Comment in 2020

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  • Strong light–matter coupling in quantum cavities provides a pathway to break fundamental materials symmetries, like time-reversal symmetry in chiral cavities. This Comment discusses the potential to realize non-equilibrium states of matter that have so far been only accessible in ultrafast and ultrastrong laser-driven materials.

    • Hannes Hübener
    • Umberto De Giovannini
    • Angel Rubio
    Comment
  • Electron microscopy touches on nearly every aspect of modern life, underpinning materials development for quantum computing, energy and medicine. We discuss the open, highly integrated and data-driven microscopy architecture needed to realize transformative discoveries in the coming decade.

    • Steven R. Spurgeon
    • Colin Ophus
    • Mitra L. Taheri
    Comment
  • Classical experiments from solid-state electrochemistry can be used to determine the charge of ions in solids. This Comment also clarifies how the charge of point defects fits with the standard picture of ionic charge, and highlights differences between these electrochemical experiments and methods that probe electrons directly.

    • Roger A. De Souza
    • David N. Mueller
    Comment
  • Shirakawa, MacDiarmid and Heeger received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of conducting polymers. Here we summarize the impact of (semi)conducting polymers on fundamental research, synthetic accessibility at scale, industrial applicability and the future.

    • Xugang Guo
    • Antonio Facchetti
    Comment
  • Meteoritic diamonds and synthesized diamond-related materials contain a wide variety of complex nanostructures. This Comment highlights and classifies this structural complexity by a systematic hierarchical approach, and discusses the perspectives on nanostructure and properties engineering of diamond-related materials.

    • Péter Németh
    • Kit McColl
    • Paul F. McMillan
    Comment
  • Consensus among experts is that only an effective COVID-19 vaccine will end the pandemic. This Comment focuses on how this pandemic has accelerated the development of vaccine platforms distinct from classical vaccines; these novel platforms may also increase the response time when new viruses emerge in the future.

    • Debby van Riel
    • Emmie de Wit
    Comment
  • The restoration of fire-damaged historical monuments entails a wide range of scientific questions. Taking as a starting point the case of Notre-Dame de Paris, this Comment defines the materials science challenges of post-fire restoration, and also briefly outlines the issues of structural integrity, fire safety and preservation ethics.

    • Ylenia Praticò
    • John Ochsendorf
    • Robert J. Flatt
    Comment
  • The complexity of DNA-programmed nanoparticle assemblies has reached an unprecedented level owing to recent advances that enable delicate and comprehensive control over the formation of DNA bonds.

    • Shuoxing Jiang
    • Fei Zhang
    • Hao Yan
    Comment
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has reignited efforts to develop materials science innovations aimed at stopping viral infections. One of the greatest opportunities lies in developing broad-spectrum antiviral technologies that work against many viruses, which could be the key to thwarting outbreaks in the future.

    • Nam Joon Cho
    • Jeffrey S. Glenn
    Comment
  • New evidence suggests that the mechanism of nanoparticle entry into solid tumours may be driven by an active process. This insight paves the way for approaches to enhance the efficiency of nanomedicine delivery by harnessing active transport mechanisms, and encourage researchers to rethink how tumours are treated.

    • Subehndu Pandit
    • Debapriya Dutta
    • Shuming Nie
    Comment
  • This is a turning point for nanofluidics. Recent progress allows envisioning both fundamental discoveries for the transport of fluids at the ultimate scales, and disruptive technologies for the water–energy nexus.

    • Lydéric Bocquet
    Comment