Articles in 2016

High-density lipoprotein nanodiscs loaded with immunostimulatory biomolecules can target draining lymph nodes for cancer vaccination.

The use of diamondoids as structure-directing agents allows the synthesis of metal–organic chalcogenide nanowires with an inorganic core having a three-atom cross-section and band-like conductivity.

The combination of topological properties and magnetic order can lead to new quantum states and exotic physical phenomena. In particular, the coupling between topological insulators and antiferromagnets enables magnetic and electronic structural engineering.

Nature Materials now requests that all original research articles contain a Data Availability Statement declaring the accessibility of the data and where it can be found.

The thermal conductivities of superatom crystals have significant contributions from extended phonon states and show a remarkable temperature dependence due to orientational ordering.

Ultra-stable and catalytic platinum atoms and clusters have been obtained by entrapment within a zeolite framework during its formation.

One of the most salient features of hybrid lead halide perovskites is the extended lifetime of their photogenerated charge carriers. This property has now been shown experimentally to originate from a slow, thermally activated recombination process.

Stretching elastic membranes over curved substrates can be used to guide and control crack paths.

A miniaturized camera has been developed by integrating a planar metasurface lens doublet with a CMOS image sensor. The metasurface lens doublet corrects the monochromatic aberration and thus delivers nearly diffraction-limited image quality over a wide field of view.

Converting sunlight into fuels is attractive for energy storage and photoelectrocatalytic technologies. Scientific challenges related to developing suitable photoabsorbers, efficient catalysts and understanding their interfaces are now reviewed.

This Review describes the sunlight conversion strategies — and their technological implementations — that are currently being investigated to realize solar cells with efficiencies beyond the Shockley–Queisser limit.

This Perspective provides an overview of the contributions of materials science to a sustainable energy future, and discusses possible regulatory paths to support this transition.

Lessons learned from coherent phenomena in biological photosynthetic systems may be useful to improve energy- and charge-transport in disordered materials. This Review describes coherence and its potential beneficial effects in photovoltaics.

Advances in electrocatalysis at interfaces are vital for driving technological innovations related to energy. New materials developments for efficient hydrogen and oxygen production in electrolysers and in fuel cells are described.

Significant progress in battery technology is crucial to ensure a transition towards a carbon-neutral society. Recent advances in both sustainability and operando techniques together with remaining challenges and possible solutions are now reviewed.

Mesoporous metal–organic frameworks containing unsaturated Cr(III) sites are able to thermodynamically and selectively capture nitrogen from mixtures with oxygen and methane.