Nature Materials contents: September 2012 Volume 11 Number 9 pp743-826

TABLE OF CONTENTS September 2012 Volume 11, Issue 9 Editorial Research Highlights News and Views Letters Articles Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Nature Insight: Chemistry and Energy This Insight focuses on the developments in solar energy, water-based methods of electricity generation and the production of biofuels. Access the Insight free online for two months. Produced with support from: TOTAL   Editorial Top A decade in numbers   pp743 - 744 doi:10.1038/nmat3424 On the tenth anniversary of the launch of Nature Materials, we look back at how authors, reviewers and editors have contributed to the journal by evaluating data such as decision types and times, and the geographical share of submitted and published manuscripts. Research Highlights Top Hybrid electrolytes | Plasmonics making waves | Up and away | Understanding endocytosis | Block and deliver News and Views Top Tissue engineering: Perfusable vascular networks   pp746 - 747 Gabor Forgacs doi:10.1038/nmat3412 A rapid vascular casting approach that uses carbohydrate glass as a sacrificial template allows tissues to be built that can be kept alive for longer in the laboratory until needed for transplantation. See also: Letter by Miller et al. Material witness: Shock relief   p747 Philip Ball doi:10.1038/nmat3411 Dielectric nanoparticles: Polarizability reveals identity   pp748 - 749 Enrique Sahagún and Juan José Sáenz doi:10.1038/nmat3410 Improvements in electrostatic force microscopy now make it possible to measure the dielectric constant of isolated low-polarizable nanoparticles and viruses, thus enabling the label-free identification of dielectric nanomaterials of similar morphology. See also: Article by Fumagalli et al. Mesoporous silica: Holey quasicrystals   pp749 - 751 Sarah H. Tolbert doi:10.1038/nmat3414 The self-assembly of surfactant micelles in the formation of templated mesoporous silicas can be tuned to produce mesoporous materials with quasicrystalline ordering, proving that quasicrystals are indeed a general form of ordered but non-periodic matter. Electronics: Electronic materials through time   pp751 - 752 B. Keimer, J. Maier and J. Mannhart doi:10.1038/nmat3407 Complex materials that challenge existing electronic materials are the subject of intense research. In particular, correlated electron effects and ionic properties, and their interplay, promise new functionalities. Polymer chemistry: Still in control   pp753 - 754 Jeffrey Pyun doi:10.1038/nmat3413 The development of synthetic strategies enabling the fabrication of well-defined polymer-biomolecule conjugates, together with advances in top-down nanofabrication, are two highlights from a recent meeting of polymer scientists. Nature Materials JOBS of the week Research Center for Strategic Materials, Structural Materials Unit, Microstructure Design Group [R08-08] National Institue for Materials Science (NIMS) Environment and Energy Materials Division / Materials Reliability Unit / Creep Resistant Materials Group [R08-05] National Institue for Materials Science (NIMS) PhD positions in Materials Chemistry University of Liverpool Ph.D. in Novel Polymer Materials for Regenerative Medicine Dublin City University (DCU) Professor - Biomedical Engineering and Materials Queen Mary, University of London More Science jobs from Nature Materials EVENT RoTUIasiEvent-Opportunities , challenges and perspectives of using of the new materials ( graphen, metallic glasses, fullerenes) in industry 27.-28.09.12 Bucharest, Romania More science events from Letters Top Multiferroicity in an organic charge-transfer salt that is suggestive of electric-dipole-driven magnetism   pp755 - 758 Peter Lunkenheimer, Jens Müller, Stephan Krohns, Florian Schrettle, Alois Loidl, Benedikt Hartmann, Robert Rommel, Mariano de Souza, Chisa Hotta, John A. Schlueter and Michael Lang doi:10.1038/nmat3400 Multiferroics show simultaneous electrical and magnetic order. The suggestion that ferroelectricity in an organic multiferroic is not driven by the usual atomic displacements but instead by ordering of electronic charges opens the possibility of a new group of multiferroic compounds. The nature of strength enhancement and weakening by pentagon–heptagon defects in graphene   pp759 - 763 Yujie Wei, Jiangtao Wu, Hanqing Yin, Xinghua Shi, Ronggui Yang and Mildred Dresselhaus doi:10.1038/nmat3370 Graphene is often referred to as the strongest material in existence. That may be so for a perfect crystal, but most graphene sheets are polycrystalline, and the grain boundaries affect their mechanical properties. A new study reveals that both the density and detailed arrangement of the defects that form the grain boundaries play a significant part in determining the strength of a polycrystalline graphene sheet. Cross-sectional imaging of individual layers and buried interfaces of graphene-based heterostructures and superlattices   pp764 - 767 S. J. Haigh, A. Gholinia, R. Jalil, S. Romani, L. Britnell, D. C. Elias, K. S. Novoselov, L. A. Ponomarenko, A. K. Geim and R. Gorbachev doi:10.1038/nmat3386 Heterostructures of very thin films have been used for decades in research and industry. Now a transmission electron microscopy study demonstrates the possibility of realizing perfect structures built by piling up one-atom-thick layers of graphene and boron nitride. Rapid casting of patterned vascular networks for perfusable engineered three-dimensional tissues   pp768 - 774 Jordan S. Miller, Kelly R. Stevens, Michael T. Yang, Brendon M. Baker, Duc-Huy T. Nguyen, Daniel M. Cohen, Esteban Toro, Alice A. Chen, Peter A. Galie, Xiang Yu, Ritika Chaturvedi, Sangeeta N. Bhatia and Christopher S. Chen doi:10.1038/nmat3357 Tissues with perfusable vascular networks can be fabricated through layer-by-layer assembly, bioprinting or sacrificial moulding, but current approaches are slow, have limited resolution, or place significant constraints on the materials or the processing conditions. A rapid and general vascular casting approach using carbohydrate glass as a sacrificial template to generate tissues containing cylindrical networks that can be lined with endothelial cells and perfused with blood under high-pressure pulsatile flow is now reported. See also: News and Views by Forgacs Articles Top Atomic origins of the high catalytic activity of nanoporous gold    pp775 - 780 Takeshi Fujita, Pengfei Guan, Keith McKenna, Xingyou Lang, Akihiko Hirata, Ling Zhang, Tomoharu Tokunaga, Shigeo Arai, Yuta Yamamoto, Nobuo Tanaka, Yoshifumi Ishikawa, Naoki Asao, Yoshinori Yamamoto, Jonah Erlebacher and Mingwei Chen doi:10.1038/nmat3391 Although nanoparticulate gold possesses remarkable catalytic activity towards oxidation reactions, catalytic activity usually cannot be observed in particles larger than 5 nm. Atomic insights into dealloyed nanoporous gold catalysts by transmission electron microscopy now demonstrate that surface defects are active sites for the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide and that residual silver stabilizes atomic steps. Deep-subwavelength imaging of the modal dispersion of light   pp781 - 787 R. Sapienza, T. Coenen, J. Renger, M. Kuttge, N. F. van Hulst and A. Polman doi:10.1038/nmat3402 Knowledge of the density of optical states is crucial for understanding the function of photonic devices. A method that can map optical states with subwavelength precision, and therefore allow the study and design of optical properties on the nanoscale, is now reported. Single-crystal organic charge-transfer interfaces probed using Schottky-gated heterostructures   pp788 - 794 Ignacio Gutiérrez Lezama, Masaki Nakano, Nikolas A. Minder, Zhihua Chen, Flavia V. Di Girolamo, Antonio Facchetti and Alberto F. Morpurgo doi:10.1038/nmat3383 Heterointerfaces of organic semiconductors can show high electrical conductivity, but the details of their electronic structure remain largely unexplored. Schottky-gated heterostructures have now been used to probe the interface between single crystals of rubrene and PDIF-CN2, showing that charge transport is due to electrons whose mobility exhibits band-like behaviour down to ~150 K. A flexible and highly sensitive strain-gauge sensor using reversible interlocking of nanofibres   pp795 - 801 Changhyun Pang, Gil-Yong Lee, Tae-il Kim, Sang Moon Kim, Hong Nam Kim, Sung-Hoon Ahn and Kahp-Yang Suh doi:10.1038/nmat3380 Flexible strain-gauge sensors, which could eventually be used in electronic skin, generally require complex device architectures. A simple and highly sensitive resistive sensor for the detection of pressure, shear and torsion with discernible strain-gauge factors has now been fabricated using two interlocked arrays of platinum-coated polymer nanofibres. A Janus cobalt-based catalytic material for electro-splitting of water    pp802 - 807 Saioa Cobo, Jonathan Heidkamp, Pierre-André Jacques, Jennifer Fize, Vincent Fourmond, Laure Guetaz, Bruno Jousselme, Valentina Ivanova, Holger Dau, Serge Palacin, Marc Fontecave and Vincent Artero doi:10.1038/nmat3385 Innovative solutions for the design of sustainable and efficient systems for the conversion and storage of renewable energy sources are needed, and one promising option is the production of hydrogen through water splitting. A nanoparticulate electrocatalytic material consisting of metallic cobalt coated with a cobalt-oxo/hydroxo-phosphate layer is now found to exhibit active hydrogen evolution, and can also be converted into a cobalt oxide film catalysing oxygen evolution. Label-free identification of single dielectric nanoparticles and viruses with ultraweak polarization forces   pp808 - 816 Laura Fumagalli, Daniel Esteban-Ferrer, Ana Cuervo, Jose L. Carrascosa and Gabriel Gomila doi:10.1038/nmat3369 Electrostatic force microscopy with sub-piconewton resolution can now be used for the label-free identification of single dielectric nanoparticles of similar morphology but distinct low-polarizable materials. The technique can also distinguish between empty and DNA-containing virus capsids, and should be extensible to the characterization of surface and subsurface dielectric properties of nanoscale dielectrics and biological macromolecules in general. See also: News and Views by Sahagún & Sáenz Tuning the autophagy-inducing activity of lanthanide-based nanocrystals through specific surface-coating peptides   pp817 - 826 Yunjiao Zhang, Fang Zheng, Tianlong Yang, Wei Zhou, Yun Liu, Na Man, Li Zhang, Nan Jin, Qingqing Dou, Yong Zhang, Zhengquan Li and Long-Ping Wen doi:10.1038/nmat3363 Many nanomaterials can induce cell autophagy, which can be either a concern in most in vivo situations or a benefit when exploited in cancer therapeutics. A family of short synthetic peptides that have a varied affinity to lanthanide oxide and lanthanide-based upconversion nanocrystals are now used to tune the degree of interaction between cells and nanocrystals, and thus the nanocrystals’ autophagy-inducing activity. 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