Design, synthesis and processing articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cation exchange, traditionally driven by ion solvation or thermal activation, is a robust approach for preparing heterogeneous nanostructures but lacks selectivity for preparation of individual nanocrystals. Here, the authors report an electrically driven cation exchange reaction that enables them to fabricate individual nanocrystals with high selectivity.

    • Qiubo Zhang
    • , Kuibo Yin
    •  & Litao Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gold nanostructures have shape-dependent properties, making synthetic control over their morphology critical. Here, the authors use dynamic compression to obtain a variety of gold nanoarchitectures, which are formed at very fast timescales by the controlled coalescence of spherical particle arrays.

    • Binsong Li
    • , Kaifu Bian
    •  & Hongyou Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene nanoribbons are promising candidates for 2D material electrical interconnects; however, the top-down fabrication of nanoribbons has remained a challenge. Here, Chenet al. have used a hexagonal boron nitride template to grow narrow, integrated graphene nanoribbons with small bandgaps.

    • Lingxiu Chen
    • , Li He
    •  & Mianheng Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interaction between photonic bandgap materials and light is largely determined by the wavelength-scale material structure. Here, Sellerset al. develop a new metric of network structural order and demonstrate its connection to the photonic bandgap of an amorphous gyroid network.

    • Steven R. Sellers
    • , Weining Man
    •  & Marian Florescu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shaping ceramics into complex forms is a formidable goal. Here, the authors present an approach to self-shaping ceramics, inspired by self-folding processes in plants, in which the ceramic microstructure is embedded with aligned platelets that control the orientation of heat-induced shrinkage.

    • Fabio L. Bargardi
    • , Hortense Le Ferrand
    •  & André R. Studart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Complex surface micro- and nanostructures can be useful in many device applications, but are challenging in terms of controllability, low cost and high throughput. Here the authors have fabricated quasi 3D structures by the thermal deformation of simple two-dimensional laser-induced patterns.

    • Haoran Zhang
    • , Fengyou Yang
    •  & Qian Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surface modification of high-capacity lithium-rich layered oxides for improved capacity retention is an active area of battery materials research. Here authors demonstrate lithium-rich layered surfaces with a framework matching the host's, but with nickel atoms regularly arranged between layers.

    • Sangryun Kim
    • , Woosuk Cho
    •  & Jang Wook Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thin films of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising for catalysis, gas storage, and microelectronics. Here, the authors introduce a vapour-phase synthesis of UiO-66 thin films, beginning with modulated atomic layer deposition of porous, amorphous films, followed by acetic acid vapour-enabled crystallization to the MOF structure.

    • Kristian Blindheim Lausund
    •  & Ola Nilsen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ambient chemical transformations between nanoparticles are poorly explored in materials science. Here, the authors find that two atomically precise, isomorphic clusters of gold and silver can convert between each other in solution through a series of alloy clusters, preserving structure, topology, and metal-ligand stoichiometry.

    • K. R. Krishnadas
    • , Ananya Baksi
    •  & Thalappil Pradeep

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Silk protein fibres are exceptionally strong, owing to their high β-sheet nanocrystal content. Here, the authors use an electron beam to guide silk β-sheet crystals through structural transitions, and visualize the changes by infrared near-field optics, achieving close to molecular-level resolution.

    • Nan Qin
    • , Shaoqing Zhang
    •  & Tiger H. Tao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The only known compound of sodium and hydrogen is ionic NaH, but theory predicts the existence of polyhydrides at high pressure. Here, the authors report observations of the formation of polyhydrides above 40 GPa and 2000 K, supporting the idea of multicentre bonding in a material with unusual stoichiometry.

    • Viktor V. Struzhkin
    • , Duck Young Kim
    •  & Alexander F. Goncharov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphitic carbon nitride is a promising hydrogen evolution photocatalyst, although there is limited understanding of its mechanistic operation. Here, the authors employ molecular heptazine-based model catalysts to identify catalytically relevant defects and to rationally design a highly active carbon nitride photocatalyst.

    • Vincent Wing-hei Lau
    • , Igor Moudrakovski
    •  & Bettina V. Lotsch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Robust attachment between living tissues and inert materials is challenging to achieve. Here, Hwang and co-workers look at the molecular level between tissue and embedded byssal threads of Atrina pectinata and how this affects tenacity, toughness, and robustness.

    • Hee Young Yoo
    • , Mihaela Iordachescu
    •  & Dong Soo Hwang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    With growing concerns over the sustainability of petroleum-based polymers, poly(limonene carbonate) is offered as a renewable alternative. Here, Greiner and co-workers have managed to tune the properties of poly(limonene carbonate) by carrying out several different chemical modifications.

    • O. Hauenstein
    • , S. Agarwal
    •  & A. Greiner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Peptide arrays are used in areas such as measuring protein-protein interactions, but achieving high density in synthesis is challenging. Here, the authors report a method for the combinatorial synthesis of high density peptides arrays by laser driven sequential transfer of monomers onto acceptor surfaces.

    • Felix F. Loeffler
    • , Tobias C. Foertsch
    •  & Alexander Nesterov-Mueller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium-sulfur batteries are a promising candidate for next-generation battery technologies. Here, the authors report a pie-like structured electrode in which sulfur is confined in multichannel carbon nanofibers which is then coated by amino-functionalized graphene, leading to good balance between electrochemical performance and cell energy density.

    • Zhen Li
    • , Jin Tao Zhang
    •  & Xiong Wen (David) Lou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Silicon anodes are promising for lithium-ion battery development, but suffer from problems such as undesired volume expansion and solid-electrolyte interface formation. Here, the authors report a hierarchical silicon-sulfur-graphene composite anode which mitigates the problems leading to high performance.

    • Fathy M. Hassan
    • , Rasim Batmaz
    •  & Zhongwei Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermoelectric materials have the potential to convert waste heat into electricity. Although some of the more viable thermoelectric materials are based on expensive rare earth elements, here the authors replace Yb with low-cost Ce by engineering Ce solubility, thereby making Ce-CoSb3 a competitive thermoelectric.

    • Yinglu Tang
    • , Riley Hanus
    •  & G. Jeffrey Snyder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrathin semiconductor metafilms can be designed to achieve near-unity absorption in specific spectral regions. Here, Kim et al. engineer nanoscale optical resonances in sub-50-nm-thick germanium nanobeams metafilms to demonstrate near-unity absorption in one or more desired wavelength regions.

    • Soo Jin Kim
    • , Pengyu Fan
    •  & Mark L. Brongersma

  • Article |

    Quantum mechanical resonant tunnelling is believed to be only feasible in semiconductor-based heterostructures due to high crystalline quality required, which restricts the number of viable materials. Here, the authors demonstrate resonant tunnelling in a deliberately designed complex-oxide superlattice.

    • Woo Seok Choi
    • , Sang A. Lee
    •  & Ho Nyung Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The free-volume of a polymer is a key parameter in its ability to permit through transport of small molecules. Here, the authors develop a way of introducing different degrees of artificial free-volume to a polymer membrane, and thus tailor its penetrability for applications including biofuel purification.

    • Nikos Petzetakis
    • , Cara M. Doherty
    •  & Nitash P. Balsara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The family of two-dimensional materials is ever growing, but greater functionality can be realized by combining them together. Here, the authors report the direct synthesis of multijunction heterostructures made from graphene, tungsten diselenide and either molybdenum disulphide or molybdenum diselenide.

    • Yu-Chuan Lin
    • , Ram Krishna Ghosh
    •  & Joshua A. Robinson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Free, or solvated, electrons in a solution are known to form at the interface between a liquid and a gas. Here, the authors use absorption spectroscopy in a total internal reflection geometry to probe solvated electrons generated at a plasma in contact with the surface of an aqueous solution

    • Paul Rumbach
    • , David M. Bartels
    •  & David B. Go

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fluoroalkenes are found widely in biologically active compounds, but their introduction can be difficult or laborious. Here, the authors report a C–H/C–F activation strategy to introduce monofluoroalkenes into organic molecules in one step with good to excellent yields.

    • Panpan Tian
    • , Chao Feng
    •  & Teck-Peng Loh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water splitting using earth-abundant materials promises a low cost solution to the problem of large scale energy storage. Here, the authors fabricate a haematite and silicon-based high-efficiency water splitting device, which operates without the need for an externally applied bias.

    • Ji-Wook Jang
    • , Chun Du
    •  & Dunwei Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    DNA-coated colloids have failed to achieve their promise of programmable self-assembly because they stick to each other like Velcro. Here Wang et al.overcome this problem by making clickable smooth colloids that are coated with short single-stranded DNA at high density.

    • Yu Wang
    • , Yufeng Wang
    •  & David J. Pine

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanowires and nanotubes are ideal candidates for energy applications but inorganic multielement oxides are less well studied. Here, the authors propose a gradient-electrospinning followed by controlled-pyrolysis method to synthesize various controllable one dimensional metal oxide nanostructures.

    • Chaojiang Niu
    • , Jiashen Meng
    •  & Liqiang Mai

  • Article |

    Carbon nanotubes have been proposed for many forms of water treatment, although ultrafiltration nanotube-based membranes with very high flow rates remain rare. Here, the authors fabricate a membrane delivering water permeability close to 30,000 litres per square meter per hour at 1 bar.

    • Byeongho Lee
    • , Youngbin Baek
    •  & Yong Hyup Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanomechanical resonators are sensitive to tiny changes in their mass. Here, the authors demonstrate a method for quickly measuring many resonator modes and use it to analyse the mass and position of multiple nanoparticles flowing in a fluid channel with a precision of 40 attograms and 150 nm, respectively.

    • Selim Olcum
    • , Nathan Cermak
    •  & Scott R. Manalis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Visualization of the gas distribution around working catalyst is crucial for understanding structure–activity relationships. Here, the authors show that gas distribution can be imaged in situwith high spatial and temporal resolution using infrared planar laser-induced fluorescence.

    • Johan Zetterberg
    • , Sara Blomberg
    •  & Edvin Lundgren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    β-Peptoids are based on N-alkylated β-aminopropionic acid residues, which have been inspired by the more intensely studied peptoids and β-peptides. Here, the authors report X-ray crystal structures of oligomeric β-peptoids demonstrating secondary structures with this backbone.

    • Jonas S. Laursen
    • , Pernille Harris
    •  & Christian A. Olsen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid-state fluorescent materials show promise for potential applications in security and anti-counterfeiting technologies. Here, the authors report a heterorotaxane which has found application in security inks with highly tunable solid-state fluorescence through supramolecular encapsulation.

    • Xisen Hou
    • , Chenfeng Ke
    •  & J. Fraser Stoddart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In sintering, powders of small grains are packed together to form shapes or grain structures that cannot be achieved by melt casting. Here, the authors demonstrate the fast sintering of a nanostructured alloy at low temperatures, preserving its nanoscale grain structure.

    • Mansoo Park
    •  & Christopher A. Schuh

  • Article |

    Hollow, spherical nano/microstructures are potentially useful for energy and drug delivery applications. Here, the authors show that these structures can be fabricated from covalent organic frameworks, and exploit their chemical stability and mesoporous structures for enzyme encapsulation.

    • Sharath Kandambeth
    • , V. Venkatesh
    •  & Rahul Banerjee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The creation of functional 2D bottom-up nanosheets woven from molecular components remains a large challenge. Here, a bottom-up nanosheet featuring a photofunctional bis(dipyrrinato)zinc(II) complex motif is synthesized using interfacial syntheses, enabling a photoelectric conversion system.

    • Ryota Sakamoto
    • , Ken Hoshiko
    •  & Hiroshi Nishihara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transition metal fluorides have high theoretical specific capacities as cathodes for lithium ion batteries, but low working potentials and poor energy efficiency limit their practical applications. Here, the authors report a group of ternary metal fluorides, which may overcome these problems.

    • Feng Wang
    • , Sung-Wook Kim
    •  & Jason Graetz

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