Analytical chemistry articles within Nature Materials

Featured

• Article | 04 September 2023

  Molecular radio afterglow probes for cancer radiodynamic theranostics

  Organic luminophores emit a bright near-infrared afterglow after X-ray irradiation and outperform commercially available radio sensitizers by producing higher levels of singlet oxygen, having potential applications in precision cancer theranostics.

  • Jingsheng Huang
  • , Lichao Su
  •  & Kanyi Pu

• Article | 21 January 2021

  Revisiting metal fluorides as lithium-ion battery cathodes

  Metal-fluoride-based lithium-ion battery cathodes are typically classified as conversion materials because reconstructive phase transitions are presumed to occur upon lithiation. Metal fluoride lithiation is now shown to be dominated instead by diffusion-controlled displacement mechanisms.

  • Xiao Hua
  • , Alexander S. Eggeman
  •  & Clare P. Grey

• News & Views | 19 September 2019

  Enlightening kidney pathophysiology

  Understanding the mechanics of acute kidney injury from toxins, ischemia and sepsis remains challenging. Molecular probes with high renal clearance have now been developed for real-time optical detection of early-stage biomarkers of drug-induced acute kidney injury, and for the understanding of the mechanisms of injury.

  • Stephen M. Hewitt
  •  & Robert A. Star

• Article | 27 May 2019

  Molecular optical imaging probes for early diagnosis of drug-induced acute kidney injury

  Chemiluminescent molecular renal probes have been developed and are shown to be capable of non-invasive real-time imaging of early-stage oxidative stress biomarkers of drug-induced acute kidney injury, and high renal clearance.

  • Jiaguo Huang
  • , Jingchao Li
  •  & Kanyi Pu

• News & Views | 12 February 2018

  Illuminating interlayer interactions

  A synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiment demonstrates an unexpected accumulation of electron density in the interlayer region of TiS₂, and provides a benchmark for theoretical models of weak interlayer bonding.

  • Xiaohui Qiu
  •  & Wei Ji

• Article | 05 February 2018

  Selective layer-free blood serum ionogram based on ion-specific interactions with a nanotransistor

  An ionogram based on a layer-free nanotransistor reveals the ability to selectively measure target ions in serum. Experimental and theoretical assessment of the mechanism of the surface–ion interaction is also revealed.

  • R. Sivakumarasamy
  • , R. Hartkamp
  •  & N. Clément

• Editorial | 23 January 2018

  Behind the art

  Art historians have joined forces with material scientists in order to better understand the objects of interest but also develop better conservation treatments and preservation approaches.

• Interview | 23 January 2018

  Science at the museum

  Carl Heron and Joanne Dyer from the British Museum in London talk to Nature Materials about the research activities at the museum and how scientists can impact cultural heritage.

  • Maria Maragkou

• Commentary | 23 January 2018

  Materials science challenges in paintings

  • Philippe Walter
  •  & Laurence de Viguerie

• Article | 13 June 2016

  Crystal symmetry breaking and vacancies in colloidal lead chalcogenide quantum dots

  X-ray scattering and density functional theory calculations reveal that ligand-induced tensile stress can distort the rock-salt structure of small PbS and PbSe colloidal quantum dots, creating a Pb-deficient core surrounded by a Pb-enriched shell.

  • Federica Bertolotti
  • , Dmitry N. Dirin
  •  & Norberto Masciocchi

• Article | 17 August 2015

  Phage-mediated counting by the naked eye of miRNA molecules at attomolar concentrations in a Petri dish

  An ultrasensitive method that uses a genetically engineered bacteriophage to bind miRNA in a one-to-one manner allows the counting, by the naked eye, of miRNA molecules at attomolar concentrations on Petri dishes.

  • Xin Zhou
  • , Peng Cao
  •  & Chuanbin Mao

• Editorial | 23 July 2014

  Crystallography matters

  Celebrating a field of remarkable depth and importance.

• Commentary | 23 July 2014

  The hidden structure of liquids

  From its earliest days, crystallography has been viewed as a means to probe order in matter. J. D. Bernal's work on the structure of water reframed it as a means of examining the extent to which matter can be regarded as orderly.

  • Philip Ball

• Commentary | 23 July 2014

  Crystallography with powders

  Over the course of its long history, powder diffraction has provided countless insights into the properties of materials. It will continue to do so in the future, but with an emphasis on elucidating how materials respond to external stimuli.

  • Anthony K. Cheetham
  •  & Andrew L. Goodwin

• Research Highlights | 23 November 2011

  Microfluidic origami

  • Christian Martin

• News & Views | 24 October 2011

  A coherent look at stress

  Molecular ligands are widely used to functionalize gold nanoparticles, but their influence on the particle structure has been difficult to probe. Coherent X-ray diffraction has now reached sufficient sensitivity to resolve adsorption-induced near-surface stress in a single nanocrystal.

  • Frank Schreiber