Contents: (Small 21/2016)

NanocubesThe development of convenient and effi cient template-free methods for the synthesis of hierarchical porous carbon materials is highly desirable.On page 2906, N. Fechler and co-workers prepare porous crystalline particles with a 3D cubic morphology by a one-step, template-free coordination of zinc ions to squaric acid molecules.Subsequently, these crystalline particles could be transferred into cubic hierarchical carbon to form carbon-based composites with excellent capacitive performance. Intracellular ElectrodesThe length of nanowire/nanotube-based nanoelectrodes is currently limited to <10 µm due to fabrication issues for high-aspect-ratio nanoelectrodes.On page 2846, T. Kawano and co-workers demonstrate how a fabricated microneedle-based nanoscale-tipped electrode, over 100-µm long, can penetrate into muscle cells and observe the resting potentials from cells. NanochannelsThe development of the biomimetic smart nanopore/nanochannels is systematically summarized in four sections by L. Wen and co-workers on page 2810.The four sections reviewed are: the fabrication of solid-state nanochannels/nanopores based on the materials, the functionalization methods and materials, the mechanism explanation, and the practical applications.