Nature Materials - Current issue : November 2009 - Vol 8 No 11
- Memory foams take shape
- Magnesium alloys: Made for bioimplantation
- Gate dielectrics: Choose the right path
- Metamaterials: Perfect for biosensing
Latest content
Advanced online publication
Neurofilament networks
Letter by Beck et al.Liquid-crystal gel networks of neurofilament assemblies play a key part in the mechanical stability of neuronal processes, and disruptions in the networks are a hallmark of motor-neuron diseases. Under pressure, these networks are shown to undergo an abrupt transition from expanded to condensed states, with distinct mechanical properties, helping to explain possible disruption mechanisms.
Advanced online publication
Nanomagnets
Article by Alloyeau et al.The structure of magnetic nanoparticles has a strong influence on the properties of these materials that are at present being considered for magnetic-storage applications. It is now shown that the size and shape of magnetic nanoparticles such as CoPt affect the transition from an ordered to a disordered phase, highlighting the need to take morphology into account to understand the structural properties.
Advanced online publication
Magnetic nanoribbons
Article by Yu et al.Synthesizing magnetic nanostructures, which could potentially be used in spintronic applications, is quite challenging owing to the difficulty in incorporating magnetic impurities in a non-magnetic matrix. It is now shown that up to 10% Mn can be incorporated in CdSe nanoribbons by nucleation-controlled doping, giving rise to very strong magnetic effects.
Advanced online publication
Grain boundaries
Article by Rivnay et al.Grain boundaries are already known to have a large effect on the charge-carrier mobility of molecular semiconductors. Several experimental and computational techniques now show that the orientation of grain boundaries in a perylene diimide semiconductor modulates carrier mobility by two orders of magnitude. The results provide important guidelines for producing device-optimized molecular semiconductors.
Advanced online publication
Tumour treatment
Article by MacKay et al.When artificial polypeptides are conjugated to a variety of hydrophobic molecules such as chemotherapeutics, the resulting molecules spontaneously self-assemble into nanoparticles. Delivering the chemotherapeutics to a murine cancer model, the nanoparticles have a fourfold higher maximum tolerated dose than the free drug, and induce nearly complete tumour regression after a single dose.
Advanced online publication
Colloidal suspensions
Article by Deville et al.Direct in situ high-resolution X-ray radiography and tomography observations now reveal instability and metastability domains in cellular solidification of colloidal suspensions and the transition to the stable phase. These results provide important insight into the study of morphological instabilities and could prove significant in the design of various types of nanostructure.
