Materials science articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whether the quantum Griffiths singularity state exists in one-dimensional (1D) systems remains elusive. Here, Zhang et al. report violation of the Pauli limit in the superconducting critical field and multiple phase transitions in the current-voltage hysteresis loops in a Ta2PdS5 nanowire, suggesting signatures of quasi-1D quantum Griffith singularity.

    • Enze Zhang
    • , Jinhua Zhi
    •  & Faxian Xiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-boiling-point solvent additives are commonly used to optimize the device performance of organic solar cells but they make problems for device stability and reproducibility. Here Yu et al. design volatilizable solid additives that can improve the device performance without causing above issues.

    • Runnan Yu
    • , Huifeng Yao
    •  & Jianhui Hou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Heusler compounds are of great interest for spintronic applications. Here the authors report current driven domain wall motion in unit cell thick perpendicularly magnetized Heusler films with low current densities and show the velocity is dominated by the bulk chiral Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya exchange interaction.

    • Panagiotis Ch. Filippou
    • , Jaewoo Jeong
    •  & Stuart S. P. Parkin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-assembled structures are typically demonstrated on small scales under well-controlled lab environments. Here, the authors present a roll-to-roll process for the continuous manufacturing of square-meters of self-assembled cellulose-based mechano-chromic films and demonstrate the recording of pressure profiles generated by foot-imprints in real time.

    • Hsin-Ling Liang
    • , Mélanie M. Bay
    •  & Silvia Vignolini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Upgrading wasted carbon emissions to high-value, multi-carbon products provides an economic route to reduce carbon dioxide levels, but such conversions have proven challenging. Here, authors explore copper adparticles as highly active surfaces that convert CO to n-propanol with high selectivities.

    • Jun Li
    • , Fanglin Che
    •  & David Sinton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors introduce a compliant rolling-contact architected material as a class of shape reconfigurable mechanical metamaterial. They also devise an approach that combines two photon stereolithography and scanning holographic optical tweezers, which allows them to fabricate these architected materials on the microscale.

    • Lucas A. Shaw
    • , Samira Chizari
    •  & Jonathan B. Hopkins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing nucleic acid-based nanostructures with knots remains challenging. Here the authors present a general strategy to design and construct highly knotted 2D and 3D nanostructures from single-stranded DNA or RNA

    • Xiaodong Qi
    • , Fei Zhang
    •  & Hao Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrafast excitation of materials can cause the formation of hidden phases that are not accessible in thermal equilibrium. Li et al. identify and investigate theoretically a hidden phase that can be accessed in systems with intertwined spin and orbital-ordering such as KCuF3.

    • Jiajun Li
    • , Hugo U. R. Strand
    •  & Martin Eckstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Uniformity and hysteresis are long lasting problems for flexible perovskite solar modules. Here Bu et al. develop a universal potassium passivation strategy to improve the quality of slot-die printed tin oxide electron transport layers and demonstrate highly efficient and hysteresis-free flexible devices.

    • Tongle Bu
    • , Jing Li
    •  & Fuzhi Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Colloidal crystal engineering with DNA can be used to synthesize highly anisotropic hexagonal prismatic microcrystals. This manuscript introduces a plane multiplicity mechanism that can be used to deliberately design non-equilibrium Wulff shapes, a capability important in many areas, including optics and photocatalysis.

    • Soyoung E. Seo
    • , Martin Girard
    •  & Chad A. Mirkin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Iron oxides exist in a variety of polymorphs at different pressure and temperature conditions, displaying important magnetic properties, and are major constituents of the Earth’s interior. Here the authors investigate the structural and electronic changes in the uncommon epsilon phase under compression to deep Mantle pressures.

    • J. A. Sans
    • , V. Monteseguro
    •  & C. Popescu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantitative analysis of the extinction spectra of dispersions of 2D materials is complicated by light scattering. Here, the authors investigate non-resonant scattering in suspensions of wide-bandgap nanosheets, and develop a general model which allows the scattering spectra to be used as metrics for particle size in nanosheet dispersions.

    • Andrew Harvey
    • , Claudia Backes
    •  & Jonathan N. Coleman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In perovskite solar cells, the excited state property of hole-transport layer is not usually considered for the devices. Here the authors design organic hole-transport materials with high transition dipoles having extended lifetime at the excited states to improve the charge extraction of the devices.

    • Song Ah Ok
    • , Bonghyun Jo
    •  & Hui Joon Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of the lattice in the correlated metal-insulator transition of Ca2RuO4 has led to significant interest but experiments that are at the same time sensitive to crystal and electronic structure are difficult. Riccò et al. successfully combine ARPES measurements with in situ strain tuning across the Mott transition.

    • S. Riccò
    • , M. Kim
    •  & F. Baumberger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoparticle applications are limited by insufficient understanding of physiochemical properties on in vivo disposition. Here, the authors explore the influence of size, surface chemistry and administration on the biodisposition of mesoporous silica nanoparticles using image-based pharmacokinetics.

    • Prashant Dogra
    • , Natalie L. Adolphi
    •  & C. Jeffrey Brinker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite their importance in plant development and defence the properties of (1,3)-β-glucan remain largely unknown. Here, the authors find that addition of (1,3)-β-glucans increases the flexibility of cellulose and its resilience to high strain, an effect originating in molecular level interactions.

    • Radwa H. Abou-Saleh
    • , Mercedes C. Hernandez-Gomez
    •  & Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Monodisperse biaxial colloidal particles are used as model systems to understand the phase behavior of biaxial molecules but high-quality biaxial colloids are limited. Here the authors describe gram-scale synthesis of uniform biaxial colloidal cuboids and their assembly into mesophasic structures.

    • Yang Yang
    • , Guangdong Chen
    •  & Zhihong Nie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exploration of high entropy alloy phases where little experimental data exists is still challenging. Here, the authors develop an approach where parameters from first principle simulations are incorporated into Monte Carlo simulations to reproduce phase evolution of aluminium-containing high entropy alloys.

    • L. J. Santodonato
    • , P. K. Liaw
    •  & J. R. Morris

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Significant progress has been made developing the different methods needed for a spin-based quantum computer but the challenge of integrating them remains. Fogarty et al. present a system with single-spin addressability, spin-spin interactions and high-fidelity readout that provides a scalable foundation for error-corrected devices.

    • M. A. Fogarty
    • , K. W. Chan
    •  & A. S. Dzurak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermal transistors can enable game changing applications in energy harvesting and heat routing. Here, the authors demonstrate reversible thermal modulation of nearly 10 times by ion intercalation in MoS2 nanofilms. A new thermal microscopy technique allows operando imaging of Li ion segregation.

    • Aditya Sood
    • , Feng Xiong
    •  & Kenneth E. Goodson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The potential optoelectronic applications of metal halide perovskites make exploration and tuning of their optical properties of great interest. Here the authors show that non-emitting zero-dimensional cesium lead halide perovskites become strongly fluorescent under high pressure, due to distortion-induced effects.

    • Zhiwei Ma
    • , Zhun Liu
    •  & Bo Zou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interfacial instabilities can be damaging as they may lead to fabrication defects. Here the authors harness a fluid instability to their advantage to produce thin polymeric films with drop-shaped structures which have tailored geometrical properties.

    • J. Marthelot
    • , E. F. Strong
    •  & P.-T. Brun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Light can be used to rotate micrometric turbines that usually rely on scattering to redistribute optical momentum and generate a mechanical torque. Here, 3D microfabricated light guiding structures can reroute an incoming flow of optical energy to generate a strong, uniform and controllable torque.

    • Silvio Bianchi
    • , Gaszton Vizsnyiczai
    •  & Roberto Di Leonardo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Geometrically confined suspensions of swimming bacteria can self-organize into an ordered state. Here, the authors use tiny pillars to trigger organization of bacterial motion into a stable lattice of vortices with a long-range antiferromagnetic order and control vortex direction through pillar chirality.

    • Daiki Nishiguchi
    • , Igor S Aranson
    •  & Andrey Sokolov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fast oxide ion conductors are the key materials for some technological devices. Here the authors report the creation and stabilization of oxygen vacancies in BiVO4 Scheelite with isolated tetrahedral anion structures for improved ionic conducting performance and understanding of the conduction mechanism.

    • Xiaoyan Yang
    • , Alberto J. Fernández-Carrión
    •  & Xiaojun Kuang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enhancing the catalytic activity of noble-metal alloys is frequently accompanied by side reactions. Here, the authors describe an approach to break the scaling relationship for propane dehydrogenation, by assembling single atom alloys, to achieve simultaneous enhancement of propylene selectivity and propane conversion.

    • Guodong Sun
    • , Zhi-Jian Zhao
    •  & Jinlong Gong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium-free graphite dual-ion battery offers a new means of energy storage. Here the authors show such device utilizing a highly concentrated electrolyte solution of KFSI in alkyl carbonates that exhibits a high energy density and high energy efficiency as well as an average discharge voltage of 4.7 V.

    • Kostiantyn V. Kravchyk
    • , Preeti Bhauriyal
    •  & Maksym V. Kovalenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While CO2 reduction provides a way to remove carbon from the atmosphere, it is challenging to design effective, selective materials for this process. Here, authors construct metal-organic frameworks from polyoxometalates and porphryins to direct electron flow and improve CO2 reduction efficiencies.

    • Yi-Rong Wang
    • , Qing Huang
    •  & Ya-Qian Lan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The limited number of materials with a switchable electrical polarization available for applications can be increased by exploiting the flexoelectric effect. Here, switchable polarization in nanoparticles induced by an elemental distribution dependent strain gradient up to 800 °C is demonstrated.

    • Leopoldo Molina-Luna
    • , Shuai Wang
    •  & Matias Acosta

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sandwich structures such as corrugated cardboard offer low weight and high bending stiffness, but they are difficult to produce at the nanoscale. Here, the authors combine webbing and perforation to produce alumina ‘nanocardboard’ with ultralow areal density that recovers without damage from extreme deformation.

    • Chen Lin
    • , Samuel M. Nicaise
    •  & Igor Bargatin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetically induced phase behaviour in a soft matter system is of potential interest for magneto-responsive compounds. Here the authors fabricate a discotic ionic liquid crystalline hybrid material which can be switched from orthorhombic to cubic phase in the absence or presence of a strong magnetic field.

    • Fatin Hajjaj
    • , Takashi Kajitani
    •  & Takanori Fukushima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metallic glasses deform along nanoscale shear bands, and while it is known that they affect the neighboring glass regions, exactly how is unclear. Here, the authors use magnetic force microscopy to atomically resolve the shear-band affected zone and show its effects extends much further than previously thought.

    • L. Q. Shen
    • , P. Luo
    •  & W. H. Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Though the Preisach model successfully describes hysteretic switching in ferroelectrics, the physical reality of the model remains elusive. Here, the authors explained the origin of the experimental Preisach distribution and its effect on switching kinetics and materials’ potential applications

    • Indrė Urbanavičiūtė
    • , Tim D. Cornelissen
    •  & Martijn Kemerink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nano-contact-based spin wave generation may enable high-frequency magnonic devices but has been limited to long wavelengths and weak signal strengths. Here the authors demonstrate high-order short-wavelength propagating spin waves with increased transmission rates and propagation lengths in magnetic tunnel junction stacks.

    • A. Houshang
    • , R. Khymyn
    •  & J. Åkerman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Clear understanding of the influence from material inhomogeneities and defects is one of the keys to achieve reliable Skyrmion based devices. Here the authors report their first principles studies on the interaction of single skyrmions with single-atom impurities and reveal its universal shape originated from the defect’s electron filling.

    • Imara Lima Fernandes
    • , Juba Bouaziz
    •  & Samir Lounis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identifying phosphors with good thermal stability and quantum efficiency is a prerequisite to improve the performance of white LED light sources. Here, a combined machine learning and density functional theory method is introduced to identify next generation inorganic phosphors.

    • Ya Zhuo
    • , Aria Mansouri Tehrani
    •  & Jakoah Brgoch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors demonstrate that the dispersion of hyperbolic phonon polaritons can be controlled using the permittivity changes inherent in the different phases of phase change materials. This enables direct launching, reflection, transmission and refraction at the phase change material domain boundaries.

    • T. G. Folland
    • , A. Fali
    •  & J. D. Caldwell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spherical neutron polarimetry (SNP) experiment in conjunction with high pressure condition faces many experimental difficulties. Here the authors report development of SNP with nonmagnetic hybrid anvil high pressure cell and application to the magnetoelectric multiferroic delafossite CuFeO2 system.

    • Noriki Terada
    • , Navid Qureshi
    •  & Toyotaka Osakabe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gels filtering particles by interactions are a goal of nanotechnology; this is difficult when particles are larger than the mesh of the gel. Here, the authors present an equilibrium mechanism where binding dynamics of crosslinks are affected by interacting particles so that particles experience enhanced diffusion.

    • Carl P. Goodrich
    • , Michael P. Brenner
    •  & Katharina Ribbeck

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Manipulating the assembly of π-conjugated organic molecules into alloys to control composition and shape remains a largely unsolved problem. Here the authors show the co-assembly of two structurally similar organic semiconductors into two-component helices by control of their growth kinetics as well as the molar ratio of the building blocks.

    • Yilong Lei
    • , Yanqiu Sun
    •  & Hongbing Fu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While water electrolysis provides an attractive means to produce high-energy hydrogen (H2), the process imposes significant material overpotential barriers. Here, authors employ the more-facile hydrazine splitting reaction, coupled to a hydrazine fuel cell, to perform self-powered H2 evolution.

    • Xijun Liu
    • , Jia He
    •  & Yi Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interfering RNA have a range of therapeutic and research based applications, issues with delivery have made systems that make siRNA in situ of interest. Here, the author report on the creation of a DNA hydrogel with improved stability and transcription efficiency over plasmid DNA.

    • Jaejung Song
    • , Minhyuk Lee
    •  & Nokyoung Park

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