News & Views |
Featured
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Article |
Geminal-atom catalysis for cross-coupling
Heterogeneous geminal-atom catalysts, which pair single-atom sites in specific coordination and spatial proximity, offer a new avenue for the sustainable manufacture of fine chemicals.
- Xiao Hai
- , Yang Zheng
- & Jiong Lu
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Article |
Multistable sheets with rewritable patterns for switchable shape-morphing
To demonstrate the power of multistability, a specific class of groovy metasheets is introduced as a new shape-morphing platform that allows repeated switching from the flat state to multiple, precisely selected and stable three-dimensional shapes.
- A. S. Meeussen
- & M. van Hecke
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News & Views |
Nickelates join the club of high-temperature superconductors
A nickel-based compound has shown evidence of a superconducting state at a temperature of 80 kelvin. The material bridges a gap between other nickelates and a notable class of superconductor containing copper.
- Matthias Hepting
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News |
This insect-sized robot can carry 22 times its own weight
The four-legged miniature machine is powered by tiny explosions.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Nature Podcast |
A mussel-inspired glue for more sustainable sticking
A soya-oil-derived adhesive matches the strength of conventional glues, and reassessing the extent and impacts of childhood malnutrition.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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Article |
Shape memory polymer with programmable recovery onset
A four-dimensional printable shape memory hydrogel with shape-shifting onset adjustable by changing the programming conditions is reported.
- Chujun Ni
- , Di Chen
- & Tao Xie
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Article |
Phase-dependent growth of Pt on MoS2 for highly efficient H2 evolution
We report the production of MoS2 nanosheets with high phase purity, showing that the 2H-phase templates facilitate epitaxial growth of Pt nanoparticles, whereas the 1T′ phase supports single-atomically dispersed Pt atoms.
- Zhenyu Shi
- , Xiao Zhang
- & Hua Zhang
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Article
| Open AccessLearning heterogeneous reaction kinetics from X-ray videos pixel by pixel
Analysis of a large dataset of scanning transmission X-ray microscopy images of carbon-coated lithium iron phosphate nanoparticles shows that the heterogeneous reaction kinetics of battery materials can be learned from such videos pixel by pixel.
- Hongbo Zhao
- , Haitao Dean Deng
- & Martin Z. Bazant
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Article |
Flatband λ-Ti3O5 towards extraordinary solar steam generation
A route to greatly elevate joint densities of states by introducing a flat-band electronic structure is demonstrated, showing metallic λ-Ti3O5 powders have a high solar absorptivity and offering insights into access to cost-effective solar-to-steam generation.
- Bo Yang
- , Zhiming Zhang
- & Liang Zuo
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Article |
Sustainably sourced components to generate high-strength adhesives
We present a sustainably sourced adhesive system, with performance comparable to that of current industrial products, made from epoxidized soy oil, malic acid and tannic acid, all biomass derived, low cost and readily available.
- Clayton R. Westerman
- , Bradley C. McGill
- & Jonathan J. Wilker
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Article |
Towards linking lab and field lifetimes of perovskite solar cells
We correlate lab test and field test results to better predict the performance of perovskite photovoltaics as a step towards real-world implementation.
- Qi Jiang
- , Robert Tirawat
- & Kai Zhu
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Research Briefing |
Surprising reaction pathway observed in lithium–sulfur batteries
Electrochemical-reaction pathways in lithium–sulfur batteries have been studied in real time at the atomic scale using a high-resolution imaging technique. The observations revealed an unexpected collective charge-transfer process that could lead to improvements in the performance of these batteries.
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News Explainer |
Why are concrete schools crumbling in the UK — and what can be done?
Researchers say safety concerns over RAAC concrete in UK schools could be “the tip of the iceberg”.
- Jonathan O'Callaghan
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News Feature |
Why a blockbuster superconductivity claim met a wall of scepticism
Physicist Ranga Dias and his colleagues have twice claimed to make a room-temperature superconductor. But many researchers question the evidence.
- Edwin Cartlidge
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Article |
Stack growth of wafer-scale van der Waals superconductor heterostructures
Stacks of van der Waals superconductor heterostructures comprising many layers and several blocks of two-dimensional materials have been grown in a highly controllable manner at a wafer scale using a high-to-low temperature strategy.
- Zhenjia Zhou
- , Fuchen Hou
- & Libo Gao
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Article |
Visualizing interfacial collective reaction behaviour of Li–S batteries
In situ liquid-cell electrochemical transmission electron microscopy allows the direct visualization of the transformation of lithium polysulfides over electrode surfaces at the atomic scale, leading to a new energy-storage mechanism in lithium–sulfur batteries.
- Shiyuan Zhou
- , Jie Shi
- & Hong-Gang Liao
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Research Briefing |
A platform for exploring microscopic processes at electrode–electrolyte interfaces
A centimetre-sized monolayer of the material graphene has been suspended on the surface of an aqueous electrolyte to investigate the intrinsic properties of the graphene–electrolyte interface. The results, based on optical spectroscopy, could aid the design and study of state-of-the-art electrochemical devices.
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Article |
Structure evolution at the gate-tunable suspended graphene–water interface
Using centimetre-sized substrate-free monolayer graphene suspended on aqueous electrolyte surface, the structural evolution versus gate voltage at the graphene–water interface is shown, demonstrating minimal influence of extrinsic factors.
- Ying Xu
- , You-Bo Ma
- & Chuan-Shan Tian
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Editorial |
Tackle ever-growing consumption to safeguard sustainability gains
The world is consuming more efficiently, but still using more stuff. More-concerted efforts to change both consumer and producer behaviour are needed.
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News |
LK-99 isn’t a superconductor — how science sleuths solved the mystery
Efforts to replicate the material have pieced together the puzzle of why it displayed superconducting-like behaviours.
- Dan Garisto
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Article |
Microstructure and crystal order during freezing of supercooled water drops
Optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction are used to study the freezing of water droplets in vacuum, leading to the development of a seven-stage model of freezing and the mapping of ice structures and crystal order.
- Armin Kalita
- , Maximillian Mrozek-McCourt
- & Claudiu A. Stan
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Article |
High-entropy halide perovskite single crystals stabilized by mild chemistry
Room-temperature-solution (20 °C) and low-temperature-solution (80 °C) synthesis procedures are developed for a new class of metal halide perovskite high-entropy semiconductor single crystals.
- Maria C. Folgueras
- , Yuxin Jiang
- & Peidong Yang
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Article
| Open AccessReversible spin-optical interface in luminescent organic radicals
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
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Article
| Open AccessProximity superconductivity in atom-by-atom crafted quantum dots
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
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Article |
Spin-mediated shear oscillators in a van der Waals antiferromagnet
Using several ultrafast diffraction and microscopy techniques, demagnetization-driven interlayer shear of a van der Waals antiferromagnet is visualized at the nanoscale.
- Alfred Zong
- , Qi Zhang
- & Haidan Wen
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Research Briefing |
Lithium forms perfect polyhedra in ultrafast-charging batteries
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.
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Article |
Ultrafast deposition of faceted lithium polyhedra by outpacing SEI formation
We report the discovery of lithium metal’s intrinsic growth morphology, a rhombic dodecahedron, and leverage these rhombic dodecahedra as nucleation seeds for improved battery performance.
- Xintong Yuan
- , Bo Liu
- & Yuzhang Li
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Article |
Quantum oscillations of the quasiparticle lifetime in a metal
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
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News Feature |
Could the world go PFAS-free? Proposal to ban ‘forever chemicals’ fuels debate
A European agency is considering sweeping restrictions on fluorinated chemicals used in jet engines, electric cars, refrigeration systems, semiconductors and many consumer products.
- XiaoZhi Lim
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News |
‘A very disturbing picture’: another retraction imminent for controversial physicist
Ranga Dias will have a second paper revoked. A journal’s investigation found apparent data fabrication.
- Dan Garisto
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Matters Arising |
Dilemma in optical identification of single-layer multiferroics
- Yucheng Jiang
- , Yangliu Wu
- & Cheng-Wei Qiu
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Editorial |
The global fight for critical minerals is costly and damaging
Elements such as rare-earth metals are crucial for the clean-energy transition. Sustainability, equity and security are all at risk in the rush to break China’s dominance over their production.
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Article |
Autonomous healing of fatigue cracks via cold welding
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
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Article |
Superconductivity and strong interactions in a tunable moiré quasicrystal
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
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Research Highlight |
Supersonic ‘bullets’ are softly captured by a protein gel
Stone projectiles are brought to a halt by a 5-millimetres-thick film rich in a protein that cushions cells from pressure.
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Article |
Homomeric chains of intermolecular bonds scaffold octahedral germanium perovskites
We report assembly of an organic scaffold within perovskite structures, resulting in the suppression of the lone pair expression of Ge and templating the symmetric octahedra.
- Amin Morteza Najarian
- , Filip Dinic
- & Edward H. Sargent
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Article |
Fluidic self-assembly for MicroLED displays by controlled viscosity
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
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Comment |
How to build a circular economy for rare-earth elements
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
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Research Highlight |
‘4D printed’ objects morph and flex thanks to a metallic ink
A flat metal structure printed with an innovative copper-based ink turns into a 3D spider.
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News & Views |
First light on orbitronics as a viable alternative to electronics
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
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Article |
Harnessing a paper-folding mechanism for reconfigurable DNA origami
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
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Article |
Observation of the orbital Hall effect in a light metal Ti
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
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Obituary |
John Bannister Goodenough, battery pioneer (1922–2023)
Materials scientist and Nobel laureate who invented the rechargeable lithium batteries used in electric cars and phones.
- Bill David
- & Michael Thackeray
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News & Views |
Widespread pair density waves spark superconductor search
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
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Article |
Pair density wave state in a monolayer high-Tc iron-based superconductor
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
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Article |
Smectic pair-density-wave order in EuRbFe4As4
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
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Research Highlight |
Fabric warms or cools the body at the flick of a switch
Methods inspired by the Japanese paper art kirigami help to create a textile that moves with the body.
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Research Briefing |
Cholesterol can make surfaces non-stick
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.
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Article |
Cartilage-like protein hydrogels engineered via entanglement
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