Reviews & Analysis

Adding simple salts to colloidal solutions provides a method of controlling the migration of particles in microfluidic devices.

The worlds of nanotechnology and energy meet to unveil a realm of functional materials for fuelling the challenge of low-carbon, sustainable energy.

Oxide materials have long been known as hosts for exotic and useful physical properties. Recent advances in their design and fabrication establish the means to tailor their response for applications.

The synthesis of chiral magnetic molecules allows the first observation of strong magneto–chiral dichroism, where unpolarized light is absorbed differently for parallel and antiparallel propagation with respect to an applied magnetic field.

Multiscale experimental and computational approaches reveal how an ancient fish protects itself with an armour of scales consisting of four different reinforcing, graded nanocomposite layers.

The low thermal conductivity of some thermoelectric materials is commonly attributed to rattlers — atoms trapped in oversized cages. Two independent studies now show that rattlers indeed reduce thermal conductivity to glass-like values.

Fluorine-containing species can cause titania to crystallize with an unusually large fraction of reactive {001} facets.

Colloidal nanocrystals randomly turn their photoluminescence off and on under continuous light illumination. Growing thick shells around the crystals can reduce the blinking effect dramatically, with great potential advantage for applications.

Controlling simultaneously the electric and thermal properties of materials can lead to very efficient thermoelectric devices. Advances following different routes were highlighted at a recent conference.

The propagation of submillimetre cracks reveals how the numerous internal structural dimensions in bone lead to a toughness that varies with orientation and scale.

The in vivo characteristics of the extracellular matrix, such as biochemical, mechanical and flow properties, are a challenge to mimic in vitro. Now, a three-dimensional hydrogel structure with integrated multiple phases shows promise as such a model.

Biological factors are not the only influence on stem-cell behaviour — the physics and chemistry of the environment play a part too. The interaction of materials science and stem-cell science brings with it a wealth of opportunities for future therapies.

A blend of ferroelectric and semiconducting polymers provides a potential route to a memory technology compatible with low-cost printed electronics.

Materials that respond to their external environment require creative molecular design — much inspiration comes from the natural world.

Nanoparticles with alternating striations of hydrophobic and hydrophilic ligands cross the cell membrane by a direct mechanism — a route that delivers them to the main compartment of the cell while leaving the membrane undisrupted.

The observation of metallic conductivity at interfaces between layers of organic insulators opens the way to the realization of a wide range of electronic systems that cannot be prepared in bulk organic materials.