Materials science articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interactions between metal nanoparticles (NPs) and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in their composite forms have proven to exhibit beneficial properties. Here the authors present a unique approach to immobilise Pd NPs and, more importantly, to generate tunable basic sites within an anionic defective MOF.

    • Ying Chuan Tan
    •  & Hua Chun Zeng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exciton diffusion length and directionality are important parameters in artificial photosynthetic devices. Here, the authors present a way to make crystalline chromophore assemblies with bespoke architecture, fabricating one exhibiting anisotropic exciton transport properties.

    • Ritesh Haldar
    • , Marius Jakoby
    •  & Christof Wöll

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hematite has been proposed as a suitable photocatalyst for water splitting based on its stability and appealing optical band gap, but its performance has not reached theoretical expectations. Here the authors show that this is due to intra-gap polaronic states that reduce the effective electronic band gap.

    • Christian Lohaus
    • , Andreas Klein
    •  & Wolfram Jaegermann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrafast light pulses can manipulate and probe materials faster than relaxation timescales, leading to new electronic states and insights into equilibrium properties. Okazaki et al. use the properties of photo-induced metallic states to investigate unconventional correlated behaviour in Ta2NiSe5 and Ta2NiS5.

    • Kozo Okazaki
    • , Yu Ogawa
    •  & Shik Shin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the need to develop resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices for machine learning, RRAM array-based hardware methods for algorithm require external electronics. Here, the authors realize a Markov chain algorithm in a single 2D multilayer SnSe device without external electronics.

    • He Tian
    • , Xue-Feng Wang
    •  & Tian-Ling Ren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Micromotors have a range of potential healthcare applications. Here, the authors describe the development of a metal nanoparticle DNA micromotor which can be used to detect human HIV-1 by a change in the motion of the micromotors, monitored by cell phone camera, triggered by binding of HIV-1 RNA.

    • Mohamed Shehata Draz
    • , Kamyar Mehrabi Kochehbyoki
    •  & Hadi Shafiee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-folding origami have applications for mechanical metamaterials but one of their pitfalls is that many undesirable folding modes exist. Here the authors propose an algorithm to determine which folding joints to make stiffer in order to ensure that the sheet is folded into the chosen state.

    • Menachem Stern
    • , Viraaj Jayaram
    •  & Arvind Murugan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enabling concurrent, high throughput analysis of single nano particles would greatly increase the capacity to study size, composition and inter and intra particle population variance. Here, the authors present a comprehensive platform for single particle automated Raman trapping analysis without any target modification.

    • Jelle Penders
    • , Isaac J. Pence
    •  & Molly M. Stevens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Incorporation of triboelectric nanogenerators into textiles is attractive for self-powered wearable electronics. Here the authors employ black phosphorus with a hydrophobic coating in a durable, washable, and air permeable textile-based device that converts biomechanical motion into electricity.

    • Jiaqing Xiong
    • , Peng Cui
    •  & Pooi See Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Existing n-type colloidal quantum dot materials easily lose their doping polarity in air. Here Song et al. passivate the reactive covalent surface of indium arsenide quantum dots to gain the energy-level tunability and show p–n junction type solar cells with 7.92% certified efficiency.

    • Jung Hoon Song
    • , Hyekyoung Choi
    •  & Sohee Jeong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    “Conventional chemotherapy-photothermal therapy combination has limited efficacy in drug resistant cancers. Here they develop Copper-palladium tetrapod nanoparticles to overcome these challenges and show them to work in synergy with autophagy inhibitors to treat drug resistant cancers”

    • Yunjiao Zhang
    • , Rui Sha
    •  & Long-ping Wen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Modern energy-storage technologies are based on porous electrodes that store charge within nanometrically-narrow pores or slits. Here the authors show an approach to probe and measure, for the first time, the charging dynamics within an individual nano-slit – the basic element of a porous electrode.

    • Ran Tivony
    • , Sam Safran
    •  & Jacob Klein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    2D electronic spectroscopy enables a spatially-averaged view of the electronic structure of a heterogeneous system. Here, the authors extend it to sub-micron resolution and ~106 times better sensitivity, to resolve spatially varying excitonic structure in a heterogeneous mixture of photosynthetic cells.

    • Vivek Tiwari
    • , Yassel Acosta Matutes
    •  & Jennifer P. Ogilvie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How nanocrystals assemble into superlattices is poorly understood, given the difficulty of probing these processes in real time, in a controlled environment. Here, the authors use space- and time-resolved in situ small angle X-ray scattering to monitor the ordering of nanocrystal superlattices by electric field, which allows them to extract quantitative information about the assembly process.

    • Yixuan Yu
    • , Dian Yu
    •  & Christine A. Orme

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Characterizing plasmonic coupling has proven elusive. Here, the authors obtain a spectrally resolved deflection map related to a focused electron beam, which has excited a surface plasmon resonance, and relate this deflection to the spectral component of the induced electric and magnetic fields pertaining to the mode.

    • J. Krehl
    • , G. Guzzinati
    •  & A. Lubk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Singlet fission results in the formation of a pair of triplets, known as a quintet. Here, the authors identify long-lived quintets in dilute pentacene films at room temperature, with lifetimes influenced by intermolecular geometry having implications for the design of triplet-harvesting films.

    • Daphné Lubert-Perquel
    • , Enrico Salvadori
    •  & Christopher W. M. Kay

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experimental determination of the contact angle of a two-dimensional film is crucial to understand its wettability characteristics. Here, the authors use the captive bubble method to estimate a contact angle value of 42° ± 3° for a monolayer graphene film.

    • Anna V. Prydatko
    • , Liubov A. Belyaeva
    •  & Grégory F. Schneider

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The hot carriers in halide perovskite nanocrystals cool much slower than those in conventional semiconductor nanocrystals due to the phonon bottleneck. Here, Li et al. demonstrate enhanced multiple exciton generation with lower threshold in intermediate-confined perovskite nanocrystals based on this effect.

    • Mingjie Li
    • , Raihana Begum
    •  & Tze Chien Sum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nonaqueous redox flow batteries may offer high energy and power densities, but development of separators is key for optimization. Here the authors achieve high coulombic efficiency with a nanoporous aramid nanofibres-based separator with low permeability, high ion conductivity, and exceptional stability.

    • Siu on Tung
    • , Sydney L. Fisher
    •  & Levi T. Thompson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rod-shaped bacteria are an example of active matter. Here the authors find that a growing bacterial colony harbours internal cellular flows affecting orientational ordering in its interior and at the boundary. Results suggest this system may belong to a new active matter universality class.

    • D. Dell’Arciprete
    • , M. L. Blow
    •  & W. C. K. Poon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hygroelectric generators comprised of electrodes and a hygroscopic material with a chemical-gradient structure can produce electricity by absorbing water vapor. Here, the authors achieve a high output voltage by employing hygroscopic heterogeneous graphene oxide and materials with Schottky junctions.

    • Yaxin Huang
    • , Huhu Cheng
    •  & Liangti Qu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The growth of apatite crystals from amorphous calcium phosphate is an area of intense study. Here, the authors report on the use of high resolution TEM imaging to provide evidence of nucleation clusters in the transformation process

    • Antiope Lotsari
    • , Anand K. Rajasekharan
    •  & Martin Andersson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Materials databases currently neglect the temperature effect on compound thermodynamics. Here the authors introduce a Gibbs energy descriptor enabling the high-throughput prediction of temperature-dependent thermodynamics across a wide range of compositions and temperatures for inorganic solids.

    • Christopher J. Bartel
    • , Samantha L. Millican
    •  & Aaron M. Holder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding fundamental processes that occur using solar-to-fuel conversion materials is crucial for constructing effective renewable energy collection. Here, authors find the hydrogen peroxide light-driven hole-scavenging mechanism over haematite to proceed with two active sites rather than one

    • Yotam Y. Avital
    • , Hen Dotan
    •  & Arik Yochelis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite recent advances in light-active soft actuators, demonstrating reconfigurable actuation under the same stimuli remains a challenge. Here, the authors realize reconfigurable photoactuation in liquid crystal polymer networks based on a synergistic use of photochemical and photothermal effects.

    • Markus Lahikainen
    • , Hao Zeng
    •  & Arri Priimagi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin ice materials are defined by ice rules, local constraints that lead to frustrated interactions and macroscopic numbers of degenerate configurations. Here the authors show that the ice rule in colloidal ice is emergent, limited to certain geometries, and demonstrate how it can break down under changes of the lattice structure.

    • András Libál
    • , Dong Yun Lee
    •  & Cristiano Nisoli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent experiments have indicated that YbMgGaO4 may be a quantum spin liquid with spinon Fermi surfaces but additional evidence is needed to support this interpretation. Shen et al. show weak magnetic fields cause changes in the excitation continuum that are consistent with spin liquid predictions.

    • Yao Shen
    • , Yao-Dong Li
    •  & Jun Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One of the major obstacles in nanoparticle-based therapy is to achieve tumour targeting, limiting non-specific accumulation of the nanoparticles. Here the authors propose the conjugation of anti-HER2 scFv fragments to the silica nanoparticles, increasing specificity and limiting the final size of the immunoconjugates below the renal clearance threshold.

    • Feng Chen
    • , Kai Ma
    •  & Michelle S. Bradbury

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological connection of organic chromophores is an attractive way to design light-emitting covalent organic frameworks but the synthesis of stable light-emitting frameworks remains challenging. Here the authors report the designed synthesis of sp2 carbon conjugated frameworks that combine stability with light-emitting activity

    • Enquan Jin
    • , Juan Li
    •  & Donglin Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In order to metastasize, cancer cells must migrate through basement membranes and dense stroma, and proteases are thought to be required due to the confining nature of these matrices. Here the authors use synthetic matrices to show that cells can migrate through confining matrices using force generation alone, rather than protease degradation, if the matrices exhibit mechanical plasticity.

    • Katrina M. Wisdom
    • , Kolade Adebowale
    •  & Ovijit Chaudhuri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While metallic nanosized objects are stronger than their macroscopic counterparts, they rarely reach the metal’s maximum theoretical strength. Here, the authors produce faceted nickel nanoparticles and show that their strength under compression matches the theoretically predicted strength in the literature.

    • A. Sharma
    • , J. Hickman
    •  & Y. Mishin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tuning the mechanical properties of extracellular matrix is of great interest in tissue engineering but spatial control over stiffness in hydrogels has been demonstrated in two dimensions only. Here the authors developed a layer-by-layer printing technique which uses oxygen inhibition to control the heterogeneous stiffness in 3D printed structures.

    • Hang Yin
    • , Yonghui Ding
    •  & Xiaobo Yin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advances in the fabrication of low-disorder metallic materials have made it possible to reach the hydrodynamic regime of electronic transport. Here the authors investigate a hydrodynamic electron fluid in tungsten diphosphide and find that both electrical and thermal transport are limited by the quantum indeterminacy.

    • J. Gooth
    • , F. Menges
    •  & B. Gotsmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The broad use of elastocaloric materials in cooling applications is hindered by the need to exert large forces onto the material. Compressing a magnetostrictive-elastocaloric composite using a low magnetic field of 0.16 T, temperature changes up to 4 K are achieved without applying external forces.

    • Huilong Hou
    • , Peter Finkel
    •  & Ichiro Takeuchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The conductance from bulk bands in a topological insulator usually blurs effects arising from edge states. Here, Song et al. report a Coulomb gap opened by electron–electron interactions, which effectively suppress the bulk conductance and promote observation of topological edge states in the single-layer 1T’-WTe2.

    • Ye-Heng Song
    • , Zhen-Yu Jia
    •  & Shao-Chun Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Twisting vertically stacked individual layers of two-dimensional materials can trigger exciting fundamental physics and advanced electronic device applications. Here, the authors report five times enhancement in vertical heterojunction conductivity on rotating MoS2 over graphene.

    • Mengzhou Liao
    • , Ze-Wen Wu
    •  & Guangyu Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Developing sustainable and scalable nanocrystal syntheses is challenging but necessary for future technologies and the environment. Here, the authors show that using an ionic liquid to stabilize a highly reactive precursor can fulfill the major aims of sustainable nanocrystal synthesis, including high yields, energy efficiency, atom economy, and recyclability.

    • Bin Yuan
    • , Timothy Karl Egner
    •  & Ludovico Cademartiri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Elucidating the formation of quasicrystals, which have long-range orientational order but no translation periodicity, remains a challenge. Here, the authors track and geometrically describe how a decagonal nickel–zirconium seed grows into a tenfold twinned dendritic structure.

    • Wolfgang Hornfeck
    • , Raphael Kobold
    •  & Dieter Herlach

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superhydrophobic surfaces are expected to increase streaming potential, but are hindered by the presence of air. Here the authors enhance streaming potential by flowing high-dielectric salt water over liquid-filled surfaces infiltrated with low-dielectric liquid, harnessing electric slip and surface charge.

    • B. Fan
    • , A. Bhattacharya
    •  & P. R. Bandaru

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnesium alloys usually have poor corrosion resistance, which inhibits their use in the automotive and biomedical industries. Here, the authors use an environmental TEM to carbonate the natural corrosion products at the surface of magnesium alloys and form a compact and protective surface layer.

    • Yuecun Wang
    • , Boyu Liu
    •  & Zhiwei Shan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High entropy alloys usually emphasize equiatomic compositions, which restrict the compositions available to induce strengthening via precipitation. Here the authors use spinodal decomposition in a five-element alloy to obtain high content nanophases and the highest tensile strength reported to date.

    • Yao-Jian Liang
    • , Linjing Wang
    •  & Hongnian Cai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    3D hydrogels have provided information on the physical requirements of stem cell fate, but the contribution of interactions with the pericellular environment are under-explored. Here the authors show that pericellular matrix secreted by human bone marrow stromal cells (hMSC) embedded in a HA-based hydrogel contribute to hMSC fate.

    • Silvia A. Ferreira
    • , Meghna S. Motwani
    •  & Eileen Gentleman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Translocation of larger molecules through graphene holds potential for molecular sieving, however it is rarely observed. Here, the authors show the radical polymerization of vinyl monomers via their translocation through a single layer graphene to a monolayer initiator and additionally study the monomer-graphene interactions.

    • Tao Zhang
    • , Zhongquan Liao
    •  & Rainer Jordan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mapping the distribution of magnetic fields inside bulk materials is challenging but crucial to understand and develop functional magnetic materials. Here the authors demonstrate the capability to visualize 3D vector magnetic fields inside materials using spin-polarized neutron tomography and tensorial reconstruction techniques.

    • A. Hilger
    • , I. Manke
    •  & J. Banhart

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