Nature Materials contents: January 2013 Volume 12 Number 1 pp1-87

TABLE OF CONTENTS January 2013 Volume 12, Issue 1 Editorial Research Highlights News and Views Letters Articles Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement E-MRS Conference Proceedings are NOW LIVE on Scientific Reports Symposium N & O E-MRS 2012 Spring Meeting   Editorial Top Four more years of blood, sweat and tears   p1 doi:10.1038/nmat3538 President Obama's re-election was welcome news to many scientists — but it won't release the fiscal vice that's taking a grip of US research spending. Research Highlights Top Smooth order | Plastic protection | Lego sets from DNA bricks | Tolerant therapy | Graphene levitation News and Views Top Organic photovoltaics: Some like it hot   pp5 - 6 Carlos Silva doi:10.1038/nmat3523 Excitation of organic donor–acceptor systems with high-energy light can produce hot charge-transfer states that are delocalized across the heterojunction and readily dissociate. Two studies now reveal the dynamics of this process and pave the way towards unravelling the details of the molecular landscape that favours fast photocarrier generation. See also: Article by Jailaubekov et al. | Letter by Grancini et al. Material witness: Particle traps   p7 Philip Ball doi:10.1038/nmat3530 Mechanical failure: Imaging cracks in hostile regimes   pp7 - 9 Philip J. Withers doi:10.1038/nmat3529 The evolution of microcrack damage in materials under hostile thermal and mechanical conditions has now been imaged in three dimensions by real-time in situ X-ray microtomography. See also: Article by Bale et al. Nanoscale heat transfer: Single hot contacts   pp9 - 11 Yifei Mo and Izabela Szlufarska doi:10.1038/nmat3506 Measurements of heat transport across polished nanoscale contacts formed between the tip of a scanning thermal microscope and a surface support the notion that their true contact area consists of discrete atomic contact points. See also: Article by Gotsmann & Lantz Magnetocaloric materials: Strained relations   pp11 - 12 Per Nordblad doi:10.1038/nmat3516 The magnetocaloric effect could form the basis for efficient refrigeration technologies. The finding that large and reversible magnetocaloric effects can be induced through a strain-mediated feedback mechanism may expand the range of available magnetocaloric materials. See also: Article by Moya et al. Liquid-crystal polymers: Exotic actuators   pp12 - 14 Gustavo Fernández doi:10.1038/nmat3526 Three-dimensional ordering in liquid-crystalline polymers is induced by the photopolymerization of a mixture of mesogens sandwiched between two patterned substrates. By incorporating an infrared-sensitive dye in the mixture, polymer films that undergo reversible shape deformations on heating are formed. Nature Materials JOBS of the week Computational Materials Scientist CNR Postdoctoral Position in Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Novel Materials Okinawa Institute of Science & Technolopgy Postdoctoral Appointee - Center for Nanoscale Materials Argonne National Laboratory PhD student in synthesis of nanoscale hybrid materials project Juan José Vilatela More Science jobs from Nature Materials EVENT First International Conference and Summer School in Molecular and Materials Informatics 04.-06.02.13 Melbourne, Australia More science events from Letters Top Enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature of FeSe by intercalation of a molecular spacer layer   pp15 - 19 Matthew Burrard-Lucas, David G. Free, Stefan J. Sedlmaier, Jack D. Wright, Simon J. Cassidy, Yoshiaki Hara, Alex J. Corkett, Tom Lancaster, Peter J. Baker, Stephen J. Blundell and Simon J. Clarke doi:10.1038/nmat3464 Altering the composition of the spacer layers present in iron-based superconductors is one strategy for increasing the temperature below which they superconduct. Now, intercalating FeSe with molecular spacer layers is also shown to enhance the superconducting transition temperature. Nanometre optical coatings based on strong interference effects in highly absorbing media   pp20 - 24 Mikhail A. Kats, Romain Blanchard, Patrice Genevet and Federico Capasso doi:10.1038/nmat3443 Optical coatings usually consist of many multilayers of thin films to achieve the desired properties. A new approach using interference effects between an absorbing dielectric film and a metallic substrate now enables ultrathin optical coatings that could also find applications as thin solar cells or photodetectors. A full-parameter unidirectional metamaterial cloak for microwaves   pp25 - 28 Nathan Landy and David R. Smith doi:10.1038/nmat3476 Metamaterials offer a unique potential to guide the propagation of light. However, existing designs of devices such as invisibility cloaks require a restrictive range of materials parameters for their realization. A new approach to cloak devices now lifts such restrictions allowing for a greater flexibility in device design. Hot exciton dissociation in polymer solar cells   pp29 - 33 G. Grancini, M. Maiuri, D. Fazzi, A. Petrozza, H-J. Egelhaaf, D. Brida, G. Cerullo and G. Lanzani doi:10.1038/nmat3502 The standard picture of organic photovoltaics predicts that excitons, which are created under light irradiation, thermalize before dissociation into free electrons and holes. Experimental results and calculations on a low-bandgap polymer–fullerene blend now illustrate the dynamics of hot charge-transfer states and their contribution to charge generation in bulk heterojunctions. See also: News and Views by Silva Towards stable catalysts by controlling collective properties of supported metal nanoparticles   pp34 - 39 Gonzalo Prieto, Jovana Zečević, Heiner Friedrich, Krijn P. de Jong and Petra E. de Jongh doi:10.1038/nmat3471 Supported metal nanoparticles play a pivotal role in areas such as nanoelectronics, energy storage and conversion, and catalysis, but their tendency to grow into larger crystallites is an issue for their stable performance. A strategy based on controlling not only size and composition but also the location of the metal nanoparticles, now reveals the impact of their three-dimensional nanospatial distribution on their catalytic stability. Articles Top Real-time quantitative imaging of failure events in materials under load at temperatures above 1,600 °C   pp40 - 46 Hrishikesh A. Bale, Abdel Haboub, Alastair A. MacDowell, James R. Nasiatka, Dilworth Y. Parkinson, Brian N. Cox, David B. Marshall and Robert O. Ritchie doi:10.1038/nmat3497 Gathering information on the evolution of small cracks in ceramic matrix composites used in hostile environments such as in gas turbines and hypersonic flights has been a challenge. It is now shown that sequences of microcrack damage in ceramic composites under load at temperatures up to 1,750 °C can be fully resolved with the use of in situ synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography. See also: News and Views by Withers Emergence of superconductivity from the dynamically heterogeneous insulating state in La2−xSrxCuO4    pp47 - 51 Xiaoyan Shi, G. Logvenov, A. T. Bollinger, I. Božović, C. Panagopoulos and Dragana Popović doi:10.1038/nmat3487 The properties of the insulating ground state from which the superconductivity of copper oxide materials emerges with chemical doping are a topic of extensive research. The observation that superconducting fluctuations are quenched by charge order at low temperatures now provides valuable information on the mechanism for the superconducting to insulator transition. Giant and reversible extrinsic magnetocaloric effects in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 films due to strain   pp52 - 58 X. Moya, L. E. Hueso, F. Maccherozzi, A. I. Tovstolytkin, D. I. Podyalovskii, C. Ducati, L. C. Phillips, M. Ghidini, O. Hovorka, A. Berger, M. E. Vickers, E. Defay, S. S. Dhesi and N. D. Mathur doi:10.1038/nmat3463 The thermodynamic properties of magnetocaloric materials show significant promise for energy-efficient cooling applications. The demonstration that large and reversible magnetocaloric effects can be created by means of strain suggests a new approach for inducing them in other magnetic materials. See also: News and Views by Nordblad Quantized thermal transport across contacts of rough surfaces   pp59 - 65 B. Gotsmann and M. A. Lantz doi:10.1038/nmat3460 The effect of nanoscale surface roughness on heat transport across solid interfaces has remained contentious. Now, measurements of the pressure dependence of heat transport across polished nanoscale contacts formed between the tip of a scanning thermal microscope and a surface agree with a model that assumes quantum thermal transport across individual contact points. See also: News and Views by Mo & Szlufarska Hot charge-transfer excitons set the time limit for charge separation at donor/acceptor interfaces in organic photovoltaics   pp66 - 73 Askat E. Jailaubekov, Adam P. Willard, John R. Tritsch, Wai-Lun Chan, Na Sai, Raluca Gearba, Loren G. Kaake, Kenrick J. Williams, Kevin Leung, Peter J. Rossky and X-Y. Zhu doi:10.1038/nmat3500 Photocurrent generation in organic solar cells relies on the dissociation of excitons into free electrons and holes at donor/acceptor heterointerfaces. Femtosecond spectroscopy and non-adiabatic simulations on the phthalocyanine–fullerene model system now reveal the relaxation dynamics of hot charge-transfer excitons in this process. See also: News and Views by Silva P2-NaxVO2 system as electrodes for batteries and electron-correlated materials   pp74 - 80 Marie Guignard, Christophe Didier, Jacques Darriet, Pierre Bordet, Erik Elkaïm and Claude Delmas doi:10.1038/nmat3478 Layered oxides are important as electrode materials for batteries and because of the strong electronic correlations resulting from their unique structure. Electrochemical investigations of the layered P2-NaxVO2 system in sodium batteries together with in situ X-ray diffraction experiments now result in the elucidation of the room-temperature phase diagram of this system. Structurally ordered intermetallic platinum–cobalt core–shell nanoparticles with enhanced activity and stability as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts   pp81 - 87 Deli Wang, Huolin L. Xin, Robert Hovden, Hongsen Wang, Yingchao Yu, David A. Muller, Francis J. DiSalvo and Héctor D. Abruña doi:10.1038/nmat3458 Enhancing and optimizing the performance and durability of nanocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction is crucial for fuel-cell applications. A class of Pt–Co nanocatalysts consisting of ordered Pt3Co intermetallic cores with a 2–3 atomic-layer-thick platinum shell now exhibit a large increase in mass activity and specific activity when compared with disordered alloy nanoparticles. Top Advertisement Want access to the best research in materials science and technology? Nature Materials provides cutting-edge research across the entire spectrum of materials science and technology. 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