Innovation, innovation, innovation - p1

doi:10.1038/nmat2352

The financial crisis teaches us about the consequences of ignoring risks. We cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes for the continuing crises in energy and climate.

Full Text - Innovation, innovation, innovation | PDF (67 KB) - Innovation, innovation, innovation

Investing in the future - pp3 - 4

Interview with Joseph Michels

doi:10.1038/nmat2351

Joseph Michels, a managing director at One Equity Partners, talks to Nature Materials about making private equity investments in high-tech companies in times of recession.

Full Text - Investing in the future | PDF (96 KB) - Investing in the future

Reverse the flow - p5

doi:10.1038/nmat2553

Full Text - Reverse the flow | PDF (166 KB) - Reverse the flow

Optoelectronics: Combining chemical worlds - pp7 - 8

Alejandro L. Briseno & Peidong Yang

doi:10.1038/nmat2350

Using self-assembly and electrodeposition, complementary organic and inorganic building blocks are combined to form a lamellar hybrid that is an efficient photoconductor.

Full Text - OptoelectronicsCombining chemical worlds | PDF (88 KB) - OptoelectronicsCombining chemical worlds

See also: Article by Sofos et al.

Quantum Dots: Squeeze or stretch? - pp8 - 9

Jacek Kossut

doi:10.1038/nmat2349

In semiconductor quantum dots, the electronic wave functions are squeezed into small areas. Stretching them in a controllable yet simple way profoundly affects their properties and can give them characteristics important for practical applications.

Full Text - Quantum DotsSqueeze or stretch? | PDF (72 KB) - Quantum DotsSqueeze or stretch?

See also: Letter by Bussian et al.

Ferroelectrics: Start the presses - pp9 - 10

Stephen Ducharme & Alexei Gruverman

doi:10.1038/nmat2348

A simple nanoimprinting method creates arrays of ferroelectric polymer structures suitable for low-cost, non-volatile memories.

Full Text - FerroelectricsStart the presses | PDF (247 KB) - FerroelectricsStart the presses

See also: Article by Hu et al.

Material Witness: Nature versus Naturoid - p11

Philip Ball

doi:10.1038/nmat2346

Full Text - Material WitnessNature versus Naturoid | PDF (69 KB) - Material WitnessNature versus Naturoid

Drug delivery: Stealth particles give mucus the slip - pp11 - 13

Yen Cu & W. Mark Saltzman

doi:10.1038/nmat2347

Mucus presents a formidable barrier to nanoparticle drug-delivery systems, but adding a coating of polymer molecules helps them sneak through the net.

Full Text - Drug deliveryStealth particles give mucus the slip | PDF (175 KB) - Drug deliveryStealth particles give mucus the slip

Physical approaches to biomaterial design - pp15 - 23

Samir Mitragotri & Joerg Lahann

doi:10.1038/nmat2344

Abstract - | Full Text - Physical approaches to biomaterial design | PDF (1,523 KB) - Physical approaches to biomaterial design

Subject Categories: Biological materials | Biomedical materials

The effect of plasticity in crumpling of thin sheets - pp25 - 29

T. Tallinen, J. A. Åström & J. Timonen

doi:10.1038/nmat2343

Bridging the gap between theoretical and experimental work to understand the effect of plasticity on the crumpling of thin sheets into a small volume has proved difficult. A realistic numerical model now makes a distinction between elastic and elasto-plastic behaviour.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - The effect of plasticity in crumpling of thin sheets | PDF (1,278 KB) - The effect of plasticity in crumpling of thin sheets | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Computation, modelling and theory

Power-law scaling and fractal nature of medium-range order in metallic glasses - pp30 - 34

D. Ma, A. D. Stoica & X.-L. Wang

doi:10.1038/nmat2340

Understanding the short- and medium-range structure of metallic glasses remains a difficult challenge. The observation that the medium-range order has the characteristics of a fractal network may have broader implications in the understanding of the relation between structure and mechanical properties in metallic glasses.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Power-law scaling and fractal nature of medium-range order in metallic glasses | PDF (2,379 KB) - Power-law scaling and fractal nature of medium-range order in metallic glasses

Subject Categories: Metals and alloys | Glasses | Mechanical properties

Tunable magnetic exchange interactions in manganese-doped inverted core–shell ZnSe–CdSe nanocrystals - pp35 - 40

David A. Bussian, Scott A. Crooker, Ming Yin, Marcin Brynda, Alexander L. Efros & Victor I. Klimov

doi:10.1038/nmat2342

Manipulating the properties of semiconducting nanostructures through magnetic doping can lead to interesting fundamental phenomena, as well as potential spintronics or memory devices. The demonstration that the magnetic properties of Mn-doped ZnSe dots can be tuned by adjusting the thickness of a CdSe shell represents a fundamental advance in the field.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Tunable magnetic exchange interactions in manganese-doped inverted core–shell ZnSe–CdSe nanocrystals | PDF (1,332 KB) - Tunable magnetic exchange interactions in manganese-doped inverted core–shell ZnSe–CdSe nanocrystals | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Semiconductors | Magnetic materials | Nanoscale materials

See also: News and Views by Kossut

Highly conductive 40-nm-long molecular wires assembled by stepwise incorporation of metal centres - pp41 - 46

Nunzio Tuccitto, Violetta Ferri, Marco Cavazzini, Silvio Quici, Genady Zhavnerko, Antonino Licciardello & Maria Anita Rampi

doi:10.1038/nmat2332

A long-standing problem with molecular wires is their poor transport properties. Highly conductive and very long wires have now been synthesized by incorporating metal centres into rigid molecular backbones, which shows promise for their use in electronic devices.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Highly conductive 40-nm-long molecular wires assembled by stepwise incorporation of metal centres | PDF (1,004 KB) - Highly conductive 40-nm-long molecular wires assembled by stepwise incorporation of metal centres | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Polymers | Biomedical materials

Surface-chemistry-driven actuation in nanoporous gold - pp47 - 51

J. Biener, A. Wittstock, L. A. Zepeda-Ruiz, M. M. Biener, V. Zielasek, D. Kramer, R. N. Viswanath, J. Weissmüller, M. Bäumer & A. V. Hamza

doi:10.1038/nmat2335

Nanostructured high-surface-area materials capable of converting energy into mechanical work are promising for use as actuation devices. Surface-chemistry-induced changes of the surface stress in nanoporous gold are now observed on alternate exposure to ozone and carbon monoxide.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Surface-chemistry-driven actuation in nanoporous gold | PDF (854 KB) - Surface-chemistry-driven actuation in nanoporous gold

Subject Categories: Sensors and biosensors | Nanoscale materials | Porous materials | Surface and thin films

Probing interfacial equilibration in microsphere crystals formed by DNA-directed assembly - pp52 - 55

Anthony J. Kim, Raynaldo Scarlett, Paul L. Biancaniello, Talid Sinno & John C. Crocker

doi:10.1038/nmat2338

The growth kinetics and crystallization behaviour of DNA-directed colloidal systems are not well understood. Now, using experiments and simulations, a single nucleotide mismatch in DNA strands attached to two microsphere species enables the kinetics of crystal growth and segregation as a result of crystallization to be investigated.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Probing interfacial equilibration in microsphere crystals formed by DNA-directed assembly | PDF (725 KB) - Probing interfacial equilibration in microsphere crystals formed by DNA-directed assembly | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Biological materials

Spin polarization in half-metals probed by femtosecond spin excitation - pp56 - 61

Georg M. Müller, Jakob Walowski, Marija Djordjevic, Gou-Xing Miao, Arunava Gupta, Ana V. Ramos, Kai Gehrke, Vasily Moshnyaga, Konrad Samwer, Jan Schmalhorst, Andy Thomas, Andreas Hütten, Günter Reiss, Jagadeesh S. Moodera & Markus Münzenberg

doi:10.1038/nmat2341

It is now shown that femtosecond optical excitation can be used as a tool to investigate the spin-polarization properties of half-metals, and provide a clear distinction between those and metals. Such knowledge is of fundamental importance for the use of these materials in spintronics applications.

Abstract - | Full Text - Spin polarization in half-metals probed by femtosecond spin excitation | PDF (1,760 KB) - Spin polarization in half-metals probed by femtosecond spin excitation | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Magnetic materials

Regular arrays of highly ordered ferroelectric polymer nanostructures for non-volatile low-voltage memories - pp62 - 67

Zhijun Hu, Mingwen Tian, Bernard Nysten & Alain M. Jonas

doi:10.1038/nmat2339

Ferroelectric polymers are of interest for use as memory devices for all-organic electronics applications. A fast and efficient embossing technology is now shown not only to lead to high-density arrays of ferroelectric nanocells but also to significantly improve the ferroelectric properties of these structures.

Abstract - | Full Text - Regular arrays of highly ordered ferroelectric polymer nanostructures for non-volatile low-voltage memories | PDF (1,086 KB) - Regular arrays of highly ordered ferroelectric polymer nanostructures for non-volatile low-voltage memories

Subject Categories: Polymers | Electronic materials | Nanoscale materials

See also: News and Views by Ducharme & Gruverman

A synergistic assembly of nanoscale lamellar photoconductor hybrids - pp68 - 75

Marina Sofos, Joshua Goldberger, David A. Stone, Jonathan E. Allen, Qing Ma, David J. Herman, Wei-Wen Tsai, Lincoln J. Lauhon & Samuel I. Stupp

doi:10.1038/nmat2336

Electronically active materials made by the self-assembly of alternating layers of zinc oxide and conjugated molecules directly onto an electrode combine the advantages of their inorganic and organic components. They are shown to be stable photoconductors with promising device characteristics.

Abstract - | Full Text - A synergistic assembly of nanoscale lamellar photoconductor hybrids | PDF (1,600 KB) - A synergistic assembly of nanoscale lamellar photoconductor hybrids | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Composites | Optical, photonic and optoelectronic materials

See also: News and Views by Briseno & Yang

A metal-free polymeric photocatalyst for hydrogen production from water under visible light - pp76 - 80

Xinchen Wang, Kazuhiko Maeda, Arne Thomas, Kazuhiro Takanabe, Gang Xin, Johan M. Carlsson, Kazunari Domen & Markus Antonietti

doi:10.1038/nmat2317

Hydrogen generated from splitting water using a catalyst and solar energy is an ideal energy source. A polymeric carbon nitride photocatalyst that is thermally and chemically stable is now shown to produce hydrogen from water even in the absence of noble metal catalysts.

Abstract - | Full Text - A metal-free polymeric photocatalyst for hydrogen production from water under visible light | PDF (671 KB) - A metal-free polymeric photocatalyst for hydrogen production from water under visible light | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Polymers | Materials for energy