Novel materials, materials design and synthetic strategies: recent advances and new directions

There have been major advances in solid state and materials chemistry in th e last two decades and the subject is growing rapidly. In this account, a f ew of the important aspects of materials chemistry of interest to the autho r are presented. Accordingly, transition metal oxides, which constitute the most fascinating class of inorganic materials, receive greater attention, Metal-insulator transitions in oxides, high temperature superconductivity i n cuprates and colossal magnetoresistance in manganates are discussed at so me length and the outstanding problems indicated, We then discuss certain o ther important classes of materials which include molecular materials, biom olecular materials and porous solids. Recent developments in synthetic stra tegies for inorganic materials are reviewed. Some results on metal nanopart icles and nanotubes are briefly presented. The overview, which is essential ly intended to provide a flavour of the subject and show how it works, list s references to many crucial reviews in the recent literature.