{"title":"Recent progress in AIE-dots by nanoprecipitation","authors":"Yanning Xu, Feng Gao, Zijie Qiu, Ben Zhong Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101988","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101988","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) have garnered significant attention in nanomedicine owing to their unique photophysical properties, particularly enhanced fluorescence quantum yields and superior photostability in aggregated states. This review summarizes recent progress in leveraging nanoprecipitation techniques for the fabrication of AIE nanoparticles, with emphasis on their translational applications in targeted drug delivery and advanced bioimaging platforms. By elucidating fundamental mechanistic principles governing AIE phenomena alongside methodological innovations in nanoparticle synthesis, we systematically classify diverse AIE molecular architectures tailored for specific biomedical contexts. The analysis underscores how AIE nanoparticles overcome intrinsic limitations of conventional systems through amplified imaging precision and therapeutic efficacy. Scalable manufacturing and long-term biocompatibilities as persistent challenges are delineated to propose prioritized research trajectories. Finally, emerging clinical trends are discussed to advance the practical implementation of AIE nanoparticle technology in integrated theranostic paradigms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 101988"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145950333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Preparation of liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, or polymer nanoparticles by nanoprecipitation and their purification: Where are membrane processes?","authors":"Laurie Trémouille, Catherine Charcosset","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101989","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101989","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nanoprecipitation is a key method to prepare colloids such as liposomes, lipid and polymer nanoparticles. Obtaining a final formulation requires three main steps, the first one consists in mixing the aqueous and organic phases, the solute to be precipitated being added to one of the two phases, according to its solubility. In a second step, the colloidal suspension obtained is concentrated and diafiltrated with an appropriate buffer to remove the solvent required for nanoprecipitation. The last step is sterilization of the resulting concentrated and diafiltrated colloidal suspension. Membrane processes can be used during the three stages. First, a membrane is an option for mixing both phases, although classical micromixers are generally preferred. Tangential flow filtration is used for concentration and diafiltration of the colloidal suspension obtained by nanoprecipitation. Finally, sterile filtration removes potential contaminants before the final use of the colloidal suspension in the delivery of active principle(s). In the following, principles and applications of these three membrane processes are presented and their advantages, limits and some perspectives are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 101989"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146024555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Third-generation solar cells: The next qualitative leap in photovoltaics","authors":"Sule Erten-Ela, Juan Luis Delgado","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101985","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101985","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"82 ","pages":"Article 101985"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146074568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recent advances in stimulus-assisted nanoprecipitation for nanoparticle synthesis","authors":"Mingbo Li , Junhao Cai , Yawen Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101972","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101972","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nanoprecipitation, the rapid solvent-displacement route to nanoscale phase separation, has matured from a simple batch operation into a versatile platform for nanomaterial synthesis. This review synthesizes recent progress in stimulus-assisted nanoprecipitation, wherein externally applied triggers (ultrasonic, electrical, supergravity, thermal, chemical, and photonic/other stimuli) are integrated with contemporary mixing technologies (batch, flash, microfluidic, membrane, and high-shear reactors) to decouple and selectively control over nucleation, growth kinetics, and assembly processes. These methods allow for the precise tuning of the size, morphology, stability, and functionality of nanoparticles (NPs), thereby broadening their applications in drug delivery, catalysis and materials science. We distill mechanistic principles by which each stimulus alters local supersaturation, chain mobility, interfacial instabilities, or droplet/film microreactor dynamics, and compare advantages and limitations by surveying research works from recent years. We also explore the potential development trends of multiscale coupling models, design rules for stimulus-compatible continuous reactors, and adoption of data-driven optimization frameworks to expand the capabilities of nanoprecipitation for advanced nanomaterial design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 101972"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145787063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xuanhao Wang , Ao Hou , Shuishun Liu , Jianchun Xie , Xibo Yan
{"title":"Polymeric colloidal motors prepared by nanoprecipitation-based processes","authors":"Xuanhao Wang , Ao Hou , Shuishun Liu , Jianchun Xie , Xibo Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101986","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101986","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Polymeric colloidal motors are polymer-made tiny machines capable of converting external energy into mechanical motion. Their compositions and architectures have shown a critical effect on controlling the spontaneous creation of energy gradients in response to chemical or physical stimuli for driving autonomous movement in various liquid media or biological microenvironments, holding significant potential for biomedical applications. Advances in nanofabrication have enabled the engineering of polymeric colloidal motors with a variety of compositions and architectures. Recently, nanoprecipitation due to its simple and straightforward process has been exploited to construct polymeric colloidal motors that have the appealing convenience of tuning their compositions, architectures and properties, allowing customization of their motion performance to adapt to various application scenarios. This review highlights the most recent advances in polymeric colloidal motors prepared by nanoprecipitation-based processes. It illustrates the synthesis of polymeric colloidal motors via a programmable solvent-shifting and post-organic solvent removal process, their stimuli-responsive motion behaviors and application performance in biomedical fields. A future perspective on the construction of polymeric colloidal motors through nanoprecipitation is also proposed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 101986"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145880106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Colloidal insights into acid dairy gels: Role of exocellular polysaccharides from lactic acid bacteria","authors":"Sigrid Nørgaard Beldring , Vojislav Vojinović , Milena Corredig","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101970","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101970","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Texture-building lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cultures are widely employed in dairy products to improve the structure of fermented milk matrices. Despite the large body of knowledge available, there is still very little understood about the mechanisms underpinning the texturizing properties of LAB. During fermentation, LAB simultaneously reduce the pH by secreting lactic acid and produce exocellular polysaccharides (ExoPS). Colloidal biomolecules interact dynamically in this environment creating evolving supramolecular structures at various length and time scales, resulting in the final rheological properties of the bulk fermented milk product. The simplified model systems used so far have developed a mechanistic understanding of the impact of LAB in texturizing yogurt, but grossly overlook the colloidal interactions at play between the various components within the fermentation matrix, during LAB growth and ExoPS production, as well as their importance at the various stage of the acidification, gel formation, cooling and post-processing. This review builds on the great advances made in the last two decades in understanding how to select and control texturizing LAB during fermentation, and focuses on the remaining research challenges, with a focus on the recent research efforts which could aid in linking the mechanisms of structure formation at various length scales to the final, bulk quality of the fermented products.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 101970"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145610435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhi-Chao Yan , Jiyun Xie , Xiaofei Tian , Qinhang Liu , Minne Paul Lettinga
{"title":"Rheology of rod-like chains in the isotropic phase","authors":"Zhi-Chao Yan , Jiyun Xie , Xiaofei Tian , Qinhang Liu , Minne Paul Lettinga","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101983","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101983","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rod-like chains (RLCs) recently came back in the spotlights due to the development of new systems and applications such as the demand for the replacement of flexible polymers as viscosifiers or the development of suited extra cellular matrices. The advantage of RLC systems is their high mechanical susceptibility. However, the interpretation of the mechanical properties is not straightforward as slow dynamics can be due to extreme sterical hindrance, glassy behavior, or due to attractions that yield gel formation. In this review we identify the open questions for repulsive RLCs and discuss how recent developments in terms of new model systems, experiments, and theory help to identify the huge impact that the morphology of the RLCs can have on the mechanical properties.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 101983"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145836838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nanoprecipitation and nanoemulsification: A focus on the strategies to control hybrid nanoparticle morphology","authors":"Baptiste Amouroux , Fabienne Gauffre , Olivier Gazil , Clément Goubault , Silvia Argelia Peraza Ku","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101982","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101982","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this short review, we seek to illustrate how nanoprecipitation can be used as a simple (often one-pot) though powerful method to elaborate nanoparticles with a designed shape or composition. We focus on the case of hybrid organic/inorganic materials, and make the parallel with the more familiar case of polymer-based nanoparticles, leading to either full or core–shell particles. The mechanisms and strategies that allow control of the morphology are discussed. In addition, we connect the concepts of spontaneous emulsification, which was developed in the framework of the nanoprecipitation of organic compounds and polymers, and of co-precipitation related to the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 101982"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145880103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaporation-induced phase separation: Coupled mechanisms and applications","authors":"Yuki Wakata , Mingbo Li , Chao Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101987","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cocis.2025.101987","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Evaporation of multicomponent liquids produces complex, far-from-equilibrium phenomena spanning spatial scales from nanometers in aerosols to meters in coating films. A notable outcome of this phenomenon is the evaporation-induced phase separation (EIPS), where the initially homogeneous liquid phase spontaneously separates into multiple phases during the evaporation process. This phenomenon has attracted considerable attention due to its critical role in atmospheric aerosol chemistry, membrane fabrication, biological systems, and advanced materials processing. This review examines the fundamental mechanisms of EIPS, which couple multicomponent evaporation, flow, and phase transitions in multicomponent liquids, highlighting the large spatial scale span and the transient nature of EIPS systems. EIPS-related research and applications across diverse fields will be surveyed, followed by a discussion on open challenges and future opportunities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":293,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 101987"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145880104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}