In a recent issue of Science, authors describe a nano-structured hybrid gold-perchloric acid electrolyte composite in which it was possible to alter the yield strength, flow stress and ductility of the composite quickly and repeatably. A nanoporous gold skeleton with contiguous, inter penetrating porosity was made by dissolving silver out of a gold-silver alloy, and the porosity was made by dissolving silver out of a gold-silver alloy, and the porosity was infiltrated with perchloric acid (HClO4) electrolyte. An electro chemical potential was applied to the sample and mechanical properties were measured. These nanoporous materials are effectively "bulk" surface materials. If the properties of the nanoporous materials can be controlled or made into responsive surfaces as the authors of the paper suggest, then it should be possible to design new materials and new configurations of devices that exploit surface properties like sensors, coatings, energy collectors, medical devices, lab-on-a-chip devices, etc. For more information, please visit: www.imr.ac.cn
