Plasma-enhanced synthesis and modification of polymers is a field that continues to expand and become increasingly more sophisticated. The highly reactive processing environments afforded by the inherently dynamic nature of plasma media are often superior to ambient or thermal environments, offering substantial advantages over other processing methods. The fluxes of energy and matter toward the surface enable rapid and efficient processing, whereas the charged nature of plasma-generated particles provides a means for their control. The range of materials that can be treated by plasmas is incredibly broad, spanning pure polymers, polymer-metal, polymer-wood, polymer-nanocarbon composites, and others. In this review, we briefly outline some of the recent examples of the state-of-the-art in the plasma-based polymer treatment and functionalization techniques.

Given the vast number of strategies used to control the behavior of laboratory and industrially relevant plasmas for material processing and other state-of-the-art applications, a potential user may find themselves overwhelmed with the diversity of physical configurations used to generate and control plasmas. Apparently, a need for clearly defined, physics-based classification of the presently available spectrum of plasma technologies is pressing, and the critically summary of the individual advantages, unique benefits, and challenges against key application criteria is a vital prerequisite for the further progress. To facilitate selection of the technological solutions that provide the best match to the needs of the end user, this work systematically explores plasma setups, focusing on the most significant family of the processes—control of plasma fluxes—which determine the distribution and delivery of mass and energy to the surfaces of materials being processed and synthesized. A novel classification based on the incorporation of substrates into plasma-generating circuitry is also proposed and illustrated by its application to a wide variety of plasma reactors, where the effect of substrate incorporation on the plasma fluxes is emphasized. With the key process and material parameters, such as growth and modification rates, phase transitions, crystallinity, density of lattice defects, and others being linked to plasma and energy fluxes, this review offers direction to physicists, engineers, and materials scientists engaged in the design and development of instrumentation for plasma processing and diagnostics, where the selection of the correct tools is critical for the advancement of emerging and high-performance applications.

Carbon, one of the most abundant materials, is very attractive for many applications because it exists in a variety of forms based on dimensions, such as zero-dimensional (0D), one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), and-three dimensional (3D). Carbon nanowall (CNW) is a vertically-oriented 2D form of a graphene-like structure with open boundaries, sharp edges, nonstacking morphology, large interlayer spacing, and a huge surface area. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is widely used for the large-scale synthesis and functionalization of carbon nanowalls (CNWs) with different types of plasma activation. Plasma-enhanced techniques open up possibilities to improve the structure and morphology of CNWs by controlling the plasma discharge parameters. Plasma-assisted surface treatment on CNWs improves their stability against structural degradation and surface chemistry with enhanced electrical and chemical properties. These advantages broaden the applications of CNWs in electrochemical energy storage devices, catalysis, and electronic devices and sensing devices to extremely thin black body coatings. However, the controlled growth of CNWs for specific applications remains a challenge. In these aspects, this review discusses the growth of CNWs using different plasma activation, the influence of various plasma-discharge parameters, and plasma-assisted surface treatment techniques for tailoring the properties of CNWs. The challenges and possibilities of CNW-related research are also discussed.

Low-dimensional copper oxide nanostructures are a promising family of functional nanomaterials. This article reviews recent progress in fabrication technologies for CuO nanostructures and gives examples of their leading-edge applications.

Driven by the innate tendency of the system to attain a local energy minimum, self-organization enables the creation of complex systems out of relatively simple parts and elements. The ability to form hierarchical, multicomponent systems that may be difficult, or even impossible, to fabricate using pre-set, template-enabled processes makes self-organisation very attractive for the synthesis and assembly of advanced material systems across multiple length scales. Yet, driving and controlling such self-organisation processes is not a trivial task as they often arise from a complex interplay of physical and chemical processes. These in turn depend on the environment in which self-organisation takes place. In this topical review, we focus on one such environment and outline unique opportunities, salient characteristics and challenges presented by self-organization on surfaces exposed to partially ionised gases, i.e. plasmas. Using a select number of recent examples, we aim to show how salient features of plasma environments, particularly high fluxes of energy and matter from the plasma to the surface, enable functionalization and growth of complex nanostructures and metamaterials via self-organization on plasma-exposed surfaces. We will show how by controlling different physical and chemical parameters of the plasma environment and how it interacts with surfaces, it is possible to control self-organization processes at multiple length scales, making it a promising enabling platform for nanosynthesis. We will discuss examples starting from the self-driven growth of perfect crystalline lattices, such as nano-diamonds and graphenes at the nanoscale, all the way to template- and pattern-free synthesis of large, highly ordered arrays of nanostructures at millimetre and even centimetre scales. We will outline the key enabling features of plasmas that drive these processes at respective scales, focusing predominantly on plasma-induced electric fields at the surface or in the plasma-nanostructure sheath, as well as charge-related effects. The outlook section summarizes advantages of plasma-driven self-organization, and outlines principal challenges and opportunities for the development of this field.

This focused review aims to reveal and illustrate some unique features of processes triggered by high-density energy applied to liquids and gas-liquid interfaces and to highlight a wide spectrum of their technological applications capable of producing various advantageous effects, ranging from nanosynthesis to biological and medical applications. Plasma, electric discharges, laser, and ultrasound power effects were selected as representative examples of high-density energy and liquid interactions, yet the available possibilities are not limited by these quite different types of power and thus the reader could extrapolate the outlined features and effects to other kinds of powerful impacts. The basic physical mechanisms are briefly reviewed with the aim to familiarize the readers with the potential capabilities of high-density energy processes in liquids. These will be of direct interest to researchers tasked with the development, optimization, and characterization of processes and highly reactive environments for highly controlled transformation of matter in abiotic and biological systems. It could also be highly useful for under- and post-graduate students specializing in the related fields and general physical audience involved in various plasma, materials, energy conversion, and other concurrent research activities.