Exfoliation in a low boiling point solvent and electrochemical applications of MoO₃

• Matangi Sricharan,
• Bikesh Gupta,
• Sreejesh Moolayadukkam and
• H. S. S. Ramakrishna Matte

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 662–670, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.52

• specific capacitance was observed for the composite that contains 5 wt % CB with values reaching up to 221 F·g−1. The composites with 2 and 8 wt % CB show specific capacitance values of 205 and 149 F·g−1, respectively, at a scan rate of 5 mV·s−1. The optimum amount of CB to make conductive pathways in MoO3

• appears to be 5 wt % [26][27]. The change in specific capacitance as a function of the amount of CB is shown in the inset of Figure 3a. The rate capabilities can be understood based on the change in performance as a function of the scan rate [28]. To study this, the composite with 5 wt % CB was cycled at

• tested under similar conditions. Compared to composites with exfoliated MoO3 the performance of the composite with bulk MoO3 is worse (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S6). A comparison of the performance of MoO3-based supercapacitors is shown in Table S2 (Supporting Information File 1

Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic performance of heterostructured CuO–ZnO-loaded composite nanofiber membranes

• Wei Fang,
• Liang Yu and
• Lan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 631–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.50

• Wei Fang Liang Yu Lan Xu National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Engineering, Soochow University, 199 Ren-ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China 10.3762/bjnano.11.50 Abstract Inorganic semiconductor oxides loaded on composite nanofibers (CNFs) have been widely applied in

• three times, and the degradation rate remained above 90%. Keywords: electrospinning; composite nanofibers; heterostructured CuO–ZnO; hydrothermal synthesis; photocatalysis; semiconductor oxide; Introduction Water remediation is one of the main scientific research subjects regarding environmental

• a high photocatalytic activity because of a better charge separation [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Liu et al. [23] prepared CuO/ZnO nanocomposites by homogeneous coprecipitation and used them for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. Wei et al. [24] fabricated CuO/ZnO composite nanofilms

Silver-decorated gel-shell nanobeads: physicochemical characterization and evaluation of antibacterial properties

• Marta Bartel,
• Katarzyna Markowska,
• Marcin Strawski,
• Krystyna Wolska and
• Maciej Mazur

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 620–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.49

• of composite nanobeads with antibacterial properties. The particles consist of polystyrene cores that are surrounded by sulfonic gel shells with embedded silver nanoparticles. The nanocomposite beads are prepared by sulfonation of polystyrene particles followed by accumulation of silver ions in the

• incorporation of [Ag(NH3)2]+ complexes, followed by the reduction of the silver precursor with polyvinylpyrrolidone [23]. The resulting composite was examined with regard to its antimicrobial properties against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Similarly, Liao et al. obtained polystyrene

• reduction the non-incorporated nanoparticles are separated from the composite nanobeads through centrifugation. As a result, silver nanoparticles incorporated in the polymer beads are obtained. In the first step, the polystyrene particles were reacted with concentrated sulfuric acid to incorporate sulfonate

Adsorptive removal of bulky dye molecules from water with mesoporous polyaniline-derived carbon

• Hyung Jun An,
• Jong Min Park,
• Nazmul Abedin Khan and
• Sung Hwa Jhung

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 597–605, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.47

• , activated carbon. Moreover, KOH-900 had the highest Q0, compared with any reported adsorbent, so far. Additionally, KOH-900 showed a Q0 of more than 2 times that of a chitosan–alunite composite (previously the highest Q0) [71] even though the pH of adsorption solution was not the same. If the pH effect

• (vide supra, including Figure 7) is considered, the difference in Q0 between KOH-900 and chitosan–alunite composite will increase. Based on Table 2, KOH-900 was also very competitive in JGB adsorption against the reported adsorbents. To begin with, KOH-900 had a q6h for JGB 11.5 times that of AC. The

• value of more than 2 times that of a chitosan–alunite composite which previously showed the highest Q0 to date. The remarkable adsorption of AR1 and JGB over KOH-900 could be explained with combined mechanisms such as hydrophobic, π–π, electrostatic and van der Waals interactions. Finally, the PDC

Luminescent gold nanoclusters for bioimaging applications

• Nonappa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 533–546, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.42

• receptor-positive (FR+) oral squamous cell carcinoma (KB) and breast cancer adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cell lines [88]. Since then, there have been numerous other reports that have shown various surface modifications to image a wide variety of cell lines. Pan et al. reported composite core–shell nanoparticle

• citrate reduction of Au(III) salts resulting in core–shell (IO@Au) nanoparticles of 9.3 ± 2.6 nm. The core–shell particles underwent lysozyme-mediated aggregation (IO@Au-Lys). The aggregated structures were further treated with Au-BSA NCs (IO@Au-Lys-Au-BSA) to form a composite structure. The combination

• allowed for plasmonic and magnetic resonance, and luminescence in a single composite system for plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPTT). The bioimaging capability of the plasmonic magneto-luminescent multifunctional nanocarrier (PML-MF) systems were studied in vitro using three types of cancer cells, namely

Nanoarchitectonics: bottom-up creation of functional materials and systems

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 450–452, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.36

• TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles exhibit distinct and useful properties [35]. Other examples include a self-assembled MoS2-based composite that was developed for energy conversion and storage purposes [36], a silver-nanoparticle/cellulose-nanofiber composite that was applied for surface-enhanced Raman

Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance of 0D/2D CuO/tourmaline composite photocatalysts

• Changqiang Yu,
• Min Wen,
• Zhen Tong,
• Shuhua Li,
• Yanhong Yin,
• Xianbin Liu,
• Yesheng Li,
• Tongxiang Liang,
• Ziping Wu and
• Dionysios D. Dionysiou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 407–416, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.31

• nontoxic products. In this work, a CuO/tourmaline composite with zero-dimensional/two-dimensional (0D/2D) CuO architecture was successfully obtained via a facile hydrothermal process, and its photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB). Surface element valence state and

• molecular vibration characterization revealed that CuO chemically interacted with tourmaline via Si–O–Cu bonds. The specific surface area of the CuO/tourmaline composite (23.60 m2 g−1) was larger than that of the pristine CuO sample (3.41 m2 g−1). The CuO/tourmaline composite exhibited excellent

• tourmaline-based functional composite photocatalysts for the treatment of organic contaminants in water. Keywords: 0D/2D CuO; organic contaminants; photocatalytic activity; photoinduced charge separation; tourmaline; Introduction Developing a novel semiconductor with excellent photoreactive activity toward

Using gold nanoparticles to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms: toward liquid biopsy

• María Sanromán Iglesias and
• Marek Grzelczak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 263–284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.20

• the distance between metallic and semiconductor components by a DNA machine (Figure 11). Their system consisted of a CdS film, a composite of AuNPs (5 nm) and hairpin DNA, a primer, and polymerase and NEase. In the presence of AuNPs–hairpin DNA, the luminescence of CdS was quenched (Figure 11A). The

High-performance asymmetric supercapacitor made of NiMoO₄ nanorods@Co₃O₄ on a cellulose-based carbon aerogel

• Meixia Wang,
• Jing Zhang,
• Xibin Yi,
• Benxue Liu,
• Xinfu Zhao and
• Xiaochan Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 240–251, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.18

• porous structure, the NiMoO4@Co3O4/CA ternary composite yields electrodes with an enhanced specific capacitance of 436.9 C/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g and an excellent rate capability of 70.7% capacitance retention at 5.0 A/g. Moreover, an advanced asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) is assembled using

• the NiMoO4@Co3O4/CA ternary composite as the positive electrode and activated carbon as the negative electrode. The ASC device exhibits a large capacitance of 125.4 F/g at 0.5 A/g, a maximum energy density of 34.1 Wh/kg at a power density of 208.8 W/kg as well as a good cyclic stability (84% after

• 2000 cycles), indicating its wide applicability in energy storage. Finally, our results provide a general approach to the construction of CA and MOF-based composite materials with hierarchical porous structure for potential applications in supercapacitors. Keywords: carbon aerogel; hierarchically

Fabrication of Ag-modified hollow titania spheres via controlled silver diffusion in Ag–TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures

• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Bogusław Budner,
• Marta Michalska-Domańska,
• Krzysztof Kopczyński and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 141–146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.12

• obtained composite catalyst exhibits a synergistic effect between the anatase crystalline shell and the AuNPs as well as superb thermal and mechanical stability of the highly dispersed AuNPs. TiO2 HSs decorated with ultrasmall Ag nanocrystallites and exhibiting excellent photocatalytic properties were

Gold and silver dichroic nanocomposite in the quest for 3D printing the Lycurgus cup

• Lars Kool,
• Floris Dekker,
• Anton Bunschoten,
• Glen J. Smales,
• Brian R. Pauw,
• Aldrik H. Velders and
• Vittorio Saggiomo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 16–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.2

• nanoparticles present in the glass. In this research we show the synthesis of dichroic silver nanoparticles and their embedding in a 3D printable nanocomposite. The addition of gold nanoparticles to the silver nanoparticle composite, gave a 3D printable nanocomposite with the same dichroism effect of the

Synthesis of amorphous and graphitized porous nitrogen-doped carbon spheres as oxygen reduction reaction catalysts

• Maximilian Wassner,
• Markus Eckardt,
• Andreas Reyer,
• Thomas Diemant,
• Michael S. Elsaesser,
• R. Jürgen Behm and
• Nicola Hüsing

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1–15, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.1

• beneficial or disadvantageous. The degree of graphitization can be increased, e.g., by higher reaction temperatures or catalytic graphitization [31][32][33]. Previously, we had reported on core–shell titanium (oxy)nitride and tantalum (oxy)nitride@N-doped carbon composite spheres, which were based on a

• measurements under controlled electrolyte transport, employing a rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) setup (section 2 in “Results and Discussion”). We will compare the ORR performance with those of the previously reported TiON@NCS and TaON@NCS composite materials. A more detailed account of the electrochemical

• the transport limited current cannot result from a transition from a 2-electron pathway to a 4-electron pathway with increasing overpotential. The N-doped carbon spheres investigated in the present study were previously used as conducting carbon cores for composite catalysts (summary of the results in

Advanced hybrid nanomaterials

• Andreas Taubert,
• Fabrice Leroux,
• Pierre Rabu and
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2563–2567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.247

• for sensing or corrosion protection. To understand composite formation of a complex hybrid assembly, high quality characterization is paramount. An example is small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), which was used in the work “Mechanism of silica–lysozyme composite formation unraveled by in situ fast

• ) was employed in “Topochemical engineering of composite hybrid fibers using layered double hydroxides and abietic acid” [27]. In this work, a composite hybrid was formed using cellulose fibers with LDH particles growing on their surface and then covered by abietic acid. The fibers were tested against

• a polymer shell armored with an inorganic layer (cerium oxide nanoparticles). CeO2 nanoparticles act as oxygen scavengers, protecting the organic fluorophore from molecular oxygen. A different approach to luminescent composite films is reported in “Towards rare-earth-free white light-emitting diode

Synthesis and acetone sensing properties of ZnFe₂O₄/rGO gas sensors

• Kaidi Wu,
• Yifan Luo,
• Ying Li and
• Chao Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2516–2526, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.242

• about 600–1000 nm. The gas sensing test revealed that the introduction of rGO improved the performance of the sensing of acetone to low concentration, and the ZnFe2O4/rGO composite gas sensor containing 0.5 wt % of rGO exhibited a high sensitivity in sensing test using 0.8–100 ppm acetone at 200 °C. The

• rate of 5 °C/min to reduce GO to rGO [33][34], and five samples were obtained: hollow spheres of pure ZnFe2O4 and ZnFe2O4/rGO composite spheres with 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 wt % of rGO. Characterization methods The crystal phases of pure ZnFe2O4 and the ZnFe2O4/rGO composites were characterized by X-ray

• the 0.5 wt % ZnFe2O4/rGO composite. Furthermore, the composition of the sample was analyzed by high-angle annular dark-field imaging scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and EDS. The element mappings in Figure 6e reveal the existence of C, Zn, Fe and O in the 0.5 wt % ZnFe2O4/rGO

Formation of metal/semiconductor Cu–Si composite nanostructures

• Natalya V. Yumozhapova,
• Andrey V. Nomoev,
• Vyacheslav V. Syzrantsev and
• Erzhena C. Khartaeva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2497–2504, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.240

• 10.3762/bjnano.10.240 Abstract Molecular dynamics modelling of the formation of copper and silicon composite nanostructures was carried out by using the many-particle potential method. The dependences of the internal structure on the cooling rate and the ratio of elements were investigated. The

• content of 50 atom %. Additionally, an estimation of the effective experimental cooling rate was made. Keywords: composite nanoparticle; gas-phase synthesis; molecular dynamics modelling; Introduction In recent years, due to the development of various methods of synthesis, it has become possible to

• create composite Janus-like or core–shell nanoparticles. The size and the unique morphology at the nanoscale provide new optical, electronic, magnetic and surface properties to these nanoparticles [1][2]. In addition, it is possible to combine materials of which alloys do not exist in nature. The shell

Abrupt elastic-to-plastic transition in pentagonal nanowires under bending

• Sergei Vlassov,
• Magnus Mets,
• Boris Polyakov,
• Jianjun Bian,
• Leonid Dorogin and
• Vahur Zadin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2468–2476, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.237

• flexible polymer composite materials. Keywords: finite element method; mechanical properties; molecular dynamics; nanowires; Introduction Nanostructures comprised of noble metals with face centered cubic (FCC) crystal structure (Au, Ag and Cu according to the most common physical definition) prepared via

Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• , enhancing composite resistance and reducing film defects. Ultimately, we achieved an outstanding photoelectric performance of the PVP-doped PSCs shown by a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.19% and an average steady-state PCE of 14.55% under AM 1.5G simulated solar irradiation with a shadow mask of

• characterization methods show that PVP was effective in inhibiting the recombination of carriers, enhancing the composite resistance, reducing film defects, and boosting the photoelectric performance of the PSCs. With a PCE of 15.19% and an average steady-state PCE of 14.55% under AM 1.5G simulated solar

• five devices is reduced. A higher level of Rrec relates to a larger arcs in the figure, which suggests a smaller number of composite centers in the solar cell [35]. When the amount of PVP additive is 0.5 and 1 mg/mL, the Rrec value is greater than that of devices without PVP. In contrast, when 2 or 3

Design and facile synthesis of defect-rich C-MoS₂/rGO nanosheets for enhanced lithium–sulfur battery performance

• Chengxiang Tian,
• Juwei Wu,
• Zheng Ma,
• Bo Li,
• Pengcheng Li,
• Xiaotao Zu and
• Xia Xiang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2251–2260, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.217

• composite with both large surface area and high porosity for the use as advanced electrode material in lithium–sulfur batteries. Double modified defect-rich MoS2 nanosheets are successfully prepared by introducing reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and amorphous carbon. The conductibility of the cathodes can be

• improved through the combination of amorphous carbon and rGO, which could also limit the dissolution of polysulfides. After annealing at different temperatures, it is found that the C-MoS2/rGO-6-S composite annealed at 600 °C yields a noticeably enhanced performance of lithium–sulfur batteries, with a high

• . However, the capacity of carbon and sulfur composite cathodes generally fades rapidly during long-term cycling, because the carbon materials can provide only inferior physical adsorption to the polar Li2Sn [16]. Once Li2Sn is solvated, it dissolves easily in the electrolyte from the electrode surface and

A novel all-fiber-based LiFePO₄/Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ battery with self-standing nanofiber membrane electrodes

• Li-li Chen,
• Hua Yang,
• Mao-xiang Jing,
• Chong Han,
• Fei Chen,
• Xin-yu Hu,
• Wei-yong Yuan,
• Shan-shan Yao and
• Xiang-qian Shen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2229–2237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.215

• to the D and the G band of carbon, respectively. The ratio of the two peaks reflects the degree of graphitization. This kind of composite not only benefits the flexibility of the fibers, but also grants good conductivity to the fibers, which is crucial for the preparation of free-standing electrodes

• , this all-fiber-based LiFePO4//Li4Ti5O12 full battery can be cycled at 1C for 800 times. Figure S2 (Supporting Information File 1) shows a photo and SEM pictures of the LiFePO4 and Li4Ti5O12 fiber membrane electrodes after the charge–discharge cycles. It can be seen that the composite electrodes still

• /Max2500X-ray diffractometer was used to determine the crystalline structure of the composite fibers. A JSM-5600LV scanning electron microscope and a JEOL JEM2010 transmission electron microscope were used to observe the morphology and microstructures of the fibers. The electrochemical performance of the

Targeted therapeutic effect against the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 with a CuFe₂O₄/silica/cisplatin nanocomposite formulation

• B. Rabindran Jermy,
• Vijaya Ravinayagam,
• Widyan A. Alamoudi,
• Dana Almohazey,
• Hatim Dafalla,
• Lina Hussain Allehaibi,
• Abdulhadi Baykal,
• Muhammet S. Toprak and
• Thirunavukkarasu Somanathan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2217–2228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.214

• Chemistry, School of Basic Sciences, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Chennai 600117, India 10.3762/bjnano.10.214 Abstract The combination of magnetic nanoparticles with a porous silica is a composite that has attracted significant attention for potential multifunctional

• –vis analysis revealed the functionalization of cisplatin in tetrahedral and octahedral coordination in the CuFe2O4/HYPS composite. Compared to other supports such as mesocellular foam and silicalite, the release of cisplatin using the dialysis membrane technique was found to be superior when CuFe2O4

• layers in the mixed metal oxide spinel composite. CuFe2O4 composite formation with activated carbon was reported using the co-precipitation technique [12][13]. Herein, we have prepared a nanocomposite comprised of CuFe2O4 and monodispersed spherical hydrophilic silica (HYPS) particles (Scheme 1) for

Use of data processing for rapid detection of the prostate-specific antigen biomarker using immunomagnetic sandwich-type sensors

• Camila A. Proença,
• Tayane A. Freitas,
• Thaísa A. Baldo,
• Elsa M. Materón,
• Flávio M. Shimizu,
• Gabriella R. Ferreira,
• Frederico L. F. Soares,
• Ronaldo C. Faria and
• Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr.

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2171–2181, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.210

• antigen-enriched calf serum were added to the composite bioconjugate complex mixture. The mixture was then incubated at 37 °C for 30 min, and dilutions were required to decrease the protein concentration. The devices were also evaluated with real samples, including culture medium of cancerous and control

Improved adsorption and degradation performance by S-doping of (001)-TiO₂

• Xiao-Yu Sun,
• Xian Zhang,
• Xiao Sun,
• Ni-Xian Qian,
• Min Wang and
• Yong-Qing Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2116–2127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.206

• performance. Li et al. synthesized composites of mesoporous (001)-TiO2 and C applying a one-pot hydrothermal strategy in the presence of glucose and hydrofluoric acid (HF). The composites an exhibited excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance [14]. Chen et al. synthesized a composite of g-C3N4

• -generated carriers, improve cycle stability and enhance the visible light response [17][18]. In addition to the composite two-phase approach described above, several groups reported elemental substitution in (001)-TiO2 with the aim of improving its photocatalytic performance. For example, a theoretical

Review of advanced sensor devices employing nanoarchitectonics concepts

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Tatsuyuki Makita,
• Masato Ito,
• Taizo Mori,
• Shun Watanabe and
• Jun Takeya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2014–2030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.198

• composite of Co3O4 nanoparticles in black phosphorous thin films [86]. The composite structures were engineered by functionalization of black phosphorous nanosheets with branched polyethylenimine to which Co3O4 nanoparticles were included with a hydrothermal process. The sensor composite structures showed

• important targets in biosensor technology. Someya and co-workers developed a highly flexible organic amplifier to detect weak biosignals [107]. A highly conductive biocompatible gel composite made from multiwalled carbon nanotubes and aqueous hydrogel was integrated into a two-dimensional organic amplifier

Optimization and performance of nitrogen-doped carbon dots as a color conversion layer for white-LED applications

• Tugrul Guner,
• Hurriyet Yuce,
• Didem Tascioglu,
• Eren Simsek,
• Umut Savaci,
• Aziz Genc,
• Servet Turan and
• Mustafa M. Demir

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2004–2013, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.197

• , Eskisehir Technical University, Eskisehir, Turkey Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Bartın University, Bartın, Turkey 10.3762/bjnano.10.197 Abstract In this study, green-emitting nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDots) were synthesized and incorporated into drop-cast composite films for use

• as color conversion layers in a white-LED configuration to generate white light. In order to resolve the red deficiency of this configuration, a commercial red phosphor was integrated into the system. Moreover, the N-CDots were also processed into polymer/N-CDot composite fibers, for which we

• determined the amount of N-CDots that yielded adequate white-light properties. Finally, we showed that white light with excellent properties could be generated by employing both of the fabricated N-CDot composites either as drop-cast films or composite fibers. Hence, N-CDots provide a promising alternative

Porous silver-coated pNIPAM-co-AAc hydrogel nanocapsules

• William W. Bryan,
• Riddhiman Medhi,
• Maria D. Marquez,
• Supparesk Rittikulsittichai,
• Michael Tran and
• T. Randall Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1973–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.194

• . The morphology and composition of the composite nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, TEM, and FTIR, respectively. UV–vis spectroscopy was used to characterize the optical properties. Keywords: hydrogels; nanocapsules; photothermal delivery; poly(NIPAM); porous silver shells; Introduction