Design, synthesis and processing articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors demonstrate wafer-scale, graphene-based ion sensitive field effect transistors arrays for simultaneous concentration measurement of K+, Na+, NH4+, NO3−, SO42−, HPO42− and Cl−, and use their technology for real-time ion concentration measurements in an aquarium with lemnoideae lemna over a period of three weeks.

    • Ibrahim Fakih
    • , Oliver Durnan
    •  & Thomas Szkopek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phosphor-glass/ceramic composites are attractive for high-power white light-emitting diodes, but interfacial reaction leads to loss of quantum efficiency. Here the authors report a reduction sintering method for embedment of phosphors into silica glass with limited interfacial reaction.

    • Dao Zhang
    • , Wenge Xiao
    •  & Jianrong Qiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current metalenses are far from commercialization due to fabrication cost and low throughput. Here, the authors use a UV-curable resin as a matrix for direct pattern replication by the composite and TiO2 nanoparticles to increase the refractive index of the composite, allowing dielectric metalenses to be manufactured in a single step.

    • Gwanho Yoon
    • , Kwan Kim
    •  & Junsuk Rho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photolithography is an established microfabrication technique but commonly uses costly shortwavelength light sources to achieve high resolution. Here the authors use metal patterns embedded in a flexible elastomer photomask with mechanical robustness for generation of subdiffraction patterns as a cost effective near-field optical printing approach.

    • Sangyoon Paik
    • , Gwangmook Kim
    •  & Wooyoung Shim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shape-morphing materials from initially flat to curved surfaces don’t tend to account for the rates of shape transformation. Here, the authors develop an algorithm for design and fabrication of plates that morph in water taking the desired 3D shape with deformation rates specified across the surface.

    • Ruslan Guseinov
    • , Connor McMahan
    •  & Bernd Bickel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A major challenge in 3D printing is the creation of hollow tubular structures. Here, the authors report on a solid particulate support for patterning a hydrogel with bacteria that produces cellulose in an oxygen dependent manner, using air diffusion through the particulate support to create hollow cellulose tubes.

    • Sungchul Shin
    • , Hojung Kwak
    •  & Jinho Hyun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Untethered small actuators have various applications but existing small-scale actuators are limited in their response to different stimuli. Here, we present a multiresponsive patternable actuator that can respond to humidity, temperature and light, via programmable structural changes.

    • Yue Dong
    • , Jie Wang
    •  & Bi-Feng Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    3D printing pore-free complex metal parts remains a challenge. Here, the authors combine in-situ imaging and simulations to show thermocapillary force can eliminate pores from the melt pool during a laser powder bed fusion process.

    • S. Mohammad H. Hojjatzadeh
    • , Niranjan D. Parab
    •  & Lianyi Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the potential of self-assembly strategies for fabricating 3D micro-electronic devices, technological limitations prohibit widespread industrial adoption. Here, the authors report the magnetic field-assisted Origami-based assembly of high-performance devices with high yield.

    • Felix Gabler
    • , Dmitriy D. Karnaushenko
    •  & Oliver G. Schmidt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional pseudocapacitors may benefit portable electronic devices but require improved energy and power densities. Here, the authors achieve high volumetric capacitance in ultrathin films with oxygen vacancies that enhance electron conduction and intercrystallite water that promotes proton conduction.

    • Sajjad S. Mofarah
    • , Esmaeil Adabifiroozjaei
    •  & Charles C. Sorrell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two photon polymerization (TPP) allows nanofabrication of three dimensional objects with complex geometries, but is considered to be slow with a limited fabrication rate. Here the authors present a TPP technique based on a digital mirror device scanner which allows for fast parallel nanofabrication with improved precision and flexibility.

    • Qiang Geng
    • , Dien Wang
    •  & Shih-Chi Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Predicting the synthesizability of inorganic materials is challenging due to the many variables and complex phenomena involved in synthesis. Here, the authors combine material stabilities with a historical analysis of experimental discovery timelines as a temporal network to predict the synthesizability of hypothetical materials.

    • Muratahan Aykol
    • , Vinay I. Hegde
    •  & Jens S. Hummelshøj

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Laser-matter interactions during laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing remain poorly understood. Here, the authors combine in situ X-ray imaging and finite element simulations to show how detrimental pores form under printing conditions and develop a strategy to suppress them.

    • Aiden A. Martin
    • , Nicholas P. Calta
    •  & Manyalibo J. Matthews

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inkfree multi-material printing is a common challenge in 3D printing. Here, the authors introduce electrohydrodynamic redox printing, a method that enables the deposition of multiple metals and their alloys with nanoscale resolution and thus the synthesis of materials with locally tuned properties.

    • Alain Reiser
    • , Marcus Lindén
    •  & Ralph Spolenak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    All-solid-state batteries could deliver high energy densities without using organic liquid electrolytes. Here the authors report a complex hydride Li-ion conductor 0.7Li(CB9H10)–0.3Li(CB11H12) that exhibits impressive ionic conductivity and other electrochemical characteristics in an all-solid-state cell.

    • Sangryun Kim
    • , Hiroyuki Oguchi
    •  & Shin-ichi Orimo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Producing nacre-like ceramics with a tough, non-polymeric matrix remains a challenge. Here, the authors use the reactive wetting of a zirconium-based bulk metallic glass to successfully infiltrate a porous alumina and create a composite with improved flexural strength and fracture toughness.

    • Amy Wat
    • , Je In Lee
    •  & Robert O. Ritchie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Additive manufacturing of high entropy alloys is still an emerging field that usually relies on expensive pre-alloyed powders. Here, the authors develop a method to 3D ink-print a CoCrFeNi high entropy alloy using inexpensive blended oxide nanopowders, hydrogen reduction, and sintering.

    • Christoph Kenel
    • , Nicola P. M. Casati
    •  & David C. Dunand

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic cocrystals have interesting properties owing to synergistic effects of the individual components but development of effective growth methods for molecular cocrystals is still in its primary stage. Here the authors demonstrate a sublimation method which allows growing organic cocrystals with controlled morphology.

    • Xin Ye
    • , Yang Liu
    •  & Xutang Tao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Highly ordered and compositionally complex ceramics are prone to disordering under irradiation, but exactly how is unclear. Here, the authors use high resolution microscopy to directly image the order-to-disorder phase transformations in Ti3AlC2 into otherwise unattainable solid solutions.

    • Chenxu Wang
    • , Tengfei Yang
    •  & Yugang Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vertical charge transport through homogeneous WSe2 layers can be effectively tuned by the layer number and contacting metals deposited. Here, the authors report WSe2 vertical diodes with superior device performance characteristics based on variable WSe2 thickness and gadolinium and platinum contact metals.

    • Ghazanfar Nazir
    • , Hakseong Kim
    •  & Suyong Jung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Trapping air at the solid-liquid interface is a promising strategy for reducing frictional drag but could not be realized without perfluorinated coatings so-far. Here the authors demonstrate a biomimetic coating-free approach for entrapping air for long periods upon immersion in liquids.

    • Eddy M. Domingues
    • , Sankara Arunachalam
    •  & Himanshu Mishra

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Static pressures exceeding 4 million atmospheres are extremely challenging to achieve, but are necessary for the study of matter that exists under these conditions in natural environments. Here, diamonds anvils with a toroidal design are demonstrated to sustain over 6 million atmospheres in a diamond anvil cell.

    • Zs. Jenei
    • , E. F. O’Bannon
    •  & W. J. Evans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The existence of a crystalline precursor is key to perovskite film formation, but the precise chemistry of the precursor and its transformation into perovskite are poorly understood. Here, the authors identify the crystal structure and conversion chemistry of the precursor for PbCl2-derived methylammonium lead iodide perovskites.

    • Kevin H. Stone
    • , Aryeh Gold-Parker
    •  & Christopher J. Tassone

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Existing methods to extract structural information from single-molecule scattering measurements require large number of photons per image. Here the authors discuss a method to reconstruct the structure of a molecule from X-ray scattering data by using only three photons per image.

    • Benjamin von Ardenne
    • , Martin Mechelke
    •  & Helmut Grubmüller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The development of efficient catalysts for electrochemical carbon dioxide conversion is hindered by a lack of rationalization. Here, authors use microfabricated electrodes to study the birth of active sites around interfaces in multicomponent copper-based catalysts during carbon dioxide reduction.

    • Gastón O. Larrazábal
    • , Tatsuya Shinagawa
    •  & Javier Pérez-Ramírez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Producing ultrastable metallic glasses has always been associated with substrates heated close to the glass transition temperature. Here, the authors show that reducing the deposition rate of the metallic glass on a cold substrate produces ultrastable metallic glasses with remarkably improved stability.

    • P. Luo
    • , C. R. Cao
    •  & W. H. Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The short lifetime of blue-phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices owing to material degradation impedes their practical potential. Here, Kim et al. study the molecular mechanism of the degradation that involves exciton-mediated electron transfer as a key step for the generation of radical ion pairs.

    • Sinheui Kim
    • , Hye Jin Bae
    •  & Youngmin You

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dye coating techniques for colored materials are often cost intensive or cause degradation of the material during processing. Here the authors demonstrate a fast, scalable and cost efficient plasma dye coating procedure, which allows for covalent immobilization of dye molecules on different polymer surfaces.

    • Lieselot De Smet
    • , Gertjan Vancoillie
    •  & Richard Hoogenboom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most current methods for additive manufacturing of complex metallic 3D structures are limited to a resolution of 20–50 µm. Here, the authors developed a lithography-based process to produce 3D nanoporous nickel nanolattices with octet geometries and a resolution of 100 nm.

    • Andrey Vyatskikh
    • , Stéphane Delalande
    •  & Julia R. Greer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The crystal orientation of a magnetic nanowire can strongly influence its properties, yet nanowire growth with directional control remains challenging. Here, the authors use glancing angle deposition and angle switching to grow iron cobalt nanowires in seven different <hkl> crystal directions.

    • Y. Tao
    •  & C. L. Degen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding structure evolution during electrochemical growth is crucial in materials processing and design of devices such as batteries. Here, the authors image copper during electrodeposition to provide strategies for controlling interface morphology.

    • Nicholas M. Schneider
    • , Jeung Hun Park
    •  & Frances M. Ross

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthesis of all-inorganic nanomaterials often relies on organic templates, which are assumed to then be fully removed by calcination. Here, the authors use elastic backscattering spectroscopy to challenge this assumption, finding that calcination leaves behind considerable carbon content that can severely affect material function.

    • Pratyasha Mohapatra
    • , Santosh Shaw
    •  & Ludovico Cademartiri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Replacing steel or aluminium vehicle parts with magnesium would result in reduced emissions, but shaping magnesium without cracking remains challenging. Here, the authors successfully extrude and roll textured magnesium into ductile foil at low temperatures by activating intra-granular mechanisms.

    • Zhuoran Zeng
    • , Jian-Feng Nie
    •  & Nick Birbilis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Porous polymer fibers show great potential for a range of applications, but their simple structures typically limit their functionality. Here, the authors combine a thermal drawing process with polymer solution phase separation to fabricate porous multimaterial fibers with complex internal architectures.

    • Benjamin Grena
    • , Jean-Baptiste Alayrac
    •  & Yoel Fink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-entropy alloys represent a new strategy for the design of materials with properties superior to those of conventional alloys, but are largely limited to simple phases of cubic symmetry. By applying high pressures on CrMnFeCoNi, here authors demonstrate synthesis of a hexagonal close-packed phase.

    • Cameron L. Tracy
    • , Sulgiye Park
    •  & Wendy L. Mao

  • 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

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