Organic, carbon-based and soft materials

New transport routes for membranes

Polymer vesicles are made with complex ‘vesicles within vesicle’ architectures and membranes that are reversibly permeable to hydrophilic molecules.

• Tunable complex porous structures
• True blue
• Memorable polymers
• Conduction with a twist

Inorganic, ceramic and composite

Electrifying hot silicon nanowires

New simulations predict that doping silicon nanowires with heavier silicon isotopes can dramatically lower their thermal conductivity-an important step towards the realization of high efficiency thermoelectric nanowire devices.

• Membranes go inorganic

Metals and alloys

Made to order

 Real time photoelectron spectroscopy tracks the transition of thin metallic films from disorder to order.

• And yet it moves
• Nanotubes in a twist
• A sizable size-effect

Biomaterials and biosensors

Arrays for Assays

Arrays of liposomes could be useful in label-free biological sensing

Optics, photonics and optoelectronics

Twinkle twinkle nano-gold

Precisely defined arrays of gold nanostructures produced by electron beam lithography exhibit enhanced photoluminescence emission efficiency

• Ultraviolet push
• Impenetrable disorder
• Silicon spikes soak up the rays
• Photonic crystal lasers move upwards

Electronic, magnetic and superconducting

Nanowires: when shape and size matters

The surface morphology and diameter of ZnO nanowires can be used to control the electronic properties of field effect transistors based on these nanostructures.

• Spin-transfer torque: Magnetic enigma
• Record spin
• Nanoparticles turn up the heat

Energy conversion, catalysis and separation

In tandem for improved efficiency

Two polymer based solar cells can be placed in series to improve the solar power conversion efficiency keeping the costs down. 

Device applications

Gold nanoparticles boost computer memory

Stacking gold nanoparticles into three dimensional cells increases data storage capacity

• Electrospun memories