and high cost. To solve this problem, based on microfluidic technology, new CD4 +T lymphocyte counting methods are being intensively studied for low cost, rapid and convenient CD4 +T lymphocyte detection in the point-of-care test (POCT). After a brief introduction on traditional methods, this paper reviews and summarizes CD4 +T lymphocyte counting methods based on microfluidic chips. The typical technical characteristics of chip-based CD4 +T lymphocyte counting methods are identified and grouped, and furthermore, their general performance, application area, and major advantages with disadvantages are discussed and evaluated in details. Finally, an outlook and conclusion for research, development and commercialization of CD4 +T lymphocyte counting based on microfluidic chip are given after a detailed discussion.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Clinical value and classification of CD4 +T counting 2.1 Clinical value of CD4 +T counting
2.2 CD4 +T counting with flow cytometry
2.3 CD4 +T counting with manual operation
2.4 CD4 +T counting with microfluidic chip
3 CD4 +T counting based on single cell detection with microfluidic chip
3.1 CD4 +T counting based on cell image
3.2 CD4 +T counting based on optical or electrical signal of single cell
4 CD4 +T counting based on the macro-characteristics of cell group with microfluidic chip
4.1 CD4 +T counting based on chemiluminescence of cell group
4.2 CD4 +T counting based on impedance of cell group
4.3 CD4 +T counting based on the macro-physical characteristics of cell group
5 Conclusion and outlook

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), a “liquid biopsy” circulating in the cancer patients' peripheral blood, play an important role in the therapeutic and diagnostic of cancer. Due to the extremely low concentration of CTCs in blood, enrichment has been regarded as an essential pre-treament step for efficient detection of CTCs. Traditional macroscopic separation schemes have achieved a large success in CTCs enrichment. However, these methods still suffer from some disadvantages such as time consuming, large volume blood samples required, easy to lose target cells and labor-intensive. Microfluidics, which integrates physical, chemical and biological technologies at microscale level, provides a miniaturized, low-cost and protable tool for efficient CTCs separation. In this review, we cover the recent advances in passive and active microfluidic CTCs separation methods. The detail working principles, biomedical applications, advantages and drawbacks of these methods are discussed, and a novel multistage microfluidic chip for CTCs separation is also proposed. Finally, we discuss the critical concerns and the future trends of CTCs separation microfluidic devices in clinical applications.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Passive separation techniques
2.1 Microscale filtration
2.2 Field flow and hydrodynamic fractionation
2.3 Deterministic lateral displacement
2.4 Inertia separation
2.5 Biomimetic separation
2.6 Affinity separation
3 Positive separation techniques
3.1 Dielectrophoresis separation
3.2 Magnetic separation
3.3 Acoustic separation
3.4 Optical separation
4 Multistage separation
5 Conclusion and outlook

The compositions of quaternary compound semiconductor Cu₂ ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) not only are non-toxic, but also have high abundances in the earth crust, thus its raw materials cost is relative cheap. As a direct band-gap semiconductor, the absorption curve of CZTS is very well matching with solar radiation spectra, and has a large optical absorption coefficient. Besides, its crystal structure, composition, and properties can be easily adjusted and controlled. So, CZTS presents excellent optoelectric performance, and is considered as the ideal key materials for the development of green, low-cost, high-efficient, and stable thin film solar cells. Recently, the crystal structures, physical and chemical properties, preparation technology, and various applications of CZTS have been extensive investigated. Especially, the researches about adjust and control the structure or composition to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of CZTS-based thin film solar cells have been received extensive concerning. In this review, the progress of CZTS research (including crystal structure evolution, preparation technology, optoelectric properties, and applications) has been summarized, in which the relationship between intrinsic factors (such as crystal structures, defects, surface, interface, and alloy effects) and photovoltaic performance of CZTS has been emphasized. Meanwhile, as the novel energy conversion materials, the applications of CZTS in the fields of photocatalysis and thermoelectrics have been also discussed. Finally, current challenge and future hotspots of CZTS are point out, and the possible breakthrough direction is forecasted.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Crystal structure evolution
3 Preparation technologies
3.1 Vapor phase methods
3.2 Liquid phase methods
3.3 Solid phase methods
4 Theoretical calculations
4.1 Crystal structure and basic physical properties
4.2 Aolly semiconductors
4.3 Defects
5 Applications
5.1 Photovoltaics
5.2 Photocatalysis
5.3 Thermoelectrics
6 Challenge and outlook

In the past few years, the metal air batteries developed fast due to their remarkably high theoretical energy output. So far, the oxygen reduction reaction catalysts still have been the bottleneck for high power application of metal air batteries because of their sluggish kinetics. Recently, the graphene-based oxygen reduction reaction catalysts (GORRC) with high catalytic activity have been intensively reported. In this review, we focus on the recent progress and current situation of GORRC, and divide them into three categories, graphene as catalyst support, nitrogen doped graphene as the catalyst, and hybrids of nitrogen doped graphene and other catalysts as the catalyst. As an outstanding catalyst support, graphene can not only decrease the application amount of active components but also improve their catalytic activity and long-term stability. After doped by nitrogen, the graphene catalysts exhibit enhanced catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. In addition, the excellent catalysts can be obtained as the nitrogen doped graphene and other type of catalysts are hybridized. The catalytic activity and long-term stability of the hybrids are even better than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, the remarks on the challenges and perspectives of research directions are proposed for further development of GORRC which can be used in the metal air batteries.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Graphene as catalyst support
2.1 Noble metal supported by graphene
2.2 Transition metal oxide supported by graphene
3 N-doped graphene as catalyst
4 Hybrids of N-doped graphene and other catalysts
4.1 Hybrids of N-doped graphene and noble metal
4.2 Hybrids of N-doped graphene and transition metal oxide
4.3 Hybrids of N-doped graphene and N-doped carbon nanotube
5 Conclusion and outlook

The magnetic metal-organic frameworks (MMOFs) are a group of emerging novel functional nanomaterials, which are made up of MOFs and magnetic particles. Because of their high selectivity, excellent dispersivity, and recyclability, MMOFs have been widely used in environmental, medical and biological fields. In this paper, we give a short introduction to the synthesis methods of MMOFs, including embedding, layer-by-layer, encapsulation, and mixing methods. In the embedding method, pretreated magnetic materials are added to the precursor solutions of MOFs to form the magnetic particles embedded MMOFs. In the layer-by-layer method, MOFs accumulate around the functionally modified magnetic materials and form the layered MMOFs. In the encapsulation method, MOFs grow around the magnetic particles and then the magnetic particles are included into the MOFs. In mixing method, MOFs and magnetic materials are mixed and then form the complexes through physical or chemical processes. MMOFs, the coordinator of MOFs and magnetic particles, combine both the structural functions of MOFs and the magnetic features of magnetic particles, which can greatly enhance their application scope. For example, as MMOFs can carry and deliver specific drugs in biological systems, it can be potentially used for targeted drug delivery in biomedicine. Because MMOFs can accumulate and separate some guest compounds from a complicated environmental matrix, they have broad application prospects in the enrichment and detection of environment pollutants. In addition, MMOFs can be used as catalysts or catalyst support systems in various chemical reactions to enhance the efficiency.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Magnetic metal-organic framework materials
2.1 Magnetic nanoparticles/nanorods
2.2 Preparation methods of magnetic metal-organic framework materials
3 Application of magnetic metal-organic framework materials
3.1 Biomedicine
3.2 Environmental pretreatment
3.3 Catalysis
4 Concluding remark and future trend

Aquaporins (AQPs) are well-known permeaselective transmembrane proteins which can be incorporated into biomimetic membranes as water channels for sea water desalination and water treatment. Owing to the incorporation of excellent water channels, AQPs containing biomimetic membranes have attracted more and more interests. The latest development in this fascinating area of membrane research and development are reviewed in this paper. The approaches for designing and fabricating AQPs containing biomimetic membranes are described and analyzed, moreover, the improvements of membrane performances are also reviewed. The challenges and limitations of AQP containing biomimetic membranes such as difficult to scale up and low AQP loaded are addressed based on the analysis of membranes performance. Finally, a new idea for finding other novel channels is suggested and the future prospects of AQP containing biomimetic membranes in desalination and water treatments are outlined.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Methods of AQP embedded biomimetic membranes
2.1 AQP laden supported bilayer biomimetic membranes
2.2 AQP-containing vesicles encapsulated biomimetic membranes
3 Application and performance of AQP embedded membranes in water treatment field
3.1 Performance of AQP embedded biomimetic nanofiltration membranes
3.2 Performance of AQP embedded biomimetic reverse osmosis membranes
3.3 Performance of AQP embedded biomimetic forward osmosis membranes
4 Conclusion and outlook

Nitrate radical (NO₃) and dinitrogen pentoxide (N₂O₅) are key species of the tropospheric chemistry, that play a central role in the tropospheric chemical issues such as atmospheric self cleansing capacity, secondary aerosol formations, reactive halogen chemistry, global sulfur cycles, etc. Nevertheless, the accurate and precise determination of both NO₃ and N₂O₅ is still a challenging task due to their low ambient concentrations, high reactivity and short life time. In this paper, we summarize all kinds of measurement techniques used in the field observations of NO₃ and N₂O₅, including differential optical absorption spectroscopy(DOAS), cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS), cavity enhance absorption spectroscopy (CEAS), laser-induced fluorescence(LIF), matrix isolation electron spin resonance spectroscopy(MIESR), and chemical ionization mass spectrometry(CIMS). The advantages and disadvantages of those techniques are reviewed on the aspects of measurement accuracy, precision, time resolution, interference, calibration and operation stability. The absorption spectroscopy is the best technical approach, especially the subcategories——CRDS and CEAS developed in the last decade are the techniques with high potential of good performance in field applications. However, because high aerosol loadings are always presented in the atmosphere of the mega-city regions in China, the aerosol extinction could be a significant barrier to come over for the techniques based on absorption spectroscopy. Moreover, the observed NO₃ and N₂O₅ concentrations and the major scientific findings of corresponding measurement campaigns conducted in typical tropospheric conditions as urban, forest, free troposphere and marine environments, etc. are outlined. Finally, we discuss the unresolved issues of the NO₃ and N₂O₅ chemistry and possible new directions for future studies in chemically complex environments.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Measurement techniques of tropospheric nitrate radical (NO₃) and dinitrogen pentoxide (N₂O₅)
2.1 Absorption spectroscopy
2.2 Fluorescence methods
2.3 Mass spectrometric methods
2.4 Paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy
2.5 Calibrations
3 Field measurement of nitrate radical and dinitrogen pentoxide
4 Conclusion and outlook