Volume 18 Issue 6, June 2019

The past few years have witnessed significant development in graphene research, yet a number of challenges remain for its commercialization and industrialization. This Comment discusses relevant issues for industrial-scale graphene synthesis, one of the critical aspects for the future graphene industry.

Electronic and photonic devices based on graphene have unique properties, leading to outstanding performance figures of merit. Mastering the integration of this unconventional material into an established semiconductor fabrication line represents a critical step towards commercialization.

Over-expression of a transcriptional factor, Alx3, has been shown to revitalize the regenerative capacity of adult progenitor cells to promote enhanced stromal vascularization and formation of parenchymal dental pulp tissue in vivo.

The polarity of charge carriers — positive or negative — is found to depend on the direction from which you look.

Coherent shaping of matter waves in temporal and spatial domains by photon-induced near fields opens up new possibilities for the quantum control of matter.

By chemically treating wood it is possible to fabricate a nanofluidic device for generating electricity from the harvesting of ubiquitous low-grade heat.

A tender X-ray momentum-resolved spectroscopy for probing elementary excitations in 4d quantum materials is reported and used to measure dispersive spin excitations in a ruthenate microcrystal.

An oxygen-free method of growing transition metal selenides leads to atomically thin films with unprecedented robustness against the most hostile conditions.

Disorder in two-dimensional materials largely affects their properties and performance. This Perspective discusses disorder sources in graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, the progress in disorder control, and possible uses of disorder.

Integrating 3D bulk materials with 2D layered materials can harness promising properties and unique functions. This Review discusses the progress in the fabrication, physical coupling and potential applications of 3D/2D hybrid heterostructures.

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the 4d-edge reveals dispersive magnetic excitations in SrRu₂O₆, providing insight into the origin of its high Néel temperature.

A single-band metal whose carriers behave as electrons or holes depending on the direction of travel is observed. The effect arises from a particular type of Fermi surface geometry.

By exciting chiral plasmons within a nanohole by means of circularly polarized light pulses, orbital angular momentum can be imparted onto charged matter waves (here, electrons) and controlled at terahertz speed (femtosecond intervals).

The remote, non-volatile and reversible optical control of ferroic orders is challenging. Here, using laser illumination, multiple orders in epitaxial mixed-phase BiFeO₃ are manipulated deterministically using a thermally driven flexoelectric effect.

Hole and electron traps related to the presence of trace water are found in organic semiconductor thin films, at an energy offset of ~0.3–0.4 eV from the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals, respectively.

Solution shearing of semiconducting polymers with a patterned blade induces improved alignment of the polymeric chains at the nano- and macroscale. This leads to increased charge transport in stretchable, roll-to-roll deposited organic transistors.

Wafer-scale two-dimensional transition metal selenides, with high structural quality and environmental stability, can be obtained by two-step vapour deposition in oxygen-free conditions. The grown films maintain robust superconductivity even after harsh treatments.

Generating electricity by low-grade thermal harvesting requires a low-cost technology. Here, by chemically treating wood, aligned cellulose molecular chains form that confine sodium ions in the sub-nanometre channels and enhance selective diffusion, generating differential thermal voltage of 24 mV K^–1.

Plasmonic catalysis is believed to be mediated by energy transfer from nanoparticles to adsorbed molecules. Localized surface plasmon resonance on gold nanoparticles excited by electron beam is shown to drive site-selective CO disproportionation at room temperature.

Reversible and cooperative activation processes are important characteristics of biological enzymes and can be used in designing catalysts. Highly active TiO₂ photocatalysts incorporated with site-specific single copper atoms are now shown to exhibit such a photoactivation process.

The Alx3 transcription factor, expressed in prenatal tooth development, is shown to revitalize adult progenitor cells in decellularized scaffolds, leading to enhanced parenchymal dental pulp and vascularized stroma regeneration in vivo.

Crosstalk between microtubules and the actin cytoskeleton of cells is important in elucidating integrin-mediated adhesion and mechanotransduction. It is now shown that microtubule-mediated control of focal adhesions and podosomes occurs via KANK family proteins.