Volume 18 Issue 12, December 2019

Topological corner states characteristic to second-order topological phases are observed on the surface of a solid using a scanning tunnelling microscope. This observation opens a new connection between higher-order topological physics and surface science.

Inducing a topological phase transition by applying pressure is shown to be a successful strategy for improving the performance of thermoelectric materials.

Lewis acids are shown to react with water, forming a complex with Brønsted acidity able to effectively dope semiconducting polymers through backbone protonation and internal charge transfer.

Polymer precipitation under turbulent flow is used for the high-throughput synthesis of soft microparticles with fractal coronas that display significant adhesive properties.

Nanofibre mimetic substrates reveal the presence of integrin nanoclusters bridged by unliganded receptors during early cell–matrix adhesion.

Pressure-induced changes in the layer stacking order is found to result in new magnetic ground states in two-dimensional insulating CrI₃. Such van der Waals engineering should provide ample opportunities to design desired magnetic phases.

By using solid polymer electrolytes, insight into the local control of iron fluoride conversion based positive electrodes for stable next-generation lithium and Li-ion batteries is obtained.

Solid-state batteries are attractive due to their potential safety, energy-density and cycle-life benefits. Recent progress in understanding inorganic solid electrolytes considering multiscale ion transport, electrochemical and mechanical properties, and processing are discussed.

A higher-order topological insulator is realized in a breathing kagome lattice built by patterning CO molecules on a Cu(111) surface.

Pressure-induced changes in the magnetic order of bilayer and trilayer van der Waals crystals are revealed and attributed to changes in the stacking arrangement.

Pressure-induced changes in the magnetic order of atomically thin van der Waals crystals are revealed and attributed to changes in the stacking arrangement.

Metallic transition metal dichalcogenides are promising catalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions but their performances are still lower than industrial Pt and Ir electrolysers. The metallic 2H phase of niobium disulfide now exhibits enhanced current densities versus a reversible hydrogen electrode.

Polymer precipitation under turbulent flows generates soft microparticles with branched dendritic coronas and high adhesive properties.

By applying a pressure of 2.8 GPa using a diamond anvil cell, a topological phase transition is found to occur in Cr-doped PbSe. This enables a thermoelectric figure of merit ZT of 1.7 at room temperature.

An investigation on Lewis acids reveals a mechanism for p-type doping of semiconducting polymers based on the formation of water–Lewis acid complexes, protonation of the polymer and electron transfer between neutral and charged chain segments.

Electrochromic displays that are stable in the coloured state for up to 52 h with no applied voltage are fabricated using molecules hosting concerted intramolecular proton-coupled electron transfer processes.

Metal fluoride conversion cathodes are promising for low-cost Li-ion batteries but suffer from poor performance at elevated temperatures. By replacing organic electrolytes with solid polymer electrolytes, long-cycle stability at 50 °C with high-capacity FeF₂ cathodes is demonstrated.

Understanding molecular interactions between ionic liquids and interfaces is crucial for electrochemical device applications. Self-assembled amphiphilic nanostructures in surface-active ionic liquids are shown to exhibit enhanced charge storage at electrified surfaces.

Metal–organic framework capture materials could reduce the environmental impact of SO₂ emissions but can have limited stability and poor reversibility. Here, a metal–organic framework with open Cu(ii) sites with fully reversible SO₂ uptake of 17.5 mmol g⁻¹ under ambient conditions is reported.

Integrin-mediated adhesions required for cell spreading and growth have now been shown, using super-resolution microscopy, to form on fibrous matrices through the dense assembly of integrins in nanoclusters that contain both ligand-bound and unliganded integrins.

An anticancer agent, olsalazine, conjugated to a cell-penetrating peptide has been synthesized and shows the ability to self-assemble intracellularly by the tumour-associated enzyme furin, with the potential for tumour therapy and chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging in vivo.