Reviews & Analysis

Results show that achievable improvements may make solar thermoelectric generators competitive with other solar power conversion methods.

Conventional magnetoresistive devices are composed of magnetic and non-magnetic films. It is now shown that, at low temperature, a carbon nanotube decorated with single-molecule magnets can function as an all-organic spin valve.

Stretching polymer electrolyte membranes increases water diffusion along the stretched direction. It is now shown that the enhancement in transport is a result of the alignment of domains of hydrophilic channels, and that transport anisotropy and alignment are linearly coupled.

A system comprising 'signalling' and 'receiving' modules — where the receiving module circulating in the bloodstream is directed to the tumour by a cascade triggered by the signalling module — improves the targeting effect of a nanomedicine.

Steady-state remodelling in model cytoskeletal networks results from the combination of marginal stability and molecular-motor activity.

Efficient energy harvesting from temperature gradients requires thermoelectric materials with low thermal and high electrical conductivities. A conducting polymer can fulfil these conditions if its doping level is controlled precisely.

Collective cell motion in a continuous tissue is found to be guided by cooperative intercellular forces.

Grain boundaries in polycrystalline graphene are an obstacle to electron transport. However, cunning refinements in growth techniques push the limits to obtain super-sized single-crystal domains.

Maximum yield of self-assembly for a target structure can be attained with simple rules for the interactions between the structure's building blocks.

The experimental demonstration of antiferromagnetic tunnelling anisotropic magnetoresistance paves the way for spintronic devices based on antiferromagnets, rather than ferromagnets.

Local rotations in crystals change our view at the inner structure of crystals and may be the key for a whole range of hidden symmetries and novel physical effects in condensed-matter systems.

Combustion processing provides a simple route for the low-temperature deposition of high-performance metal-oxide layers and enables the fabrication of electronic devices on flexible polymer substrates.

By wrapping a ligand-functionalized lipid membrane around a silica core, nanoparticles with a fluid surface are created. These combine unprecedented specificity in binding to cancer cells with the combinatorial delivery of drug cocktails.

The interaction between ferroelectric distortion and two rotational modes in some transition-metal oxides promises a strategy for strong magnetoelectronic coupling, possibly at room temperature.

The imaging mode of scanning transmission electron microscopy known as annular bright-field has reached enough sensitivity to image columns of the lightest of elements within a crystal.

Embedding magnesium nanoparticles in a gas-selective polymer prevents their oxidation under ambient conditions while enabling reversible hydrogen storage.

Memory effects resulting from frustration and topology in nematic liquid crystals confined in bicontinuous structures may enable the fabrication of geometrically functionalized materials.