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A material–cell hybrid device that mimics the anatomic shape of the intervertebral disc has been made and successfully implanted into mice to show that tissue engineering may, in the future, benefit sufferers from back pain.
The properties of semiconductors are highly dependent on their structural form. The finding that ZnS nanobelts can be tuned to take the wurtzite form therefore adds to the strategies for the control of semiconductor properties by optimization of size and morphology.
Electron microscopy is a ubiquitous tool in the study of many materials, in particular those on the nanometre scale. A method of manipulating data from electron diffraction offers high-resolution imaging at an affordable price.
Once upon a time it was a surrogate for diamond. Now old SrTiO3 shines with its own (blue) light, as a radiative process from oxygen vacancies is discovered.
The use of quantum dots as DNA nanosensors promises to significantly enhance the sensitivity of fluorescence-based DNA detection for medical diagnosis and biomolecular investigations.
The complexity of the size, shape and composition of nanocrystals is evolving. Equipping them with a single gold tip that can serve as a preferential anchoring point for molecular linkers holds promise for new strategies in self-assembly.
Magnetic nanoparticles are useful for a wide range of applications from data storage to medicinal imaging. The large-scale preparation of FeCo nanoparticles boosts this potential.
Understanding the movement of domain walls is important for the development of fast spintronic devices. In nanowires, this domain-wall motion is found to show a complex behaviour.
Long-lasting charge separation is key to the performance of solar cells. A new design for larger conjugated dye-sensitizer molecules effectively retards the recombination of the charge-separated state and promises improved energy conversion efficiency.
The ability to change their dimensions in an applied electric field makes ferroelectric materials important for piezoelectric applications. The crystal symmetry and related strains of these materials are a strong influence on their switching behaviour.
Superconductivity and antiferromagnetism are in fierce competition in high-temperature superconductors. However, this competition has the unexpected benefit that the antiferromagnetism improves the capacity of the superconductor to resist magnetic fields.
The demonstration of switches and logic devices made purely from carbon nanotubes, without the need for an external gate, puts nanotubes at the forefront of next-generation electronics.
