This cover was designed by Brian Mayer (Ph.D., 1999-2003) for a communication published in Advanced Materials (2002, 14, pp. 279-282). It shows transmission electron micrograph of tellurium nanotubes at different stages of growth. The success of this synthesis is based upon the formation of a concentration depletion zone on the seed by controlling the reduction rate of a tellurium precursor. As such, tellurium atoms were preferentially added to the edges of the seed, leading to the formation of a nanotube.
This cover was designed by Yadong Yin (Ph.D., 1998-2002) for a feature article published in Australian Journal of Chemistry (2001, 54, pp. 287-290). It shows fluorescence optical micrograph of dimers assembled from polystyrene beads doped with two different organic dyes. The dimers were formed using a process developed by the Xia group and now known as template-assisted self-assembly (TASA). By choosing the right dimensions for the template, one can only place a specific number of polymer beads in each template.
This cover was designed by Byron Gates (the first Ph.D., 2001) for a news article published in Northwest Technology, a magazine that aims to feature new technological developments in the northwest region, mainly from the University of Washington. It shows scanning electron micrograph of an opal lattice of polystyrene beads. In this article, it highlights some of the exciting research from Xia group related to the fabrication of photonic crystals from colloidal building blocks through a self-assembly approach.
This cover was designed by Byron Gates (the first Ph.D., 2001) for a special issue on photonic crystals published in Advanced Materials (2001, 13, p. 369). It shows scanning electron micrograph of an inverse opal of silica fabricated by infiltrating the voids in an opal lattice of polystyrene beads with a sol-gel precursor, followed by selective removal of the polystyrene beads by dissolution with an organic solvent. The special issue was edited by Professor Younan Xia and includes 23 articles from various groups.
This cover was designed by Yu Lu (Ph.D., 2003) for an article published in Langmuir (2001, 17, pp. 6344-6350). It shows scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of the cross section of a crystalline lattice assembled from polystyrene beads. This article describes a simple method based upon a fluidic cell for assembling polystyrene latex beads into three-dimensional opals with long-range order. The fluidic cell could be easily fabricated by sandwiching a gasket (cut from a Mylar film) between two glass slides.
This cover was designed by Byron Gates (the first Ph.D., 2001) for a communication published in Advanced Materials (2001, 13, pp. 1605-1608). It shows the tuning of colors displayed by a photonic crystal with an external magnetic field. The photonic crystal was fabricated by co-self-assembly of polymer latex beads and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. After solidification, the polymer beads were selectively removed, generating an inverse opal composed of the sintered iron oxide nanoparticles.
This inside cover was designed by Yadong Yin (Ph.D., 2002) for a communication published in Advanced Materials (2000, 12, pp. 1426-1430). It shows scanning electron micrograph of free-standing nanorings of single-crystal silicon that were fabricated by patterning silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer with phase-shifting, near-field optical lithography, followed by lift-off. This simple technique can also be extended to fabricate single-crystal silicon nanostructures with many different shapes or morphologies.
This cover was designed by Dr. Sang Hyun Park (the first postdoctoral fellow) and Byron Gates (the first Ph.D., 1999-2001) for a communication published in Advanced Materials (1999, 11, pp. 462-466). It shows scanning electron micrograph of three-dimensional lattice assembled from polystyrene beads in a fluidic cell (see the center for a photograph). Such a crystalline lattice is able to diffract light at a specific wavelength (as determined by the Bragg's law) and function as a photonic crystal with a pseudo band gap.
This cover was designed by the editorial office for a special issue published in Advanced Materials (1999, 11, p. 1065). The special issue was co-edited by Professors Younan Xia and Rukang Li and was dedicated to all materials scientists in China, with a focus on "materials research in China: successes and problems". It includes 15 review articles, research news articles, and communications on a broad range of subjects related to materials science and engineering, as well as an essay on the funding mechanism and trend.