Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Polymer membranes were formed from the inefficient packing of 2D polymer chains in a 3D amorphous solid, forming small and large micropores that enable high gas selectivity and permeability. This strategy may be applied to other polymers.
Viscoelastic phase separation of colloidal suspensions can be interrupted to form gels either by glass transition or crystallization. A kinetic pathway to spontaneously form network or porous structures made of metallic and semiconducting crystals is proposed.
Nanostructured zeolites were synthesized without hydrophilic silanol groups, and without fluoridation, via the introduction of atomically dispersed tungsten. This resulted in improved catalytic and gas separation properties.
A multilayer system based on Ir/Fe/Co/Pt repetitions is found to host magnetic skyrmions at room temperature, while allowing control of the skyrmions’ properties such as size and density.
The exciton-polaritons formed using carbon nanotube field-effect transistors strongly coupled to an optical microcavity can sustain electrical pumping under high current densities.
The development of robust and active anode materials for oxygen evolution reaction is challenging. Perovskite nanocatalysts with high mass activity towards water splitting and electronic structures changing drastically during operando conditions are reported.
The effect of polaron formation on photoconversion efficiency for oxide photocatalysts is not well known. Femtosecond extreme-ultraviolet measurements suggest that polaron localization is responsible for ultrafast trapping of photoexcited carriers in haematite.
3D X-ray Bragg ptychography microscopy, here with a resolution of tens of nanometres, is used to shed light on the relative orientations and strains of crystalline domains in a prism from a pearl oyster shell.
Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite single crystals with optimized combination of Cl and Br ions are used to fabricate γ-ray detectors operating at room temperature and competing with the performance of sodium iodide scintillators.
Electrochemical strain microscopy reveals the interconnection between ion uptake and nanoscale variations of morphology in organic semiconductor films. Such changes locally affect the operation regime of organic transistors exposed to electrolytes.
Aqueous rechargeable batteries are promising for grid storage and electric vehicles, but they suffer from poor cycle life due to anode instability. Exploiting stable ion-coordination charge storage and chemical inertness towards aqueous electrolytes, quinones are now reported as stable anodes.
Mixed-valence clusters of Pd4 organized within a metal–organic framework exhibit robust catalytic capacities during carbene-mediated chemical reactions.
Droplets with magnetite membranes are designed to engulf in a phagocytosis-inspired manner smaller colloidal objects, demonstrating a route for sequential cargo delivery and release followed by internalized reactions.
The application of tension in a self-assembled articular-cartilage model leads to the formation of tissue with tensile properties similar to those of native tissue.
Charge-transfer dynamics in organic semiconductors are shown to be altered by multi-layered hyperbolic metamaterial substrates, an effect linked to the number of metal–dielectric pairs used.
A transition in mechanical response occurs in micrometre-sized samples, but fabricating high-quality specimens in this regime is challenging. A microcasting technique now enables aluminium wires with smooth surfaces, and diameters spanning 6–100 μm.
DNA origami allows the design of rod-shaped particles with specific geometrical features. This is exploited to examine how particle-level characteristics affect properties of the bulk phase and the superstructures such colloids assemble into.
Printing and heating of a fluorinated elastomer mixed with silver flakes, a fluorine surfactant and methylisobutylketone leads to the formation of in situ silver nanoparticles, which boost the conductivity of this highly stretchable composite material.