User:Sketchc89/janusedit

Janus nanoparticles are a special type of nanoparticle whose surface has two or more distinct types of properties. This unique surface of Janus nanoparticles allows two different types of chemistry to occur on the same particle. The simplest case of a Janus nanoparticle is achieved by dividing the nanoparticle into two distinct parts, each of them either made of a different material, or bearing different functional groups. For example, a Janus nanoparticle may have one half of its surface composed of hydrophilic groups and the other half hydrophobic groups. This gives these particles unique and fascinating properties related to their asymmetric structure and/or functionalization.

Jajarawiki (talk) 22:23, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

Nbx909 (talk) 23:06, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

Rcl1963 (talk) 18:15, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

History
In 1991, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes coined the term "Janus" particle in his Nobel lecture. He named the particles after the two faced Roman god Janus because these particles may be said to have "two faces" since they possess two distinct types of properties. de Gennes pushed for the advancement of Janus particles by pointing out that these "Janus grains" have the unique property of densely self-assembling at liquid-liquid interfaces while allowing material transport to occur through the gaps between the solid amphiphilic particles. Although the term "Janus particles" was not yet used, Lee and coworkers reported the first particles matching this description in 1985. They introduced asymmetric polystryene/polymethylmethacrylate lattices from seeded emulsion polymerization. One year later, Casagrande and Veyssie reported the synthesis of glass beads that were made hydrophobic on only one hemisphere using octadecyl trichlorosilane, while the other hemisphere was protected with a cellulose varnish. The glass beads were studied for their potential to stabilize emulsification processes. Then several years later, Binks and Flechter investigated the wettability of Janus beads at the interface between oil and water. They concluded that Janus particles are both surface active and amphiphilic, whereas homogeneous particles are only surface active. Twenty years later, a plethora of Janus particles of different sizes and shapes and properties with applications in textile, sensors , stabilization of emulsions , and magnetic field imaging have been reported.

Synthesis
The synthesis of Janus nanoparticles requires the ability to selectively create each side of a nanometer sized particle with different chemical properties in a cost effective and reliable way that produces the particle of interest in high yield. Initially this was difficult task, however with in the last 10 years, methods have been refined to make this possible. Currently, three major methods are utilized in the synthesis of Janus nanoparticles.

Masking
Masking was one of the first techniques developed for the synthesis of Janus nanoparticles. This technique was developed by simply taking synthesis techniques of larger Janus particles and scaling down to the nanoscale. Masking, as the name suggests, involves the protection of one side of a nanoparticle followed by the modification of the unprotected side and the removal of the protection. Two masking techniques are common to produce Janus particles, evaporative deposition and a technique where the nanoparticle is suspended at the interface of two phases. However, only the phase separation technique scales well to the nanoscale.

The phase interface method involves trapping homogeneous nanoparticles at the interface of two immiscible phases. These methods typically involve the liquid-liquid and liquid-solid interfaces, however a gas-liquid interface method has been described.

The liquid-liquid interface method is best exemplified by Gu et al. who made an emulsion from water and an oil and added nanoparticles of magnetite. The magnetite nanoparticles aggregated at the interface of the water-oil mixture forming a Pickering emulsion. Then silver nitrate was added to the mixture resulting in the deposition of silver nanoparticles on the surface of the magnetite nanoparticles. These Janus nanoparticles were then functionalized by the addition of various ligands with specific affinity for either the iron or silver. This method can also utilize gold or iron-platinium nanoparticles instead of magnetite nanoparticles.

A similar method is the gas-liquid interface method developed by Pradhan et al. In this method, hydrophobic alkanethiolate gold nanoparticles were placed in water causing the formation of a monolayer of the hydrophobic gold nanoparticles on the surface. Air pressure was then increased forcing the hydrophobic layer to be pushed into the water decreasing the contact angle. When the contact angle was at the desired level, a hydrophillic thiol, 3-mercaptopropane-1,2-diol, was added to the water causing the hydrophillic thiol to competitively replace the hydrophobic thiols resulting in the formation of amphiphilic Janus nanoparticles.

The liquid-liquid and gas-liquid interface methods do have an issue where the nanoparticles can rotate in solution causing the deposition of silver on more than one face. . A liquid-liquid/liquid-solid hybrid interface method was first introduced by Granick et al. as a solution to this liquid-liquid method problem. In this method, the oil was substituted for molten parrifin wax and the magnetite for silica nanoparticles. When the solution was cooled the wax solidified trapping half of each silica nanoparticle in the wax surface leaving the other half of the silica nanoparticle exposed. The water was then filtered off and the wax trapped silica nanoparticles were then exposed to a methanol solution containing (amino- propyl)triethoxysilane which reacted with the exposed silica surface of the nanoparticles. The methanol solution was then filtered off and the wax was dissolved with chloroform, freeing the newly made Janus particles. Liu et al. has reported the synthesis of acorn and mushroom shaped silica-aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane Janus nanoparticles utilizing the hybrid liquid-liquid/liquid-solid method developed by Granick et al. They exposed homogenous aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane functionalized silica nanoparticles embedded in wax to an ammonium fluoride solution which etched away the exposed surface. The liquid-liquid/liquid-solid hybrid method also has some drawbacks, when exposed to the second solvent for functionalization some of the nanoparticles may be released from the wax resulting in homogenous nanoparticles instead of Janus nanoparticles. This can partially be corrected by using waxes with higher melting points or performing functionalization at lower temperatures. However, these modifications still result in significant loss. Granick et al. in another paper demonstrated a possible fix by utilizing a liquid-liquid/gas-solid phase hybrid method by first immobilizing silica nanoparticles in paraffin wax using the previously discussed liquid-solid phase interface method and then filtering off the water. The resulting immobilized nanoparticles were then exposed to silanol vapor produced by bubbling nitrogen or argon gas through liquid silanol causing the formation of a hydrophillic face. The wax was then dissolved in chloroform releasing the Janus nanoparticles.

An example of a more traditionial liquid-solid technique has been described by Sardar et al. by beganing with the immobilization of gold nanoparticles on a salinized glass surface. Then the glass surface was exposed to 11-mercapto-1-undecanol which bound to the exposed hemisphere of the gold nanoparticle. The nanoparticles were then removed from the slide using ethanol containing 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid which functionalized the previously masked hemisphere of the nanoparticle.

Block copolymers
This method utilizes the well studied methods of producing block copolymers with well defined geometries and composition across a large variety of substrates. Synthesis of Janus particles by self assembly via block copolymers was first described in 2001 by Erhardt et al.. They produced a triblock polymer from polymethylacrylate, polystyrene and low molecular weight polybutadiene.The polystyrene and polymethylacrylate formed alternating layers in between which polybutadiene sat in nanosized spheres. The blocks were then cross-linked and dissolved in THF and after several washing steps yielded spherical Janus particles with polystyrene on one face and polymethylacrylate)on the other with a polybutadiene core.  The production of Janus spheres, cylinders, sheets, and ribbons is possible using this method by adjustment of the starting material's molecular weights and degree of cross-linking.

Competitive adsorption
The key aspect of competitive absorption involves two substrates that phase-separate due to one or more opposite physical or chemical proprieties. When these substrates are mixed with a nanoparticle, typically gold, they maintain their separation and form two faces. A good example of this technique has been demonstrated by Vilain et al. where phosphinine coated gold nanoparticles were exposed to long chain thiols resulting in substitution of the phosphinine ligands in a phase separated manner producing Janus nanoparticles. Phase separation was proven by showing the thiols formed one locally pure domain on the nanoparticle utilizing FT-IR. Jakobs et al. demonstrated a major issue with the competitive adsorption method when they attempted to synthesize amphiphilic gold Janus nanoparticles utilizing the competitive adsorption of hydrophobic and hydrophilic thiols. The synthesis demonstrated was quiet simple and only involved two steps. First gold nanoparticles capped with tetra-n-octylammonium bromide were produced. Then the capping agent was removed followed by the addition of various ratios of hydrophilic disulfide functionalized ethylene oxide and hydrophobic disulfide functionalized oligo(p-phenylenevinylene). They then attempted to prove that phase separation on the particle surface occurred by comparing the contact angles of water on the surface of a monolayer of the Janus particles with nanoparticles made with only the hydrophobic or hydrophobic ligands. Instead the results of this experiment showed that while there was some phase separation, it was not complete. This result highlights that the ligand choice is extremely important and any changes may result in incomplete phase separation.

Phase Separation
This method involves the mixing of two or more incompatible substances which then separate into their own domains while still part of a single nanoparticle. These methods can involve the production of Janus nanoparticles of two inorganic as well as two organic substances.

Typical organic phase separation methods use co-jetting of polymers to produce Janus nanoparticles. This technique is exemplified by the work of Yoshid et al. to produce Janus nanoparticles where one hemisphere has affinity for human cells while the other hemisphere has no affinity for human cells. This was achieved by co-jetting polyacrylamide/poly(acrylic acid) co-polymers which have no affinity for human cells with biotinylated polyacrylamide/poly(acrylic acid) co-polymers which when exposed to streptavidin modified antibodies obtain an affinity for human cells.

The inorganic phase separation methods are diverse and vary greatly depending on the application. The most common method utilizes the growth of a crystal of one inorganic substance on or from another inorganic nanoparticle. A unique method for doing this has been developed by Gu et al. where iron-platinum nanoparticles were coated with sulfur reacted with cadmium acetylacetonate, trioctylphosphineoxide, and hexadecane-1,2-diol at 100oC producing nanoparticles with a Fe-Pt core and an amorphous CdS shell. The mixture was then heated to 280oC resulting in a phase transition and a partial eruption of the Fe-Pt from the core creating a pure Fe-Pt sphere attached to the CdS coated nanoparticle. A new method of synthesizing inorganic Janus nanoparticles by phase separation has recently been developed by Zhao and Gao. In this method, they explored the use of the common homogeneous nanoparticle synthetic method of flame synthesis. They found that when a methanol solution containing ferric triacetylacetonate and tetraethylorthosilicate was burned, the iron and silicon components form an intermixed solid which undergoes phase separation when heated to approximately 1100oC producingmaghemite-silica Janus nanoparticles. Additionally, they found that it was possible to modify the silica after producing the Janus nanoparticles making it hydrophobic by reacting it with oleylamine.

Properties and Applications (Separate into two sections)
The multifunctionality of these particles has caused great interest across several diverse fields with applications in textile, sensors , stabilization of emulsions , magnetic field imaging , and catalysis.

Self Assembly Behavior of Janus Nanoparticles
Janus particles' two or more distinct faces give them special properties in solution. In particluar, Janus particles have been observed to self-assemble in specific way in aqueous or organic solutions. In the case of spherical Janus micelles having hemispheres of polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), aggregation into clusters is observed in various organic solvents, such as tetrahydrofuran. Similarly, Janus discs composed of sides of PS and poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) (PtBMA) undergo back-to-back stacking into superstructures in organic solvents. It is interesting that these particular Janus particles form aggregates in organic solvents considering that both sides of these particles are soluble in the organic solvent. It appears that the very slight selectivity of the solvent is able to induce self-assembly of the particles into defined discrete clusters of Janus particles. Such kind of an aggregation does not occur for either standard block copolymers nor for homogeneous particles and thus is a feature specific to Janus particles.

Additionally the behavior of Janus particle in aqueous solutions is also very interesting. In an aqueous solution we can distinguish between two kinds of biphasic particles. The first class are particles which are truly amphiphilic and possess one hydrophobic and one hydrophilic side. The second class has two water soluble yet different sides. To illustrate the first case, extensive studies have been carried out with spherical Janus particles composed of one hemisphere of water-soluble poly(methacrylica cid) (PMAA) and another side of non water soluble polystyrene. In these studies, it was found that the Janus particles aggregate on two hierarchical levels. The first type of self assembled aggregates look like small clusters, similar to what you would find for the case of Janus particles in an organic solution. The second type of self assembled structure is noticeably larger than the first and is has been termed 'super micelle'. Unfortunately, the structure of the supermicelles is unknown so far; however, it was suggested that they may be similar to multilamellar vesicles.

For the second case of Janus particles which contain two distinct, but still water soluble sides the work of Granick’s group provides some insight. Granick's research deals with the clustering of dipolar (zwitterionic) micronsized Janus particles, whose two sides are both fully water soluble. Zwitterionic Janus particles are interesting because they do not behave like classical dipoles, since their size is much larger than the distance electrostatic attractions are strongly felt. The study of zwitterionic janus particles once again demonstrates janus particles ability to form defined clusters. However, this particular type of janus particle prefers to aggregate into larger clusters since this is more energetically favorable because each cluster carries a macroscopic dipole and which allows the aggregation of already formed clusters into larger assemblies. Compared to aggregates formed through van der waals interactions for homogenous particles, the shapes of the zwitterionic janus nanoclusters are different and the janus clusters are less dense and are more asymmetric.

Self Assembly Modification using pH
The self assembly of certain types of Janus particles may be controlled via modifying the pH of the solution that they are in. Lattuada et al. prepared nanoparticles with one side coated with a pH responsive polymer (polyacrylic acid, PAA) and the other with either a positively charged polymer (Poly dimethylamino ethyl methacrylate, PDMAEMA), a negatively charged pH-insensitive polymer, or a temperature responsive polymer (Poly N-isopropyl Acryl amide, PNIPAm). In changing the pH of their solution, they noticed a change in the clustering of their Janus nanoparticles. At very high pH values, where PDMAEMA is uncharged while PAA is highly charged the Janus nanoparticles were very stable in solution. However, below a pH of 4, when PAA is uncharged and PDMAEMA is positively charged they formed finite clusters. At intermediate pH values, they found that the janus nanoparticles were unstable due to dipolar interaction between the positively and negatively charged hemispheres

Reversibility of Cluster Formation and Control of Cluster Size
Control of cluster size for in the aggregation of janus nanoparticles has also been demonstrated. Lattuada et al. achieved control of the cluster size of janus particles with one face PAA and the other either PDMAEMA or PNIPAm by mixing small amounts of these Janus nanoparticles with PAA coated particles. One unique feature of these clusters was that stable particles could be recovered reversibly when high pH conditions were restored. Furthermore, Janus nanoparticles functionalized with PNIPAm showed that controlled and reversible aggregation could be achieved by increasing the temperature above the lower critical solubility temperature of PNIPAm.

Amphiphilic Properties
A significant characteristic of Janus nanoparticles is the capability of having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. Many research groups have investigated the surface activities of nanoparticles with amphiphilic properties. In 2006, Janus nanoparticles, made from gold and iron oxide, were compared with their homogeneous counterparts by measuring the ability of the particles to reduce the interfacial tension between water and n-hexane. Experimental results indicated that Janus nanoparticles are considerably more surface active than homogeneous particles of comparable size and chemical nature. Furthermore, increasing the [amphiphile|amphiphilic]] character of the particles can increase the interfacial activity. The ability of Janus nanoparticles to lower interfacial tension between water and n-hexane confirmed previous theoretical predictions on the ability of Janus nanoparticles to stabilize Pickering emulsions.

In 2007, the amphiphilic nature of the Janus nanoparticles was examined by measuring the adhesion force between the atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip and the particle surface. The stronger the interactions between the hydrophilic AFM tip and the hydrophilic side of the Janus nanoparticles were reflected by a greater adhesion force. The Janus nanoparticles were dropcast onto both hydrophobically and hydrophilically modified substrates. The hydrophobic hemisphere of the Janus particles was exposed when a hydrophilic substrate surface was used, resulting in disparities in adhesion force measurements. Thus, the Janus nanoparticles adopted a conformation that maximized the interactions with the substrate surface. The nature of amphiphilic Janus nanoparticles to orient themselves spontaneously at the interface between oil and water has been well known. This behavior allows considering [amphiphile|amphiphilic]] Janus nanoparticles as analogues of molecular surfactants for the stabilization of emulsions. In 2005, spherical silica particles with amphiphilic properties were prepared by partial modification of the external surface with an alkylsilane agent. These particles form spherical assemblies encapsulating water-immiscible organic compounds in aqueous media by facing their hydrophobic alkylsilylated side to the inner organic phase and their hydrophilic side to the outer aqueous phase, thus stabilizing oil droplets in water. In 2009, hydrophilic surface of silica particles was made partially hydrophobic by adsorbing cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. These amphiphilic nanoparticles spontaneously assembled at the water-dichloromethane interface. In 2010, Janus particles composed from silica and polystyrene, with the polystyrene portion loaded with nanosized magnetite particles, were used to form kinetically stabile oil-in-water emulsions that can be spontaneously broken on application of an external magnetic field. Such Janus materials will find applications in magnetically controlled optical switches and other related areas. The first real applications of Janus nanoparticles were in polymer synthesis. In 2008, it was shown that spherical amphiphilic Janus nanoparticles, having one polystyrene and one poly(methyl methacrylate) side, were effective as compatibilizing agents of multigram scale compatibilization of two immiscible polymer blends, polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate). The Janus nanoparticles oriented themselves at the interface of the two polymer phases, even under high temperature and shear conditions, allowing the formation of much smaller domains of poly(methyl methacrylate) in a polystyrene phase. The performance of the Janus nanoparticles as compatibilizing agents was significantly superior to other state-of-the-art compatibilizers, such as linear block copolymers.

Stabilizers in Emulsion
A similar application of Janus nanoparticles as stabilizers was shown in emulsion polymerization. In 2008, spherical amphiphilic Janus nanoparticles was applied for the first time to the emulsion polymerization of styrene and n-butyl acrylate. The polymerization did not require additives or mini-emulsion polymerization techniques, as do other Pickering emulsion polymerizations. Also, by applying Janus nanoparticles the emulsion polymerization produced very well controlled particle sizes with low polydispersities.

Catalyst in Hydrogen Peroxide Decomposition
In 2010, spherical silica Janus nanoparticles with one side coated with platinum were used for the first time to catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The platinum particle catalyzes the surface chemical reaction: 2H2O2 → O2 + H2O. The decomposition of hydrogen peroxide created Janus catalytic nanomotors, the motion of which was analyzed experimentally and theoretically utilizing computer simulations. The motion of the spherical Janus nanoparticles was found to agree with the predictions of computed simulations. Ultimately, catalytic nanomotors have practical applications in delivering chemical payloads in microfluidic chips, eliminating pollution in aquatic media, removing toxic chemicals within biological systems, and performing medical procedures.

Water Repellent Fibers
In 2011, Janus nanoparticles were shown to be applicable in textiles. Water repellent fibers can be prepared by coating polyethylene terephthalate fabric with amphiphilic spherical Janus nanoparticles. The Janus particles bind with the hydrophilic reactive side to the textile surface, while the hydrophobic side exposed to the environment, thus providing the water repellent behavior. Janus particle size of 200 nm was found to deposit on the surface of fibers and were very efficient for the design of water repellent textiles.

Applications in Biological Sciences
The groundbreaking progress in the biological sciences has led to a drive towards custom made materials with precisely designed physical/chemical properties at the nanoscale level. Inherently Janus nanoparticles play a crucial role in such applications. In 2009, a new type of bio-hybrid material composed of Janus nanoparticles with spatially controlled affinity towards human endothelial cells was reported. These nanoparticles were synthesized by selective surface modification with one hemisphere exhibiting high binding affinity for human endothelial cells and the other hemisphere being resistant towards cell binding. The Janus nanoparticles were fabricated via electrohydrodynamic jetting of two polymer liquid solutions. When incubated with human endothelial cells, these Janus nanoparticles exhibited expected behavior, where one face binds toward human endothelial cells, while the other face was non-bonding. These Janus nanoparticles not only bound to the top of the human endothelial cells, but also associated all around the perimeter of cells forming a single particle lining. The biocompatibility between the Janus nanoparticles and cells was excellent. The concept is to eventually design probes based on Janus nanoparticles to attain directional information about cell-particle interactions.

Nanocorals
In 2010, a new type of cellular probe synthesized from Janus nanoparticles called a nanocoral, combining cellular specific targeting and biomolecular sensing, was presented. Nanocoral is comprised of a polystyrene hemisphere and a gold hemisphere. The polystyrene hemisphere of the nanocoral was selectively functionalized with antibodies to target receptors of specific cells. This was demonstrated by functionalizing the polystyrene region with antibodies that specifically attached to breast cancer cells. The gold region of the nanocoral surface was utilized for detecting and imaging. Thus, the targeting and sensing mechanisms were decoupled and could be separately engineered for a particular experiment. Additionally, the polystyrene region may also be used as a carrier for drugs and other chemicals by surface hydrophobic adsorption or encapsuation, making the nanocoral a possible multifunctional nanosensor.

Imaging and Magnetolytic Therapy
Also in 2010, Janus nanoparticles synthesized from hydrophobic magnetic nanoparticles on one side and poly(styrene-block-allyl alcohol) on the other side were used for imaging and magnetolytic therapy. The magnetic side of the Janus nanoparticles responded well to external magnetic stimuli. The nanoparticles were quickly attached to the cell surface using a magnetic field. Magnetolytic therapy was achieved through magnetic field modulated cell membrane damage. First, the nanoparticles were brought close in contact with the tumor cells, and then a spinning magnetic field was applied. After 15 minutes, the majority of the tumor cells were killed. Magnetic Janus nanoparticles could serve as the basis for potential applications in medicine and electronics. Quick responses to external magnetic fields could become an effective approach for targeted imaging, therapy in vitro and in vivo, and cancer treatment. Similarly, a quick response to magnetic fields is also desirable to fabricate smart displays, opening new opportunities in electronics and spintronics.

In 2011, silica coated Janus nanoparticles, composed of silver and iron oxide (Fe2O3), were prepared in one-step with scalable flame aerosol technology. These hybrid plasmonic-magnetic nanoparticles bear properties that are applicable in bioimaging, targeted drug delivery, in vivo diagnosis, and therapy. The purpose of the nanothin SiO2 shell was to reduce the release of toxic Ag+ ions from the nanoparticle surface to live cells. As a result, these hybrid nanoparticles showed no cyctotoxicity during bioimaging and remained stable in suspension with no signs of agglomeration or settling, thus enabling these nanoparticles as biocompatible multifunctional probes for bioimaging. Next, by labeling their surface and selectively binding them on the membrane of live-tagged Raji and HeLa cells, this demonstrated the nanoparticles as biomarkers and their detection under dark-field illumination was achieved. These new hybrid Janus nanoparticles overcame the individual limitations of Fe2O3 (poor particle stability in suspension) and of Ag (toxicity) nanoparticles, while retaining the desired magnetic properties of Fe2O3 and the plasmonic optical properties of Ag.

Applications in electronics
The potential application of Janus particles was first demonstrated by Nisisako et al., who made use of the electrical anisotropy of Janus particles filled with white and black pigments in both hemispheres. These particles were used to make switchable screens by placing a thin layer of these spheres between two electrodes. Upon changing the applied electric field, the particles orient their black sides to the anode and their white sides to the cathode. Thus the orientation and the color of the display can be changed by simply reversing the electric field. With this method it may be possible to make very thin and environmentally friendly displays.

Chris Sketch's Review (Super serial)
'To the grader of this review.' Please look at the content of the review rather than the 'seriousness' of the prose. I don't mean for my commentary to be silly, but I think it's ridiculous to put Wikipedia project and serious in the same sentence. If everything were as serious as Wikipedia I would change my grade to an A and update my diploma to MIT.

1)Does the title capture a thematic area of materials science appropriate for an encyclopedic Wikipedia site? Are there related sites the author’s have not linked to so far? Provide list.

Yes, it's an interesting subject deserving of a Wikipedia article. The number (42) of quality references in this article alone prove that it's researched well enough to deserve a Wikipedia article. The article cites all relevant fields, but they cite some articles more than once (the number of nanoparticle references is excessive to the point of being obnoxious). Try to cite each article only once. Also, don't provide a reference to another article in the subject of your first sentence.

2) Is the general public summary written at the appropriate level? Does it effectively capture the subject of the review?

It's written at an appropriate level but not in a style suitable for Wikipedia. Spend 15 minutes or so reading some introductions to Wikipedia articles about science and you'll see the difference. This introduction tells the reader that Janus nanoparticles are special particles with unique surfaces. A Wikipedia article says that Janus nanoparticles are particles with this effect and surfaces that do this. Be objective. You should try to tell me what they do, instead of trying to sell me on the idea (Textbook vs proposal).

3) Does the Background and Significance explain to the reader why this area is important? Does it provide sufficient background to place the topic in the context of the field of materials science?

The question is deprecated (copied from the last assignment). There is no background and significance section. No wikipedia article has this... The article itself provides a great deal of background in the form of a decent history section and a number of applications. (Note: properties and applications should be separated into two separate sections.

4) There is no number 4! Is this subconscious tetraphobia

5) Do the figures add substantially to enhancing the explanation of the topic? Are there key figures missing that you believe would be useful? If you recommend changes, be specific.

Figures 1 & 3 are simple and useful. In the second figure it is unclear how annealing and dissolution are related to the figure. I'd recommend removing the words. If you can show schematically what annealing and dissolution do, show it in pictures.

6)Are there major papers in the field missing in the references? Be specific.

No, the authors were thorough in their research. They searched long and hard to make sure no relevant article went unread. Surely I would've missed anything they missed.

7)Overall, is the language used effective and easily understood. Flag all confusing sections and/or offer suggestions for rewording.

The language is understood, but it isn't objective. The article reads like an essay written for a class. The point of this is to educate not persuade. Words like unique and special don't describe the science. It's normal to get attached to the subject of your project, but you need to replace subjective adjectives with objective adjectives to remove bias. It's a difficult task given that the papers are written by researchers who devote their lives to these projects. If a researcher says there are many promising applications, it means there are possible applications and they think are promising.

The writing style present in most Wikipedia articles is the product of a lot of editing. I would urge you to edit each other sections thoroughly. Don't worry if you are changing your group mates sections, no one else on Wikipedia will. The quality of writing in the article isn't exceptional and requires a lot of editing. Read through each sentence and ask if you could say the same thing in a simpler way. An example:

'A significant characteristic of Janus nanoparticles is the capability of having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts.'

What does this say? Having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts is significant. Why is this significant? Many awkward sentences come from trying to make a sentence with no content say something.

Another example

'The multifunctionality of these particles has caused great interest across diverse field with applications in textiles, sensors, stabilization of emulsions, magnetic field imaging, and catalysis.'

What does this say? There is a lot of interest in these particles because there are many applications (caused by the multifunctionality but that's redundant). The applications lack parallelism (change stabilization of emulsions to emulsion stabilization).