Structural properties articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dependence of the Cu-catalysed methanol synthesis on the structure of the Cu surface is a matter of debate. Here the authors show that activity falls for Cu and Cu-Zn particles below 8 nm and propose this is due to the absence of certain atomic configurations on the smaller particle surfaces.

    • Roy van den Berg
    • , Gonzalo Prieto
    •  & Krijn P. de Jong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Low-density compressible materials often suffer from fatigue-induced failure or limited elasticity. Here, the authors create a hierarchical multi-arch carbon material that achieves high compressibility, superior elasticity and fatigue resistance simultaneously, inspired by properties of arches in daily life.

    • Huai-Ling Gao
    • , Yin-Bo Zhu
    •  & Shu-Hong Yu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Structural lubricity—referring to ultralow levels of friction between atomically flat, incommensurate surfaces—has previously been observed under ultrahigh vacuum. Here, the authors report structural lubricity at gold-graphite interfaces under ambient conditions and on mesoscopic scales.

    • Ebru Cihan
    • , Semran İpek
    •  & Mehmet Z. Baykara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    When reducing the size of shape memory materials to the nanoscale regime, the memory effect tends to diminish. Here, the authors report a theoretical proposal of a shape memory graphene oxide with ordered epoxy groups retaining excellent programmability and actuation capabilities.

    • Zhenyue Chang
    • , Junkai Deng
    •  & Jefferson Zhe Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Amorphous silicon monoxide is known to undergo disproportionation to silicon- and silicon dioxide-like regions, however direct observation of the atomic-scale heterogeneity is still missing. Here, the authors use angstrom-beam electron diffraction to reveal precise structural details of this unusual material.

    • Akihiko Hirata
    • , Shinji Kohara
    •  & Mingwei Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conducting polymers are promising materials for applications including bioelectronics and soft robotics, but little is known about how morphology affects mixed conduction. Here, the authors show how bulk ionic/electronic transport is affected by changes in nano- and meso-scale structure in PEDOT:PSS films.

    • Jonathan Rivnay
    • , Sahika Inal
    •  & George G. Malliaras

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lightweight materials with high strength are desirable for applications where they could reduce energy consumption. Here, the authors develop a low cost beta-titanium alloy that uses a hierarchical nanostructure of precipitates with different sizes to achieve high strength.

    • Arun Devaraj
    • , Vineet V. Joshi
    •  & Curt Lavender

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Grain boundaries affect the physical properties of metals but their influence on covalent solids is less well established. Here, the authors use scanning transmission electron microscopy and quantum mechanics to understand deformation mechanisms in perfect and twinned boron suboxide crystals.

    • Qi An
    • , K. Madhav Reddy
    •  & William A. Goddard III

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Typically, most structures and devices that can be reconfigured are designed with application specific requirements. Inspired by modular origami ideas, Overveldeet al. present a mechanical metamaterial enabling the design of three-dimensional structures of arbitrary architecture with tunable shape, volume and stiffness.

    • Johannes T.B. Overvelde
    • , Twan A. de Jong
    •  & Katia Bertoldi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As a natural biocomposite, Strombus gigas, commonly known as the giant pink queen conch shell, exhibits outstanding mechanical properties such as fracture toughness. Here, the authors show that these properties can be partially attributed to nanoscale twin boundaries in the basic building block of the shell.

    • Yoon Ah Shin
    • , Sheng Yin
    •  & Sang Ho Oh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fe2O3is known to undergo a series of structural, electronic and magnetic transformations at high pressures and temperatures but these are poorly understood due to a lack of structural data. Here, the authors perform experiments to elucidate the transformations and relationships between them.

    • E. Bykova
    • , L. Dubrovinsky
    •  & V. Prakapenka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two dimensional forms of silicon offer different conductive properties to that of the bulk material, promising applications in new electronic technologies. Here, the authors report the fabrication of bilayer silicenes which, unlike their monolayer form, are indirect bandgap semiconductors.

    • Ritsuko Yaokawa
    • , Tetsu Ohsuna
    •  & Hideyuki Nakano

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Materials resistant to radiation damage could improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of nuclear energy. Here, the authors suggest that some materials and interfaces may be effective sinks for defects caused by this damage and propose that elastic interactions enhance sink strength.

    • A. Vattré
    • , T. Jourdan
    •  & M. J. Demkowicz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ethylene hydrogenation often serves as an example of a structure insensitive reaction. Here, the authors study the reaction, catalyzed by a range of size-selected platinum nanocatalysts, and demonstrate that in the sub-nanometer regime particle size can be used to tune hydrogenation activity and selectivity.

    • Andrew S. Crampton
    • , Marian D. Rötzer
    •  & Uzi Landman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polymerization on surfaces is an emerging approach for producing graphene nanoribbons with a tunable bandgap, a promising material for carbon-based electronics. Here, Vasseur et al.show quasi-one-dimensional band structure of a model semiconducting polymer synthesized directly on a supporting surface.

    • Guillaume Vasseur
    • , Yannick Fagot-Revurat
    •  & Dmitrii F. Perepichka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The alignment of the bandgap of adjacent materials in a heterostructure largely determines the electronic properties of a device. Here, the authors measure the conduction and valance band offsets at the interface between two two-dimensional materials: molybdenum disulphide and tungsten diselenide.

    • Ming-Hui Chiu
    • , Chendong Zhang
    •  & Lain-Jong Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanocrystal surface structure affects many properties but is tough to determine for halide-adsorbed materials. Here, the authors combine X-ray absorption measurements and computational modelling to elucidate the chloride metal surface structures for silver-coated gold nanocrystals with controlled shapes.

    • J. Daniel Padmos
    • , Michelle L. Personick
    •  & Peng Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying a catalyst during reaction (operando conditions) can give significant insights into the changes a catalyst undergoes. Here, the authors use an operandoapproach to correlate X-ray spectroscopy and electron based imaging techniques to measure the dynamic changes in Pt nanoparticles during the catalytic hydrogenation of ethylene.

    • Y. Li
    • , D. Zakharov
    •  & A.I. Frenkel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Materials that are tolerant to radiation damage are important for use in nuclear reactors or the storage of nuclear materials. Here, the authors show that pre-introduced nanovoids in nanotwinned copper improve self-healing of the material and therefore enhance its radiation tolerance.

    • Y. Chen
    • , K Y. Yu
    •  & X. Zhang

  • Article |

    There is a growing interest in the development of narrowband photodiodes for full-color imaging and visible-blind near-infrared detection. Armin et al.show a sub-100 nm response by tuning the spectral bandwidth through regulating the charge collection efficiency in a thick organic bulk heterojunction.

    • Ardalan Armin
    • , Ross D. Jansen-van Vuuren
    •  & Paul Meredith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The occurrence of thermodynamically metastable nanoparticles determines the particle growth in nature, but capturing them is experimentally challenging. Barke et al. identify the three-dimensional shape of metastable silver nanoparticles in gas phase, characterized by X-ray free-electron laser.

    • Ingo Barke
    • , Hannes Hartmann
    •  & Thomas Möller

  • Article |

    Understanding the degradation of materials subject to energetic radiation is important for the development of technologies based on nuclear fission. Here, the authors show that redox reactions of actinide compounds play an important role in their response to energetic radiation and their radiation tolerance.

    • Cameron L. Tracy
    • , Maik Lang
    •  & Rodney C. Ewing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Grain rotation is proposed as an active deformation mechanism in nanocrystalline metals at room temperature. Here, during in-situatomic scale experimentation, the authors observe that grains with a size <6 nm deform by coordinated rotation of multiple grains, associated with dislocation climb at grain boundaries.

    • Lihua Wang
    • , Jiao Teng
    •  & Xiaodong Han

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The term mesocrystal describes three-dimensional crystals formed by oriented assembly and that exhibit nanoparticle substructures. Here, the authors perform detailed structural analyses on synthetic calcium carbonate/polymer crystals, and show that common signatures used to assign mesocrystals may be unreliable.

    • Yi-Yeoun Kim
    • , Anna S. Schenk
    •  & Fiona C. Meldrum

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