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The surface mucosa that lines many of our organs hosts a diverse set of biometric signals. This Review compares present skin-interfacing and mucosa-interfacing electronics to inspire hardware solutions for developing devices for personalized biosensing from the mucosa.
Rationally creating an intense colorant has been a challenge for centuries. Serendipity often played a role in the discovery of important pigments and dyes. In particular, inorganic pigments are promising because of their durability under different conditions. However, in spite of recent advancements in quantum mechanical theories and computational methods, predicting a crystal lattice that will produce an intense inorganic pigment of a desired colour is still elusive.
Electronic waste, with printed circuit boards (PCBs) at its heart, is the fastest-growing category of hazardous solid waste in the world. New materials, in particular biobased materials, show great promise in solving some of the sustainability and toxicity problems associated with PCBs, although several challenges still prevent their practical application.
Introduction of guest species into archetype materials lays out a foundational pathway for creating new materials classes with desired functionalities. This Review discusses two main strategies of such applied to 2D layered materials: gating, where the guest species rest on the surface, and intercalation, where the guest species are incorporated into the host lattice.
Data-driven approaches based on high-throughput capabilities and machine learning hold promise in revolutionizing human-centred materials discovery for sustainability and decarbonization. This Review examines the strengths and limitations of different traditional and emerging approaches to demonstrate their inherent connection and highlight the evolving paradigms of materials design.
The introduction of topology into acoustic platforms enables robust sound control. This Review discusses the fundamental mechanisms, basic designs, practical realizations and promising future directions for topological acoustic systems.
Thanks to the lifespan and efficiency benchmarks set by the current generation of white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs), the lighting industry is quickly replacing traditional LEDs that use monochromatic light. Building upon research advances in framework solids for WLEDs and capitalizing on their bottom-up design principles, modular crystalline hybrids are paving paths to energy-efficient lighting alternatives.
We popularize scientific topics through the 26-episode film series Science in the City, which depicts the perception of science in Africa. We campaign in African schools, universities and public events to initiate debates on science, inviting actors and scientists to engage with audiences.
Vertical nanoprobes are high-aspect-ratio nanomaterials used to manipulate and interrogate cells with high spatiotemporal resolution and limited perturbation. This Review discusses the design principles to establish effective nanoprobe biointerfaces for drug delivery, intracellular sampling and sensing, biophysical interaction and bioelectronics.
The ability to communicate clearly is an essential skill for scientists, but it is rarely taught. Katie Yurkewicz, Head of Scientific and Technical Communications at Argonne National Laboratory, shares three steps to follow to captivate an audience and craft a compelling narrative for any topic or medium.
Halide perovskite light emitters hold promise for next-generation high-colour-purity displays and lighting applications. This Review surveys the outstanding scientific issues and the strategies to increase the efficiency and stability of perovskite light-emitting devices, tracing a roadmap for their mass production and commercialization.
An article in Advanced Materials reports biosensor arrays based on a field-effect transistor that can identify bladder cancer with high accuracy from untreated urine samples.
An article in Angewandte Chemie International Edition discovers a pair of colloidal semiconductor magic-size clusters that can isomerize through either a direct and intra-cluster pathway or an indirect and inter-cluster pathway.
A manuscript in Advanced Materials reports a strategy to use electrode design to control the formation of the conduction channels in memristors, improving their reliability.
An article in Nature Communications combines electron diffraction and hierarchical cluster analysis to determine the precise, atom-level structure of covalent organic frameworks.