Articles

The chemical pathways by which photocatalytic hydrogen production occurs remain to be fully understood. Here, a model system is studied, composed of single atoms deposited on quantum dots, attached to a primary photocatalyst.

Deep vein thrombosis is the clotting of blood in deep veins. Here, a microfluidic device containing flexible valves fabricated in-situ is used to investigate the effects of blood flow conditions and valve elasticity on thrombus formation, revealing the circumstance under which clotting occurs.

Hydrophobic coatings are increasingly important in modern technology, but hard to study in the extreme non-wetting limit. Here, micropipette force sensors can directly measure nN-scale friction forces and, combined with particle image velocimetry, reveal pure rolling dynamics of slow water droplets.

Intermediate band solar cells have the ability to reach efficiencies similar to multijunction cells using a single semiconductor junction. Here, enhanced two-photon carrier generation is demonstrated on a silicon substrate in an InGaN/GaN quantum dot-in-nanowire heterostructure intermediate band solar cell.

Transition metal nitride coatings exhibit high hardness, but typically lack ductility and are therefore prone to failure. Here, the effect of bilayer thickness on the mechanical properties of MoN-TaN superlattices is investigated, leading to coatings with high fracture toughness.

Heterostructures can reveal interesting and unexplored physics at the material interface. Here, the authors use time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy to investigate the photoexcited electron dynamics at a heterostructure interface composed of two polytypes of MoTe₂.

The design of advanced batteries relies on careful control of molecular interactions. Here, a protein nanopore, inserted into a lipid membrane, is shown to discern supramolecular polysulfide/cyclodextrin complexes differing by a single sulfur atom, a concept that might be used to design membrane separators in batteries.

Controlling the growth processes of nanowires is vital for tailoring their properties. Here, the presence of tungstate ions on specific surface planes of zinc oxide nanowires causes nanowire growth and chemical doping along specific crystal planes.

The study of materials under extreme conditions can reveal interesting physics in diverse areas such as condensed matter and geophysics. Here, the authors investigate experimentally and theoretically the high pressure-high temperature phase diagram of niobium revealing a previously unobserved phase transition from body-centered cubic to orthorhombic phase.

Atomically thin films are ideal candidate materials for realizing clean, long sought-after, Kitaev spin liquids. Here, a two-dimensional IrO₆ honeycomb lattice is stabilized within a MnTiO₃ ilmenite superlattice, inducing a suppression of antiferromagnetic order that suggests potential spin-liquid behavior.

Enzymes are effective at upgrading natural materials to high-performance biomaterials. Here, an ancestral endoglucanase is used to obtain highly crystalline cellulose nanocrystals, which can act as a matrix for cell growth and be combined with graphene for conducting inks.

Surface states of topological semimetals may give rise to unusual transport properties and topological superconductivity. Here, the H-T phase diagram of AuSn₄ is experimentally established, displaying 2D superconductivity, Bose metal behavior, and normal-state magnetotransport driven by surface states.

The atomic structure of amorphous materials is sensitive to processing history. Here, the simultaneous application of temperature and pressure to a Zr₅₀Cu₄₀Al₁₀ metallic glass causes nanocrystal formation and short- and medium-range ordering, and an increase in strength.

The quantum spin Hall (QSH) phase is an important feature of two dimensional topological insulators and is typically observed at temperatures below 100 K. Here, the authors report the observation of a room temperature quantum spin Hall phase in few-atom-layer 1T′-MoS₂ patterned onto the 2H semiconducting phase by low-power laser beam irradiation.

Antiferroelectrics are technologically important for energy conversion and storage, but are relatively scarce. Here, first-principles calculations suggest that alkali vanadates are as yet undetected antiferroelectrics, offering routes to experimentally tune and optimize their behavior.

Traditionally, machine learning for materials science is based on database-specific models and is limited in the number of predictable parameters. Here, a versatile graph-based neural network can integrate multiple data sources, allowing the prediction of more than 40 parameters simultaneously.

Non-graphitising carbon materials typically cannot be converted to graphite without the use of metal catalysts. Here, catalyst-free, high-temperature pulsing is shown to convert polyvinylidene chloride and cellulose into highly ordered graphite.

The polymorphism of MoTe₂ can be used to realize planar metallic/semiconducting homojunctions in 2D devices, greatly reducing the contact resistance. Here, the simultaneous growth of both phases is achieved on the same substrate by single-step chemical vapor deposition and seeding layer engineering.

Magnetic short-range ordering has been observed at low temperatures as quantum phase transitions in some compounds. Here, magnetic short-range ordering is found to remain at temperatures up to 720 K in noncentrosymmetric Mn₃RhSi.

Bovine serum albumin proteins are used to fabricate antifouling coatings, but it is unclear which of these give the best coatings. Here, bovine serum albumin proteins from different purification processes are investigated, revealing that fatty acid-free proteins give superior antifouling properties.