Contents: (Small 48/2016)

NanocylindersA dense array of fused silica nanocylinders is achieved using lithography-free reactive ion etching, as presented by A. H. Thilsted and co-workers on page 6745.Varying the etching parameters allows for control of the height and diameter of the nanocylinders.A subsequent gold deposition results in suspended gold nanorings at the tops of the nanocylinders that exhibit localized surface plasmon resonance that can be used for biosensing. Hybrid NanomaterialsMonodisperse hairy plasmonic nanoparticles with precisely-controlled dimensions and compositions are synthesized by G. Zhang, Z. Lin, and co-workers on page 6714, using well-defined amphiphilic star-like diblock copolymers as nanoreactors.In contrast to nanoparticles traditionally capped with small ligands, such hairy plasmonic nanoparticles show superior stability owing to the protection from permanently and intimately capped PS chains, which facilitate the potential applications under high temperature or UV irradiation. Lithium-Ion BatteriesOn page 6724, R. Cai, Z. P. Shao, and co-workers report a facile and green strategy to synthesize nitrogen-doped carbon foams decorated with a nanostructured TiO 2 layer under an ultra-high loading.The mesoporous TiO 2 supported on conductive carbon networks can facilitate efficient Li+ and electron transfer, delivering excellent rate and cycling performance as a flexible and free-standing electrode in lithium-ion batteries.