Recent developments in mechanobiology highlight how material biophysical cues regulate cell adhesion, stemness, matrix deposition and how they could be utilized to understand disease progression.

Editorial p1163; Commentary p1164; News & Views p1173, p1174, p1176; Perspective p1178; Articles p1233, p1243, p1252, p1262

IMAGE: CHRISTOPHER MADL

COVER DESIGN: DAVID SHAND

The structure and porosity of a zinc imidazolite framework above the melting point was studied with neutron and X-ray scattering, and molecular dynamics. The porosity and local bonding of the framework persist even in the liquid phase.

Article p1149; News & Views p1054

IMAGE: ELLA MARUSHCHENKO (ELLA MARU STUDIO, INC.)

COVER DESIGN: DAVID SHAND

Cardiac repair usually requires highly invasive interventional procedures. Here, the authors develop an injectable shape-memory cardiac patch and demonstrate its applicability in a myocardial infarction model.

Article p1038

IMAGE: MILES MONTGOMERY AND RICK LU

COVER DESIGN: ALEX WING

The exciton-polaritons formed using carbon nanotube field effect transistors strongly coupled to an optical microcavity can sustain electrical pumping under high current densities.

Article p911; News & Views p877

IMAGE: YURIY ZAKHARKO, HEIDELBERG UNIVERSITY

COVER DESIGN: DAVID SHAND

Droplets with magnetite membranes are designed to engulf smaller colloidal objects in a phagocytosis-inspired manner, demonstrating a route for sequential cargo delivery and release followed by internalized reactions.

Article p857

IMAGE: ELENA MOYA

COVER DESIGN: DAVID SHAND

AFM measurements of peptoids assembling into sheets and networks show that the crystallization mechanism is determined by the molecular structure, where the addition of a hydrophobic segment alters the crystal formation process into a two-step pathway.

Article p767

IMAGE: MICHAEL PERKINS, PNNL

COVER DESIGN: DAVID SHAND

By studying the immune responses of animals to different types of biomaterial implants, colony stimulating factor-1 receptor is revealed as an important mediator of the foreign body reaction and a possible target for fibrosis inhibition.

Article p671

IMAGE: FELICE FRANKEL

COVER DESIGN: DAVID SHAND

A blue-emitting phosphor without thermal quenching is reported. The emission losses at high temperatures are compensated by a counter mechanism, originating in energy transfer between electron-hole pairs and thermally activated defect levels.

Article p543; News & Views p500

IMAGE: YOON HWA KIM AND WON BIN IM

COVER DESIGN: TULSI VORALIA

Three-dimensional topological solitons are realized in a fluid chiral ferromagnet formed by colloidal dispersions of magnetic nanoplates.

Article p426; News & Views p392

IMAGE: PAUL J. ACKERMAN AND IVAN I. SMALYUKH

COVER DESIGN: TULSI VORALIA

Heteroepitaxial growth using aligned crystalline substrates allows extended metal–organic framework crystal growth oriented relative to the substrate.

Article p342; News & Views p283

IMAGE: KENJI OKADA, KEN IKIGAKI, MASAHIDE TAKAHASHI AND PAOLO FALCARO

COVER DESIGN: TULSI VORALIA

Recently explored layered materials, from transition metal dichalcogenides to Xenes, and their combination with other 2D and non-2D materials in van der Waals heterostructures, exhibit intriguing fundamental properties and expand the spectrum of applications at reach for the family of 2D materials.

Editorial p155; Perspective p163; Review Articles p170, 182

COVER DESIGN: TULSI VORALIA, BASED ON A CONCEPT BY DEEP JARIWALA AND MARK HERSAM AT NORTHWESTERN UNIV.

Silicon-based photoelectrodes are attractive for solar fuel production, but suffer from vulnerability to corrosion. Using dielectric breakdown, a generic approach to improve the performance of metal–oxide–semiconductor photoelectrodes is proposed.

Article p127

IMAGE: LI JI, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

COVER DESIGN: TULSI VORALIA