Team highlights work on tuning block polymers for nanostructured systems

Block polymers, which are two or more polymer chains with different properties linked together, show great promise for many of these applications, and a research group has made significant strides in their development over the past several years.

Atomic 're-packing' behind metallic glass mystery

A new method uncovers a four-decade mystery about metallic glass that could allow researchers to fine-tune its properties to develop new materials.

Plasmonic Goldfinger - integrating nanoparticles into transparent nailpolish

Researchers have developed a new way to add silver and gold to nail polish with minimal additives, resulting in durable, tinted - and potentially antibacterial - nail coloring.

Stretchy silver for flexible phones

Working with silver nanowires just a few hundred atoms thick, researchers discovered that they could make wires that were both super-strong and stretchy like gum.

Legos and origami inspire next-generation materials

Inspired by the fun of playing with Legos, an international team of researchers have used the idea of assembling building-blocks to make the promise of next-generation materials a practical reality.

Reusable carbon nanotubes could be the water filter of the future

A new class of carbon nanotubes could be the next-generation clean-up crew for toxic sludge and contaminated water, according to a new study.

Programmable RNA nanoparticles could protect against Zika virus

Using a new strategy that can rapidly generate customized RNA vaccines, researchers have devised a new vaccine candidate for the Zika virus.

Organic-inorganic heterostructures with programmable electronic properties

A novel supramolecular strategy introduces tunable 1D periodic potentials upon self-assembly of ad hoc organic building blocks on graphene, opening the way to the realization of hybrid organic?inorganic multilayer materials with unique electronic and optical properties.

Decorating single layer and bilayer graphene with useful chemical groups

Researchers have disclosed a new method to add chemical groups on single layer and bilayer graphene lying on silica/silicon. This study also suggests how decorated graphene serves as a platform to produce 2D materials with new characteristics.