Volume 19 Issue 5, May 2020

New evidence suggests that the mechanism of nanoparticle entry into solid tumours may be driven by an active process. This insight paves the way for approaches to enhance the efficiency of nanomedicine delivery by harnessing active transport mechanisms, and encourage researchers to rethink how tumours are treated.

Two distinct topological states that are closely tied to the spin configurations of a layered compound, here MnBi₂Te₄, have been demonstrated. Such control of the topological state should enable new opportunities to realize quantum and spintronic devices.

Finding a competitor for diamond as a good heat conductor remains challenging. Measurements on crystals of cubic boron nitride demonstrate a thermal conductivity of 1,600 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ at room temperature, rivalling diamond.

A monolayer topological insulator is magnetized by proximity to a layered antiferromagnetic insulator.

New evidence now suggests that the dominant mechanism of extravasation of nanoparticles into solid tumours may be through an active process of endothelial transcytosis.

Two studies shed light on quantum defects in two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride, identifying an optically addressable spin centre at room temperature and offering microscopic insights into different classes of single-photon emitters.

Organic semiconductors are making their way into applications ranging from display technology to flexible electronics and biomedical applications. This Review discusses current understanding of charge carrier transport in these materials and strategies to improve their performance.

The coupling between magnetism and topology is studied in a van der Waals heterostructure.

Quantum-assisted de-trapping in tungsten leads to diffusion rates orders of magnitude higher than naive classical estimates suggest. This phenomenon may be generic to any crystalline material.

The contribution of non-ideal mixing for the crystallization of supercooled mixtures of argon and krypton is reported, showing that this process is well described by classical crystal growth theories when such thermodynamics is considered.

Nitrogenases use transition metals to selectively capture weak π acids such as N₂ by employing backbonding interactions. Here, a metal–organic framework with exposed vanadium sites is presented that uses this approach for selective capture of N₂ from CH₄, with impressive selectivity and capacity.

A large longitudinal resistance and zero Hall plateau—hallmarks of an axion insulator—are found in MnBi₂Te₄. Moreover, a moderate magnetic field drives a quantum phase transition to a Chern insulator phase with zero longitudinal resistance and quantized Hall resistance h/e².

The bandgap of 2D molybdenum disulfide can be tuned uniformly, reproducibly and precisely over a large range by using a glass sphere support and changing the diameter of the spheres.

Defects in hexagonal boron nitride exhibit room-temperature quantum emission, but their unknown structural origin challenges their technological utility. A combination of optical and electron microscopy helps to distinguish at least four classes of defects and correlate them with local strain.

An ensemble of spins associated with an intrinsic defect of two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride is shown to be optically addressable, allowing spin polarization of its triplet ground state and providing evidence of spin coherence.

A superconducting transition is used to switch a single molecule magnet from a blocked magnetization state to a resonant quantum tunnelling regime

The electrochemical performance of supercapacitors can be enhanced with porous electrodes. Molecular dynamics simulations can now help to clarify the double-layer structure and capacitive performance of supercapacitors composed of MOF electrodes and ionic liquid electrolytes.

Photocatalysts formed from a single organic semiconductor can suffer from inefficient charge generation leading to low photocatalytic activities. Incorporating a heterojunction between a donor polymer and non-fullerene acceptor in organic nanoparticles leads to enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

The dominant mechanism of nanoparticle entry into solid tumours has now been shown to be an active trans-endothelial pathway rather than the currently established passive transport via inter-endothelial gaps.