Reviews & Analysis

Research now shows that interaction with silicon carbide substrate leads to the opening of a semiconductor gap in epitaxial graphene. This is an important first step towards bandgap engineering in this two-dimensional crystal, and its incorporation in electronic devices.

A synthetic method of producing metal nanoparticles of chosen crystallinity can help us understand how crystal defects affect their physical and chemical properties.

A newly developed microdiffraction technique for solving the structure of very small single crystals hails a new era in the structural characterization of complex materials.

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism in ultrafast mode provides insight into spin relaxation in nickel on a femtosecond timescale, opening up new horizons for research into spin dynamics with the highest resolution.

Decorating a surface with a forest of microposts can either make it repel water or cause it to be sucked into the spaces between posts. In the latter case, the shape of a liquid on the surface can be controlled using simple design principles.

An emerging topic of research into conducting polymers revolves around their integration with living tissue. Using an organic electronic ion pump enables cell responses to be controlled, providing an intriguing avenue to further this area.

A seeded-growth approach provides shape-controlled bimetallic nanocrystals and opens the way for a rich selection of new nanoscale building blocks.

Controlled assembly of nanoparticles can increase their utility for a large range of applications. Selectively functionalizing the ends of hydrophilic nanorods with hydrophobic polymers is an elegant way to do this, as solvent composition provides structure control.

Nanoscale phase separation into a perfect two-dimensional chessboard structure is observed in a class of perovskite-based lithium-ion conductors. The periodicity can be controlled by varying the composition, which is an intriguing advance in materials design.

The mammalian sense of taste has an exquisite ability to differentiate subtle variations in flavour. An artificial tongue has now been developed with the ability to amplify and sense analytes that before may have gone unnoticed.

Interfaces between gold nanoparticle films and semiconductor substrates are found to behave like nearly ideal Schottky diodes. Moreover, the detailed electronic structure of the interfaces can be tuned by electrochemical charge-transfer.

Pioneer of the kinetics of phase transformations in condensed matter.

A newly derived set of differential equations provides a numerical solution to the classic question of predicting the shape of a Möbius strip.

The positive aspect of negative refraction is to open new possibilities for squeezing light into tight spaces. Now, a metallic nanostructure pushes all-angle negative refraction into the visible spectrum.