Design, synthesis and processing articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The extrusion-based three-dimensional printing of polymers, metals, and composites requires elevated temperatures and may lead to diverse undesirable defects on printed parts. Here, the authors develop a vapor-induced phase separation printing technique to construct polymeric, metallic, and composite parts by using a polymer as a binder.

    • Marc Sole-Gras
    • , Bing Ren
    •  & Yong Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Common stereolithography-based 3D printing relies on photopolymerization using photoinitiators. Here, the authors replace the conventional photoinitiators with low-cost, widely used thermal initiators to achieve 3D-printed objects.

    • Doron Kam
    • , Omri Rulf
    •  & Shlomo Magdassi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The translation of perovskite solar cells to large-area devices fabricated by industry-relevant manufacturing methods remains a critical challenge. Here, authors report solar modules with serially-interconnected cells produced entirely by industrial roll-to-roll printing under ambient conditions.

    • Hasitha C. Weerasinghe
    • , Nasiruddin Macadam
    •  & Doojin Vak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Structurally coloured composite films are flexible optical materials with potential in a range of applications, but their production is impacted by long time-frames and limited materials. Here, the authors report a method for the production of large scale films by shearing supramolecular composites.

    • Miaomiao Li
    • , Bolun Peng
    •  & Jintao Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Direct growth of piezoelectric oxides on glass is difficult due to high processing temperatures. Here, the authors demonstrate a flash lamp process for the growth of films on various glasses in a few seconds only. The films have piezoelectric e33,f of −5 C m−2 and can be used in haptic devices.

    • Longfei Song
    • , Juliette Cardoletti
    •  & Sebastjan Glinšek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solidification cracking during fusion welding of high-strength aluminum alloys has been a long-standing issue. Here, the authors achieve reliable and crack-free welding of 2024 aluminum alloy using a Zr-core-Al-shell wire and the oscillating laser-arc hybrid welding technique.

    • Jun Jin
    • , Shaoning Geng
    •  & Xiangqi Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lightweight flexible piezoelectric polymers are demanded for various applications, but restricted by the low instinctively piezoelectric coefficient and complex poling process. Here, the authors develop a high performance lightweight, flexible self-poled piezoelectric polymer composite towards sustainable self-powered sensing and energy harvesting.

    • Zhao-Xia Huang
    • , Lan-Wei Li
    •  & Jin-Ping Qu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Process development for 3D printing of new metal alloys can be time-consuming and variability in the printing outcome makes it even more challenging. Here, authors demonstrate an in-situ method using high-speed imaging and deep learning to accelerate the process design for a more consistent quality.

    • David Guirguis
    • , Conrad Tucker
    •  & Jack Beuth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Processing of conventional infrared-transparent materials limits their applicability. The authors demonstrate 3D printing of thiol-ene optical components with mid- and long-wave infrared transparency with applications such as reaction temperature monitoring.

    • Piaoran Ye
    • , Zhihan Hong
    •  & Rongguang Liang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stress concentrations make the design of durable interfaces between hard and soft materials a challenging task. Here, the authors, inspired by nature, combine mechanical tests and simulations on multiple geometries to generate design guidelines that yield strong and tough soft-hard interfaces.

    • M. C. Saldívar
    • , E. Tay
    •  & A. A. Zadpoor

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The large-scale production of crystalline porous materials remains a challenge. Here the authors report a general approach of high-pressure homogenization that can realize large-scale synthesis of crystalline porous materials under benign conditions.

    • Xiongli Liu
    • , An Wang
    •  & Shengqian Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid-state materials synthesis relies on effective precursor design. Here, the authors introduce an algorithm that combines ab-initio computations with insights gained from experimental outcomes to efficiently optimize the selection of precursors.

    • Nathan J. Szymanski
    • , Pragnay Nevatia
    •  & Gerbrand Ceder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The traditional way of beating metals to improve their properties is not practical to 3D printed parts with intricate geometry. Here, the authors demonstrate how to program microstructural modifications of metals site-specifically during 3D printing to tune their properties.

    • Shubo Gao
    • , Zhi Li
    •  & Matteo Seita

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A critical step to enable practical structural superlubricity (SSL) applications is to enable high throughput to both fabrication and performance evaluation. Here, the authors demonstrate an automated system for efficient and multiple SSL materials transfer and tribological measurement.

    • Li Chen
    • , Cong Lin
    •  & Ming Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrospray deposition is a promising technique for depositing functional coatings at the micro-/nano-scale. Here, the authors establish the necessary conditions for high efficiency electrospray deposition of small targets, establishing promise as an alternative to other conformal coating methods.

    • Sarah H. Park
    • , Lin Lei
    •  & Jonathan P. Singer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The utility of microfluidic devices has been limited by several drawbacks including low resolution, inferior feature fidelity, poor repeatability. Here the authors address these challenges by developing a strategic approach of image guided in-situ maskless lithography to fabricate a variety of microfluidic devices and resolve critical proximity effect and size limitations in rapid prototyping.

    • Ratul Paul
    • , Yuwen Zhao
    •  & Yaling Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanical and electrical properties of liquid-metal particle fibers are limited by incompatible coating techniques. Here, Lee et. al. present a solution shearing-based deposition technique for high performance bi-layer stretchable fibers, showcasing applications in smart clothing and 1D bioelectronics.

    • Gun-Hee Lee
    • , Do Hoon Lee
    •  & Steve Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The reliable fabrication of 2D heterostructures with controllable moiré patterns is important for the investigation of their emergent physical properties. Here, the authors report an alignment technique enabling the fabrication of double-aligned hBN/graphene/hBN supermoiré lattice structures with a yield close to 100%.

    • Junxiong Hu
    • , Junyou Tan
    •  & A. Ariando

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Marangoni swimmers have high relative speed, considering the body length and absence of a mechanical system but the fabricating is complex. Song et al. transform simple pen strokes into dynamic, programmable robots that can ‘swim’ with striking versatility.

    • Seo Woo Song
    • , Sumin Lee
    •  & Jiyun Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In 3D ceramic printing, the need for additional supports can increase processing time and introduce defects during post-processing removal. Here, authors merge direct ink writing and up-conversion particles-assisted photopolymerization under near-infrared irradiation for support-free printing with controlled curing rates reducing material waste, printing time, and post-processing steps.

    • Yongqin Zhao
    • , Junzhe Zhu
    •  & Ren Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ionic-junction devices are difficult to integrate with fiber-shaped tissues like nerves and muscles for applications in implantable bioelectronics due to their large size and bulk structure. Authors realize here easy to implant fiber-shaped iontronics through an integrated opposite charge grafting process, enabling the construction of ionic logic gates and artificial neural pathways.

    • Yi Xing
    • , Mingjie Zhou
    •  & Gang Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors utilise a combination of quasi-spherical theory and Jahn-Teller distortion to enhance the piezoelectric response of molecular metal halides, and the resulting piezoelectric energy harvesters exhibit superior power densities to the best-reported molecular hybrid energy harvesters.

    • Sasa Wang
    • , Asif Abdullah Khan
    •  & Edward H. Sargent

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological edge states offer the prospect of dissipationless transport for nanoelectronics, but a precise method to spatially engineer such nanoscale conducting channels is still lacking. Here, the authors demonstrate patterning of topological boundary states in Sb2Te3 using a focused ion beam to create amorphous, topologically trivial regions.

    • Abdulhakim Bake
    • , Qi Zhang
    •  & David Cortie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Autonomous exploration of materials design space is hindered by its high dimensionality and the scarcity of data. In this work, we present AlphaFlow, a self-driven lab guided by reinforcement learning that enables accelerated discovery and optimization of multi-step chemistries.

    • Amanda A. Volk
    • , Robert W. Epps
    •  & Milad Abolhasani

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The fabrication of freestanding 3D lattice structures with beam diameters less than 100 nm is a considerable challenge. Here, the authors report quasi-BCC nanolattices of gold and copper, featuring beam diameters as low as 34 nm, that demonstrate an exceptionally high capacity for energy absorption.

    • Hongwei Cheng
    • , Xiaoxia Zhu
    •  & Jinglai Duan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Traditional robotic hands are facing several issues due to limitations in structures, principles and transmissions. Here, the authors develop a rigid robotic hand with 4 piezo fingers and 12 DOFs to implement high adaptability multi-DOF motion manipulation from micro to macro, as well as micro grasping operation.

    • Shijing Zhang
    • , Yingxiang Liu
    •  & Jie Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing ultrathin and flexible antenna is of great interest for efficient wireless data communication and transmission at fast-growing IoT applications. The authors report a flexible ultrawideband Ti3C2 monopole antenna by combining strategies of interfacial modification and advanced extrusion printing technology.

    • Weiwei Zhao
    • , Hao Ni
    •  & Qiang Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Volumetric additive manufacturing of protein scaffolds has a wide range of possible biomedical applications. Here the authors report on the bioprinting of unmodified silk sericin and silk fibroin inks with shape-memory and tuneable mechanical properties and demonstrate the potential of the inks in different applications.

    • Maobin Xie
    • , Liming Lian
    •  & Yu Shrike Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multimaterial 3D printing using digital light processing (DLP) is challenging because multimaterial switching methods require direct contact onto the printed part to remove residual resin. Here, the authors report a DLP-based centrifugal multimaterial 3D printing method to generate large-volume heterogeneous 3D objects where composition, property and function are programmable at voxel scale.

    • Jianxiang Cheng
    • , Rong Wang
    •  & Qi Ge

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Liposomes are widely used in pharmaceuticals yet trade-offs between uniform size and mass production, limit production and application. Here, the authors report on the design of a microfluidic vortex focusing microfluidic technique which can mass produce liposomes with controlled size and low variability.

    • Jung Yeon Han
    • , Joseph N. La Fiandra
    •  & Don L. DeVoe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multi-principal element alloy (MPEA) 3D printing is challenging due to the tradeoff between achieving high-temperature and sufficient heating zone. Here, the authors report an ultrahigh-temperature melt printing method that can achieve rapid melting and uniform elemental mixing for MPEA fabrication.

    • Xizheng Wang
    • , Yunhao Zhao
    •  & Liangbing Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing and manufacturing eco/bioresorbable electronic systems remains a challenge. The authors introduce a picosecond-pulsed laser-based scheme that exploits controlled patterning, thinning, and/or cutting to manipulate multilayers of eco/bioresorbable materials for a wide range of advanced electronic systems.

    • Quansan Yang
    • , Ziying Hu
    •  & John A. Rogers

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Microbots have attracted attention due to an ability to reach places and perform tasks which are not possible with conventional techniques in a wide range of applications. Here, the authors review the recent work in the field on the fabrication, application and actuation of 3D printed microbots offering a view of the direction of future microbot research.

    • Sajjad Rahmani Dabbagh
    • , Misagh Rezapour Sarabi
    •  & Savas Tasoglu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The digital transformation and Industry 4.0 technologies are rapidly shaping the future of manufacturing. Here, authors use reliable big data to quantitatively evaluate lubricants performance and select desirable candidates for application in target manufacturing processes.

    • Xiao Yang
    • , Heli Liu
    •  & Liliang Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scaling up anisotropic freeze-casting processes can be challenging due to the temperature gradient farther from the cold source. Here, authors report an additive freeze-casting technique able to produce large-scale aerogel panels and demonstrate it towards practical passive cooling applications.

    • Kit-Ying Chan
    • , Xi Shen
    •  & Jang-Kyo Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microchannels are the essential elements for the design of artificial devices but the fabrication of three dimensional (3D) microchannels with complex geometry and a high aspect ratio remains challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate a simple and solvent-free fabrication method capable of producing monolithic microchannels with complex 3D structures, long length, and small diameter.

    • Dongliang Fan
    • , Xi Yuan
    •  & Peiwu Qin

Browse broader subjects

Browse Design, synthesis and processing across other nature.com journals