Materials for devices articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Contact electrification triggers gas breakdown. Using Coulomb force to estimate voltage, this work provides experimental evidence for the Paschen curves that govern such discharge.

    • Hongcheng Tao
    •  & James Gibert
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Layered thio- and seleno-phosphate ferroelectrics show promise for next-generation memory but have thermal stability issues. Using the electric field-driven phase transition in antiferroelectric CuCrP2S6, the authors introduce a robust memristor, emphasizing the potential of van der Waals antiferroelectrics in advanced neuromorphic computing.

    • Yinchang Ma
    • , Yuan Yan
    •  & Xixiang Zhang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Few studies have investigated the structural properties of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors in relation to the transient device characteristics. Here, Kim et al. show that backbone-dependent molecular orientation affects ion injection directionality, which determines ion mobility and transient response.

    • Ji Hwan Kim
    • , Roman Halaksa
    •  & Myung-Han Yoon
  • Article
    | Open Access

    “The combination of stimuli responsive nanomaterials and 3D printing leads interesting applications in the fields of soft robots and actuators. Here, the authors present a 3D printing approach for the fabrication of liquid metal nanoparticles-polymer composites acting as light controlled soft robots which can lift weights, grasp and release items”.

    • Liwen Zhang
    • , Xumin Huang
    •  & Ruirui Qiao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    A combination of functional nanoparticles and liquid streaming can be used to generate structures for the fabrication of soft functional materials. In this study, authors demonstrate the creation of Janus-structured liquids with anisotropic and programmable distributions of nanoparticles by utilizing interfacial assembly and jamming of nanoparticles at the liquid-liquid interface.

    • Ahmadreza Ghaffarkhah
    • , Seyyed Alireza Hashemi
    •  & Mohammad Arjmand
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transfer printing of inorganic semiconductors is essential for high-performance flexible electronics. Here, Park et al. report the micro-vacuum assisted selective transfer to integrate inorganic thin-film semiconductors on unusual substrates.

    • Sang Hyun Park
    • , Tae Jin Kim
    •  & Keon Jae Lee
  • Article
    | Open Access

    “The interface mismatch of soft substrates and rigid silicon-based microelectronics frequently causes failures of integrated circuits. Here, the authors develop a stretchable solder based on liquid metal-polymer composites which enables seamless integration of electronic components with soft substrates, showcasing high conductivity and stretchability”.

    • Liqing Ai
    • , Weikang Lin
    •  & Xi Yao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing high performance organic neuromorphic devices remains a challenge. Here, Liu et al. report the development of an organic synapse based on a semicrystalline polymer PBFCL10 with device dimension of 50 nm and integration size of 1 Kb and a mixed‐signal neuromorphic hardware system based on the organic neuromatrix and FPGA controller for decision‐making tasks.

    • Shuzhi Liu
    • , Jianmin Zeng
    •  & Gang Liu
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Underwater soft robots made of stimuli-responsive shape-changing hydrogels generally present low actuation speed which is limited by the water diffusion between hydrogels and their surrounding environment. Here, the authors develop dynamic hydrogel robots with a fast and switchable actuation based on a thermally driven chain conformation change after mechanical programming.

    • Chujun Ni
    • , Di Chen
    •  & Qian Zhao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Body area networks represent a wearable technology suitable for applications like virtual reality and health monitoring. Here, the study presents a wireless battery-free channel that works reliably in harsh environments, including underwater. It utilizes stretchable magneto-inductive metamaterials to enable uninterrupted communication.

    • Amirhossein Hajiaghajani
    • , Patrick Rwei
    •  & Peter Tseng
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing robust blue organic light-emitting diodes is a long-standing challenge in the display industry. Here, the authors show that electron-induced degradation reactions play a more critical role in the short lifetime of devices with iridium-based emitters under real operational conditions.

    • Jaewook Kim
    • , Joonghyuk Kim
    •  & Woo Youn Kim
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrostrictors are materials that develop mechanical strain proportional to the square of the applied electric field. Here authors report. Zr-doped-Ceria as a new lead-free electrostrictive material with a similar electrostriction coefficient to the best electrostrictor material currently in use.

    • Maxim Varenik
    • , Boyuan Xu
    •  & Igor Lubomirsky
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Artificial sensory systems are typically limited by their performance and response to static and dynamic stimuli. Here, Bai et al. propose an iontronic slip-sensor, which responds to both static pressure and high-frequency vibrations up to 400 Hz, achieving high spatiotemporal resolution for texture recognition.

    • Ningning Bai
    • , Yiheng Xue
    •  & Chuan Fei Guo
  • Article
    | Open Access

    CuCrP2S6 is a potential candidate for realizing low-dimensional multiferroicity. Here, authors report direct observation of robust out-of-plane ferroelectricity in the two-dimensional van der Waals layered CuCrP2S6 at room temperature down to 2.6 nm and study its origin from an atomic perspective. (299 in total)

    • Weng Fu Io
    • , Sin -Yi Pang
    •  & Jianhua Hao
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oxygen is the most limiting factor in cell transplantation. Here, the authors present an on-site oxygen production platform for implantable cell therapeutics via electrocatalytic water electrolysis, demonstrating the maintenance of high cell loading in hypoxic incubation and a rat model.

    • Inkyu Lee
    • , Abhijith Surendran
    •  & Tzahi Cohen-Karni
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Probabilistic computing has recently emerged as a promising energy-based computing system for solving non-deterministic polynomial-time-hard (NP-hard) problems. Here the authors develop a novel pbit unit, using NbOx volatile memristor, in which a self-clocking oscillator harnesses noise-induced metal-insulator transition, enabling high-performance probabilistic computing.

    • Hakseung Rhee
    • , Gwangmin Kim
    •  & Kyung Min Kim
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Circularly polarized light adds a unique dimension to optical information processing and communication. Here, the authors present a development of a photonic artificial synapse device using chiral perovskite hybrid materials and carbon nanotubes. The heterostructure exhibits efficient synaptic and neuromorphic behaviors, enabling accurate recognition of circularly polarized images.

    • Qi Liu
    • , Qi Wei
    •  & Mingjie Li
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physical reservoirs that contain intrinsic nonlinear dynamic processes could serve as next-generation dynamic computing systems. Here, Liu et al. introduced an interface-type transistor based on oxygen ion dynamics to perform reservoir computing.

    • Zhuohui Liu
    • , Qinghua Zhang
    •  & Chen Ge
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Printed stretchable electronics with sustainable elastomers are typically limited by their electro-mechanical performances. Herein, Lv et al. report a sustainable vegetable oil-based polyurethane-enabled printed conductor with high performance enabled by the porous binder and sintering of silver flakes.

    • Jian Lv
    • , Gurunathan Thangavel
    •  & Pooi See Lee
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Minimal invasiveness and robust signal detection are required in neural probes. Here, the authors develop NeuroWeb, an ultra-thin, minimally invasive surface electrode array. In vivo electrophysiological and optogenetic experiments show single-unit activity of neurons with high signal-to-noise ratio.

    • Jung Min Lee
    • , Young-Woo Pyo
    •  & Hong-Gyu Park
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors showcase a method to design negative lumped elements by engineering the effective permittivity within the waveguide, which enables realizations of wideband waveguide metatronics and promises performance enhancement in various fields.

    • Xu Qin
    • , Pengyu Fu
    •  & Yue Li
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing efficient optoelectronic synaptic devices with advanced light responsive multimodal platforms remains a challenge. Here, the authors report on an organic optoelectronic neuromorphic platform that is based on conductive polymers and light-sensitive molecules that can be used to imitate the retina including visual pathways and typical memory processes of neurons.

    • Federica Corrado
    • , Ugo Bruno
    •  & Francesca Santoro
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Preparation of photodiodes with photomultiplication/photovoltaic two operating modes is promising but challenging. Here, the authors report a bias-switchable dual-mode organic photodiode by adopting traps and blocking layer, achieving detectivity of 1012 Jones and fast response speed in both modes.

    • Qingxia Liu
    • , Lingfeng Li
    •  & Yadong Jiang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Membrane distillation is an emerging desalination technology to obtain freshwater from saline based on low-grade energy. Here the authors report on novel superhydrophobic hierarchical porous membranes with enhanced distillation flux suitable for desalination or wastewater treatment.

    • Youmin Hou
    • , Prexa Shah
    •  & Hans-Jürgen Butt
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing a high-density memory array to effectively manage large data volumes remains a challenge. Here, the authors introduce a stacked ferroelectric memory array comprised of laterally gated ferroelectric field-effect transistors device with high vertical scalability and efficient memory properties, making it suitable for 3D in-memory computing structures.

    • Sangyong Park
    • , Dongyoung Lee
    •  & Jin-Hong Park
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neuro-inspired vision systems hold great promise to address the growing demands of mass data processing for edge computing. Here the authors, develop a neuro-inspired optical sensor based on NbS2/MoS2 films that can operate with monolithically integrated functions of static image enhancement and dynamic trajectory registration.

    • Pei-Yu Huang
    • , Bi-Yi Jiang
    •  & Cheng-Yan Xu
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors demonstrate here a method for the production of arbitrarily long, light-guiding microstructured fibers with shape-memory properties. The showcased design of adaptative fibers here holds potential for the development of functional actuators and sensors.

    • Clément Strutynski
    • , Marianne Evrard
    •  & Frédéric Smektala
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Developing piezoelectric biocrystals that are stretchable while maintaining structure and stable piezoelectricity is challenging. Here, Li et al. report an amino acid-based piezoelectric biocrystal with omnidirectional stretchability enabled by a truss-like network, for wearable and implantable devices.

    • Jun Li
    • , Corey Carlos
    •  & Xudong Wang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Structural engineering at the subatomic level remains little for boosting operational stability of organic light-emitting diodes. Here, authors show that deuteration of acceptor is critical to enhance device stability, which is commonly neglected due to limited availability and synthetic complexity.

    • Sinyeong Jung
    • , Wai-Lung Cheung
    •  & Man-Chung Tang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this work, authors demonstrate a fast and versatile microprinting technique to produce high-performance and customizable piezoelectric elements by employing a conductive spiny disc to electrostatically trigger instability to the liquid-air interface of the ink.

    • Xuemu Li
    • , Zhuomin Zhang
    •  & Zhengbao Yang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The soft fluidic robots designed so far are lacking intelligent self-protection and present poor fluidic power source. Here, the authors report soft fluidic robots that integrate soft electrohydrodynamic pumps, healing electrofluids, actuators and E-skins endowing them with self-sensing, self-judgment, and self-heating behaviours for rapid self-healing.

    • Wei Tang
    • , Yiding Zhong
    •  & Jun Zou
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Soft robots made of hydrogels with anisotropic and shape-change properties offer interesting design opportunities. Here, the authors report zwitterionic hydrogels and anisotropic cellulose nanocrystals composites in which the shear-induced alignment of cellulose nanocrystals allows for the development of shape-change programmable miniature robots.

    • Rasool Nasseri
    • , Negin Bouzari
    •  & Hamed Shahsavan