Research Highlights in 2008

The structures of the narrowest carbon nanotubes ever made have been assigned for the first time on the basis of atomically resolved transmission electron microscope images

Electrons go surfing on acoustic shock waves in semiconductors

Highly sensitive platinum-coated carbon nanotubes can detect much lower levels of carbon monoxide than other nanotube-based sensors

Paints containing silver nanoparticles show antibacterial properties and are made by a simple and environmentally friendly method using vegetable oil

Assembling long carbon nanotubes vertically in a low-density array has resulted in a near-ideal black material that may have light-harvesting applications

A nanostructured quantum dot with tunable electronic properties can be carved from a single sheet of graphene with a reactive ion etching process

Theoretical calculations show that stable growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes requires strong bonds between them and the metal clusters from which they grow

The base-by-base activity of DNA polymerase can be monitored with a single-molecule nanopore device

Strands of DNA perform remarkable acrobatics to wrap themselves around carbon nanotubes, forming very useful hybrid structures

The factors that determine how small organic molecules assemble on different noble metal surfaces are probed with a combination of experimental and computational techniques

By controlling the motion of phonons at the nanoscale, silicon nanowires could form the basis of a new generation of thermoelectric devices