Volume 8 Issue 1, January 2013

The electrostatic interaction between protein cages and charged gold nanoparticles can be used to assemble nanoparticle superlattices with structures that have not been observed before in nature.

Yeast, bacteria and fungi have been used to synthesize a variety of nanocrystals. Now, the metal detoxification process in the gut of an earthworm is exploited to produce biocompatible cadmium telluride quantum dots.

A molecular motor can be made to rotate in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction by injecting electrons into different parts of the molecule using the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope.

A supramolecular polymer made of thousands of bistable [c2]daisy chains amplifies individual nanometric displacements up to the micrometre-length scale, in a concerted process reminiscent of muscular cells.

Experiments on nano-islands of a high-temperature superconductor reveal the presence of a small imaginary component of the superconducting order parameter.

This Review looks at recent progress in the development and understanding of memristive devices, and examines the performance requirements for computing with such devices.

Experiments on an YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ nano-island reveal fundamental information about the order parameter in this type of high-temperature superconducting material.

Polarization-sensitive scanning optical microscopy allows real-space imaging of fractional quantum Hall liquids.

Both a pipe-clip-device structure and an effective air-gap fabrication technique allow for a nanomechanical switch to be synthesized that can be operated with less than 1 V.

Scanning tunnelling microscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal that yttria, a high-κ dielectric, can form a complete monolayer on platinum-supported graphene.

A molecular motor adsorbed on a gold surface can be made to rotate in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction by selective inelastic electron tunnelling through different subunits of the motor.

Protein cages can be used to guide the assembly of binary nanoparticle superlattices through tunable electrostatic interactions with charged gold nanoparticles.

The metal detoxification pathway in the earthworm can be exploited for the synthesis of luminescent semiconductor quantum dots that could be used in live cell imaging.

Camouflaging nanoporous silicon particles by functionalizing them with membranes isolated from white blood cells can delay their removal from the body and improve their accumulation in tumours.