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Graphene is potentially attractive for electrochemical energy storage devices but whether it will lead to real technological progress is still unclear. Recent applications of graphene in battery technology and electrochemical capacitors are now assessed critically.
Temperature can switch the thermodynamic phase of colloid–polymer mixtures by tipping the balance between competing attractive interactions induced by polymer depletion or adsorption.
Computer simulations of one-component three-dimensional icosahedral quasicrystals will help to understand the mechanisms that may stabilize them in experiments.
The migration of ions under the effect of an external electric field locally modifies the doping of organometal halide perovskite films. This is used to reversibly switch the photocurrent direction in very simple photovoltaic architectures.
Individual spins, associated with vacancies in the silicon carbide lattice, have been observed and coherently manipulated. This may offer new directions for integrated spintronic devices.
By carefully selecting only two elemental 'building block materials' at the nanoscale, it is possible to digitally design composite electromagnetic media with properties vastly different from their individual constituents and suitable for performing complex optical functions.
High electrical contact resistance had stalled the promised performance of two-dimensional layered devices. Low-resistance metal–semiconductor contacts are now obtained by interfacing semiconducting MoS2 layers with the metallic phase of this material.
Three independent groups report the growth of two-dimensional heteromaterials with seamless vertical or lateral interfaces. The one-layer-thick transition metal dichalcogenides thus form heterojunctions with built-in device function.
Analysis of the growth patterns of calcitic prisms within the shell of the fan mollusc Pinna nobilis shows that growth can be predicted using grain theory and that the organic casings of the prisms set the thermodynamic boundaries.
Hexagonal boron nitride nanostructures are shown to sustain phonon–polariton modes with comparable performances to plasmon–polariton modes in graphene but with lower losses.
The properties and applications of biomacromolecules, for example proteins, can be enhanced by the covalent attachment of synthetic polymers. This Review discusses the modification of these biomacromolecules with stimuli-responsive polymers.
This Review discusses the common structural motifs of a range of natural materials and the difficulties associated with mimicking these designs in the fabrication of synthetic structures with enhanced mechanical properties.