Molecular sieves made out of cryptomelane-type manganese oxide (OMS-2) have been widely studied, but synthesizing them with a hierarchical nanostructure and precise crystal orientation is very challenging. It is now demonstrated that pulsed-laser deposition of OMS-2 on SrTiO₃ leads to the spontaneous formation of three-dimensional arrays of parallel and inclined fibres. The results open the way for lattice-engineered synthesis of multilayer materials.

Porous materials are technologically important for a wide range of applications, such as catalysis and separation. Covalently bonded organic cages can now be assembled into crystalline microporous materials, and their porosity is found to be intrinsic to their molecular cage structure.

Designing load-bearing tissues that match the mechanical performance of native ones adds extra challenges to tissue engineering. Electrospinning of biodegradable polymer fibres into oriented sheets enables the production of laminate scaffolds; when seeded with mesenchymal stem cells and cultured for 10 weeks, these scaffolds replicate the mechanical properties of native annulus fibrosus.

Plasmonic biosensors are either based on freely propagating surface plasmons or plasmons localized at nanostructures. Despite advantages such as quantitative detection, localized surface-plasmon sensors have shown lower overall sensitivities. A nanorod metamaterial supporting new plasmonic modes is now shown to considerably outperform earlier plasmonic biosensors by combining and expanding on their respective advantages.