Review Articles in 2016

Highly crystalline 2D superconductors can exhibit very low sheet resistances and unusual physical properties, such as a quantum metallic state, a quantum Griffiths phase and superconductivity robust against in-plane magnetic fields. The origins of these phenomena and the materials in which they are observed are reviewed.

Discoveries of new hydride properties beyond those expected are ushering in a new era in hydride research and development. This Review covers these rapidly evolving advancements; explains their relevance to future energy storage and transmission applications; and proposes future research directions.

Recent works in boiling and condensation have achieved unprecedented performance and revealed new mechanistic insights that will aid in material design. In this Review, we focus on nanoengineered materials, with emphasis on further improving the heat-transfer performance and long-term robustness.

Plasmonic colours can be used to colour large surfaces, can be mass-produced and dynamically reconfigured, and can provide sub-diffraction resolution. In this Review, basic properties of plasmonic colours, different platforms supporting them and recent developments in the field are discussed.

Strain engineering can be used to control the properties of thin-film ferroelectric materials, which are promising for electronic, thermal, photovoltaic and transduction applications. This Review addresses fundamental aspects, novel ways to control materials properties and the development of new ferroelectric-based devices.

Flow-battery technologies open a new age of large-scale electrical energy-storage systems. This Review highlights the latest innovative materials and their technical feasibility for next-generation flow batteries.

The pores of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) make them attractive materials for gas- and liquid-phase separations. In this Review, the fabrication of MOF-based membranes and analytical techniques used to characterize them are outlined with a focus on the surfaces and interfaces in these composite materials.

Bioresponsive materials capable of responding to specific biological cues hold vast promise for developing next-generation precision medications. This Review highlights recent advances in the design of bioresponsive materials and provides insights into design rules as well as future perspectives.

Hydrogels can provide spatial and temporal control over the release of various therapeutic agents and have found clinical use. This Review presents multiscale mechanisms underlying hydrogel delivery systems and quantitative comparison between them, while discussing clinical translation and future opportunities.

New solutions are needed to meet the growing demand for data storage systems with ultra-high capacity, ultra-long lifetime and ultra-low energy consumption. Nanomaterials, including metal nanoparticles, graphene and graphene oxide, semiconductor quantum dots and rare-earth-doped nanocrystals, hold promise for the next generation of optical data storage methods.

Recent advances in the strategic design and optimization of hydrides of light-weight elements and of physisorbents for on-board hydrogen storage, large-scale distribution and on-site hydrogen generation are reviewed.

Planar gradient metamaterials are a promising development, overcoming the limitations of both bulk and planar optics, and have been widely investigated in various domains. This Review summarizes recent progress made in the theoretical modelling, experimental implementation and design of functional devices that utilize these materials.

Implantable neuroprostheses communicate with the nervous system to provide diagnosis or therapy to the injured body. In this review, we discuss materials-based approaches to overcome the physical and mechanical mismatch at the tissue–implant interface and to design long-term neurointegrated prostheses.

Covalent organic frameworks are crystalline porous polymers with precisely ordered polygon architectures. In this Review we summarize recent advances in the design principles and synthetic reactions, highlight the current status in structural construction and functionality design, and predict challenging issues and future directions.

Reducing or even eliminating the need for precious-metal catalysts is crucial for the commercialization of clean energy technologies and various important industrial processes. Carbon materials have recently been shown to be cost-effective and efficient metal-free catalysts in clean energy generation and storage, environmental protection and chemical production.

Phosphorene is a 2D material exhibiting remarkable mechanical, electronic and optical properties. In this Review, we survey fabrication techniques and discuss theoretical and experimental findings, exploring phosphorene from its fundamental properties to its implementation in devices.

The energy extrema of an electronic band are referred to as valleys. In 2D materials, two distinguishable valleys can be used to encode information and explore other valleytronic applications.

Field-effect transistors (FETs) with semiconducting channels made from 2D materials are known to have fewer problems with short-channel effects than devices comprising 3D semiconductors. In this Review, a mathematical framework to evaluate the performance of FETs is outlined with a focus on the properties of 2D materials, such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, phosphorene and silicene.

Heavy fermion systems are ideally suited to study strong electronic correlations. These fascinating materials are characterized by a clear separation of the relevant energy scales and may exhibit quantum critical points, non-Fermi-liquid behaviour and unconventional superconductivity coexisting or competing with magnetism.

Thermoelectrics can be used to harvest energy and control temperature. Organic semiconducting materials have thermoelectric performance comparable to many inorganic materials near room temperature. Better understanding of their performance will provide a pathway to new types of conformal thermoelectric modules.