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The amount of energy that can be stored in Li-ion batteries is insufficient for the long-term needs of society, for example, for use in extended-range electric vehicles. Here, the energy-storage capabilities of Li–O2 and Li–S batteries are compared with that of Li-ion, their performances are reviewed, and the challenges that need to be overcome if such batteries are to succeed are highlighted.
Although heterogeneous photocatalysts for converting solar to chemical energy are mostly semiconductors, metallic plasmonic nanostructures have started to attract interest. Recent progress on plasmon-enhanced, water-splitting composite photocatalysts and photocatalytic reactions on the surface of plasmonic nanostructures of noble metals are now reviewed.
Poisson's ratio describes the resistance of a material to distort under mechanical load rather than to alter in volume. On the bicentenary of the publication of Poisson's Traité de Mécanique, the continuing relevance of Poisson's ratio in the understanding of modern materials is reviewed.
The thermal properties of nanostructures have become a fundamental topic owing to the necessity of heat removal in increasingly smaller electronic devices. Carbon allotropes present a range of intriguing thermal features, with the thermal conductivity spanning five orders of magnitude at room temperature. The topic is reviewed here with particular emphasis on graphene, which exhibits the highest thermal conductivity observed.
The presence of metal centres in synthetic polymers can impart interesting functionality on the resultant material. This Review Article focuses on the use of metal-containing polymers in a diverse range of applications, for example, in emissive and optical materials, in nanomaterials, as sensors, stimuli-responsive gels, catalysts and artifical metalloenzymes.
Single dopants in semiconductors have an atom-like electron-energy spectrum whose discrete character gives them the potential for applications such as quantum information or transistors. This Review describes the marked advances in the past decade towards observing, controllably creating and manipulating single dopants, as well as their application in devices.
