Challenges for science in India - p361

doi:10.1038/nmat2437

Although India can capitalize on a long history of scientific excellence, progress in scientific research and science education needs to be implemented across all layers of society.

Full Text - Challenges for science in India | PDF (150 KB) - Challenges for science in India

India's rocky road to scientific success - pp362 - 363

Interview with Thirumalachari Ramasami

doi:10.1038/nmat2438

Nature Materials spoke to Thirumalachari Ramasami, the Secretary of State in India's Department of Science and Technology, about the many challenges facing scientific research and development in India.

Full Text - India's rocky road to scientific success | PDF (156 KB) - India's rocky road to scientific success

Our choice from the recent literature - p364

doi:10.1038/nmat2439

Full Text - Our choice from the recent literature | PDF (168 KB) - Our choice from the recent literature

Nanoparticle assembly: DNA provides control - pp365 - 366

Vivek M. Prabhu & Steven D. Hudson

doi:10.1038/nmat2436

Solution-based syntheses of nanoclusters typically produce a broad range of species. A step-by-step process using DNA-encoded nanoparticles assembled on a solid support aids in the design and production of specific self-assembled nanoclusters in high yields.

Full Text - Nanoparticle assemblyDNA provides control | PDF (431 KB) - Nanoparticle assemblyDNA provides control

See also: Letter by Maye et al.

Nanocapacitors: Undead layers breathe new life - pp366 - 368

Ronald Cohen

doi:10.1038/nmat2435

Theoretical advances demonstrating an improved dielectric response in nanocapacitor structures will lead to advanced electronics with greatly increased memory densities.

Full Text - NanocapacitorsUndead layers breathe new life | PDF (396 KB) - NanocapacitorsUndead layers breathe new life

See also: Article by Stengel et al.

Quantum information: Mother Nature outgrown - pp368 - 369

Ronald Hanson

doi:10.1038/nmat2433

Ultrapure, isotopically engineered diamonds show record spin coherence times. The ideal spin-free material for quantum information processing and magnetometry is one step closer.

Full Text - Quantum informationMother Nature outgrown | PDF (309 KB) - Quantum informationMother Nature outgrown

See also: Letter by Balasubramanian et al.

Material witness: Superconducting when wet - p370

Philip Ball

doi:10.1038/nmat2426

Full Text - Material witnessSuperconducting when wet | PDF (103 KB) - Material witnessSuperconducting when wet

Hydrogels: Gene jelly - pp370 - 372

Kersten S. Rabe & Christof M. Niemeyer

doi:10.1038/nmat2434

It's been possible for some time to create proteins synthetically, but cell-free gels that can produce proteins up to 300 times as efficiently as solution processes could provide new directions and greater complexity in synthetic biology.

Full Text - HydrogelsGene jelly | PDF (231 KB) - HydrogelsGene jelly

See also: Article by Park et al.

Surface water: Pentagonal ice in chains - pp372 - 373

Peter J. Feibelman

doi:10.1038/nmat2428

One-dimensional islands that grow during ice nucleation at low temperatures on a copper(110) surface are identified as chains of water-molecule pentagons. This unexpected molecular arrangement optimizes oxygen-atom proximity to preferred bonding sites on the metal, while minimizing strain in the hydrogen-bond network.

Full Text - Surface waterPentagonal ice in chains | PDF (178 KB) - Surface waterPentagonal ice in chains

See also: Article by Carrasco et al.

Superconducting group-IV semiconductors - pp375 - 382

Xavier Blase, Etienne Bustarret, Claude Chapelier, Thierry Klein & Christophe Marcenat

doi:10.1038/nmat2425

Abstract - | Full Text - Superconducting group-IV semiconductors | PDF (1,285 KB) - Superconducting group-IV semiconductors

Ultralong spin coherence time in isotopically engineered diamond - pp383 - 387

Gopalakrishnan Balasubramanian, Philipp Neumann, Daniel Twitchen, Matthew Markham, Roman Kolesov, Norikazu Mizuochi, Junichi Isoya, Jocelyn Achard, Johannes Beck, Julia Tissler, Vincent Jacques, Philip R. Hemmer, Fedor Jelezko & Jörg Wrachtrup

doi:10.1038/nmat2420

The synthesis of highly pure diamond nanocrystals with a very small amount of paramagnetic impurities allows the observation of electron spin-dephasing times of up to 1.8 ms, a record for solid-state materials. The result could have important implications for quantum information processing methods based on diamond.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Ultralong spin coherence time in isotopically engineered diamond | PDF (2,592 KB) - Ultralong spin coherence time in isotopically engineered diamond

Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Optical, photonic and optoelectronic materials | Nanoscale materials

See also: News and Views by Hanson

Stepwise surface encoding for high-throughput assembly of nanoclusters - pp388 - 391

Mathew M. Maye, Dmytro Nykypanchuk, Marine Cuisinier, Daniel van der Lelie & Oleg Gang

doi:10.1038/nmat2421

Solution-based syntheses of nanoscale clusters using biomolecules as links between nanoparticles are frequently inefficient and normally produce many different multimers or isomers of clusters. Dimer nanoclusters and Janus nanoclusters have now been designed and produced in high yields using nanoparticles grafted with single-stranded DNA.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Stepwise surface encoding for high-throughput assembly of nanoclusters | PDF (803 KB) - Stepwise surface encoding for high-throughput assembly of nanoclusters | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Biological materials | Nanoscale materials | Design synthesis and processing

See also: News and Views by Prabhu & Hudson

Enhancement of ferroelectricity at metal–oxide interfaces - pp392 - 397

Massimiliano Stengel, David Vanderbilt & Nicola A. Spaldin

doi:10.1038/nmat2429

The size reduction of thin-film ferroelectric capacitors has been hampered by effects that arise as ferroelectric films reach only a few unit cells in height. However, rather than inevitably resulting in a 'dead layer', an enhancement of ferroelectricity at certain metal–oxide interfaces is now predicted.

Abstract - | Full Text - Enhancement of ferroelectricity at metal–oxide interfaces | PDF (463 KB) - Enhancement of ferroelectricity at metal–oxide interfaces

Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Surface and thin films | Computation, modelling and theory

See also: News and Views by Cohen

Synergetic combination of different types of defect to optimize pinning landscape using BaZrO₃-doped YBa₂Cu₃O₇ - pp398 - 404

B. Maiorov, S. A. Baily, H. Zhou, O. Ugurlu, J. A. Kennison, P. C. Dowden, T. G. Holesinger, S. R. Foltyn & L. Civale

doi:10.1038/nmat2408

Applications of high-temperature superconductivity rely on transporting a large current without dissipation. It is now shown how the inclusion of a combination of two types of defect can be used to control and optimize the performance of the high-temperature superconductor YBa₂Cu₃O₇.

Abstract - | Full Text - Synergetic combination of different types of defect to optimize pinning landscape using BaZrO3-doped YBa2Cu3O7 | PDF (869 KB) - Synergetic combination of different types of defect to optimize pinning landscape using BaZrO3-doped YBa2Cu3O7 | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Superconductors

The preparation and structure of salty ice VII under pressure - pp405 - 409

Stefan Klotz, Livia E. Bove, Thierry Strässle, Thomas C. Hansen & Antonino M. Saitta

doi:10.1038/nmat2422

Freezing water containing salts is believed to produce pure ice and a salt hydrate. Neutron-diffraction measurements of the ice phase obtained by recrystallizing the glassy state of LiCl salt solution at high pressure suggests something different. The data reveal an 'alloyed' ice VII structure incorporating Li and Cl ions.

Abstract - | Full Text - The preparation and structure of salty ice VII under pressure | PDF (2,787 KB) - The preparation and structure of salty ice VII under pressure | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Structural materials | Geomaterials

From chessboard tweed to chessboard nanowire structure during pseudospinodal decomposition - pp410 - 414

Yong Ni & Armen G. Khachaturyan

doi:10.1038/nmat2431

Microstructure evolution in complex nonlinear systems, such as quasiperiodic two-phase chessboard structures, is a fascinating fundamental phenomenon. It is demonstrated that under certain conditions a transformation from tweed to nanowire chessboards develops by spinodal decomposition.

Abstract - | Full Text - From chessboard tweed to chessboard nanowire structure during pseudospinodal decomposition | PDF (1,228 KB) - From chessboard tweed to chessboard nanowire structure during pseudospinodal decomposition | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Nanoscale materials | Computation, modelling and theory

The role of viscous flow of oxide in the growth of self-ordered porous anodic alumina films - pp415 - 420

Jerrod E. Houser & Kurt R. Hebert

doi:10.1038/nmat2423

Explaining the quantitative relationships between processing conditions and oxide-layer geometry for the growth of porous anodic alumina has so far proved difficult. A model for steady-state growth of these amorphous films, incorporating metal and oxygen ions transported by plastic flow and coupled electrical migration, is now proposed.

Abstract - | Full Text - The role of viscous flow of oxide in the growth of self-ordered porous anodic alumina films | PDF (762 KB) - The role of viscous flow of oxide in the growth of self-ordered porous anodic alumina films | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Porous materials | Surface and thin films

Towards high charge-carrier mobilities by rational design of the shape and periphery of discotics - pp421 - 426

Xinliang Feng, Valentina Marcon, Wojciech Pisula, Michael Ryan Hansen, James Kirkpatrick, Ferdinand Grozema, Denis Andrienko, Kurt Kremer & Klaus Müllen

doi:10.1038/nmat2427

Discotic liquid crystals are materials with high charge-carrier mobility, which are promising for molecular electronics. They self-organize into stacks, usually with a twist of 30^°, but the shape and periphery of the molecules can now be altered to produce materials with a twist of 60^°. Defect-limited mobilities of these materials reach 0.2 cm² V^-1 s^-1, but the potential defect-free mobility could be up to 10 cm² V^-1 s^-1.

Abstract - | Full Text - Towards high charge-carrier mobilities by rational design of the shape and periphery of discotics | PDF (1,061 KB) - Towards high charge-carrier mobilities by rational design of the shape and periphery of discotics | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Porous materials | Surface and thin films

A one-dimensional ice structure built from pentagons - pp427 - 431

Javier Carrasco, Angelos Michaelides, Matthew Forster, Sam Haq, Rasmita Raval & Andrew Hodgson

doi:10.1038/nmat2403

Although heterogeneous ice nucleation is investigated in a number of fields, a mechanism for the process remains elusive. Ice with a pentagon-based chain structure is now seen to form on a Cu(110) surface, revealing that the structure of ice–water films can adapt to maximize water–metal bonding and achieve strong hydrogen bonding within the layer.

Abstract - | Full Text - A one-dimensional ice structure built from pentagons | PDF (877 KB) - A one-dimensional ice structure built from pentagons | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Surface and thin films | Computation, modelling and theory

See also: News and Views by Feibelman

A cell-free protein-producing gel - pp432 - 437

Nokyoung Park, Soong Ho Um, Hisakage Funabashi, Jianfeng Xu & Dan Luo

doi:10.1038/nmat2419

Proteins are usually produced in living cells, but hydrogels that incorporate genes demonstrate that cells aren't always needed. The gels produce a wide variety of proteins without cells, and with higher yields than the equivalent solution method. Materials-related proteins that have been difficult to produce by other methods can now be made in greater quantities.

Abstract - | Full Text - A cell-free protein-producing gel | PDF (4,768 KB) - A cell-free protein-producing gel | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Polymers | Biomedical materials

See also: News and Views by Rabe & Niemeyer