Nanoscience and technology

Structural colours are of broad interest in recent years, yet the conventional nanofabrication techniques fail to match the requirement for large-scale manufacturing. Here, the authors demonstrate the use of pulsed lasers to write structural colours with widegamut, high-resolution, high-speed while low-cost manufacturability, long-term stability, and viewing-angle independence.

Synthetic Ni-Fe nanoparticles have been demonstrated as catalysts for CO2 fixation to formate, acetate, and pyruvate at higher temperatures. Here, the authors show these can convert pyruvate to citramalate at the ambient temperature, in line with origin of microbial metabolism under hydrothermal vent conditions.

Electrocatalytic synergy is a functional yet underrated concept in electrocatalysis. Here the authors disclose interphasic synergy between Ni(OH)2 and Ni-N/Ni-C phases for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline media.

Observing the natural process of RNA degradation in real-time is a significant challenge. Here, the authors develop and use single-exonuclease nanocircuits to reveal the single-base degradation behaviour of PNPase, and demonstrate proof-of-principle RNA sequencing using this approach.

Nano-optomechanical systems plays an indispensable role in all-optical manipulation of light but high energy losses severely limit their development. Here the authors show ultrafast all-optical manipulation in a sub-5 nm tip-supported optomechanical metasurface.

Achieving both low energy consumption and radiation-hardness is highly challenging in memory devices. Here, the authors demonstrate a sub-10 fJ/bit, radiation-hard nanoelectromechanical non-volatile memory through structural and material approaches.

Bilayer sensors and sensor arrays with a catalytic CeO2 filter are proposed as a facile platform for high-performance gas sensors and electronic noses. Authors show the bilayer sensors enhance selectivity toward aromatic compounds, and the arrays provide comprehensive information such as gas concentration and composition.

Hybrid nucleic acid origami has potential for biomedical delivery of mRNA and fabrication of artificial ribozymes. Here, the authors use chemical footprinting and cryo-electron microscopy to reveal insights into nucleic acid origami used to fold messenger and ribosomal RNA into 3D polyhedral structures.

Artificial ion channels are in demand for ionotronic devices. Here, the authors use layered MXene membranes modified with plasmonic gold nanostars and cellulose nanofibers to convert a thermal gradient into an ion current for photosensitive ion channeling.

MXenes are two-dimensional nanomaterials that can be used as supercapacitors to store electrical energy. Here, the authors isolated chemical response from a single MXene flake and provide a new understanding of the surface chemistry of MXenes.

Monolayer graphene can support the quantum Hall effect up to room temperature. Here, the authors provide evidence that graphene encapsulated in hexagonal boron nitride realizes a novel transport regime where dissipation in the quantum Hall phase is mediated predominantly by electron-phonon scattering rather than disorder scattering.

The limitation in metal-semiconductor contact has been a major challenge for high-performance organic field-effect transistors. Here, the authors fabricate the contact by transferring platinum electrode on solution-processed organic films, realizing ultralow total contact resistance down to 14 Ω ∙ cm.

Novel methodologies for cleaving inherently inert C(sp²)‒ C(sp²) bonds are desirable. Here, the authors report the use of an oriented electric field to cleave C(sp²)‒ C(sp²) in cycloparaphenylenes via electrophilic aromatic substitution.

The fabrication of synthetic nanochannels for ion separation is challenging. Here, the authors synthesize angstrom-scale ion channels featuring one-dimensional to three-dimensional pore configurations by growing metal‒organic frameworks into nanochannels; the structure of the pore influences the ion transport performance.

Gene delivery to fibroblasts for liver fibrosis treatment remains challenging. Here the authors develop a combinatorial library of ligand-tethered lipidoids via a modular synthetic method and adopt a 2-round screening strategy to identify lipidoids for potent and selective gene delivery to fibroblasts.

Separation of actinides from lanthanides is very important for the safe management of nuclear waste, however still challenging due to the chemical complexity of the f-elements. Here, authors report an efficient strategy with graphene oxide membranes for ion sieving of high valent actinyl ions and spherical lanthanide ions.

Thrombotic cerebro-cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of disability and death worldwide but current drug therapeutics show important limitations. Here, the authors exploit a selfpropelling nano-penetrator with high fuel loading and controllable motion which is molecularly co-assembled using a photothermal photosensitizer and a photothermal-activable NO donor.

Designing ultrathin and flexible antenna is of great interest for efficient wireless data communication and transmission at fast-growing IoT applications. The authors report a flexible ultrawideband Ti₃C₂ monopole antenna by combining strategies of interfacial modification and advanced extrusion printing technology.

Instability of perovskites under light, moisture and temperature stress hinders their potential in real applications. Here Tian et al. demonstrate the high-throughput fabrication of large-area, flexible, color-tunable, waterproof and durable wearable luminescent textiles suitable for marine rescue.

Flexible and coherent light generation is of paramount importance to enable new functionalities in integrated silicon photonics. Here the authors, develop an optical parametric oscillator with high conversion efficiency and high output power, based on the third order nonlinearity in a silicon nitride microresonator

Knowledge of fundamental properties of lead halide perovskites is crucial for their technological development. Here, authors perform magneto-optical spectroscopy, develop universal scaling laws and offer a predictive picture for interaction energies within photo-generated charge-carrier complexes.

Changes in Polycomb repression during interphase transition modulate the ability of pluripotent cells to enter cell differentiation.

Monitoring the status of blood-brain barrier (BBB) and inhibiting reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated oxidative damage are key issues in the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Here, the authors design a near-infrared-IIb emitting Mn single-atom catalyst for imaging-guided therapy to alleviate ROS mediated neuroinflammation in the brain and simultaneously obtain timely feedback of therapeutic effect, promoting the reconstruction of BBB and recovery of neurological function after TBI in mice.

3d transition metal nanoparticles are of interest in fields ranging from spintronics, catalysis, and biomedicine. This paper provides a detailed picture of the oxidation of cobalt nanoparticles and benchmarks the development of models for the metal oxidation and magnetic phenomena at the nanoscale.

Frequency-bin qubits get the best of time-bin and dual-rail encodings, but require external modulators and pulse shapers to build arbitrary states. Here, instead, the authors work directly on-chip by controlling the interference of biphoton amplitudes generated in multiple, coherently-pumped ring resonators.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) nanozymes show mitigating effect on oxidative stress-related diseases, but are limited by their modest activity. Here, the authors report a carbon dot SOD nanozyme with catalytic activity matching natural enzymes and unveil its catalytic mechanism.

2D metals are promising electrocatalysts due to their potentially large surface area. Here we report double-layer Pt nanosheets derived from exfoliated PtOx nanosheets with higher electrochemically active surface area, oxygen reduction reaction activity, and stability compared to Pt nanoparticles.

2D semiconductors are attracting increasing attention as potentially scalable channels for future transistors, but the scaling of their contact length remains challenging. Here, the authors report the realization of 1D semimetal-2D semiconductor contacts based on individual carbon nanotubes with contact length down to 2 nm.

The authors use resonant wireless power transfer to remotely trap and release nanoparticles in solution and detect their presence as a shift in impedance in real-time. This is accomplished using the extreme field confinement of a nanogap capacitor.

Circularly polarized luminescent materials with large dissymmetry and efficiency are in demand. Here, the authors investigate chirality-induced spin polarization in achiral gold nanorods decorated with chiral dye-loaded micelles to enhance chiroptic activity.

Sweat sensors are important in personalized healthcare using natural oxidase to target biomolecules but these reactions are susceptible to external interference. Here, the authors report tryptophan- and histidine-treated copper metal-organic frameworks which show highly selective activity for ascorbate oxidation and can serve as an efficient ascorbate oxidase-mimicking material in sensitive sweat sensors.

All-inorganic nanocrystals are of great importance for a variety of electronic applications. Here, the authors use metal salts to remove organic ligands to obtain passivated nanocrystals with improved fluorescence yield for direct optical patterning.

Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) is an established characterization technique used to study electrically active defects in 3D semiconductors. Here, the authors show that DLTS can also be applied to monolayer semiconductors, enabling in-situ characterization of the energy states of different defects and their interactions.

With advances in robotic technology, the complexity of control of robot has been increasing owing to fundamental von Neumann bottlenecks. Here, we demonstrate coordinated movement by a fully parallel-processable synaptic array with reduced control complexity.

Binary nanoparticle superlattices exhibit different collective optical, magnetic, and electronic properties. Here, the authors develop an efficient global optimization algorithm for the discovery of periodic 2D architectures forming at fluid interfaces.

While electrochemical conversion of nitrate to ammonia offers a renewable means to remediate waste compounds, it is challenging to achieve selective catalysis. Here, authors demonstrate a strategy to improve electrocatalytic ammonia production using cobalt phosphide on carbon nanosheet arrays.

While membrane electrode assembly water electrolyzers are a promising renewable energy technology, further optimizations are needed before wide-spread implementation can occur. Here, authors examine a device with a porous membrane that enables oriented catalyst intergrowth to improve performances.

Solid-solid interface friction usually becomes the bottleneck at micro/nanoscale. Here, Xiang and Liu show that the nanoscale creep flow rate of crystalline metals can increase by orders of magnitude when the contact metal is in diffusion deformation and the thermally activated boundary slip is active.

Solid benzene and other simple organic minerals play important roles in geological processes on Titan-like cold Solar System bodies. Here, the authors discover benzene microcrystals plastically deform via densification enabled by molecule reorientation and shearing.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a well-established non-invasive medical imaging technology. Here, to improve the performance of the technique, the authors describe the design of a pH-responsive T1-T2 dual-modal MRI contrast agent, showing enhanced imaging sensitivity in preclinical cancer models.

While water splitting offers a renewable means to produce H₂ fuel, most electrolyzers rely on scarce elements to function. Here, authors study low-content Iridium catalysts derived from mixed oxides for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis anodes without compromising activity and durability.

The authors demonstrate a multi-dimensional communication scheme that combines wavelength- and mode- multiplexing on photonic integrated circuits using foundry-compatible photonic inverse design and spectrally flattened microcombs

The authors present an approach to phase imaging by using the non-local optical response of a guided-moderesonator metasurface. They demonstrate that this metasurface can be added to a conventional microscope to enable quantitative phase contrast imaging.

Detection of cytokine biomarkers has the potential to aid in diagnosis and treatment of different diseases. Here, the authors report on the creation of an asymmetric geometry MoS₂ diode-based biosensor for the detection of TNF-α as a model biomarker in a proof of concept study.

Here, the authors show robust edge state transport in patterned nanoribbon networks produced on epigraphene—graphene that is epitaxially grown on non-polar faces of SiC wafers. The edge state forms a zero-energy, one-dimensional ballistic network with dissipationless nodes at ribbon–ribbon junctions.

The exciton Mott transition refers to a transition from an insulating state of gas-like excitons to strongly correlated electron-hole plasma phases in photoexcited semiconductors. Here the authors experimentally study such a transition in black phosphorus and reveal its quantum critical properties.

Here the authors harness the on-chip integration of Jones matrix metasurfaces to demonstrate an ultra-compact approach to access and manipulate the optical spin states of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with previously unattainable phase controllability.

Efficient enrichment of molecules from liquids, solid objects, or the gas phase is critical for their detection at trace concentrations. Here, the authors report on the lossless enrichment of analytes in droplets using acoustic levitation for multiphase and multiplex SERS detection.

While renewable H₂O₂ is promising industrially relevant regent, it remains a challenge to modulate materials’ photocatalytic and electronic properties for effect light-harvesting. Here, authors examine core-shell Ag/Pd co-catalysts on BiVO₄ for photocatalytic H₂O₂ synthesis.