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Organic semiconducting molecules and colloidal quantum dots both make for excellent luminescent materials. Compared with the more established solid-state light-emitting technologies, organic LEDs and quantum-dot LEDs are in their infancy, yet they offer unique properties.
Key materials discoveries have prompted the rise of inorganic light-emitting diodes in the lighting industry. Remaining challenges are being addressed to further extend the impact of this technology in lighting, displays and other applications.
In the nuclear industry, safety considerations rely on our ability to understand and control the behaviour of the relevant materials over a range of length and time scales.
The incident at Fukushima Daiichi brought materials in the nuclear industry into the spotlight. Nature Materials talks to Tatsuo Shikama, Director of the International Research Centre for Nuclear Materials, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, about the current situation.
To design reliable and safe geological repositories it is critical to understand how the characteristics of spent nuclear fuel evolve with time, and how this affects the storage environment.
