Nanoscale materials articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Lithium dendrite growth is a serious hazard in battery operations. Here, the authors report an ion-conducting membrane based on aramid nanofibers, and demonstrate effective suppression of copper and lithium dendrites.

    • Siu-On Tung
    • , Szushen Ho
    •  & Nicholas A. Kotov

  • Article |

    Understanding the degradation of materials subject to energetic radiation is important for the development of technologies based on nuclear fission. Here, the authors show that redox reactions of actinide compounds play an important role in their response to energetic radiation and their radiation tolerance.

    • Cameron L. Tracy
    • , Maik Lang
    •  & Rodney C. Ewing

  • Article |

    The non-volatile modulation of charge carriers in graphene could be useful for future electronic devices. Here, the authors demonstrate that fields arising from ferroelectric polarization in periodically poled LiNbO3substrates can lead to a carrier modulation in adjacent graphene films.

    • Christoph Baeumer
    • , Diomedes Saldana-Greco
    •  & Lane W. Martin

  • Article |

    High nucleation density has thus far limited the quality and grain size of CVD-grown hexagonal boron nitride. Here, by optimizing the Ni ratio in Cu–Ni substrates, the authors successfully reduce nucleation density and report single-crystal hexagonal boron nitride grains up to 7500 μm2.

    • Guangyuan Lu
    • , Tianru Wu
    •  & Mianheng Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Birds and many other animals can sense the Earth’s magnetic field, but not human beings. Here, Melzer et al. develop a type of artificial skin based on giant magnetoresistive sensor foils with micrometre thickness, which can be stretched up to >250% without sacrifices in device performance.

    • Michael Melzer
    • , Martin Kaltenbrunner
    •  & Oliver G. Schmidt

  • Article |

    Single-walled carbon nanotube arrays have been proposed for use in electronics, but getting the tubes aligned and in high density is a very challenging task. Hu et al. show that catalyst particles dissolved in a substrate can slowly be brought to the surface, allowing continued controlled growth of nanotubes.

    • Yue Hu
    • , Lixing Kang
    •  & Jin Zhang

  • Article |

    Nacre-mimetics hold great promise as high-performance, functional materials. Here, the authors use synthetic nanoclays and demonstrate tuneable mechanical properties by varying the nanoclay aspect ratio, and suggest a transparent gas barrier application.

    • Paramita Das
    • , Jani-Markus Malho
    •  & Andreas Walther

  • Article |

    Evidence for exciton coherence in photosynthetic complexes raises questions about whether quantum processes can play a role in biological environments, which are warm and wet. Cassette et al. now demonstrate long-lived electronic coherence in colloidal nanoplatelets in solution and at room temperature.

    • Elsa Cassette
    • , Ryan D. Pensack
    •  & Gregory D. Scholes

  • Article |

    Photochromic Förster resonance energy transfer endows nanosensors with photoswitchable fluorescence properties. Diaz et al. present a system with two photostationary end states, one of which exhibits constant quenching of the quantum dot donor independent of its mean distance to the photochromic acceptors.

    • Sebastián A. Díaz
    • , Florencia Gillanders
    •  & Thomas M. Jovin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although phase transitions are fundamental for understanding aerosol particles, current models are insufficient to explain observations at the nanoscale. Here, the authors present a method for investigating droplets, suggesting particle size is a key determinant in the phase diagram of nanoparticles.

    • Yafang Cheng
    • , Hang Su
    •  & Ulrich Pöschl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The internal structure of materials determines many of their physical and mechanical properties. Here, the authors have developed a non-destructive X-ray microscopy technique for layer-by-layer mapping of crystallographic orientations and stresses to obtain a three-dimensional reconstruction of a material.

    • H. Simons
    • , A. King
    •  & H. F. Poulsen

  • Article |

    Pickering emulsions are particle-stabilized droplets suspended in an immiscible liquid, and the study of individual droplet coalescence has yielded many interesting findings. Here, Wu et al. move towards larger droplet numbers to investigate the influence of population on coalescence.

    • Tong Wu
    • , Haitao Wang
    •  & Chongzheng Na

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cationic polyelectrolytes have a broad range of applications, including membranes for fuel cells. Here, the authors report a family of cationic polyelectrolytes based on the highly modular cyclopropenium ion building block, which show high ionic conductivity and tunable physical properties.

    • Yivan Jiang
    • , Jessica L. Freyer
    •  & Luis M. Campos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical methods allow for the excitation of diverse magnetic phenomena in nanostructured materials. Here, Uchida et al. demonstrate how pure spin current may be generated across a Pt/BiY2Fe5O12thin film interface by optically exciting surface plasmon resonance in embedded gold nanoparticles.

    • K. Uchida
    • , H. Adachi
    •  & E. Saitoh

  • Article |

    The collective behaviour of electrons trapped in a two-dimensional plane gives rise to fractional quantum Hall states. Amet et al. now observe previously unseen states in boron-nitride-graphene heterostructures in a strong magnetic field that indicate the formation of composite fermions.

    • F. Amet
    • , A. J. Bestwick
    •  & D. Goldhaber-Gordon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One area of interest in the field of molecular magnetism is the development of high-spin molecules. Here, the authors report a cyanide-bridged nanocage consisting of 18 high-spin iron(III) ions ferromagnetically coupled through 24 low-spin iron(II) ions, with a ground state spin of S=45.

    • Soonchul Kang
    • , Hui Zheng
    •  & Osamu Sato

  • Article |

    Stacking graphene in such a way that each layer is rotated relative to the one below provides a way of controlling the properties of this useful material. Park et al. now demonstrate a technique for fabricating this twisted graphene in such a way that it has an intrinsic electronic bandgap.

    • Jeongho Park
    • , William C. Mitchel
    •  & Jonghoon Lee

  • Article |

    Mechanical resonators lose energy over time due to both dissipative and dephasing processes. Schneider et al. now use a fast time-domain technique to separate the influence of these two types of mechanism, and demonstrate that at high driving power, dephasing becomes the dominant factor.

    • Ben H. Schneider
    • , Vibhor Singh
    •  & Gary A. Steele

  • Article |

    Lindlar catalysts are widely used for partial hydrogenation of alkynes, however they can be somewhat limited by toxicity of lead and low selectivity. Here, the authors report that the modification of palladium nanoparticles with boron atoms in the interstitial sites yields selective hydrogenation catalysts.

    • Chun Wong Aaron Chan
    • , Abdul Hanif Mahadi
    •  & Shik Chi Edman Tsang

  • Review Article |

    The unique electrical, mechanical and physical properties of two-dimensional materials make them attractive candidates in flexible nanoelectronic systems. Here Akinwande et al.review the literature on two-dimensional materials in flexible nanoelectronics, and highlight barriers to their full implementation.

    • Deji Akinwande
    • , Nicholas Petrone
    •  & James Hone

  • Article |

    The regulated passage of ions through a porous membrane is a process applicable to various research disciplines. Here, the authors present a method for the control of porous membrane ion transport, using a deposited layer of ligand-functionalized nanoparticles.

    • Edward Barry
    • , Sean P. McBride
    •  & Xiao-Min Lin

  • Article |

    Block copolymers are frequently used as self-assembling materials for nanoscale patterns, but controlling assembly for complex patterning is challenging. Here, the authors integrate masking features into organic–inorganic guide patterns, enabling precise pattern customization by directed self-assembly.

    • Gregory S. Doerk
    • , Joy Y. Cheng
    •  & Daniel P. Sanders

  • Article |

    Plasmons in metallic nanostructures provide light enhancement that amplifies their nonlinear optical response. This study shows that graphene nanoislands also give rise to an amplified nonlinear polarizability that can be tuned electrically to surpass those of other nonlinear media by orders of magnitude.

    • Joel D. Cox
    •  & F. Javier García de Abajo

  • Article |

    The straightforward and scalable synthesis and patterning of graphene-based nanomaterials remains a technological challenge. Here, the authors use a CO2infrared laser, under ambient conditions, to directly produce and pattern porous graphene films with three-dimensional networks from commercial polymer films.

    • Jian Lin
    • , Zhiwei Peng
    •  & James M. Tour

  • Article |

    The integration of carbon nanotubes with silicon is important for their incorporation into next-generation nano-electronics. Here, the authors demonstrate a non-volatile switch that utilizes carbon nanotube networks to electrically contact a conductive nano-crystal silicon filament in silica.

    • Albert D. Liao
    • , Paulo T. Araujo
    •  & Mildred S. Dresselhaus

  • Article |

    In ferromagnetic thin films, spin torque applied to nanometre-scale areas excites localized magnetic self-oscillations, or reduces net magnetization if applied uniformly. Here, Duan et al.show how 1D geometrical confinement allows for coherent self-oscillations to be excited over extended length scales.

    • Zheng Duan
    • , Andrew Smith
    •  & Ilya N. Krivorotov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The properties of bilayer graphene can be tuned by twisting the layers relative to one another. Schmidt et al.now demonstrate the twist angle dependence of magnetotransport in this material system and uncover the formation of satellite Landau fans in the small-angle regime because of superlattice formation

    • Hennrik Schmidt
    • , Johannes C. Rode
    •  & Rolf J. Haug

  • Article |

    Epitaxial crystal growth is widely used in electronics for the rational design of efficient devices. Here, Rupich et al. find a universal law for island size scaling, which outlines similarities and differences between self-assembly of nanocrystals and atomic epitaxial growth.

    • Sara M. Rupich
    • , Fernando C. Castro
    •  & Dmitri V. Talapin

  • Article |

    Mixtures of various size fullerenes are available as a component of fullerene soot, but isolating pure fullerenes is a challenging task. Here, the authors use a porphyrin-based supramolecular cage that encapsulates fullerenes with high selectivity and releases C60by a simple washing technique.

    • Cristina García-Simón
    • , Marc Garcia-Borràs
    •  & Xavi Ribas

  • Article |

    It is known that some nanomaterials can exhibit enzyme-like activities, prompting interest in the novel applications this property may allow. Here, the authors show how vanadia nanowires possess glutathione peroxidase-like activity, and can effectively protect cells from oxidative damage.

    • Amit A. Vernekar
    • , Devanjan Sinha
    •  & Govindasamy Mugesh

  • Article |

    The electroresistance displayed by ferroelectric tunnel junctions could be used for non-volatile computer memories and other computing applications. Here, the authors show that effects from ferroelectric–electrode interfaces can have a strong positive impact on the electroresistance in such junctions.

    • Rohit Soni
    • , Adrian Petraru
    •  & Hermann Kohlstedt

  • Article |

    The polarization state of light is analogous to the spin state of electrons, enabling equivalent phenomena to be explored in optics as in the solid state. Here, the authors study directional scattering of light from nanostructured surfaces, arising from a spin-orbit coupling effect for surface plasmon waves.

    • D. O’Connor
    • , P. Ginzburg
    •  & A. V. Zayats

  • Article |

    Crown ethers have been used as strong and selective binders for alkali metals and other cations since their discovery. Here the authors observe crown ether type structures in partially oxidized graphene and through simulations predict that they have similar abilities to selectively bind cations.

    • Junjie Guo
    • , Jaekwang Lee
    •  & Matthew F. Chisholm

  • Article |

    Nanoscale light sources using nonlinearities are needed in many applications but their small size leads to very low efficiencies. Here, Ren et al.exploit the highly confined whispering gallery modes in metal-coated nanowires to achieve enhanced second-harmonic generation with minimal Ohmic losses.

    • Ming-Liang Ren
    • , Wenjing Liu
    •  & Ritesh Agarwal

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