Volume 16 Issue 7, July 2021

The memristor, in which an external electric field controls the formation and annihilation of conductive channels, has been described both as a missing electronic element and a memory and computational element. Here, their utility as building blocks for promising reflective and energy-efficient colour technology is described.

In this Review the authors discuss the biological role of extracellular vesicles and how they can be applied as drug carriers, focusing on the current state of their manufacturing and existing challenges.

In situ electrostatic control of two-dimensional superconductivity is commonly limited due to large charge carrier densities. Now, by means of local gates, electrostatic gating can define a Josephson junction in a magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene device, a single-crystal material.

A 1/3 power law between thermal conductivity and length of a NbSe₃ nanowire is observed, pointing towards a superdiffusive heat transport regime.

Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene exhibits a wide range of phases, such as metal, insulator and superconductor states. Now local electrostatic gating devices made from this two-dimensional material platform enable highly tunable Josephson junctions, edge tunnelling spectroscopy and single-electron transistor operation.

Semiconductor–superconductor hybrids are used for realizing complex quantum phenomena but are limited in the accessible magnetic field and temperature range. Now, hybrid devices made from InAs nanowires and epitaxially matched, single-crystal, atomically flat Pb films present superior characteristics, doubling the available parameter space.

Antiferromagnets are interesting materials for fast spintronics applications, but control of the antiferromagnetic order has been limited to bulk materials so far. Now, uniaxial strain is shown to align the Néel vector in MnPSe₃ down to the monolayer limit.

Graphene promises long-distance transfer of spin information with concomitant high charge carrier mobility. Proximity coupling of bilayer graphene with the 2D interlayer antiferromagnetic CrSBr now enables active generation of spin currents in graphene both electrically and thermally.

A silver layer can be made to float either above or below an oxide layer in a thin-film architecture by applying a voltage bias.

By employing the nanoconfinement in the mesophase formed by conventional lipids, cryo-enzymatic reactions are performed in subzero liquid water.

A power generator exhibits enhanced output due to a dual-charge-carrier design. The voltage produced is constant yet competitive even under low relative humidity.

Surgical resection is the primary treatment strategy for glioblastoma multiforme, but the infiltrating nature of the tumour, coupled with its heterogeneity and the presence of the blood–brain barrier that hampers drug delivery, contributes to recurrence and poor prognosis. Here the authors engineer a mechanically flexible mesh that can adhere to the tumour resected cavity and release a combination of nanomedicines and small molecules in a controlled and sustained manner for tumour therapy.

Nanoparticle albumin bound paclitaxel (nab-PTX) is widely used in the clinic to treat different cancers, but the effect of albumin on the distribution of the drug in tumours is not clear. Here the authors show that the accumulation of nab-PTX in tumours is affected by signalling molecules involved in nutrient uptake and processing, which could be reprogrammed to increase the drug’s efficacy.