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Today’s world is filled with ‘grand challenges’ that cannot be solved with knowledge from a single academic field, and interdisciplinary learning opportunities at the undergraduate level are important to overcome barriers between fields. This article takes some of the lessons learned from the co-development and co-teaching of an interdisciplinary course on climate change at the University of Waterloo in Canada to offer suggestions on how to incorporate interdisciplinary education in the materials science and engineering undergraduate curriculum, while providing practical advice on how to create opportunities for students to become interdisciplinary thinkers.
Owing to the many-body nature of quantum materials, a microscopic understanding of the interactions dictating their ground state is essential to control their dynamics. This Review summarizes how THz light is effective for both probing quantum materials and driving them into new types of out-of-equilibrium phases.
Electrified processes offer a chemical-free approach to the removal of a wide range of contaminants from water, including many that are difficult to remove using conventional methods. This Review discusses the fundamentals of several important electrified processes and highlights the role of electrode materials in contaminant transport and transformation.
A paper in Nature Nanotechnology reports the room-temperature generation and control of meron–antimeron pairs in an antiferromagnet by means of electrical pulses.
An article in the New Journal of Chemistry reports the synthesis of a chiral metal–organic framework that can be used to separate limonene enantiomers.
An article in Nature Chemistry reports the use of a single-molecule junction to monitor the individual steps of a Michael reaction in real time through the chirality-induced spin selectivity effect.
An article in Angewandte Chemie reports the synthesis of chiral supramolecular glasses that exhibit room-temperature colour-tunable ultralong phosphorescence and circular polarized luminescence.
Engineered materials with intrinsic chirality can affect biological processes from cell uptake to nerve repair. This Perspective article discusses the design and function of intrinsically chiral carbon dots, metal-based materials and patterned geometries, highlighting the different effects of the two enantiomers on biological responses.
The translation of soft biomedical devices from academia to commercialization remains limited despite the substantial growth of the field over the past decade. To drive the next stage of innovation, it is crucial to identify applications that can be uniquely addressed by soft devices. Neurological surgery presents numerous opportunities for harnessing the potential of soft devices in medical applications.
An article in Nature reports an alloy that can be 3D printed and has improved mechanical properties at high temperatures compared with current state-of-the-art 3D-printable alloys.
Two-dimensional perovskites with phase-pure structures have considerable potential for optoelectronic applications because of their reduced defects, flattened energy landscape and enhanced lattice protection. This Perspective article investigates advancing progress on achieving phase-pure perovskite by tailoring the precursor interactions and preparation methods and discusses their prominent optoelectronic properties and applications.
An article in Nature Communications reports a solid-state epitaxy strategy to disperse single cobalt atoms in silicon, synthesizing single-atom photocatalysts that outperform any other so far for visible-light-driven syngas production.
Integrating various two-dimensional materials and three-dimensional nanomembranes via van der Waals interactions enables novel hetero-integrated photonic layouts and ways to explore exotic nanophotonic phenomena. This Review discusses photonic van der Waals integration, from film preparation to device implementation.
An article in Advanced Materials reports an edible rechargeable battery that can power edible and digestible electronic devices for health care and food monitoring.
The Palestinian–German Science Bridge (PGSB) is a science diplomacy pilot project financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and implemented jointly by Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Palestinian Academy for Science and Technology. Its goal, as its founder and its project coordinator discuss in this Comment, is to develop joint research and education programmes.
Understanding the protein corona can advance nanomedicinal developments and elucidate how nanomaterials impact the environment. This Review discusses the evolution and challenges in characterizing the protein corona, explores how artificial intelligence can supplement experimental efforts and exposes emerging opportunities in nanomedicine and the environment.
An article in Nature Synthesis reports core–shell nanocrystals with tunable single-atom alloy layers, which are effective catalysts for nitrate electroreduction to ammonia.
Getting diagnosed with a physically disabling illness in graduate school can be overwhelming and isolating. This article shares a researcher’s personal journey with such an experience, offering advice and encouragement to those facing similar challenges. By confronting the disease, the author found resilience and developed appreciation for life beyond work.
