Techniques and instrumentation articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fast-charging is highly desired for lithium-ion batteries but is hindered by potential hazardous lithium plating and the associated parasitic reactions. Here, the authors report a nondestructive differential pressure sensing method for early detection and mitigation of lithium plating in fast-charging batteries.

    • Wenxiao Huang
    • , Yusheng Ye
    •  & Yi Cui

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Liposomes are widely used in pharmaceuticals yet trade-offs between uniform size and mass production, limit production and application. Here, the authors report on the design of a microfluidic vortex focusing microfluidic technique which can mass produce liposomes with controlled size and low variability.

    • Jung Yeon Han
    • , Joseph N. La Fiandra
    •  & Don L. DeVoe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Focused-ion beam (FIB) lithography enables high-resolution nanopatterning of 2D materials, but usually introduces significant damage. Here, the authors report a FIB-based fabrication technique to obtain high quality graphene superlattices with 18-nm pitch, which exhibit electronic transport properties similar to those of natural moiré systems.

    • David Barcons Ruiz
    • , Hanan Herzig Sheinfux
    •  & Frank H. L. Koppens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrochemical hydrogen-participating processes are commonly relevant in multiple clean energy technologies. Here, authors achieve in situ quantification of H sorption kinetics during Pd-catalyzed CO2 reduction, unravelling its key role within the interfacial network of local pH, proton donors and CO2 molecules.

    • Zhangyan Mu
    • , Na Han
    •  & Mengning Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single molecule force spectroscopy methods are often low throughput and have high instrument cost. Here the authors report FLO-Chip, a low-cost, high throughput technique using microfluidics for multiplexed mechanical manipulation of many individual molecules via molecular fluid loading on-a-chip.

    • Ehsan Akbari
    • , Melika Shahhosseini
    •  & Carlos E. Castro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Unlike diffusion-mediated chemical short-range orders (SROs) in multi-principal element alloys, diffusionless SROs and their impact on alloys have been elusive. Here, the authors show the formation of strain-induced SROs by crystalline lattice defects, upon external loading at 77 K.

    • Jae Bok Seol
    • , Won-Seok Ko
    •  & Hyoung Seop Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multi-principal element alloy (MPEA) 3D printing is challenging due to the tradeoff between achieving high-temperature and sufficient heating zone. Here, the authors report an ultrahigh-temperature melt printing method that can achieve rapid melting and uniform elemental mixing for MPEA fabrication.

    • Xizheng Wang
    • , Yunhao Zhao
    •  & Liangbing Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Non-random chemical mixings that are intrinsic to medium- and high-entropy alloys are difficult to detect and quantify. Here the authors perform a diffraction data-mining analysis, revealing nanoclusters of short-range orders in a CrCoNi alloy, and their impacts on chemical homogeneity and dislocations slip.

    • Haw-Wen Hsiao
    • , Rui Feng
    •  & Jian-Min Zuo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors demonstrate a label-free superresolution imaging method by using a hyperbolic material as a substrate for tailored light-matter interactions. The hyperbolic material enhanced scattering, combined with dark-field detection, result in 5.5-fold resolution improvement beyond the diffraction limit.

    • Yeon Ui Lee
    • , Shilong Li
    •  & Zhaowei Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors report high-efficiency emission depletion through a surface migration emission depletion mechanism, which takes advantage of the effects of surface quenching and energy migration in nanocrystals. They demonstrate super-resolution microscopy with very low depletion saturation intensities.

    • Rui Pu
    • , Qiuqiang Zhan
    •  & Xiaogang Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The optoelectronic performance of lead halide perovskite in highfluence applications are hindered by heterogeneous multi-polaron interactions in the nanoscale. Here, Nishda et al. spatially resolve sub-ns relaxation dynamics on the nanometer scale by ultrafast infrared pumpprobe nanoimaging.

    • Jun Nishida
    • , Peter T. S. Chang
    •  & Markus B. Raschke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing and manufacturing eco/bioresorbable electronic systems remains a challenge. The authors introduce a picosecond-pulsed laser-based scheme that exploits controlled patterning, thinning, and/or cutting to manipulate multilayers of eco/bioresorbable materials for a wide range of advanced electronic systems.

    • Quansan Yang
    • , Ziying Hu
    •  & John A. Rogers

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors developed a pristine hyperspectral SPR microscopy that enables monochromatic and polychromatic SPR imaging with flexible field-of-view option, single-pixel spectral SPR sensing and 2D quantification of thin films with resonant wavelength images.

    • Ziwei Liu
    • , Jingning Wu
    •  & Zhi-mei Qi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the behaviors of droplets at nanoscales is crucial to many applications, yet it remains experimentally challenging to track them in real time. Here, Sbarra et al. use a miniature optomechanical resonator to probe the evaporation dynamics of attoliter droplets with millisecond resolution.

    • Samantha Sbarra
    • , Louis Waquier
    •  & Ivan Favero

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomic-scale insights into how a nanoparticle surface reconstructs under reaction conditions and the impact of the reconstruction on catalytic activity are still lacking. Here the authors reveal that Pd nanocatalysts display oscillatory changes in both their structure and activity during CO oxidation using operando TEM.

    • Tanmay Ghosh
    • , Juan Manuel Arce-Ramos
    •  & Utkur Mirsaidov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation on Li-ion battery anodes is critical for long-term performance. Here, the authors use operando soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy in total electron yield mode to resolve the chemical evolution of the SEI during electrochemical formation on silicon anodes.

    • Jack E. N. Swallow
    • , Michael W. Fraser
    •  & Robert S. Weatherup

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metastable helium is a promising target for remote-sensing observations of Earth’s thermosphere. This paper reports on the development of a resonance lidar capable of resolving metastable helium density profiles and presents initial results

    • Bernd Kaifler
    • , Christopher Geach
    •  & Markus Rapp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Determining the triboelectric charge and energy density of dielectric materials is generally limited by many factors, failing to reflect their intrinsic behaviour. Here, a standardized strategy is proposed employing contact-separation TENG and supressing air-breakdown to assess max triboelectric charge and energy densities leading to an updated triboelectric series.

    • Di Liu
    • , Linglin Zhou
    •  & Zhong Lin Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors use quantitative ultrafast interferometric pump-probe microscopy to track photoexcitations with sub-10 nm spatial precision in three dimensions and 15 fs temporal resolution to study the spatiotemporal dynamics of singlet exciton fission in polycrystalline pentacene films.

    • Arjun Ashoka
    • , Nicolas Gauriot
    •  & Akshay Rao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Donnan electrical potential is widely adopted to describe ion distribution between two solutions separated by a permeable membrane with implications for many chemical and biological systems. Aydogan Gokturk et al. directly measures this potential for the first time and compare the data with theoretical models.

    • Pinar Aydogan Gokturk
    • , Rahul Sujanani
    •  & Ethan J. Crumlin

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Microbots have attracted attention due to an ability to reach places and perform tasks which are not possible with conventional techniques in a wide range of applications. Here, the authors review the recent work in the field on the fabrication, application and actuation of 3D printed microbots offering a view of the direction of future microbot research.

    • Sajjad Rahmani Dabbagh
    • , Misagh Rezapour Sarabi
    •  & Savas Tasoglu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experimentally probing the orbital population is highly desirable to resolve the redox mechanism of cathodes materials. Here the authors quantify the orbital populations of Co and O in LiCoO2 and identify the ligand-to-metal charge transfer.

    • Tongtong Shang
    • , Dongdong Xiao
    •  & Jing Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The digital transformation and Industry 4.0 technologies are rapidly shaping the future of manufacturing. Here, authors use reliable big data to quantitatively evaluate lubricants performance and select desirable candidates for application in target manufacturing processes.

    • Xiao Yang
    • , Heli Liu
    •  & Liliang Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mimicking human vision with metasurfaces, the authors propose a new paradigm for high field of view and ultrafast LiDAR, achieving performances also relevant for the next generation of imaging system for ADAS and robotic systems.

    • Renato Juliano Martins
    • , Emil Marinov
    •  & Patrice Genevet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sensitivity to noise is currently an obstacle to the use of quantum imaging techniques in real-world scenarios. Here, exploiting non-local cancellation of dispersion on time-frequency entangled photons, the authors show a 43dB improvement in resilience to noise for imaging protocols towards a quantum LiDAR.

    • Phillip S. Blakey
    • , Han Liu
    •  & Amr S. Helmy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Evaporation and crystal growth occur at different rates on different surfaces. Here authors show dissociative evaporation from ZnO (0001) polar surfaces is accelerated by the formation of a Zn-deficient quasi-liquid layer derived from the formation and inward diffusion of Zn vacancies that stabilize the polar surface.

    • Zhen Wang
    • , Jinho Byun
    •  & Sang Ho Oh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Assembling multicomponent catalysts to harness synergic effects is challenging. Now, flame spray pyrolysis permits the synthesis of ternary Pd-In2O3-ZrO2 catalysts with an optimal architecture and an enriched density of oxygen vacancies for maximal performance in CO2-based methanol synthesis.

    • Thaylan Pinheiro Araújo
    • , Cecilia Mondelli
    •  & Javier Pérez-Ramírez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are effective vehicles to deliver mRNA vaccines and therapeutics but assessing the mRNA packaging characteristics in LNPs is challenging. Here, the authors report that mRNA and lipid contents in LNP formulations can be quantitatively examined by multi-laser cylindrical illumination confocal spectroscopy at the single-nanoparticle level.

    • Sixuan Li
    • , Yizong Hu
    •  & Hai-Quan Mao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scaling up anisotropic freeze-casting processes can be challenging due to the temperature gradient farther from the cold source. Here, authors report an additive freeze-casting technique able to produce large-scale aerogel panels and demonstrate it towards practical passive cooling applications.

    • Kit-Ying Chan
    • , Xi Shen
    •  & Jang-Kyo Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum sensors based on NV centers in diamond find applications in high spatial resolution NMR spectroscopy, but their operation is typically limited to low fields. Sahin et al. demonstrate a high-field sensor based on nuclear spins in diamond, where NV centers play a supporting role in optical initialization.

    • Ozgur Sahin
    • , Erica de Leon Sanchez
    •  & Ashok Ajoy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effect of aliovalent doping on grain boundary is not yet fully understood at the atomic level. Here, the authors report grain boundary structural transformation in α-Al2O3 is induced by co-segregation of multiple dopants using atomic-resolution electron microscopy and theoretical calculations.

    • Toshihiro Futazuka
    • , Ryo Ishikawa
    •  & Yuichi Ikuhara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has been used extensively to encapsulate other van der Waals materials, protecting them from environmental degradation, and allowing integration into more complex heterostructures. Here, the authors make use of boron vacancy spin defects in h-BN using them to image the magnetic properties of a Fe3GeTe2 flake.

    • Mengqi Huang
    • , Jingcheng Zhou
    •  & Chunhui Rita Du

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water-in-salt electrolytes can be useful for future electrochemical energy storage systems. Here, the authors investigate the potential-dependent double-layer structures at the interface between a gold electrode and a highly concentrated aqueous electrolyte solution via in situ Raman measurements.

    • Chao-Yu Li
    • , Ming Chen
    •  & Tianquan Lian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical binding enables light-induced assembly of many particles within a focus area. Here, the authors demonstrate that optical binding can occur outside the irradiated area by scattered light interacting with the particles outside the focus, generating arc-shape potential wells for particle trapping.

    • Chih-Hao Huang
    • , Boris Louis
    •  & Hiroshi Masuhara

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