The decade to 2010 has seen some remarkable advancements in materials science, and the pace of progress in the field shows no sign of easing. One of the most notable achievements of the decade was undoubtedly the successful experimental isolation of graphene monolayers, a landmark event in both materials and applied physics research that reinvigorated many fields of science. Graphene, graphene nanoribbons and carbon nanotubes have profound potential as the basis for the technological successor to silicon-based electronics — a mature field that is fast approaching the limits of classical physics.

In no small part benefiting from the renewed interest in the physics and material properties of graphene is research on the complementary materials and technologies that will contribute to this revolution in electronics. Our understanding of the electronic band structures and spin behavior of many materials has expanded remarkably in the past decade, spawning a proliferation of new avenues to the next era of electronics: plastic and organic electronics, spintronics, quantum electronics, optoelectronics — no longer are we limited to the classical concept of electron charge. On page 33 of this issue of NPG Asia Materials, Xiao-Lin Wang and colleagues from the University of Wollongong in Australia review materials that are attracting intense interest as the basis for new electronics: zero-gap and spin-gapless materials. Graphene is an example of a two-dimensional zero-gap material, and its characterization has led to a cascade of discoveries and theorizations on new classes of materials such as topological insulators and spin-gapless semiconductors.

In the same field of applied physics, Toshiyo Kamiya and Hideo Hosono from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan review a particular class of materials that has already been applied in commercial and prototype devices: transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors (see page 17). These materials not only exhibit unique electron transport properties, they also offer significant processing advantages in being suitable for low-temperature fabrication, in turn paving the way for flexible plastic electronics.

The past decade also saw the rapid expansion of nanoresearch accompanied by an explosion in the number of journals and primary research articles covering the field. Nanotechnology has a multitude of potential applications, but it is in medical and therapeutic roles that such technologies could benefit society most. On page 25, Cyrille Boyer, Tom Davis and colleagues from the University of New South Wales in Australia present the most recent advancements in the development of polymer-stabilized iron-oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) for use in nanomedicine. IONPs, with their serendipitous combination of high specific surface area, surface functionality and superparamagnetism, are driving the nanomedicine revolution. These new biotechnology tools are already being used to enhance the diagnostic efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging, but they also have strong potential for use in drug and gene delivery, tissue engineering and bioseparation.

Looking back over the last ten years, we can see just how far materials science and the applied technologies derived from its discoveries have advanced, and it is emboldening to see how the niches for research have multiplied exponentially over this period. It should also give us great pleasure to note that researchers from the Asia-Pacific region have risen to the challenge and are now, more than ever, contributing to global progress in the field at the highest level. The future of materials research, and particularly in our region, looks very bright indeed.

Hideo Takezoe

Editor-in-Chief

NPG Asia Materials