Imagine being able to transform an insulating material into an electrical conductor just by touching it with a magnet. Materials chemist Dr Andrew Goodwin is using the concepts of order and disorder to design new materials with amazing functionality that could transform our future in ways limited only by our imagination.

Andrew Cairns and Ines Collings, DPhil students in the Goodwin Group, explain how they make single crystals in the lab and study their unusual properties. By showing how to break the rules governing 'normal' materials, this research could lead to the design of brand new and useful substances in future.

From smart phones to electric cars, batteries and energy storage devices are vital. Dr Nico Cousens is studying ionic liquid supercapacitors - a next generation technology with the potential to transform energy storage and power the cars of the future.