Throughout history, the development of new materials and technologies has enabled functional and aesthetically pleasing buildings. With the advent of sustainable architecture, the role of materials science in building innovation is becoming more prominent. In this issue, we explore the materials science of architecture and design.

See Nat. Rev. Mater. 2, 17082 (2017).

Mechanical metamaterials have exotic properties that cannot be realized in conventional materials. In this Review, recently developed shape-morphing, topological and nonlinear metamaterials are discussed together with their functionalities and design principles.

See Katia Bertoldi et al. 2, 17066 (2017).

Tetradymite-type materials, such as Bi2Te3, are excellent thermoelectric materials near ambient temperature and have enabled many seminal studies on topological insulators. In this Review, we discuss recent progress in the optimization of the properties of bulk and thin-film tetradymites for such studies.

See Joseph P. Heremans et al. 2, 17049 (2017).

Computational studies, coupled with experimental feedback, are accelerating the discovery of new classes of thermoelectric materials. In this Review, we highlight progress in the computationally-guided discovery of thermoelectric materials and identify the key outstanding challenges. 

See Prashun Gorai et al. 2, 17053 (2017).

This Review details the structural and chemical features of state-of-the-art metal–organic frameworks for their application in the carbon cycle of capturing, purifying and transforming CO2 into valuable products. 

See Christopher A. Trickett et al. 2, 17045 (2017). 

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected spin whirls that hold promise for applications because they can be controllably moved, created and annihilated. In this Review, the underlying physics of the stabilization of skyrmions at room temperature and their prospective use for spintronic applications are discussed.

See Albert Fert, Nicolas Reyren & Vincent Cros 2, 17031 (2017). 

Externally triggered drug delivery systems use both new and established materials that are sensitive to various stimuli. These systems provide opportunities to improve the treatment of many diseases. In this Review, rationales for such systems and the types of stimuli that can be deployed are described.

See Yanfei Wang & Daniel S. Kohane 2, 17020 (2017).

In this Review, the interplay between materials and microfluidics is examined, with the discussion focused on how recent advances in materials fabrication have expanded the frontiers of microfluidic platforms and how the new microfluidic capabilities are, in turn, furthering materials design. 

See Xu Hou et al. 2, 17016 (2017).

Image and design: Rachael Tremlett

Emerging materials and methods for fabricating 3D micro- and nanostructures provide powerful capabilities of relevance across diverse areas of technology. This Review highlights the latest results and future trends associated with the most powerful methods in 3D printing, folding and assembly. 

See Yihui Zhang et al. 2, 17019 (2017).

Domains and domain walls are relevant for the engineering of materials functionalities. In this Review, a new classification scheme for topological domain configurations is presented and applied to several materials, including multiferroics, ferroelectrics, transition metal dichalcogenides and magnetic superconductors.

See Fei-Ting Huang & Sang-Wook Cheong 2, 17004 (2017).

More than twenty 2D carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides of transition metals (MXenes) have been synthesized and studied, and dozens more predicted to exist. Highly electrically conductive MXenes show promise in electrical energy storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, electrocatalysis, plasmonics and other applications.

See Babak Anasori et al. 2, 16098 (2017).

Plasmonic colours can be used to colour large surfaces, can be mass-produced and dynamically reconfigured, and can provide sub-diffraction resolution. In this Review, the basic properties of plasmonic colours, different platforms supporting them and recent developments in the field are discussed.

See Anders Kristensen et al. 2, 16088 (2016).