Materials chemistry articles within Nature Materials

Featured

  • Article |

    Nanopores in 2D materials have various possible lattice isomers, making relevant quantitative analysis difficult. An isomer-cataloguing framework is developed to address this problem, demonstrating remarkable agreement between simulated and experimental data.

    • Ananth Govind Rajan
    • , Kevin S. Silmore
    •  & Michael S. Strano

  • News & Views |

    A rigid and easily scalable metal–organic framework is shown to be among the most efficient materials for separating ethylene from ethane.

    • Anastasiya Bavykina
    •  & Jorge Gascon

  • Article |

    Liquid repellent coatings are important for several applications. Now, a coating that repels ultralow surface tension liquids and simultaneously shows robustness and transparency is reported.

    • Shuaijun Pan
    • , Rui Guo
    •  & Frank Caruso

  • Perspective |

    This Perspective explores the history and usage of the concept of oxidation state, its relation to atomic charge and bonding, and opportunities that arise from applying this analysis to systems with mixed valence or correlated electrons.

    • Aron Walsh
    • , Alexey A. Sokol
    •  & C. Richard A. Catlow

  • Article |

    Magnetocaloric effects can be used for refrigeration, but application uptake is limited due to large amounts of magnetic material used. Here, a cooling cycle is shown that uses thermal hysteresis, significantly reducing magnetic material quantity.

    • Tino Gottschall
    • , Adrià Gràcia-Condal
    •  & Oliver Gutfleisch

  • Article |

    Combined multimodal atomic force microscopy, ion microscopy, ion mass spectrometry and infrared spectrometry experiments explore the chemical properties of ferroelastic twin domains in hybrid lead halide perovskites.

    • Yongtao Liu
    • , Liam Collins
    •  & Olga S. Ovchinnikova

  • News & Views |

    An orally administered bifunctional gastrointestinal coating has been developed and shown to limit nutrient absorption through the bowel mucosa ultimately lowering blood glucose and also acting as a platform for delivery of drugs to the gastrointestinal tract.

    • Gregor Fuhrmann

  • News & Views |

    By inserting potassium into a 3D metal–organic framework band delocalization occurs, enabling mobilities and conductivities similar to organic polymers.

    • A. Alec Talin
    •  & François Léonard

  • News & Views |

    Unlike conventional inorganic semiconductors, which are typically brittle, α-Ag2S exhibits room-temperature ductility with favourable electrical properties, offering promise for use in high-performance flexible and stretchable devices.

    • Dae-Hyeong Kim
    •  & Gi Doo Cha

  • Article |

    Inorganic α-Ag2S semiconductor, which has preferential slip planes in the crystal structure and irregularly distributed bonds of silver atoms preventing cleavage, demonstrates metal-like ductility at room temperature.

    • Xun Shi
    • , Hongyi Chen
    •  & Lidong Chen

  • News & Views |

    A combination of hard, soft and nanoscale organic components results in robust superhydrophobic surfaces that can withstand mechanical abrasion and chemical oxidation, and exhibit excellent substrate adhesion.

    • Henri-Louis Girard
    • , Sami Khan
    •  & Kripa K. Varanasi

  • Perspective |

    Catalysts for CO2 photo- or electroreduction must balance activity, selectivity and efficiency. Here, the authors discuss the use of metal–organic frameworks for these processes and the role reticular chemistry may play in designing new catalysts.

    • Christian S. Diercks
    • , Yuzhong Liu
    •  & Omar M. Yaghi

  • News & Views |

    The influence of matrix stiffness and degradation on neural progenitor cell stemness was investigated in a three-dimensional culture system, highlighting the role of remodelling in enhancing cell-to-cell interaction and ultimately maintaining neural stemness.

    • Phillip H. Kang
    • , Sanjay Kumar
    •  & David V. Schaffer

  • News & Views |

    Blocking the growth of new blood vessels has been shown to alter fibrosis in livers in a disease stage-specific manner. In vitro models of fibrosis were developed to understand this process, highlighting the role of environmental mechanics.

    • Geoffrey C. Gurtner
    •  & Jagannath Padmanabhan

  • News & Views |

    DNA origami nanostructures were utilized to replicate a seed pattern that resulted in the growth of populations of nanostructures. Exponential growth could be controlled by environmental conditions depending on the preferential requirements of each population.

    • Friedrich C. Simmel

  • News & Views |

    Microporous membranes were designed from the loose packing of two-dimensional polymer chains — a breakthrough giving both ultrahigh permeability and good selectivity for gas separations.

    • Yan Yin
    •  & Michael D. Guiver

  • Article |

    Polymer membranes were formed from the inefficient packing of 2D polymer chains in a 3D amorphous solid, forming small and large micropores that enable high gas selectivity and permeability. This strategy may be applied to other polymers.

    • Ian Rose
    • , C. Grazia Bezzu
    •  & Neil B. McKeown

  • News & Views |

    A Pd4 cluster, supported by a metal–organic framework and formed by post-synthesis methods, shows high catalytic activity and selectivity for carbene-mediated reactions. This crystallographically precise material may lead to a large class of catalysts.

    • Dong Yang
    •  & Bruce C. Gates

  • Editorial |

    The development of new membrane materials for chemical separations is progressing rapidly, and their commercial success will require a more concerted effort from academia and industry.

  • Interview |

    Andrew Livingston (Imperial College London) and Richard Baker (Membrane Technology and Research) talk to Nature Materials about the perks and pitfalls of membrane research and development, and how activities at the new Barrer Centre might lead to next-generation separation technologies.

    • Jim Hennessy

  • News & Views |

    A new report demonstrates an innovative approach to aligning crystallites of metal–organic frameworks such that thin films are created with oriented channels — potentially overcoming one of the major barriers to application of these highly topical materials.

    • Neil R. Champness

  • Commentary |

    Membrane materials provide economical means to achieve various separation processes — and their capabilities for processing organic fluids look set to expand significantly.

    • Ryan P. Lively
    •  & David S. Sholl

  • News & Views |

    By making use of a semiconducting metal–organic graphene analogue, researchers propose a new generation of supercapacitors with potential as tunable molecular materials for energy.

    • Alexandru Vlad
    •  & Andrea Balducci

  • Review Article |

    Hydrogen generation from water and sunlight offers a promising way to produce carbon-free energy. Recent progress in predicting properties of heterogeneous interfaces for solar water splitting using first-principles approaches is now reviewed.

    • Tuan Anh Pham
    • , Yuan Ping
    •  & Giulia Galli

  • Review Article |

    Significant progress in battery technology is crucial to ensure a transition towards a carbon-neutral society. Recent advances in both sustainability and operando techniques together with remaining challenges and possible solutions are now reviewed.

    • C. P. Grey
    •  & J. M. Tarascon

  • Review Article |

    Converting sunlight into fuels is attractive for energy storage and photoelectrocatalytic technologies. Scientific challenges related to developing suitable photoabsorbers, efficient catalysts and understanding their interfaces are now reviewed.

    • Joseph H. Montoya
    • , Linsey C. Seitz
    •  & Jens K. Nørskov

  • Letter |

    Using MOFs as active electrodes in electrochemical double layer capacitors has so far proved difficult. An electrically conductive MOF used as an electrode is now shown to exhibit electrochemical performance similar to most carbon-based materials.

    • Dennis Sheberla
    • , John C. Bachman
    •  & Mircea Dincă

  • News & Views |

    Graphene is used as a capping sheet to synthesize 2D gallium nitride by means of migration-enhanced encapsulation growth. This technique may allow the stabilization of 2D materials that are not amenable to synthesis by traditional methods.

    • Nikhil A. Koratkar

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