Articles in 2014

Although solid oxide electrochemical cells can store electricity and convert fuels to electricity, their development is limited by long-term stability. Degradation is now eliminated by reversibly cycling between electrolysis and fuel-cell modes.

Direct imaging and characterization of propagating plasmons in high-quality graphene, encapsulated between two films of hexagonal boron nitride, has now been achieved together with the observation of very low plasmon damping.

Layered double perovskites are promising as solid oxide fuel cell electrodes because of favourable transport properties. Related layered materials are now used as high-performance anodes that exhibit redox stability when exposed to hydrocarbon fuels.

The inclusion of long-range electrostatic effects in the modelling of donor–acceptor systems now leads to a more accurate estimation of the energy landscape and open-circuit voltage of organic solar cells.

Graphene is potentially attractive for electrochemical energy storage devices but whether it will lead to real technological progress is still unclear. Recent applications of graphene in battery technology and electrochemical capacitors are now assessed critically.

Temperature can switch the thermodynamic phase of colloid–polymer mixtures by tipping the balance between competing attractive interactions induced by polymer depletion or adsorption.

Computer simulations of one-component three-dimensional icosahedral quasicrystals will help to understand the mechanisms that may stabilize them in experiments.

Model colloidal systems are a testbed for understanding aspects of the organization of matter.

Circularly polarized light actualizes the formation of chiral twisted ribbons from achiral semiconductor nanoparticles.

Janus ellipsoids self-assemble into self-limiting fibres that can be reversibly actuated by applying an electric field.

The nucleation of a crystal within another can involve intermediate liquid nuclei.

Understanding entropic contributions to common ordering transitions is essential for the design of self-assembling systems with addressable complexity.

Two conceptual strategies for encoding information into self-assembling building blocks highlight opportunities and challenges in the realization of programmable colloidal nanostructures.

Enhancing the superconducting temperature is often the main driver of synthetic studies of novel superconducting materials. Now, an approach yielding an air-stable iron selenide system that superconducts up to 40 K is reported.