Chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Colloids consist of small particles distributed in another medium such as liquids or gases. Here, the demonstration that forces arising from the critical Casimir effect can control the interaction between particles offers new possibilities for the formation of colloidal nanostructures.

    • Van Duc Nguyen
    • , Suzanne Faber
    •  & Peter Schall

  • Article |

    The main constraint on the large-scale use of platinum catalyst in energy-conversion devices is its cost. Hou et al.propose a screening strategy to search for non-platinum-based alternatives, which suggests that inexpensive and abundant ferric oxides exhibit comparable electrocatalytic activity to platinum.

    • Yu Hou
    • , Dong Wang
    •  & Hua Gui Yang

  • Article |

    Helium has not, to date, been observed crystallographically. Here, the authors report the first crystallographic observation of a helium atom, encapsulated in a fullerene, and show that it exerts a small but detectable influence on the electronic structure of a coencapsulated nitrogen atom.

    • Yuta Morinaka
    • , Satoru Sato
    •  & Yasujiro Murata

  • Article |

    The hardness and incompressibility of diamond makes it an ideal material for high-pressure anvil cells. Here, a method for generating static pressure is described in which graphene-coated diamond is heated, forming graphene nanobubbles that trap water at pressures sufficient to etch the surface of diamond.

    • Candy Haley Yi Xuan Lim
    • , Anastassia Sorkin
    •  & Kian Ping Loh

  • Article |

    Charge carrier mobility in molecular condensate is usually limited to small values by disorder and small intermolecular coupling. This work shows band dispersion of molecular states when hybridized with a metal substrate, resulting in enhanced carrier mobility.

    • M. Wießner
    • , J. Ziroff
    •  & F. Reinert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic fluorescent nanoparticles have potential biomaterials applications due to their low-toxicity and ‘green’ synthesis. Here, a series of self-assembled nanoparticles and polymers are synthesized with intense visible fluorescence stemming from chromophores of hydrogen-bonded monoacylglycerol clusters.

    • Kwang-Ming Lee
    • , Wan-Yin Cheng
    •  & Bi-Yun Lin

  • Article |

    Materials with magnetic dipoles commonly form the building blocks of complex structures at many different length scales. Yan et al. show that by using cylindrical magnetic Janus colloids, greater control over the shape of the hierarchical structures formed by self-assembly can be achieved.

    • Jing Yan
    • , Kundan Chaudhary
    •  & Steve Granick

  • Article |

    The synthesis of porous materials designed with specific applications in mind is fundamentally challenging. Here, the authors fabricate single-molecule trap cavities designed for complimentary interactions with CO2 and show that these traps can be assembled into materials with high CO2selectivity.

    • Jian-Rong Li
    • , Jiamei Yu
    •  & Hong-Cai Zhou

  • Article |

    The fabrication self-sorting supramolecular gels, containing co-existing homomolecular assemblies with similar physical and chemical properties, is challenging. Here pH-controlled self-sorting gelators are reported, where the order of assembly of each component is predetermined by gelator pKa.

    • Kyle L. Morris
    • , Lin Chen
    •  & Dave J. Adams

  • Article |

    Topological insulators are bulk insulators with conductive boundary states, and until now have been based only on inorganic materials. Wang et al.use first-principles calculations to predict a class of organic topological insulators based on organometallic lattices exhibiting robust topological edge states.

    • Z.F Wang
    • , Zheng Liu
    •  & Feng Liu

  • Article |

    Electricity can be generated by moving wires in magnetic fields, but this is not the only method. Moon et al. develop an electrochemical device that produces an AC current in a controlled manner by mechanically modulating water bridges sandwiched between two conducting plates.

    • Jong Kyun Moon
    • , Jaeki Jeong
    •  & Hyuk Kyu Pak

  • Article |

    The ‘on’ and ‘off’ states of the photoswitchable protein Dronpa have been characterized, but the interconversion process remains poorly understood. Here the authors perform time-resolved ultrafast infrared measurements to follow both the structural changes and proton transfer events that occur during conversion.

    • Mark M. Warren
    • , Marius Kaucikas
    •  & Jasper J. van Thor

  • Article |

    Engineering heterogeneous metallic nanocrystals could produce diverse materials with tunable properties. Here the authors develop a strategy for the rational and independent programming of each architecture-determining element, such as the shape, size and spatial relationship of the component nanocrystals.

    • Yue Yu
    • , Qingbo Zhang
    •  & Jim Yang Lee

  • Article |

    Aromaticity predicts the existence of the benzene tetra-anion, although it has not been unambiguously observed. Here, the authors have synthesized a tetra-anionic substituted benzene as a ligand and characterize the six-carbon, 10 π-electron system by structural, spectroscopic and theoretical techniques.

    • Wenliang Huang
    • , Florian Dulong
    •  & Paula L. Diaconescu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Janus materials have distinct chemical functionalities on opposite faces. Zhang et al.report that a two-step covalent functionalisation and poly(methyl methacrylate)-mediated transfer process facilitates the synthesis of nonsymmetrically modified single-layer graphene.

    • Liming Zhang
    • , Jingwen Yu
    •  & Zhongfan Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The construction of homochiral surfaces may play a significant role in applications including heterogeneous catalysis and bio-sensors. Here, globally homochiral two-dimensional assemblies of achiral molecules are formed via co-assembly with chiral co-adsorbers, demonstrating a ‘majority rules’ effect.

    • Ting Chen
    • , Wen-Hong Yang
    •  & Li-Jun Wan

  • Article |

    Purely organic materials are generally insulating and while charge-carrier generation can provide electrical conductivity, it is rare for single-component systems. Here, symmetric hydrogen bonding between tetrathiafulvalene-based molecules gives rise to room-temperature conductivity and low pressure metallic state transitions.

    • Takayuki Isono
    • , Hiromichi Kamo
    •  & Hatsumi Mori

  • Article |

    Graphene oxide has been proposed as an alternative to precious metals for the catalysis of aerobic oxidative reactions; however, high catalyst loadings are needed. Here a simple base and acid treatment is shown to enhance its catalytic activity for the oxidative coupling of amines under ambient conditions.

    • Chenliang Su
    • , Muge Acik
    •  & Kian Ping Loh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There are only a few known organic ferroelectrics, particularly ones that operate at high temperatures. Here the discovery of ferroelectricity above room temperature in members of an ubiquitous family of organic molecules reveals the possibility of novel low-cost electronic applications.

    • Sachio Horiuchi
    • , Fumitaka Kagawa
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • Article |

    Acetylenes can be covalently linked by oxidative coupling reactions. Zhanget al. report terminal alkyne Csp-H bond activation and concomitant homo-coupling on a silver surface, yielding polymeric networks with a conjugated backbone.

    • Yi-Qi Zhang
    • , Nenad Kepčija
    •  & Johannes V. Barth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polymer-based actuators, which deform in response to external stimuli, may advance the understanding of biological movement or realization of soft robotics. Here, Harada et al. report a photo-responsive supramolecular hydrogel that displays expansion–contraction abilities owing to host–guest interactions.

    • Yoshinori Takashima
    • , Shogo Hatanaka
    •  & Akira Harada

  • Article |

    Heterogeneous composite materials, which are potentially useful for flexible electronics, are widespread in nature but synthetic examples are rare. Here, a site-specific hierarchical approach is used to fabricate composites with extreme local variations in elastic modulus and which are reversibly stretchable.

    • Rafael Libanori
    • , Randall M. Erb
    •  & André R. Studart

  • Article |

    The transition metal-catalysed reduction of nitrogen, vital for the production of fertilizer, usually requires expensive molybdenum catalysts. Here, Yuki et al.describe the iron-catalysed reduction of nitrogen under ambient conditions and propose a reaction pathway supported by DFT calculations.

    • Masahiro Yuki
    • , Hiromasa Tanaka
    •  & Yoshiaki Nishibayashi

  • Article |

    The exploitation of the properties of graphene, such as mechanical strength and electrical conductivity, in deformable macroscopic materials is desirable. Here, a combination of graphene chemistry and ice physics is used to fabricate biomimetic, ultralight and superelastic graphene cellular monoliths.

    • Ling Qiu
    • , Jeffery Z. Liu
    •  & Dan Li

  • Article |

    Intense lasers enable scientists to study the behaviour of matter under extreme pressures, but obtaining information about its atomic structure is challenging. In this work, Suggit et al. demonstrate the use of white-light X-ray diffraction to probe the structure of laser-shocked copper on nanosecond timescales.

    • Matthew J. Suggit
    • , Andrew Higginbotham
    •  & Justin S. Wark

  • Article |

    Graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes have high electrical conductivities and large specific surface areas. Here, these properties are extended into three dimensions by producing a seamless carbon nanotube graphene hybrid material.

    • Yu Zhu
    • , Lei Li
    •  & James M. Tour

  • Article |

    Proton exchange membrane fuel cells are good potential power sources for mobile devices but require very pure H2 production at low temperatures. Yu et al. report the use of a CuZnGaOx catalyst capable of producing CO-free H2from methanol via a non-syngas direct steam-reforming route at 150–200 °C.

    • Kai Man Kerry Yu
    • , Weiyi Tong
    •  & Shik Chi Edman Tsang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical activity resulting from electronic transitions in chiral inorganic materials is rare. Liu et al. report the synthesis of amino acid-derived amphiphile templated chiral TiO2fibres, which exhibit an optical response to polarized light resulting from valence to conduction band electronic transitions.

    • Shaohua Liu
    • , Lu Han
    •  & Shunai Che

  • Article |

    Orthogonal switching has been achieved in supramolecular systems, in which different responses can be triggered on demand by different stimuli. Tian et al.report host–guest heteroternary complexes with both redox- and light-responsive guests in a single, supramolecular entity.

    • Feng Tian
    • , Dezhi Jiao
    •  & Oren A. Scherman

  • Article |

    Developing next generation batteries requires better understanding of the dynamics of electrochemical reactions in working electrodes. Using a transmission electron microscope, Wanget al. develop a means to track the real time flow of lithium atoms in electrodes during the discharge of a functioning electrochemical cell.

    • Feng Wang
    • , Hui-Chia Yu
    •  & Jason Graetz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Binary mixtures of molecules on the surface of nanoparticles can arrange randomly or into different domains to form Janus, patchy or striped particles. Liuet al.show that NMR can be used to determine the ligand-shell morphology of particles coated with aliphatic and aromatic ligands.

    • Xiang Liu
    • , Miao Yu
    •  & Francesco Stellacci

  • Article |

    The practical performance of lithium sulphide batteries is much less than their predicted performance because redox products dissolve over time. Su and Manthiram show that microporous carbon membranes inserted between cathode and separator localize soluble polysulphide species and improve battery cycling characteristics.

    • Yu-Sheng Su
    •  & Arumugam Manthiram

  • Article |

    Liquid crystal elastomers can perform mechanical motion triggered by external stimuli, and are light weight, flexible materials that may be integrated into micromechanical systems. Here they are used to fabricate a one-piece temperature-responsive micropump viaa microfluidic double-emulsion process.

    • Eva-Kristina Fleischmann
    • , Hsin-Ling Liang
    •  & Rudolf Zentel

  • Article |

    Bullet-proof materials made of nanostructured composites outperform conventional materials, yet little is known of their nanoscale response to high-speed impact. Using laser-propelled microscopic projectiles, Lee et al.directly visualize this process in layered nanocomposites.

    • Jae-Hwang Lee
    • , David Veysset
    •  & Edwin L. Thomas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Granular matter is rigid when jammed, and flows under external loads. Here temperature- and force-unfolding molecular dynamics stimulations are used to demonstrate that proteins display features of jamming, characterized by a force distribution peak on folding and a slowdown of stress relaxation.

    • Prasanth P Jose
    •  & Ioan Andricioaei

  • Article |

    The spontaneous adsorption of alkanethiols is widely utilized to fabricate functional surfaces but gives limited stability and regularity. Mattiuzziet al. report a method that uses preorganized platforms (rigid tetrapodant calix[4]arenes), which allows further surface functionalization and spatial control.

    • Alice Mattiuzzi
    • , Ivan Jabin
    •  & Corinne Lagrost

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