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Understanding oxide dissolution processes on the molecular scale remains a challenge. A study on nanoscale oxides suggests a mechanism for dissolution that proceeds through the formation of oxygen-stuffed metastable structures.
Materials science and technology could offer the opportunity to address vital needs of African people. But improving the infrastructure for science education and dissemination of knowledge is the first step to take.
Mast cells induce protective immune responses through secretion of stimulatory granules. Microparticles modelled after mast-cell granules are now shown to replicate and enhance the functions of their natural counterparts and to direct the character of the resulting immunity.
The contact angle of water drops on substrates for which the wettability is dominated by van der Waals forces remains unchanged when the substrates are coated with a monolayer of graphene. Such 'wetting transparency' could lead to superior conducting and hydrophobic graphene-coated surfaces with tunable electronic properties.
The ability of laser interference potentials to trap and control colloidal particles opens up a new potential area of 'toy systems' displaying real physics. A beautiful example is the study of friction between colloidal crystals and a variety of artificially created surface potentials.
Limiting reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels inevitably depends on a more efficient utilization of solar energy. Materials scientists discuss the most viable approaches to produce high-energy-density fuels from sunlight that can be implemented in existing infrastructures.
For colloidal particles adsorbed at liquid/liquid interfaces, it is now found that the height of a particle above the interface equilibrates much more slowly than expected. Such a slow relaxation has major implications for the understanding of effective interactions between colloids at fluid interfaces.
The application of inhomogeneous strain to silicon photonic structures may lead to new optically active devices based on second-order nonlinear processes.
