The boron (Z = 5) element is unique. Boron-based (nano-)materials are equally unique. Accordingly, the present special issue is dedicated to crystalline boron-based (nano-)materials and gathers a series of nine review and research articles dealing with different boron-based compounds. Boranes, borohydrides, polyhedral boranes and carboranes, boronate anions/ligands, boron nitride (hexagonal str...

One of the principal problems with nano-crystalline materials is producing them in quantities and sizes large enough for valid mechanical property evaluation. The purpose of this study was to explore an innovative method for producing nano-crystalline γ-TiAl bulk materials using high energy ball milling and brief secondary processes. Nano-crystalline powder feedstock was produced using a Fritsc...

Introduction and Background: Ceramics are inorganic, nonmetallic materials, such as alumina, beryllia, or glassceramic, whose final characteristics are produced by subjection to high temperatures. Nanomaterials is a rapidly growing area of ceramics [1-3] and can be classified into the following categories: Nano-particles submicron or ultra micron size particles; Nano-fibers – nanometer (nm) siz...

This article describes the recent research progress in the field of crystalline metal-chalcogenide superlatticescontaining tetrahedron-shaped nanoclusters as building units. With the development of new synthetic strategies and structuralconcepts, new clusters that are members of three series of tetrahedral clusters (i.e., supertetrahedral clusters, pentasupertetrahedralclusters, and...

We have investigated the use of aluminum based amorphous metallic glass as the anode in lithium ion rechargeable batteries. Amorphous metallic glasses have no long-range ordered microstructure; the atoms are less closely packed compared to the crystalline alloys of the same compositions; they usually have higher ionic conductivity than crystalline materials, which make rapid lithium diffusion p...

Nano-structured crystalline tungsten(vi) oxides (WO(3)) were prepared using a colloidal crystal template method; these materials have increased specific surface area compared to crystalline WO(3) prepared without the template, and after platinum loading they show enhanced photocatalytic activity for acetic acid decomposition under visible light.

Phosphorene, also known as monolayer black phosphorous, has been widely used in electronic devices due to its superior electrical properties. However, its relatively low Young's modulus, low fracture strength and susceptibility to structural failure has limited its application in nano devices. Therefore, in order to design more mechanically reliable devices that utilize phosphorene, it is neces...

Ge and B diffusion was studied in nano-crystalline Si, and Pd and Si self-diffusion was studied in nano-crystalline Pd2Si during and after Pd/Si reactive diffusion. These experiments showed that grain boundary (GB) diffusion kinetic is the same in microand nano-GBs, whereas triple junction (TJ) diffusion is several orders of magnitude faster than GB diffusion. In addition, GB segregation and GB...

The effects of constrained sample dimensions on the mechanical behavior of crystalline materials have been extensively investigated. However, there is no clear understanding of these effects in nano-sized amorphous samples. Herein, nanoindentation together with finite element simulations are used to compare the properties of crystalline and glassy CoNi(Re)P electrodeposited nanowires (ϕ ≈ 100 n...

Piezoelectric materials capable of converting between mechanical and electrical energy have a great range of potential applications in micro- and nano-scale smart devices; however, their performance tends to be greatly degraded when reduced to a thin film due to the large clamping force by the substrate and surrounding materials. Herein, we report an effective method for synthesizing isolated p...