Front Cover: One‐Step Synthesis of Multifunctional Zinc‐Iron‐Oxide Hybrid Carbon Nanowires by Chemical Fusion for Supercapacitors and Interfacial Water Marbles (ChemNanoMat 6/2018)

Chemical fusion: The cover image depicts the formation of Zn-Fe-O hybrid carbon nanowires by chemical fusion. Zinc acetate and ferrocene are homogeneously mixed with conducting polymer nanofibers, and microwaves are applied to trigger the fusion process. The nanofibers rapidly absorb the incoming microwaves and the reaction temperature increases to tens of hundreds of degrees centigrade. Simultaneously, zinc acetate and ferrocene decompose, which brings about high densities of metallic and carbon species. At this stage, the metallic and carbon species interact intensively and the fusion begins: the metallic nuclei function as the cores to direct the carbon growth, while the carbon species selectively deposit on the metallic cores, forming continuous carbon sheaths. The characteristics of the hybrid carbon nanowire network are ideal for electrochemical energy-storage applications. More information can be found in the Full Paper by Yang Liu, John H. Xin et al. on page 546 in Issue 6, 2018 (DOI: 10.1002/cnma.201800075).