Focus: Polymers

Theory in application - p255

doi:10.1038/nmat2155

Full Text - Theory in application | PDF (174 KB) - Theory in application

Origin of the magneto—thermogalvanic voltage in cluster-assembled metallic nanostructures - p257

Eric E. Fullerton & Stéphane Mangin

doi:10.1038/nmat2153a

Full Text - Origin of the magneto—thermogalvanic voltage in cluster-assembled metallic nanostructures | PDF (351 KB) - Origin of the magneto—thermogalvanic voltage in cluster-assembled metallic nanostructures

Origin of the magneto—thermogalvanic voltage in cluster-assembled metallic nanostructures - p258

Santiago Serrano-Guisan, Giulia Di Domenicantonio, Mohamed Abid, Jean-Pierre Abid, Matthias Hillenkamp, Laurent Gravier, Jean-Philippe Ansermet & Christian Félix

doi:10.1038/nmat2153b

Full Text - Origin of the magneto—thermogalvanic voltage in cluster-assembled metallic nanostructures | PDF (351 KB) - Origin of the magneto—thermogalvanic voltage in cluster-assembled metallic nanostructures

Origin of the energy bandgap in epitaxial graphene - pp258 - 259

Eli Rotenberg, Aaron Bostwick, Taisuke Ohta, Jessica L. McChesney, Thomas Seyller & Karsten Horn

doi:10.1038/nmat2154a

Full Text - Origin of the energy bandgap in epitaxial graphene | PDF (1,653 KB) - Origin of the energy bandgap in epitaxial graphene

Origin of the energy bandgap in epitaxial graphene - pp259 - 260

S.Y. Zhou, D.A. Siegel, A.V. Fedorov, F.El Gabaly, A.K. Schmid, A.H. Castro Neto, D.-H. Lee & A. Lanzara

doi:10.1038/nmat2154b

Full Text - Origin of the energy bandgap in epitaxial graphene | PDF (1,653 KB) - Origin of the energy bandgap in epitaxial graphene

Theoretical profits - pp261 - 263

Glenn H. Fredrickson

doi:10.1038/nmat2148

Full Text - Theoretical profits | PDF (491 KB) - Theoretical profits

The appliance of science - pp265 - 266

Interview with Ludwik Leibler

doi:10.1038/nmat2149

Full Text - The appliance of science | PDF (216 KB) - The appliance of science

Inside information - p267

doi:10.1038/nmat2150

Full Text - Inside information | PDF (197 KB) - Inside information

Transition metal oxides: Multiferroics go high-T_C - pp269 - 270

Maxim Mostovoy

doi:10.1038/nmat2143

Full Text - Transition metal oxidesMultiferroics go high-TC | PDF (219 KB) - Transition metal oxidesMultiferroics go high-TC

Perovskite oxides: An atomic force pencil and eraser - pp270 - 271

Guus Rijnders & Dave H. A. Blank

doi:10.1038/nmat2145

Full Text - Perovskite oxidesAn atomic force pencil and eraser | PDF (242 KB) - Perovskite oxidesAn atomic force pencil and eraser

Hydrogels: Structure starts to gel - pp271 - 273

Jennifer Elisseeff

doi:10.1038/nmat2147

Full Text - HydrogelsStructure starts to gel | PDF (311 KB) - HydrogelsStructure starts to gel

Photonics: Metamaterials to beat the static - pp273 - 274

Evgenii Narimanov

doi:10.1038/nmat2146

Full Text - PhotonicsMetamaterials to beat the static | PDF (182 KB) - PhotonicsMetamaterials to beat the static

Material witness: Starting to shine - p274

Philip Ball

doi:10.1038/nmat2142

Full Text - Material witnessStarting to shine | PDF (114 KB) - Material witnessStarting to shine

Coherent diffraction: Giant molecules or tiny crystals? - pp275 - 276

Ian Robinson

doi:10.1038/nmat2144

Full Text - Coherent diffractionGiant molecules or tiny crystals? | PDF (131 KB) - Coherent diffractionGiant molecules or tiny crystals?

Patterning surfaces with functional polymers - pp277 - 290

Zhihong Nie & Eugenia Kumacheva

doi:10.1038/nmat2109

Abstract - | Full Text - Patterning surfaces with functional polymers | PDF (1,736 KB) - Patterning surfaces with functional polymers

Cupric oxide as an induced-multiferroic with high-T_C - pp291 - 294

T. Kimura, Y. Sekio, H. Nakamura, T. Siegrist & A. P. Ramirez

doi:10.1038/nmat2125

Induced multiferroics, where ferroelectricity arises through the magnetic order, have attracted significant interest, despite maximum Curie temperatures of only 40 K. The discovery of multiferroic coupling up to 230 K in CuO therefore represents a major advance towards high-T_C multiferroics.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Cupric oxide as an induced-multiferroic with high-TC | PDF (794 KB) - Cupric oxide as an induced-multiferroic with high-TC

Subject Categories: Ceramics | Electronic materials | Magnetic materials

See also: News and Views by Mostovoy

A d.c. magnetic metamaterial - pp295 - 297

F. Magnus, B. Wood, J. Moore, K. Morrison, G. Perkins, J. Fyson, M. C. K. Wiltshire, D. Caplin, L. F. Cohen & J. B. Pendry

doi:10.1038/nmat2126

Metamaterials have attracted a great amount of interest, owing to a number of appealing applications such as cloaking. The use of superconducting components now enables the fabrication of metamaterials that could be used to cloak static magnetic fields rather than oscillating light waves.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - A d.c. magnetic metamaterial | PDF (269 KB) - A d.c. magnetic metamaterial

Subject Categories: Optical, photonic and optoelectronic materials | Magnetic materials | Superconductors

See also: News and Views by Narimanov

Nanoscale control of an interfacial metal–insulator transition at room temperature - pp298 - 302

C. Cen, S. Thiel, G. Hammerl, C. W. Schneider, K. E. Andersen, C. S. Hellberg, J. Mannhart & J. Levy

doi:10.1038/nmat2136

A highly conductive channel, a few nanometres wide, can be reversibly created by an AFM tip operating at room temperature at the interface between two oxide insulators. This discovery could provide a powerful method for the design and realization of electronic circuits at the nanoscale.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Nanoscale control of an interfacial metal–insulator transition at room temperature | PDF (1,921 KB) - Nanoscale control of an interfacial metal–insulator transition at room temperature | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Nanoscale materials | Surface and thin films

See also: News and Views by Rijnders & Blank

Gated proton transport in aligned mesoporous silica films - pp303 - 307

Rong Fan, Seong Huh, Ruoxue Yan, John Arnold & Peidong Yang

doi:10.1038/nmat2127

Modulated proton transport has a significant role in biological processes such as ATP synthesis and in electrochemical energy conversion. Electrostatic gating of proton conduction that can be actively modulated is now shown in aligned mesoporous silica thin-films.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Gated proton transport in aligned mesoporous silica films | PDF (634 KB) - Gated proton transport in aligned mesoporous silica films | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Materials for energy | Porous materials

Coordination-dependent surface atomic contraction in nanocrystals revealed by coherent diffraction - pp308 - 313

W. J. Huang, R. Sun, J. Tao, L. D. Menard, R. G. Nuzzo & J. M. Zuo

doi:10.1038/nmat2132

Coherent diffraction experiments and molecular dynamics enable the study of atomic contraction in gold nanocrystals. They reveal a surface-orientation dependence of the atomic bond contraction—remarkably different from the situation in bulk.

Abstract - | Full Text - Coordination-dependent surface atomic contraction in nanocrystals revealed by coherent diffraction | PDF (1,179 KB) - Coordination-dependent surface atomic contraction in nanocrystals revealed by coherent diffraction | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Nanoscale materials | Characterisation and analytical techniques

See also: News and Views by Robinson

Strain control and spontaneous phase ordering in vertical nanocomposite heteroepitaxial thin films - pp314 - 320

Judith L. MacManus-Driscoll, Patrick Zerrer, Haiyan Wang, Hao Yang, Jongsik Yoon, Arnaud Fouchet, Rong Yu, Mark G. Blamire & Quanxi Jia

doi:10.1038/nmat2124

Two-phase materials hold great promise for multifunctional applications. To realize practical devices, it is first necessary to obtain a high degree of control of the phase composition. By taking into account the properties of each phase, it is now possible to control the strain at the interfaces between them in two-component materials, and obtain phase ordering at large scales.

Abstract - | Full Text - Strain control and spontaneous phase ordering in vertical nanocomposite heteroepitaxial thin films | PDF (964 KB) - Strain control and spontaneous phase ordering in vertical nanocomposite heteroepitaxial thin films | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Composites | Electronic materials | Nanoscale materials

Field-effect-modulated Seebeck coefficient in organic semiconductors - pp321 - 325

K. P. Pernstich, B. Rössner & B. Batlogg

doi:10.1038/nmat2120

The nature of the charge transport in organic semiconductors is subject to intense research. A study on the thermal and charge transport of single-crystal thin-film polymers now shows close similarities between the transport properties of organic and inorganic semiconductors.

Abstract - | Full Text - Field-effect-modulated Seebeck coefficient in organic semiconductors | PDF (313 KB) - Field-effect-modulated Seebeck coefficient in organic semiconductors

Subject Categories: Polymers | Electronic materials | Semiconductors

Orientation-dependent ionization energies and interface dipoles in ordered molecular assemblies - pp326 - 332

Steffen Duhm, Georg Heimel, Ingo Salzmann, Hendrik Glowatzki, Robert L. Johnson, Antje Vollmer, Jürgen P. Rabe & Norbert Koch

doi:10.1038/nmat2119

Although an isolated individual molecule clearly has only one ionization potential, multiple values are found for molecules in ordered assemblies. By understanding this phenomenon, design rules for improving organic electronic interfaces can be derived.

Abstract - | Full Text - Orientation-dependent ionization energies and interface dipoles in ordered molecular assemblies | PDF (1,131 KB) - Orientation-dependent ionization energies and interface dipoles in ordered molecular assemblies | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Molecular electronics | Optical, photonic and optoelectronic materials

Ru–Pt core–shell nanoparticles for preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide in hydrogen - pp333 - 338

Selim Alayoglu, Anand U. Nilekar, Manos Mavrikakis & Bryan Eichhorn

doi:10.1038/nmat2156

To produce hydrogen by reforming hydrocarbons, efficient catalysts capable of removing carbon monoxide are needed. This can now be achieved via a preferential oxidation mechanism using nanoparticle catalysts consisting of a ruthenium core covered with platinum.

Abstract - | Full Text - Ru–Pt core–shell nanoparticles for preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide in hydrogen | PDF (828 KB) - Ru–Pt core–shell nanoparticles for preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide in hydrogen | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Catalytic materials | Materials for energy | Nanoscale materials

Zero-field optical manipulation of magnetic ions in semiconductors - p339

R. C. Myers, M. H. Mikkelsen, J.-M. Tang, A. C. Gossard, M. E. Flatté & D. D. Awschalom

doi:10.1038/nmat2158

Full Text - Zero-field optical manipulation of magnetic ions in semiconductors | PDF (80 KB) - Zero-field optical manipulation of magnetic ions in semiconductors