Focus Issue: Journal of Materials Research

Building Hierarchical Materials via Particle Aggregation 
Issue date: October, 2019
Submission deadline:  March 1, 2019

Hierarchical materials have attracted increasing attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties, which strongly depend on their morphologies and size. Particle aggregation is an important methodology to synthesize hierarchical materials of complex regular architectures. To date, numerous hierarchical materials have been built by particle aggregation, including metals, alloys, metal oxides, metal sulfides, carbonates, organic clusters, and others, and applied in fields such as energy conversion, energy storage, catalysis, optics, water purification, CO₂ sequestration, and many more.

Unlike either a classical crystal growth pathway via monomer-by-monomer addition or Ostwald ripening where larger crystals are grown at the expense of smaller through dissolution and reprecipitation, crystal growth through particle aggregation is particle-by-particle addition to form larger crystals. In addition, self-assembly of nanoparticles or organic clusters can be used to build hierarchical materials. For instance, advanced luminescent materials have been prepared by aggregation-induced emission (AIE) of intrinsically non-emissive organic clusters. One of the fundamental challenges facing this fast growing field is the fundamental understanding of the process that involves interaction of particles in a growing media and the resulting response dynamics.

This JMR Focus Issue will provide a platform for interdisciplinary researchers from physics, chemistry, geology, biology, engineering, and materials science to share their approaches to understanding and controlling particle-based mechanisms of hierarchical material formation and design to synthesize novel hierarchical materials.

Contributing papers are solicited in the following areas:

• Building hierarchical materials (such as 1 D wires, 2 D plates, and 3 D networks) by oriented attachment
• Self-assembly of hierarchical materials, such as nanoparticle superlattices, nano-flowers, and branched nanocrystals
• Colloidal interactions and crystallization
• Particle aggregation-induced emission (AIE)
• Crystallization through particle-based assembly in biomolecular systems
• Interfacial structure between particle surfaces
• Morphologies and size controlled synthesis of hierarchical materials
• Mechanism study of growth of hierarchical materials via particle aggregation
• Modeling of particle aggregation
• Applications of hierarchical materials prepared via particle-based crystallization and self-assembly in areas including, but not limited to, catalysis, energy storage, solar cells, microelectronics, and optical devices. 

Guest Editors:

Xin Zhang, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA 
Chongmin Wang, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA
Xianwen Zhang, Hefei University of Technology, China 

Manuscript Submission:

To be considered for this issue, new and previously unpublished results significant to the development of this field should be presented. The manuscripts must be submitted via the JMR electronic submission system by March 1, 2019. Manuscripts submitted after this deadline will not be considered for the issue due to time constraints on the review process. Please select “Focus issue: Building Hierarchical Materials via Particle Aggregation” as the Focus Issue designation. Note our manuscript submission minimum length of 3250 words, excluding figures, captions, and references, with at least 6 and no more than 10 figures and tables combined. Review articles may be longer but must be pre-approved by proposal to the Guest Editors via jmr@mrs.org. The proposal form and author instructions may be found at www.mrs.org/jmr-instructions. All manuscripts will be reviewed in a normal but expedited fashion. Papers submitted by the deadline and subsequently accepted will be published in the Focus Issue. Other manuscripts that are acceptable but cannot be included in the issue will be scheduled for publication in a subsequent issue of JMR.

Please direct questions to jmr@mrs.org.