Browse Articles

Collective cell migration in embryonic tissues is triggered by cell softening due to a microtubule deacetylation pathway involving the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1.

Understanding the ion intercalation and degradation mechanisms occurring during realistic battery operation is crucial to developing high-rate battery electrodes. Operando optical scattering microscopy is now used to study single-particle kinetic state-of-charge heterogeneities and cracking in high-rate Li-ion anode materials.

Unlike electron spins, nuclear spins in van der Waals materials remain a largely untapped quantum resource. Here we report the fast coherent control of nuclear spins and strong electron-mediated nuclear–nuclear spin coupling in hexagonal boron nitride.

The existence of fast dynamics in glass solids at low temperatures is attributed to liquid-like atoms that are inherited from high-temperature liquids and exhibit behaviour similar to that of atoms in liquid states.

Carbon nanomaterials such as graphene show intriguing molecular transport properties, but to achieve regular channels over a large area requires perfect sheet alignment. Here, a large-area two-dimensional conjugated-polymer-framework is grown with regular pore distribution, enabling 99.5% salt rejection by forward osmosis.

The direct manipulation of a new kind of ferroelectric state, arising from the sliding of van der Waals layers in a coordination polymer, is demonstrated.

The role of the dielectric environment in thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) is not yet fully understood. Here the authors reveal the relevance of environment–emitter interactions in gating the reverse intersystem crossing and its particular relevance in dipolar TADF emitters.

Mechanical confinement of fibroblasts into micrometre-sized channels deforms the cell nucleus, leading to temporary nuclear lamina destablization and disassembly, loss of lamina-associated domains in chromatin and a decrease in histone and DNA methylation. These mechanically induced alterations in chromatin boost the conversion of fibroblasts into neurons and pluripotent stem cells and thus can be explored for cell engineering applications.

Two-dimensional materials can present ferroelectricity by layer sliding, but electrical confirmation is lacking due to narrow bandgaps. Here, a single-crystal coordination polymer with large bandgap enabling direct electrical measurement of P–E hysteresis is shown to present sliding ferroelectricity.

The authors investigate tunnelling magnetoresistance in Fe₃GeTe₂/hBN(WSe₂)/Fe₃GeTe₂ magnetic tunnel junctions and report strong variations with bias including polarization reversals.

Desired for optical sensing or visual communications, structural colour-changing materials are hindered by the lack of scalable manufacturing. Here, by adapting Lippmann photography, large-area manufacturing of colour patterns in photosensitive elastomers is realized.

Solid-state ionic conduction is a key enabler of electrochemical energy storage and conversion. A quantitative framework for ionic conduction between atomistic and macroscopic timescales in β- and β″-aluminas is now proposed for ‘atoms-to-device’ multiscale modelling and optimization.

Polymer electrolytes provide a safe solution for future solid-state high-energy-density batteries, but combining high ionic conductivity and a high transference number is a challenge. A polymeric ionic liquid used as a polymer solvent is now shown to be promising for both sodium and potassium batteries.

Observation of large remnant polarization in epitaxial yttrium-doped hafnium oxide thin films demonstrates that small-grained or ultrathin microstructures are not required to achieve robust ferroelectric behaviour.

French science faces an uncertain future as the new government struggles with a fractured parliament.

Understanding, at the atomic level, the effect of the stacking and twisting of different layered two-dimensional materials is a major challenge for the future of twistronics. Optical excitations evidence twist-angle-dependent whirlpool-shaped distortions in such materials.

Heterostructures combine the unique properties of each constituent, improving the efficiency and stability of perovskite-based optoelectronic devices, yet the films suffer from poor compositional and structural uniformity. Here, the authors demonstrate a ligand-assisted welding process to fabricate a series of epitaxial 2D and 3D perovskite heterostructures.

Synthetic stimuli-responsive systems have become increasingly sophisticated and elegant at the nanoscale. This Comment discusses how rationally designed molecular systems capable of dynamic motions can be deployed in macroscopically porous metal–organic frameworks and respond to various stimuli.