Synthesis and processing articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal/oxide interfaces play an important role in heterogeneous catalysis and redox reactions, but their buried nature makes them difficult to study. Here, the authors use environmental transmission electron microscopy to probe the atomic-level transformations at Cu2O/Cu interfaces as they undergo redox reactions.

    • Lianfeng Zou
    • , Jonathan Li
    •  & Guangwen Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Probing the growth pathways of quasicrystalline materials, where tiling units arrange with local but no long-range order, remains challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate that dodecagonal tiling of mesoporous silica nanoparticles occurs via irreversible packing of micelles with non-uniform size distribution.

    • Yao Sun
    • , Kai Ma
    •  & Ulrich Wiesner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-performance electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) typically use platinum (Pt), however its high cost is a hindrance to commercial scale up. Here, the authors report a cost-effective, efficient and durable Pt single-atom electrocatalyst for ORR with a Pt utilization of 0.13 gPt kW−1in a fuel cell.

    • Jing Liu
    • , Menggai Jiao
    •  & Gongquan Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Liquid metals are excellent candidate materials for biomedicine, owing to their intriguing optical properties and chemical stability. Here, the authors design multifunctional theranostic liquid metal nanocapsules that, upon irradiation, generate heat and reactive oxygen species and change shape to release drugs.

    • Svetlana A. Chechetka
    • , Yue Yu
    •  & Eijiro Miyako

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mesoporous noble metal nanostructures offer great promise in catalytic applications. Here, Yamauchi and co-workers synthesize mesoporous rhodium nanoparticles using polymeric micelle templates, and report appreciable activities for methanol oxidation and NO remediation.

    • Bo Jiang
    • , Cuiling Li
    •  & Yusuke Yamauchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water can function as a sustainable reactor for the synthesis of size-controlled, functional nanoparticles. Here, the authors introduce an underwater Leidenfrost synthesis that reproduces the dynamic chemistry of the deep ocean, in which anticancer therapeutic ZnO2nanoclusters form in an overheated zone and migrate to colder water to continue growth.

    • Mady Elbahri
    • , Ramzy Abdelaziz
    •  & Moheb Abdelaziz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The unique electronic properties of two-dimensional materials are determined not only by their shape, but also the precise atomic arrangement of atoms along edges. Here, Chenet al. have developed a bottom-up epitaxial growth of MoSe2nanoribbons that controls both geometry and edge states.

    • Yuxuan Chen
    • , Ping Cui
    •  & Chih-Kang Shih

  • 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

    Plant and animal tissues have evolved to contain hierarchical networks of pores that maximize mass transfer and exchange. Here the authors fabricate bio-inspired materials with multi-scale macro–meso–micropores and show their enhanced performances as photocatalysts, gas sensors and Li-ion battery electrodes.

    • Xianfeng Zheng
    • , Guofang Shen
    •  & Bao-Lian Su

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene nanoribbons consist of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. Despite non-hexagonal rings generally being more unstable, the authors demonstrate the successful synthesis of graphene-like nanoribbons with periodically embedded four- and eight-membered carbon rings, with tailored electronic properties.

    • Meizhuang Liu
    • , Mengxi Liu
    •  & Dingyong Zhong

  • 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

    One of the key challenges 2D materials still face is their uniform wafer-scale deposition. Here, the authors present a deposition method for post-transition metal dichalcogenides, based on transformation of an ultra-thin oxide layer on the surface of liquid elemental gallium onto an oxide-coated substrate.

    • Benjamin J. Carey
    • , Jian Zhen Ou
    •  & Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthesis of nanostructured ceria on green deep eutectic solvent reline is one of the less energy-intensive routes to date. Here, the authors show that the reline solvent plays the role of a latent supramolecular catalyst driving the pre-organization of the reactants, allowing morphology and porosity control.

    • Oliver S. Hammond
    • , Karen J. Edler
    •  & Laura Torrente-Murciano

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precise control of the growth of transition metal dichalcogenides layers in atomically thin van der Waals heterostructures has gained significant attention. Here, the authors report 100% overlapped vertical ReS2/WS2heterostructures by utilizing the twinned growth behaviour of two-dimensional materials.

    • Tao Zhang
    • , Bei Jiang
    •  & Lei Fu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polymorph selection by synthesis conditions is common, important and mechanistically undercharacterized. Here authors show viaab initio calculations that surface energy effects on nucleation rate can explain how solution pH selects dominant forms of FeS2during hydrothermal synthesis.

    • Daniil A. Kitchaev
    •  & Gerbrand Ceder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is suggested that the optical and mechanical properties of transparent ceramics become very favourable if they can be synthesized as nanocrystals. Here, the authors report direct conversion of bulk glass starting material to pore-free nano-polycrystalline silicate garnet at high pressure and temperature.

    • T. Irifune
    • , K. Kawakami
    •  & T. Shinmei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Laser beam-induced processing is industrially relevant but often challenging to study in terms of underlying phase transformations. Here authors characterize formation of thin, phase-separated carbon and silicon layers on a silicon carbide substrate by laser-induced melting and solidification.

    • Insung Choi
    • , Hu Young Jeong
    •  & Keon Jae Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Piezoelectricity in diphenylalanine peptide nanotubes (PNTs) suggests an avenue towards green piezoelectric devices. Here the authors show ‘smart’ PNTs whose polarization can be controlled with an electric field, and a resultant power generator which harvests biomechanical energy with high power density.

    • Vu Nguyen
    • , Ren Zhu
    •  & Rusen Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hyperaccumulation can allow facile enrichment of metal ions in halophytic plants. Here, the authors use the effect to convert plant structures into hierarchical carbon/metal-oxide nanocomposites and demonstrate the structures as battery electrodes combining high power density and excellent cycling stability.

    • Jian Zhu
    • , Yu Shan
    •  & Xiangfeng Duan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fracture and related processes are typically considered detrimental, but have also attracted interest in more constructive roles. Here authors demonstrate ordered fragmentation at submicron scales of a metal oxide/hydroxide thin film by introducing preferential sites for fracture on the underlying substrate.

    • L. Guo
    • , Y. Ren
    •  & S. Y. Chiam

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The energy harvesting potential of triboelectric nanogenerators is currently limited by their output power. Here, the authors design a triboelectric nanogenerator inspired by lightning generation, featuring an electric double layer that delivers impressive charge separation and electric potential.

    • Jinsung Chun
    • , Byeong Uk Ye
    •  & Jeong Min Baik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    De novosynthesis is the primary way to tune the emission colour of lanthanide-doped upconversion nanocrystals. Here, the authors introduce post-synthetic cation exchange as a strategy to access multiple colours of luminescent nanocrystals, preserving the size and morphology of the original template.

    • Sanyang Han
    • , Xian Qin
    •  & Xiaogang Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Unusual properties arise in transition metal dichalcogenides as dimensionality decreases. Here, the authors introduce a templated growth approach to precisely control the width of MoS2nanowires on a substrate, allowing them to reveal a relationship between size and electronic properties.

    • Hai Xu
    • , Shuanglong Liu
    •  & Kian Ping Loh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ability to program periodic morphology into nanowires affords control over photonic and electronic transport properties. Here, the authors stimulate Plateau-Rayleigh transformations in silicon nanowires through an oscillating catalyst droplet, resulting in nanowires with island-chain morphology.

    • Zhaoguo Xue
    • , Mingkun Xu
    •  & Pere Roca i Cabarrocas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Structural change at multiferroic phase boundary is anticipated to have an associated large magnetoelectric response, which yet awaits to be evidenced. Here, Fernández-Posada et al. report electric field-induced phase change for a BiFeO3–BiMnO3–PbTiO3solid solution with distinctive magnetic signature.

    • Carmen M. Fernández-Posada
    • , Alicia Castro
    •  & Harvey Amorín

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bottom-up synthesis of colloidal metallic nanomaterials with a designable structure is challenging. Here, the authors report the directed crystallisation of gold by a single DNA molecular regulator, using it to synthesise gold nanocrystals with defined complex morphologies.

    • Xingyi Ma
    • , June Huh
    •  & Sang Jun Sim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is a continual effort to improve the power conversion efficiency of polymer solar cells and here, Lee and others have produced a device with 8.44% efficiency. This was achieved by using a spontaneous spreading phenomenon to form uniform, high quality films with finely separated phase domains.

    • Jonghyeon Noh
    • , Seonju Jeong
    •  & Jung-Yong Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is a limited range of structures available in nanolithography using directed self-assembled block copolymers. Here, Black and co-workers expand directed self-assembly chemical patterning by using a blend of lamellar and cylinder forming block copolymers on surface chemical line gratings.

    • A. Stein
    • , G. Wright
    •  & C. T. Black

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organolead halide perovskite optoelectronic devices require high material quality. Here, Yang et al. show that methylammonium lead iodide films can undergo Ostwald ripening and become mixed-halide films using methylammonium bromide treatment. This processing increases both the device efficiency and stability.

    • Mengjin Yang
    • , Taiyang Zhang
    •  & Yixin Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Semiconductor nanowires with precisely controlled structure can be grown by self-assembly using the vapor-liquid-solid process. Here, the authors report a more local growth control strategy using an electric field applied during growth to control nanowire diameter and growth direction.

    • Federico Panciera
    • , Michael M. Norton
    •  & Frances M. Ross

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multicomponent colloidal nanostructures have topologically dependent chemical and physical properties, but are difficult to synthesise with high order complexity. Here, Nie and co-workers show a general and scalable route to synthesise such structures with unique coaxial-like construction.

    • Zhiqi Huang
    • , Yijing Liu
    •  & Zhihong Nie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hydrogels containing nanoparticles have enhanced mechanical properties that can be limited if the size of the crosslinking nanoparticles is too large. Here, Zhang and others have produced non-aggregated spherulite nanoparticles with diameters of less than 5 nm and investigated their effect on hydrogels.

    • Guoxing Sun
    • , Zongjin Li
    •  & Lina Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional atomic crystals are known to be effective electrode materials for energy storage applications. Here, the authors report the preparation of various two-dimensional metal oxides, including those which do not have a layered parent structure, via a salt templating strategy.

    • Xu Xiao
    • , Huaibing Song
    •  & Yury Gogotsi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Porous silicon is highly promising as an anode material in lithium ion batteries, but its volume change upon lithiation has deleterious effects upon efficiency. Here, the authors demonstrate porous shell/hollow core Si nanospheres which exhibit negligible outward expansion and maintain performance.

    • Qiangfeng Xiao
    • , Meng Gu
    •  & Mei Cai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single walled nanotubes are promising materials for both fundamental research and advanced applications. Here, the authors develop the synthesis of four types of inorganic single walled nanotube, and show that their formation is initiated by the self-coiling of their ultrathin building blocks.

    • Bing Ni
    • , Huiling Liu
    •  & Xun Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    WS2 is a promising material for application in next-generation electronics, yet current methods of fabrication can only yield micrometre-sized domains. Here, via ambient-pressure CVD, the authors report the growth of high-quality, uniform monolayer WS2single crystals of the order of millimetres.

    • Yang Gao
    • , Zhibo Liu
    •  & Wencai Ren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One-dimensional nanostructures have been shown to increase multiple-exciton generation, offering a pathway to breaking the Shockley–Queisser limit. Here, Davis et al. have fabricated working photovoltaic devices based on high-quality PbSe nanorods and a maximum external quantum efficiency of 122 % was demonstrated.

    • Nathaniel J. L. K. Davis
    • , Marcus L. Böhm
    •  & Neil C. Greenham

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aluminium offers an attractive alternative anode for lithium-ion batteries, but its practical performance falls far short of the theoretical promise. Here, the authors present a yolk-shell structured nanocomposite anode of aluminium core and titanium oxide shell which displays outstanding electrochemical properties.

    • Sa Li
    • , Junjie Niu
    •  & Ju Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Noble metals typically crystallize with the face-centered cubic structure. Here, the authors report the synthesis of gold nanoribbons in the 4H hexagonal polytype, a previously unreported, metastable phase of gold, and use it to stabilize 4H hexagonal phases of silver, palladium and platinum.

    • Zhanxi Fan
    • , Michel Bosman
    •  & Hua Zhang

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