Organic molecules in materials science articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors show second harmonic generation (SHG) from a centrosymmetric organic superconductor κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br. They find unusual temperature dependence and CEP-sensitive nature of the SHG which are explained in terms of nonlinear current.

    • Y. Kawakami
    • , T. Amano
    •  & S. Iwai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many studies of polariton condensates have been limited to low temperatures. Here the authors demonstrate ambient polariton condensation in lattices using organic traps that profit from the stability of organic excitons and the large Rabi splitting.

    • M. Dusel
    • , S. Betzold
    •  & C. Schneider

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) is a topic which is currently widely studied, but a study on the correlation between types of molecular solid and RTP properties is lacking. Here the authors show that RTP is enhanced in the racemic form of axial chiral molecules due to its denser R- and S- cross packing arrangement.

    • Xiugang Wu
    • , Chun-Ying Huang
    •  & Pi-Tai Chou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Color changes by external stimuli, so-called chromism, have been intensively studied to develop smart materials due to the stimulus-responsiveness of chromic materials. Here the authors demonstrate luminescent chromism during a mechanically controllable phase transition in a luminescent organosuperelastic crystal.

    • Toshiki Mutai
    • , Toshiyuki Sasaki
    •  & Satoshi Takamizawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thin-film nanocomposites (TFN) nanomaterials have been employed to tailor permeability and selectivity in membranes, but achieving effective separation at large flux retains challenging. Here, the authors use calix[4]arene derivatives which are ionically bonded to a polyamide network to engineer the molecular-sieving properties of TFN membranes for organic solvent forward osmosis (OSFO).

    • Bofan Li
    • , Susilo Japip
    •  & Tai-Shung Chung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fabrication of large scale and defect free covalent organic framework (COF) membranes with pores small enough for gas sieving remains challenging. Here, the authors report a scalable fabrication method to grow large area defect free COF membranes and to tune the pore size in the sub-nm region by adjusting the stacking modes of the COF layers.

    • Yang Li
    • , Qianxun Wu
    •  & Lijian Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Design of materials which allow for simultaneous detection and removal of water pollutants is challenging. Here the authors develop a guanidinocalix[5]arene that selectively binds perfluorinated alkyl substances and allows for fluorescence detection as well as removal of the pollutants in contaminated water.

    • Zhe Zheng
    • , Huijuan Yu
    •  & Dong-Sheng Guo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although polarized Raman microscopy is sensitive to orientation changes, quantitative information has been missing. Here, the authors use simultaneous registration of multiple Raman scattering spectra obtained at different polarizations and show quantitative orientation mapping

    • Oleksii Ilchenko
    • , Yuriy Pilgun
    •  & Anja Boisen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Purely organic ultralong room temperature phosphorescence (URTP) attracts attention but high efficiencies are rarely achieved. Here the authors use ultrafast spectroscopy to investigate a system of 1,8-naphthalic anhydride in organic hosts and reveal that a cluster exciton forms as a transient state before the guest acts as an energy trap for the URTP state.

    • Xuepeng Zhang
    • , Lili Du
    •  & Ben Zhong Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing materials with large thermal expansion is highly desirable to fabricate microscale devices. The authors report unusually large anisotropic negative and positive thermal expansion in a simple crystalline material, through temperature-driven orientation of imidazole cations acting as molecular wheels.

    • Zi-Shuo Yao
    • , Hanxi Guan
    •  & Jun Tao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Constructing two-dimensional (2D) polymers with complex tessellation patterns is important for the fabrication of advanced materials but achieving such complexity is a great challenge. Here the authors report a tessellated 2D covalent organic framework with increased structural complexity as well as different pore structures.

    • Rong-Ran Liang
    • , Shun-Qi Xu
    •  & Xin Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molecular crystals that show a reversible shape change by external stimuli are invaluable for the design of actuators but their strong deformations usually lead to their destruction. Here the authors report a fluorenone derivative showing a strong, reversible and instantaneous shear deformation upon heating due to a structural phase transition.

    • Yulong Duan
    • , Sergey Semin
    •  & Theo Rasing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To realize electronic skins for emerging technologies that require multifunctional sensing capability, intelligent design strategies are needed. Here, the authors report electronic skins with a single sensory unit that simultaneously transduces both tactile and touchless stimulations.

    • Jin Ge
    • , Xu Wang
    •  & Denys Makarov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Development of light-responsive materials imposes a demand on visible-light photoswitching but this is often achieved at expense of photochromic performance. Here the authors use a building-block design to achieve a diarylethene all-visible-light photoswitch with improved photochromic efficiency and enhanced photo-fatigue resistance.

    • Zhiwei Zhang
    • , Wenhui Wang
    •  & He Tian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stimuli-responsive multicolor luminescent materials typically react on external triggers of physical nature, but photonically controlled systems which allow for remote operation were not realized. Here the authors use light as the stimulus of a responsive luminescent material which eliminates the need for physical access.

    • Gaowa Naren
    • , Chien-Wei Hsu
    •  & Joakim Andréasson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Little attention has been paid to the fundamental mechanism of molecular self-assembly into crystallised films or wires on surfaces. Here the authors use real time in-situ scanning probe microscopy to monitor the growth trajectories of organic semiconducting films as they crystallize from an amorphous solid state under ambient conditions.

    • Hongliang Chen
    • , Mingliang Li
    •  & Xuefeng Guo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Existing transport models for organic semiconductors are limited in their ability to accurately describe the transport mechanisms in these materials. Here, the authors report the fragment-orbital based surface hopping method for predicting charge transport in crystalline organic semiconductors.

    • Samuele Giannini
    • , Antoine Carof
    •  & Jochen Blumberger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic heterostructures attract attention in material chemistry but the precise bottom-up synthesis is still challenging. Herein the authors present a hierarchical self-assembly approach to synthesize one-dimensional organic heterostructures by regulating the noncovalent interactions.

    • Ming-Peng Zhuo
    • , Jun-Jie Wu
    •  & Liang-Sheng Liao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molecular crystals can be bent elastically by expansion or contraction on opposite faces, or plastically by delamination into slabs that glide along slip planes. Here the authors report crystals that can be bent plastically while undergoing a mechanically induced phase transition without delamination.

    • Ejaz Ahmed
    • , Durga Prasad Karothu
    •  & Panče Naumov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The performance of organic semiconductor devices depends heavily on molecular parameters. Here, Schwarze et al. point out that the molecular quadrupole moment largely influences device energy levels and show how quadrupole moments can reduce the energy barrier for charge generation in solar cells.

    • Martin Schwarze
    • , Karl Sebastian Schellhammer
    •  & Karl Leo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Charge transport in organic diodes based on conjugated polymers is severely limited by the high water-related trap concentration and energetic disorder. Here, the authors report high-mobility trap-free charge transport in low-disorder conjugated polymers by incorporating small molecular additives.

    • Mark Nikolka
    • , Katharina Broch
    •  & Henning Sirringhaus

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The potential of organic materials with persistent room-temperature phosphorescence for high-tech application is limited by their low efficiency. Here, the authors report a strategy to enhance persistent room-temperature phosphorescence efficiency via intramolecular triplet-triplet energy transfer.

    • Weijun Zhao
    • , Tsz Shing Cheung
    •  & Ben Zhong Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chemiluminescence is known in solution, but has remained undetected in macroscopic crystalline solids so far. Here the authors demonstrate direct transduction of heat into light by thermochemiluminescence in a centimeter-size lophine hydroperoxide crystal.

    • Stefan Schramm
    • , Durga Prasad Karothu
    •  & Panče Naumov

  • 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

    Contact charging of insulators is a significant problem for various industries, such as plastics, electronics, and space. Here the authors gain spatial and temporal control of discharge of triboelectrically charged polymers upon illumination of a set of common organic dyes.

    • S. Doruk Cezan
    • , Atakan A. Nalbant
    •  & Bilge Baytekin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water based inks used for water-jet rewritable paper (WJRP) are an environmental friendly alternative to conventional printing, but black colour in WJRP could not be realized so far. Here the authors demonstrate black as well as other colour WJRP based on binary systems containing less-sensitive acidochromic dyes and mild proton donors.

    • Guan Xi
    • , Lan Sheng
    •  & Sean Xiao-An Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superplasticity enables processing on hard-to-work solids but superelastic deformation, especially in a single-crystal-to-single-crystal manner, was not demonstrated for organic crystals so far. Here the authors demonstrate a single-crystal-to-single-crystal superplasticity in a crystal of N,N-dimethyl-4-nitroaniline.

    • Satoshi Takamizawa
    • , Yuichi Takasaki
    •  & Noriaki Ozaki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Configuring surfaces on-demand for desired functionalities is an ongoing challenge. Here, diverse and tailorable modifications of quartz and porous silica surfaces that are rapidly and reversibly switchable by the use of visible light are achieved via ruthenium-thioether coordination.

    • Chaoming Xie
    • , Wen Sun
    •  & Si Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Energy conversion of light into mechanical work is of fundamental interest for a wide range of applications, but the development of efficient light responsive polymers is challenging. Here the authors demonstrate photoswitchable  glass transition temperatures contribute to the photomechanical bending in a crosslinked azobenzene polymer.

    • Youfeng Yue
    • , Yasuo Norikane
    •  & Emiko Koyama

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polymers cross-linked with dynamic bonds can switch the phase from solid to fluid upon stimulus but return quickly to the solid state once the stimulus is removed. Here the authors report a light triggered permanent solid to fluid transition at room temperature with inherent spatiotemporal control in either direction

    • Brady T. Worrell
    • , Matthew K. McBride
    •  & Christopher N. Bowman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stabilization of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) by post-synthetic locking is a powerful tool to push the limits of COF utilization. Here the authors demonstrate a sulfur-assisted conversion of an imine-linked COF into a thiazole-linked COF, with retention of crystallinity and porosity, allowing for direct imaging of defects in COFs.

    • Frederik Haase
    • , Erik Troschke
    •  & Bettina V. Lotsch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The use of chiral molecules for optoelectronics remains underexplored. Here, the authors perform Mueller matrix spectroscopy on thin films of enantiopure prolinol functionalized squaraines and report an extraordinarily high circular dichroism, thus providing a benchmark material for chiroptical applications.

    • Matthias Schulz
    • , Jennifer Zablocki
    •  & Manuela Schiek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Encoding functionalities in covalent organic frameworks (COFs) is important for widening their application field but the development of fluorescent COFs is hampered by a lack of guiding design principles. Here the authors demonstrate tuning and switching of the photoluminescence in 2D COFs made of non-emissive building blocks.

    • Xing Li
    • , Qiang Gao
    •  & Kian Ping Loh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spider aggregate glue avoids failure in humid environments but the fundamental mechanism behind it is still unknown. Here, the authors demonstrate that humidity-dependent structural changes of glycoproteins and sequestering of liquid water by low molecular mass compounds prevents adhesion failure of the glue in humid environments.

    • Saranshu Singla
    • , Gaurav Amarpuri
    •  & Ali Dhinojwala

  • 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

    Singlet fission is desirable for highly efficient solar cells, yet the details of the process remain elusive. Here, Broch et al. show that the changes in bulk intermolecular interactions can have little effect on the singlet fission rate in a mixture of pentacene and weakly interacting spacer molecules.

    • K. Broch
    • , J. Dieterle
    •  & F. Schreiber

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Martensitic transition is commonly seen in steel and shape memory alloys but rarely in organic materials. Chung et al. discover martensitic transitions in organic electronics and utilize it in designing field-effect transistors, leading to shape memory effect that in return modifies charge transport properties.

    • Hyunjoong Chung
    • , Dmytro Dudenko
    •  & Ying Diao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The application potential of organic nanotubes is currently limited by their lack of designable or dynamic properties. Here, Chen et al. use sequence-defined peptoids to assemble a new family of pH-responsive stiff nanotubes whose dimensions, components and functions can be easily tailored.

    • Haibao Jin
    • , Yan-Huai Ding
    •  & Chun-Long Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coherent coupling in soft matter, controlled by nanoscale morphology, plays an important role in charge generation and recombination in optoelectronics. Eder et al. show how to reversibly switch between H- and J-type coupling in conjugated polymer aggregates, leading to tunable photoluminescence.

    • Theresa Eder
    • , Thomas Stangl
    •  & Jan Vogelsang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Traditional approaches used in the pharmaceutical industry are not precise or versatile enough for customized medicine formulation and manufacture. Here the authors produce a method to form coatings, with accurate dosages, as well as a means of closely controlling dissolution kinetics.

    • Olga Shalev
    • , Shreya Raghavan
    •  & Max Shtein

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