Research articles

Crystalline silver nanoparticles can be deformed at room temperature and without generating dislocations through the diffusion of surface atoms, as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and atomistic simulations show.

Two-dimensional electron gases forming at oxide interfaces and surfaces host a range of interesting properties. Photoelectron spectroscopy measurements now reveal a very large spin splitting of the surface electronic states of SrTiO₃.

A high-pressure reaction is used to convert benzene molecules to one-dimensional crystalline carbon nanostructures that show diamond-like sp³ bonding. These nanothreads are expected to have strength and stiffness greater than carbon nanotubes.

Deformable synthetic microgel particles bearing molecular-recognition motifs for fibrin fibres are shown to augment clotting in vitro and mimic in vivo clot contraction, thus recapitulating the functions of natural platelets.

Transition metal dichalcogenides are attracting widespread attention for their appealing optoelectronic properties. Using a combination of numerical and experimental techniques, the exciton binding energy is now determined for MoSe₂ on graphene.

Experiments with colloidal nano- and microparticles and computer simulations show that, unexpectedly, confinement and entropy are sufficient for the formation of icosahedral crystalline clusters of up to about 100,000 particles.

Physical vapour transport is now used to grow single-atomic-layer lateral MoSe₂/WSe₂ heterojunctions, enabling the development of in-plane architectures for optoelectronic applications based on these semiconducting materials.

Photocatalytic efficiency can be limited by slow transfer of photoexcited holes and high charge recombination rates. Using a hydroxyl anion–radical redox couple leads to enhanced photocatalytic H₂ generation on Ni-decorated CdS nanorods.

The temporal dynamics of phase transitions in strongly correlated states of matter are often dictated by the interplay between structural and electronic degrees of freedom. These are now probed in a perovskite manganite using an X-ray free-electron laser, and found to be well described by a single order parameter.

Synthetic polymers functionalized with mussel-inspired catechols have been shown to exhibit self-healing and adhesive properties, mediated by metal chelation, that are much needed in biomedical and environmental applications. Now, a metal-free approach to complete polymer self-healing underwater mediated by extensive hydrogen bonding in catechol-functionalized polyacrylates is reported.

The dynamic control of thermal emission via the control of emissivity through intersubband absorption in n-type quantum wells, at a speed four orders of magnitude faster than is currently possible, is now demonstrated.

The electronic and structural components of charge density waves occurring in layered transition metal dichalcogenides are known to be interdependent, yet have only been probed in separate measurements. Now, a broadband terahertz spectroscopy approach that monitors the evolution of these two order parameters simultaneously is demonstrated.

Palladium is of practical use as a hydrogen-storage metal and an effective catalyst for reactions related to hydrogen in a variety of industrial processes. Enhanced capacity and speed of hydrogen storage is now reported in Pd nanocrystals covered with a metal–organic framework.

The excitations that determine the low-temperature properties of ferromagnetic materials are called spin waves. Using a combination of inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy and numerical simulations, the spin waves occurring in a one-dimensional chain of iron atoms deposited on Cu₂N are now imaged, and their dynamics examined.

Until now, it has not been possible to switch chirality in plasmonic nanostructures at will and repeatedly. Now, thanks to DNA-regulated conformational changes, reconfigurable 3D plasmonic metamolecules with switchable chirality have been created.

Three-dimensional Dirac semimetals such as Cd₃As₂ are attracting attention because their electronic structure can be considered to be the three-dimensional analogue of graphene’s. Low-temperature scanning tunnelling measurements of the 112 cleavage plane of Cd₃As₂ now reveal its electronic structure down to atomic length scales, as well as its Landau spectrum and quasiparticle interference pattern.

The combination of photonic and spintronic devices offers significant promise for optoelectronic applications. In analogy to a photovoltaic cell, an optoelectronic device that spatially separates electrons with opposite spin orientations on absorption of circularly polarized light is now demonstrated.

Block copolymers can self-assemble into nanostructures that simultaneously facilitate ion transport and provide mechanical stability. Highly asymmetric charge cohesion effects are now shown to induce the formation of nanostructures with percolated phases desired for ion transport. This strategy could lead to the design of enhanced battery electrolyte materials.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have similar surface crystallography and mechanical properties. It is now shown that the interlayer sliding friction in multilayer CNTs and BNNTs is, however, different: whereas the telescopic sliding of semi-metallic multiwalled CNTs is known to be vanishingly small, multiwalled insulating BNNTs exhibit ultrahigh interlayer friction that is proportional to the contact area—a result ascribed to the ionic character of boron nitride.

Liquid-crystalline elastomers combine rubber-like elasticity with the optical properties of liquid crystals, yet some of their properties depend on the particular liquid-crystal phase. Now, stretchable gels of the liquid-crystalline blue-phase I are reported. The blue-phase gels are electro-optically switchable under a moderate applied voltage, and their optical properties can be manipulated by an applied strain.