Materials science articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    We report organic molecules showing both efficient luminescence and near-unity generation yield of excited states with high spin multiplicity, simultaneously supporting a high efficiency of initialization, spin manipulations and light-based readout at room temperature.

    • Sebastian Gorgon
    • , Kuo Lv
    •  & Emrys W. Evans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proximity-induced superconductivity on a single spin-degenerate quantum level of a surface state confined in a quantum corral on a superconducting substrate built atom by atom by a scanning tunnelling microscope is investigated.

    • Lucas Schneider
    • , Khai That Ton
    •  & Jens Wiebe

  • Research Briefing |

    The performance of next-generation batteries is closely linked to the shape of deposits of metallic lithium that form during charging. Experiments in ultrafast-charging batteries have now revealed that lithium intrinsically forms geometrically perfect 12-face polyhedra, independently of various factors that were long thought to affect the shape of lithium deposits.

  • Article |

    Quantum oscillations in the three-dimensional topological semimetal CoSi are reported, where selected oscillation frequencies have no corresponding extremal Fermi surface cross-sections, representing instead oscillations of the quasiparticle lifetime.

    • Nico Huber
    • , Valentin Leeb
    •  & Marc A. Wilde

  • Article |

    We report that fatigue cracks in pure metals can undergo intrinsic self-healing; they were observed to heal by crack flank cold welding induced by local stress state and grain boundary migration.

    • Christopher M. Barr
    • , Ta Duong
    •  & Brad L. Boyce

  • Article |

    A moiré quasicrystal constructed by twisting three layers of graphene with two different twist angles shows high tunability between a periodic-like regime at low energies and a strongly quasiperiodic regime at higher energies alongside strong interactions and superconductivity.

    • Aviram Uri
    • , Sergio C. de la Barrera
    •  & Pablo Jarillo-Herrero

  • Article |

    A MicroLED lighting panel, assembled in 60 s by a surface-tension-driven fluidic self-assembly technique, gave a yield as high as 99.90% through the addition of a small amount of poloxamer to the assembly solution.

    • Daewon Lee
    • , Seongkyu Cho
    •  & Sunghoon Kwon

  • Comment |

    Rare-earth elements that are crucial for clean-energy technologies are jealously fought over. Policies and programmes to encourage recycling and recovery could reduce tensions.

    • Yong Geng
    • , Joseph Sarkis
    •  & Raimund Bleischwitz

  • News & Views |

    An effect that transfers information using the rotational motion of electrons has been detected with light, forging a path towards technologies that are cheaper — and less harmful to the environment — than existing electronics.

    • Tatiana G. Rappoport

  • Article |

    A method is presented to harness the paper-folding mechanism of reconfigurable macroscale systems to create reconfigurable DNA origami structures, in anticipation that it will advance the development of complex molecular systems.

    • Myoungseok Kim
    • , Chanseok Lee
    •  & Do-Nyun Kim

  • Article |

    The orbital Hall effect is observed in the light metal titanium, confirming the orbital Hall effect and indicating that orbital angular momentum is an important degree of freedom in solids.

    • Young-Gwan Choi
    • , Daegeun Jo
    •  & Hyun-Woo Lee

  • News & Views |

    Periodic waves of changing electron density are linked to the ability of some materials to conduct electricity without resistance. Four studies reveal that such waves could emerge in more materials than expected.

    • Hui Chen
    •  & Hong-Jun Gao

  • Article |

    The primary pair density wave state has been discovered in a monolayer iron-based high-Tc superconductor, providing a platform to study the interplay between the correlated electronic states and unconventional Cooper pairing in high-Tc superconductors.

    • Yanzhao Liu
    • , Tianheng Wei
    •  & Jian Wang

  • Article |

    Measurements show that smectic pair-density-wave order exists in the magnetic iron pnictide superconductor EuRbFe4As4 and that the pair-density-wave state is a primary, zero-field superconducting state in this compound.

    • He Zhao
    • , Raymond Blackwell
    •  & Kazuhiro Fujita

  • Research Briefing |

    Surfaces that contain cholesterol, such as the skin of some invertebrates, can repel other molecules, preventing the adsorption of proteins and bacteria. Experiments, simulations and thermodynamic analyses show that this repulsive quality depends on cholesterol molecules rotating freely and switching their orientation.

  • Article |

    The introduction of chain entanglements into protein-based hydrogels yields hydrogels with high stiffness, high toughness, fast recovery and ultrahigh compressive strength, with mechanical properties close to those of cartilage.

    • Linglan Fu
    • , Lan Li
    •  & Hongbin Li

  • Article |

    The black phase of formamidinium lead iodide perovskite is used to make highly efficient solar cells, and a technique to improve its purity and stability by controlling crystal nucleation could make them even better.

    • Pengju Shi
    • , Yong Ding
    •  & Rui Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Entropic repulsion caused by interfacial orientational fluctuations of cholesterol layers restricts protein adsorption and bacterial adhesion, providing a conceptually new physicochemical perspective on biointerfaces that may guide future material design in regulation of adhesion.

    • Jens Friedrichs
    • , Ralf Helbig
    •  & Carsten Werner

  • Article |

    We discovered that liquid metal endowing negative mixing enthalpy with other elements could provide a stable thermodynamic condition and act as a desirable dynamic mixing reservoir, realizing the synthesis of high-entropy alloy nanoparticles.

    • Guanghui Cao
    • , Jingjing Liang
    •  & Lei Fu

  • News & Views |

    The development of a promising type of battery has been plagued by an issue that causes these devices to fail — lithium filaments grow in the electrolyte. An investigation of this failure mechanism could help to solve the problem.

    • Kelsey B. Hatzell
    •  & Maha Yusuf

  • Research Briefing |

    Hybrid molecules containing organic and inorganic components were assembled through bottom-up synthesis into a continuous network of interpenetrating molecular-scale organic and inorganic ionic domains. The resulting material, called elastic ceramic plastic, shows ceramic-like hardness and strength, rubber-like deformability and resilience, and plastic-like mouldability.

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Our experimental proof of chiral phonons demonstrates a degree of freedom in condensed matter that is of fundamental importance and opens the door to exploration of emergent phenomena based on chiral bosons.

    • Hiroki Ueda
    • , Mirian García-Fernández
    •  & Urs Staub

  • Article |

    A study shows that water can control macroscopic properties of biological materials through the hydration force, giving rise to a distinct class of solid matter with unusual properties.

    • Steven G. Harrellson
    • , Michael S. DeLay
    •  & Ozgur Sahin

  • Article |

    Analysis of dendrite initiation, owing to filling of pores with lithium by means of microcracks, and propagation, caused by wedge opening, shows that there are two separate processes during dendrite failure of lithium metal solid-state batteries.

    • Ziyang Ning
    • , Guanchen Li
    •  & Peter G. Bruce

  • Research Briefing |

    An original class of strong, ductile titanium alloy containing the inexpensive and abundant oxygen and iron as principal alloying elements has been created using 3D printing. The research findings offer promise for turning low‑quality titanium sponge — a waste product of the energy-intensive production of titanium — into high‑performance titanium alloys, and for innovative alloy engineering.

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Combining alloy design with additive manufacturing process design creates α–β titanium–oxygen–iron alloys that are both strong and ductile, with the potential to revitalize off-grade sponge titanium and thereby reduce the carbon footprint of the titanium industry.

    • Tingting Song
    • , Zibin Chen
    •  & Ma Qian

  • Article |

    The cycles of laser light have been used to advance transmission electron microscopy to attosecond time resolution, revealing the interactions between light and matter in terms of their fundamental dimensions in space and time.

    • David Nabben
    • , Joel Kuttruff
    •  & Peter Baum

  • Outlook |

    A nature-inspired adhesive offers hope for wound healing and haemorrhage control.

    • Elie Dolgin

  • Research Briefing |

    Although crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells were developed nearly 70 years ago, their use is still limited. Tailoring the structural symmetry on the edges of textured c-Si wafers changes their fracture mechanism such that they can be used to fabricate flexible solar cells with a bending radius of about 8 millimetres.

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