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A new orthorhombic allotrope of silicon, Si24, is demonstrated using a two-step synthesis. Its structure contains open channels and it possesses a quasidirect bandgap near 1.3 eV.
It is shown that circularly polarized light produces enantiomeric excesses, above 30%, of twisted nanoribbons self-assembled from racemic dispersions of CdTe nanoparticles.
An applied voltage is shown to reversibly alter the magnetic anisotropy of an ultrathin Co film deposited on a GdOx dielectric layer, by switching the interfacial oxidation state.
The unexpectedly large flexoelectric response in ferroelectric perovskite materials is now shown to be induced by macroscopic symmetry breaking in paraelectric phases.
Thermal resistance at room temperature is mostly due to scattering by defects and interfaces. Now, heat dissipation in cryogenic electronic devices is demonstrated to be due to phonon black-body radiation, without any scattering.
Iron selenide is an appealingly clean system for understanding the origin of superconductivity in iron pnictides. A detailed NMR study shows that the nematic order preceding the superconducting phase is driven by orbital degrees of freedom.
Memristors promise to emulate the appealing characteristics of biological neural systems. Solution-processed heterostructures are now shown to behave as memristive and memcapacitive switches compatible with printed electronics applications.
Experiments and computer simulations show that Janus ellipsoids can self-assemble into self-limiting fibres that have shape-memory properties and can be actuated by applying an external electric field.
Photoelectron spectroscopy measurements uncover a singularity over a wide doping range in the cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, suggesting a competition between the charge-ordering and the superconducting phases.
Amphiphilic proteins act as building blocks for the de novo formation of membrane-based organelles within Escherichia coli. The organelles can be selectively functionalized in vivo with unnatural amino acids and hence may permit chemical reactions inside the cell that have not been possible so far.
A bottom-up approach for producing metal–organic framework lamellae of micrometre lateral dimensions and nanometre thickness that can be incorporated into polymer matrices is now presented. These composite materials exhibit outstanding CO2 separation performances on exposure to CO2/CH4 gas mixtures.
The detailed nucleation and growth kinetics and the crystal structure of catalytically relevant CoPt3/Au, FePt/Au and Pt/Au metal dumbbell nanoparticles have been obtained by in situ synchrotron small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering techniques.
Caloric effects in magnetic materials are promising for many applications. A significant barocaloric effect is observed in Mn3GaN and shown to be promoted by frustration arising from its antiferromagnetism.
Ferroelectric switching is studied in PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films. Nanotwinned ferroelectric domains with broadened switching characteristics are observed and control over ferroelectric switching is demonstrated.
Harnessing the optical properties of noble metals down to the nanoscale is crucial for fast information processing. Lateral confinement and delocalization of surface plasmons is now observed in self-assembled network chains of fused gold nanoparticles.
The competition between colloidal interactions resulting from polymer bridging and polymer exclusion in polymer–colloid dispersions leads to their solidification both on heating and on cooling.
The morphology and mesostructure of the prismatic layer of a growing mollusc shell is observed by means of high-resolution synchrotron-based tomography and is shown to be fully predicted by classical theories of normal grain growth.
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.
Triplet excitons generated in a pentacene layer by singlet exciton fission are transferred to lead selenide colloidal nanocrystals with high efficiency when their energy matches the bandgap of the nanocrystals.