Materials science articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article |

    A dynamical study shows that vortices of electrical polarization have higher frequencies and smaller size than their magnetic counterparts, properties that are promising for electric-field-driven data processing.

    • Qian Li
    • , Vladimir A. Stoica
    •  & Haidan Wen

  • Article |

    An electronic analogue of the Pomeranchuk effect is present in twisted bilayer graphene, shown by the stability of entropy in a ferromagnetic phase compared to an unpolarized Fermi liquid phase at certain high temperatures.

    • Yu Saito
    • , Fangyuan Yang
    •  & Andrea F. Young

  • Article |

    A diversity-oriented synthesis approach that yields a library of architecturally broad microporous polymers is used to develop structurally diverse polymer membranes with ion specificity and to screen their properties.

    • Miranda J. Baran
    • , Mark E. Carrington
    •  & Brett A. Helms

  • Article |

    Incorporation of the pseudo-halide anion formate during the fabrication of α-FAPbI3 perovskite films eliminates deleterious iodide vacancies, yielding solar cell devices with a certified power conversion efficiency of 25.21 per cent and long-term operational stability.

    • Jaeki Jeong
    • , Minjin Kim
    •  & Jin Young Kim

  • News & Views |

    The positions of all the atoms in a sample of a metallic glass have been measured experimentally — fulfilling a decades-old dream for glass scientists, and raising the prospect of fresh insight into the structures of disordered solids.

    • Paul Voyles

  • Outline |

    Synthetic versions of the super-hard gem stone are driving the development of a class of device with applications in biomedicine and beyond.

    • Neil Savage

  • Outline |

    Diamonds, one of the hardest materials on Earth, are so strong that they can protect fragile quantum states that would otherwise survive only in a vacuum or at ultra-cold temperatures. Engineers are mastering the art of growing diamonds with special properties and detecting their quantum spins — opening up a range of sensing applications in the life sciences and elsewhere.

    • Neil Savage

  • Article |

    Polymer-covered inorganic nanoparticles are designed to self-assemble into micrometre-sized superlattice crystallites that can subsequently be built into freestanding centimetre-scale solids with hierarchical order across seven orders of magnitude.

    • Peter J. Santos
    • , Paul A. Gabrys
    •  & Robert J. Macfarlane

  • Article |

    Highly active but durable perovskite-based solid oxide fuel cell cathodes are realized using a thermal-expansion offset, achieving full thermo-mechanical compatibility between the cathode and other cell components.

    • Yuan Zhang
    • , Bin Chen
    •  & Zongping Shao

  • Article |

    A large electronic display textile that is flexible, breathable and withstands repeated machine-washing is integrated with a keyboard and power supply to create a wearable, durable communication tool.

    • Xiang Shi
    • , Yong Zuo
    •  & Huisheng Peng

  • News & Views |

    A self-powered robot inspired by a fish can survive the extreme pressures at the bottom of the ocean’s deepest trench, thanks to its soft body and distributed electronic system — and might enable exploration of the uncharted ocean.

    • Cecilia Laschi
    •  & Marcello Calisti

  • Article |

    The binding of multidentate ligands to the surface of lead halide perovskite nanocrystals suppresses the formation of surface defects that result in halide segregation, yielding materials with efficient and colour-stable red emission.

    • Yasser Hassan
    • , Jong Hyun Park
    •  & Henry J. Snaith

  • Article |

    A free-swimming soft robot inspired by deep-sea creatures, with artificial muscle, power and control electronics spread across a polymer matrix, successfully adapts to high pressure and operates in the deep ocean.

    • Guorui Li
    • , Xiangping Chen
    •  & Wei Yang

  • Research Highlight |

    Inside a composite structure, mechanical energy is transformed into an electron flow that powers a chemical reaction.

  • Article |

    An improved device design for perovskite-based photovoltaic cells enables a certified power conversion efficiency of 25.2 per cent, translating to 80.5 per cent of the thermodynamic limit for its bandgap, which approaches those achieved by silicon solar cells.

    • Jason J. Yoo
    • , Gabkyung Seo
    •  & Jangwon Seo

  • News & Views |

    Persistently luminescent nanocrystals have been used to make flexible X-ray detectors that produce better images of 3D objects than do the flat-panel detectors currently widely used in radiography.

    • Albano N. Carneiro Neto
    •  & Oscar L. Malta

  • Article |

    Polycarbonates and polyesters with materials properties like those of high-density polyethylene can be recycled chemically by depolymerization to their constituent monomers, re-polymerization yielding material with uncompromised processing and materials properties.

    • Manuel Häußler
    • , Marcel Eck
    •  & Stefan Mecking

  • Article |

    Using lanthanide-doped nanomaterials and flexible substrates, an approach that enables flat-panel-free, high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging is demonstrated and termed X-ray luminescence extension imaging.

    • Xiangyu Ou
    • , Xian Qin
    •  & Xiaogang Liu

  • Article |

    Nano-Raman spectroscopy reveals localization of some vibrational modes in reconstructed twisted bilayer graphene and provides qualitative insights into how electron–phonon coupling affects the vibrational and electronic properties of the material.

    • Andreij C. Gadelha
    • , Douglas A. A. Ohlberg
    •  & Ado Jorio

  • Article |

    Dispersion of colloidal disks in a nematic liquid crystal reveals several low-symmetry phases, including monoclinic colloidal nematic order, with interchange between them achieved through variations in temperature, concentration and surface charge.

    • Haridas Mundoor
    • , Jin-Sheng Wu
    •  & Ivan I. Smalyukh

  • Article |

    Bulk ultrafine-grained steel is prepared by an approach that involves the rapid production of coherent, disordered nanoprecipitates, which restrict grain growth but do not interfere with twinning or dislocation motion, resulting in high strength and ductility.

    • Junheng Gao
    • , Suihe Jiang
    •  & W. Mark Rainforth

  • Perspective |

    Opportunities for the application of fibrillated cellulose materials—which can be extracted from renewable resources—and broader manufacturing issues of scale-up, sustainability and synergy with the paper-making industry are discussed.

    • Tian Li
    • , Chaoji Chen
    •  & Liangbing Hu

  • Article |

    A family of topological antiferromagnetic spin textures is realized at room temperature in α-Fe2O3, and their reversible and field-free stabilization using a Kibble–Zurek-like temperature cycling is demonstrated.

    • Hariom Jani
    • , Jheng-Cyuan Lin
    •  & Paolo G. Radaelli

  • Article |

    X-ray diffraction measurements of solid carbon compressed to pressures of about two terapascals (approximately twenty million atmospheres) find that carbon retains a diamond structure even under these extreme conditions.

    • A. Lazicki
    • , D. McGonegle
    •  & J. S. Wark

  • Article |

    A reprogrammable mechanical metamaterial constructed of bistable unit cells that can be switched independently and reversibly between two stable states with distinct mechanical properties using magnetic actuation is demonstrated.

    • Tian Chen
    • , Mark Pauly
    •  & Pedro M. Reis

  • News & Views |

    A device has been developed that consists of mechanical bits, analogous to the magnetic bits used in computer hard drives. Information encoded in the bits programs the mechanical properties of the device.

    • Corentin Coulais

  • News & Views |

    Fractional electric charges have been observed at crystal defects in artificial structures resembling materials called topological crystalline insulators. Such fractional charges could have various engineering applications.

    • Carmine Ortix

  • Article |

    A theoretical model, in vitro reconstitution and in vivo experimentation show that competition between droplet surface tension and membrane sheet instability dictates the form and function of autophagosomal membranes.

    • Jaime Agudo-Canalejo
    • , Sebastian W. Schultz
    •  & Roland L. Knorr

  • News & Views |

    In some materials, the absorption of a single photon can trigger a chain reaction that produces a large burst of light. The discovery of these photon avalanches in nanostructures opens the way to imaging and sensing applications.

    • Andries Meijerink
    •  & Freddy T. Rabouw

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