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Ferritin, a protein that is present in the human body for a controlled iron storage and release, consists of a ferrihydrite core and a protein shell. Apoferritin, the empty shell of ferritin, can be modified to carry tailored properties exploitable for targeted and direct drug delivery. This protein shell has the ability to dis- and reassemble depending on the pH value of the liquid environment and can thus be filled with the desired substance. Here we observed the dis- and reassembly process of the protein shell of ferritin and apoferritin in situ and in real space using atomic force microscopy. Ferritin and apoferritin nanoparticles adsorbed on a mica substrate exhibited a change in their size by varying the pH value of the surrounding medium. Lowering the pH value of the solution led to a decrease in size of the nanoparticles whereas a successive increase of the pH value increased the particle size again. The pH dependent change in size could be related to the dis- and reassembling of the protein shell of ferritin and apoferritin. Supplementary imaging by bimodal magnetic force microscopy of ferritin molecules accomplished in air revealed a polygonal shape of the core and a three-fold symmetry of the protein shell providing valuable information about the substructure of the nanoparticles.

Combined in-plane and out-of-plane multifrequency atomic force microscopy techniques have been demonstrated to be important tools to decipher spatial differences of sample surfaces at the atomic scale. The analysis of physical properties perpendicular to the sample surface is routinely achieved from flexural cantilever oscillations, whereas the interpretation of in-plane sample properties via force microscopy is still challenging. Besides the torsional oscillation, there is the additional option to exploit the lateral oscillation of the cantilever for in-plane surface analysis. In this study, we used different multifrequency force microscopy approaches to attain better understanding of the interactions between a super-sharp tip and an HOPG surface focusing on the discrimination between friction and shear forces. We found that the lateral eigenmode is suitable for the determination of the shear modulus whereas the torsional eigenmode provides information on local friction forces between tip and sample. Based on the results, we propose that the full set of elastic constants of graphite can be determined from combined in-plane and out-of-plane multifrequency atomic force microscopy if ultrasmall amplitudes and high force constants are used.

While Western and Eastern Palearctic regions are well studied regarding the diversity and distribution of bat species, little is known about their occurrence and morphological traits in Central Asia. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted fieldwork in Turkmenistan, covering desert areas east of the Caspian Sea. For the first time, we recorded Nathusius’ pipistrelle, Pipistrellus nathusii, in Central Asia. We captured the male bat on 3 October 2025, at the shore of Lake Uzynshor in the Karakum Desert. The morphological features of the bat allowed for unequivocal identification. The date of capture falls during the species’ autumn migration period. The specimen might either be a vagrant or could be the first indication of an unknown and possibly new migration route east of the Caspian Sea.

GPS-enabled loggers have been proven as valuable tools for monitoring and understanding animal movement, behaviour and ecology. While the importance of recording accurate location estimates is well established, deployment on many, especially small species, has been limited by logger mass and cost. We developed an open-source and low-cost 0.65 g GPS logger with a simple smartphone-compatible user interface, that can record more than 10,000 GPS fixes on a single 30 mAh battery charge (resulting mass including battery: 1.3 g). This low-budget ‘TickTag’ (currently 32 USD) allows scientists to scale-up studies while becoming a ‘wearable’ for larger animals and simultaneously enabling high-definition studies on small animals. Tests on two different species (domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris and greater mouse-eared bats, Myotis myotis ) showed that our combination of optimised hardware design and software-based recording strategies increases the number of achievable GPS fixes per g device mass compared to existing micro-sized solutions. We propose that due to the open-source access, as well as low cost and mass, the TickTag fills a technological gap in wildlife ecology and will open up new possibilities for wildlife research and conservation.

The preparation of highly ordered colloidal architectures has attracted significant attention and is a rapidly growing field for various applications, e.g., sensors, absorbers, and membranes. A promising technique for the preparation of elastomeric inverse opal films relies on tailored core/shell particle architectures and application of the so-called melt-shear organization technique. Within the present work, a convenient route for the preparation of core/shell particles featuring highly fluorinated shell materials as building blocks is described. As particle core materials, both organic or inorganic (SiO2) particles can be used as a template, followed by a semi-continuous stepwise emulsion polymerization for the synthesis of the soft fluoropolymer shell material. The use of functional monomers as shell-material offers the possibility to create opal and inverse opal films with striking optical properties according to Bragg’s law of diffraction. Due to the presence of fluorinated moieties, the chemical resistance of the final opals and inverse opals is increased. The herein developed fluorine-containing particle-based films feature a low surface energy for the matrix material leading to good hydrophobic properties. Moreover, the low refractive index of the fluoropolymer shell compared to the core (or voids) led to excellent optical properties based on structural colors. The herein described fluoropolymer opals and inverse opals are expected to pave the way toward novel functional materials for application in fields of coatings and optical sensors.

1. Acoustic methods are used increasingly to survey and monitor bat populations. However, the use of acoustic methods at continental scales can be hampered by the lack of standardized and objective methods to identify all species recorded. This makes comparable continent-wide monitoring difficult, impeding progress towards developing biodiversity indicators, transboundary conservation programmes and monitoring species distribution changes. 2. Here we developed a continental-scale classifier for acoustic identification of bats, which can be used throughout Europe to ensure objective, consistent and comparable species identifications. We selected 1350 full-spectrum reference calls from a set of 15 858 calls of 34 European species, from EchoBank, a global echolocation call library. We assessed 24 call parameters to evaluate how well they distinguish between species and used the 12 most useful to train a hierarchy of ensembles of artificial neural networks to distinguish the echolocation calls of these bat species. 3. Calls are first classified to one of five call-type groups, with a median accuracy of 97·6%. The median species-level classification accuracy is 83·7%, providing robust classification for most European species, and an estimate of classification error for each species. 4. These classifiers were packaged into an online tool, iBatsID, which is freely available, enabling anyone to classify European calls in an objective and consistent way, allowing standardized acoustic identification across the continent. 5. Synthesis and applications. iBatsID is the first freely available and easily accessible continental-scale bat call classifier, providing the basis for standardized, continental acoustic bat monitoring in Europe. This method can provide key information to managers and conservation planners on distribution changes and changes in bat species activity through time.

The preparation of adsorbate‐free graphene with well‐defined layer numbers is a current challenge in materials and surface science and required to fabricate graphene‐based nanodevices, such as used in nanoelectromechanical systems. One strategy to tailor the layer number is oxygen‐plasma treatment of few‐layer graphene/graphite flakes. However, when graphitic materials are stored in air under ambient conditions, it is almost inevitable that adsorbates deposit on their surfaces. When precisely removing individual graphene layers from graphitic flakes by oxygen‐plasma treatment, the amount and type of adsorbates strongly affect the required plasma‐treatment process and duration. To examine the removal/etching mechanism involved in removing such layers, few‐layer graphene/graphite flakes, with areas of different layer numbers, are stored in ambient air and stepwise exposed to oxygen plasma in a shielded configuration. The flakes are then successively analyzed by multifrequency atomic force microscopy together with Raman spectroscopy, focusing on etching rate, and adsorbate and defect evolution. Combined in‐plane and out‐of‐plane tip–adsorbate–substrate interaction analysis facilitates discrimination of different types of adsorbates (water, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and linear alkanes) and their formation with time. The results demonstrate the potential regarding the development of an efficient method for cleaning of graphitic surfaces and ablation of individual graphene layers. The preparation of adsorbate‐free graphene with well‐defined layer numbers is a current challenge in materials science. By stepwise storage and plasma treatment of few‐layer graphene/graphite flakes analyzed by multifrequency atomic force microscopy together with Raman spectroscopy, this study demonstrates the potential regarding the development of an efficient method for cleaning of graphitic surfaces and ablation of individual graphene layers.

Combining cellulose‐based components with functional materials is highly interesting in various research fields due to the improved strength and stiffness of the materials combined with their low weight. Herein, the mechanical properties of opal films are improved by incorporating cellulose fibers and microcrystalline cellulose. This is evidenced by the increase in tensile strength of 162.8% after adding 10 wt% of microcrystalline cellulose. For this purpose, core–shell particles with a rigid, crosslinked polystyrene core and a soft shell of poly(ethyl acrylate) and poly(ethyl acrylate‐co‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) are synthesized via starved‐feed emulsion polymerization. The synthesized particles’ well‐defined shape, morphology, and thermal properties are analyzed using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. Free‐standing mechanochromic opal films with incorporated cellulose and structural colors are obtained after processing the core–shell particles with cellulose via extrusion and the melt‐shear organization technique. The homogeneous distribution of the cellulose within the composite material is investigated using fluorescent‐labeled cellulose. The opal film's angle‐dependent structural color is demonstrated using reflection spectroscopy. The melt‐shear organization technique uses tailor‐made core–shell particles to produce opal films with structural colors. Cellulose is incorporated into these films to improve the wetting behavior and the films’ mechanical properties while maintaining the composites’ structural color.

Design of nanostructured electrocatalysts is essential to improve the efficiency for driving the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at low overpotentials. Mesoporous cobalt‐based thin films are prepared by dip‐coating and soft‐templating using the structure‐directing diblock copolymer poly(ethylene‐co‐butylene)‐block‐poly(ethylene oxide). Our temperature‐dependent study reveals how the calcination temperature affects the phase formation and development of the surface and bulk morphology of the catalysts. The crystallographic structure, surface composition, and development of the mesoporous framework were correlated with the OER activities. The increase in calcination temperature significantly impacts the nanoarchitecture, changing from an amorphous and dense structure, which is composed of Co(OH)2, to structurally intact and ordered mesoporous Co3O4 networks. The morphology of the mesoporous network (providing accessibility for the electrolyte), the overall surface area, and the presence of a nanocrystalline Co(OH)2 pre‐catalyst phase (allowing fast formation of electrocatalytically active species), collectively determine the OER activity. These structure–property relationships explain why Co(OH)2 films annealed at 250 °C show the lowest overpotential of 370 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and electrochemical stability in alkaline media. The development of the ordered mesoporous architectures in dependence on the annealing temperature demonstrates the importance of careful tailoring of the synthesis conditions to achieve optimized OER performance. It is demonstrated how the structural integrity of a mesoporous framework, providing accessibility for the electrolyte, the (electrochemical) active surface area, which predetermines the exposure of reaction sites, and the crystallinity, allowing fast surface reconstruction and formation of electrocatalytically active species, collectively impact the oxygen evolution reaction activity of Co(OH)2 and Co3O4 thin film electrocatalysts.

Bats of Greece have been studied since the second half of the 19th century. Their distribution and ecology, however, remain poorly understood. Conservation efforts for the protection of the roosting and foraging habitats of their populations in Greece are limited. To date, 35 bat species have been recorded from Greece. Four species (Eptesicus anatolicus, Plecotus auritus, Myotis brandtii and Rousettus aegyptiacus) have a limited distribution in the country and the presence of one species (Myotis mystacinus) requires verification. The present study summarises all existing knowledge and adds several hundred new records on the distribution of bats of Greece. Additionally, it provides a summary of new insights on various aspects of their roosting ecology, foraging habitat use, altitudinal distribution, winter activity and landscape characteristics around major roosts. Finally, it discusses the current research and conservation needs of Greek bats.