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Careful design of donor–acceptor polymer molecules with reversible redox properties gives access to polymer electrochromic displays with switchable absorption in the full visible range of the optical spectrum.
Artificial photosynthesis — splitting water with light — is an attractive way to make hydrogen, but what happens to the oxygen? A catalyst that aids in the efficient production of gaseous oxygen improves the viability of this approach.
Using a known and widely used drug as a specific triggering agent, another drug can be released from a hydrogel. This route opens up the application of hydrogels in the targeted, controlled release of drugs in vivo.
With some nanomaterial-based medicines having entered the marketplace, and more on the verge of doing so, nanomedicine is expected to become an exciting playground for chemists and material scientists.
A new, asymmetric glassy state is identified in soft colloidal mixtures composed of large and small star polymers. The results will enable the design, control and tuning of the rheological properties of other soft composite materials.
The structure of C60 is well-known: a perfectly symmetrical sphere of 12 isolated pentagons. But this is only one of 1,812 possible isomers, and the only one to obey the isolated-pentagon rule. So far it has been the only form observed. But now two isomers without isolated pentagons have been made.
Whether we should expand the use of nuclear energy is not the issue. Developing next-generation nuclear technology as part of a clean-energy portfolio is.
Oxide materials have long been known as hosts for exotic and useful physical properties. Recent advances in their design and fabrication establish the means to tailor their response for applications.
Nuclear energy offers a low-carbon footprint and less dependence on fossil fuel, but several materials challenges must be met to advance nuclear technology.
The synthesis of chiral magnetic molecules allows the first observation of strong magneto–chiral dichroism, where unpolarized light is absorbed differently for parallel and antiparallel propagation with respect to an applied magnetic field.
The present revival in nuclear technology is prompting concerns about its safe use. Nature Materials talks to Tomihiro Taniguchi, Deputy Director General at the International Atomic Energy Agency, responsible for nuclear safety and security.
Multiscale experimental and computational approaches reveal how an ancient fish protects itself with an armour of scales consisting of four different reinforcing, graded nanocomposite layers.
As interest in new generations of nuclear reactors is increasing worldwide, renewed research effort into new materials more tolerant to extreme conditions is crucial.
Pores in thin films tend to lie in the plane of the substrate, which makes it impractical for applications where diffusion into the pores is necessary. Nanometre-scale epitaxy on a patterned substrate is now used to form vertically oriented pores in honeycomb-structured films.
We are used to thinking that a macroscopic phenomenon can be described in terms of either classical physics or quantum mechanics. But sometimes it can be both. For example, it is shown that the linear magnetoresistance in InSb can be achieved by a classical or quantum route.
