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Homochiral helical toroids with micrometre-scale lengths are successfully fabricated by a combined solution–interface-directed hierarchical self-assembly strategy.
The interfacial shear modulus controls the sliding friction of supported two-dimensional materials. Now, experiments demonstrate a reciprocal relationship between friction force per unit contact area and the interfacial shear modulus.
The reversible percolation of a graphene filler network in a liquid crystalline elastomer matrix enables the realization of mammalian-muscle-like actuation.
Activation of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) can induce immunity in various cancer therapies, but delivery of STING agonists to tumours is challenging. Now a metal-based polymeric nanoparticle delivers STING agonists to tumours upon disruption of endothelial cells in tumour vasculature and targets tumour-associated macrophages, eliciting anti-tumour immune response in hard-to-treat cancer models.
A one-step simultaneous van der Waals integration of high-k dielectrics and contacts enables the realization of top-gated transistors with atomically clean and electronically sharp interfaces.
Introducing local, nanoscopic ferromagnetic regions in a synthetic antiferromagnet racetrack can help to mitigate the trade-off between energy efficiency and thermal stability in magnetic domain-wall-based devices.
Cation exchange membranes embedded with MnO2 nanoparticles form selective outer-sphere complexes with phosphate ions imparting an extremely selective permeation pathway.
An epitaxial heterostructure of a perovskite and rocksalt is stable up to 1,100 °C in air. Based on mechanistic and computational analyses, hundreds of potential cubic oxide pairs with similar properties are identified for applications in nanophotonics.
Operation sweet spots decouple hole spin qubits in silicon from charge noise while conserving full electrical control and allowing for spin coherence times of up to 88 μs.
While commonly the intrinsic particle–hole symmetry of superconductors prevents their exploitation for thermoelectricity, now a thermoelectric Josephson engine made from superconducting tunnel junctions gives rise to bipolar thermoelectricity and may find wide application in quantum technology.
A lift-off and transfer method enables the fabrication of efficient three-dimensional racetrack memory devices fabricated from freestanding magnetic heterostructures on a prepatterned substrate and may—in the future—allow for advanced three-dimensional nanostructures in next-generation nanoelectronic devices with a low device footprint.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have unique optoelectronic properties that make them suitable for applications ranging from phototherapy to imaging and sensing, but their uptake has mainly been explored in eukaryotic cells. Here the authors explore the interaction of SWCNTs with cyanobacteria, showing that they are spontaneously taken up by cells only when coated with positive charges, opening the possibility of prokaryotic-based biotechnology applications.
While vaccines have curbed the COVID-19 pandemic, effective therapeutic treatments are few, and might be challenged by SARS-CoV-2 variants. A biocompatible, antiviral two-dimensional nanomaterial is now reported that firmly adsorbs the virus by interaction with the spike protein, inducing the conformational changes that lead to inhibition of viral infection in vitro and in animal models.
Current treatment of brain tumour entails open-skull tumour resection and follow-up X-ray radiation or chemotherapy, with surgery-associated risks and side-effects. Here a photothermal approach is presented that relies on wireless near-infrared stimulation for continuous, on-demand treatment of brain tumours in free-moving animals.
Polaritonic topological transitions of the isofrequency dispersion contour are observed in a graphene/α-MoO3 heterostructure by tuning the graphene doping level, which enables partial focusing at deep subwavelength.
Double ionic gated transistors enable excellent control of the band structure of atomically thin semiconductors. Perpendicular electric fields as large as 3 V nm−1 can fully quench the gap of bi- and few-layer WSe2.