Research Highlights in 2009

Researchers have rationalized radial Young's modulus measurements of carbon nanotubes by assuming it varies with radial strain

The reactivity of aluminium clusters with water depends on geometric structure rather than electronic structure

The antimicrobial effect of silver nanoparticles can be switched on and off by simple optical irradiation

New force-detection techniques allow magnetic resonance imaging to resolve objects just a few nanometres in size

Researchers have produced large, centimetre-scale areas of high-quality graphene on arbitrary substrates

Contrary to classical theoretical predictions, electric fields increase the solid–liquid interfacial tension of ionic solutions moving in zeolite nanochannels

Surface plasmons can be controlled by designing the edges of metal films to produce interference patterns

Researchers have observed carbon nanotubes behaving as Mott insulators

Quantitative models can describe and predict how cells take-up and expel nanoparticles

Three-dimensional architectures of gold nanoparticles can be built using DNA-based self-assembly

Repulsive forces at the nanoscale could make ultra-low friction nanomechanical devices possible

By combining information from low-resolution images and diffraction patterns, sub-atomic-resolution diffractive imaging of quantum dots can be achieved