Nanoscience and technology articles within Nature Communications

Designing efficient reconfigurable field effect transistors remains a challenge. Here, the authors develop a transistor with three distinct operation modes, realized directly on an industrial 22nm FDSOI platform, demonstrating a reconfigurable analog circuit element with signal follower, phase shifter, and frequency doubler operation.

Liposomes are widely used in pharmaceuticals yet trade-offs between uniform size and mass production, limit production and application. Here, the authors report on the design of a microfluidic vortex focusing microfluidic technique which can mass produce liposomes with controlled size and low variability.

Covalent modification is an essential chemical method for altering the physicochemical properties of material interfaces. Here, the authors show that the no-slip conditions in microfluidic devices grant spatiotemporal control over molecular grafting.

The Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model is a prototypical model of topological states, initially proposed to describe spinless electrons on a one-dimensional (1D) dimerized lattice. Here, the authors realize a 2D SSH model in a rectangular lattice of silicon atoms on a silver substrate, observing gapped Dirac cones by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

Magnetic skyrmions, due to their strongly nonlinearity and multiscale dynamics, are promising for implementing reservoir computing. Here, the authors experimentally demonstrate skyrmion-based spatially multiplexed reservoir computing able to perform Boolean Logic operations, using thermal and current driven dynamics of spin structures.

A nonmetallic plasmonic heterostructure of W₁₈O₄₉ nanowires on reduced-graphene oxide is reported for the efficient dehydration of isopropanol to 100% propylene. The energy barrier is found to be reduced under full-spectrum irradiation.

Focused-ion beam (FIB) lithography enables high-resolution nanopatterning of 2D materials, but usually introduces significant damage. Here, the authors report a FIB-based fabrication technique to obtain high quality graphene superlattices with 18-nm pitch, which exhibit electronic transport properties similar to those of natural moiré systems.

Achieving the delivery of drugs into the centre of solid tumours is a challenge due to the tumour micro-environment. Here, the authors propose a system for using the rapid release of large quantities of drug inside tumour microcapillaries for the gradient-driven diffusion of drugs into solid tumours.

The 2019 redefinition of the International System of Units requires a 100 Ω quantum resistance standard for the ideal electrical realization of the kilogram via the Kibble Balance. Here, the authors report the realization of an array of 236 graphene quantum Hall bars, demonstrating a quantized resistance of 109 Ω with an accuracy of 0.2 nΩ/Ω over an extended range of bias currents.

Electrochemical hydrogen-participating processes are commonly relevant in multiple clean energy technologies. Here, authors achieve in situ quantification of H sorption kinetics during Pd-catalyzed CO₂ reduction, unravelling its key role within the interfacial network of local pH, proton donors and CO₂ molecules.

Self-assembly of block-copolymers yields nanoscale structures in a facile way, but the diversity of structures is limited. Here, the authors demonstrate how block copolymer layering can be used to access new non-equilibrium morphologies.

2D MXene hydrogels are promising for diverse applications. Here, the authors report a universal 4D printing technology to manufacture MXene hydrogels with customizable geometry, high conductivity, and efficient pseudocapacitive energy storage ability.

While transmon is the most widely used superconducting qubit, the search for alternative qubit designs with improved characteristic is ongoing. Hyyppä et al. demonstrate a novel superconducting qubit, the unimon, that combines high anharmonicity and protection against low-frequency charge noise and flux noise.

Establishing robust structure/performance correlations is critical for the development of single-atom-catalysts with improved activity. Here, the axial ligand on Pt single-atom-catalyst is precisely adjusted and studied, showing that the ligand’s first electron affinity is crucial for the catalysis.

A family of single-atom catalysts synthesized by intercalating metal single atoms into the van der Waals gap of two-dimensional SnS₂ is reported. The materials are applied as hydrogen evolving catalysts with good durability and overpotential.

Vibrational strong coupling (VSC) promises ultrasensitive IR spectroscopy and modification of material properties. Here, nanoscale mapping of VSC between organic molecules and individual IR nanoresonators is achieved by remote near-field spectroscopy.

Three dimensional topological spin textures, such as hopfions and skyrmion tubes, have seen a surge of interest for their potential technological applications. They offer greater flexibility than their two dimensional counterparts, but have been hampered by the limited material platforms. Here, Grelier et al. look at aperiodic multilayers, and observe a three dimensional skyrmionic cocoon.

Single molecule force spectroscopy methods are often low throughput and have high instrument cost. Here the authors report FLO-Chip, a low-cost, high throughput technique using microfluidics for multiplexed mechanical manipulation of many individual molecules via molecular fluid loading on-a-chip.

The adoption of photonic synapses with biosimilarity to realize analog signal transmission is of significance in realizing artificial illuminance modulation responses. Here, the authors report a biomimetic ocular prosthesis system based on quantum dots embedded photonic synapses with improved depression properties through mid-gap trap.

Here, the authors attribute the ambient surface contamination of van der Waals materials to a self-organized molecular layer of normal alkanes with lengths of 20-26 carbon atoms. The alkane adlayer displaces the manifold other airborne contaminant species, capping the surface of graphene, graphite, hBN and MoS₂.

High-speed flexible circuits are essential in flexible systems for real-time information analysis and wireless communication. Here, flexible circuits are reported with a 281 ps stage delay based on scaled carbon nanotube thin film transistors.

Interlayer spacing and termination are important for controlling the physical and chemical properties of MXenes, largely affecting their potential applications. Here authors present a general approach for simultaneously tuning the interlayer spacing and termination of MXenes using Lewis-basic halides.

Perovskite nanomaterials may suffer degradation during conventional photolithography. Here, the authors report a non-destructive method for patterning perovskite quantum dots based on direct photopolymerization catalyzed by lead bromide complexes.

Improving fuel cell technologies based on Pt-based alloys is important for efficient fuel cells. Here, the authors report a hybrid PtCo alloy electrocatalyst for acidic oxygen reduction at high current densities and H₂/air fuel cell power densities.

By carefully structuring and patterning a material, it is possible to introduce emergent properties that would otherwise not exist. These metamaterials have allowed the development of a wide variety of new optical properties. Here, Matsubara et al present a magnetic metamaterial, where spin-currents can be directed by tuning the polarization of the incident light.

Understanding water transport through nanochannels is central to biology, separations and clean water. Here, the authors show transport of water vapor through Angstrom-scale pores (~2.8–6.6 Å in diameter) in atomically thin graphene membranes is orders of magnitude faster than liquid water, due to permeation occurring in different flow regimes.

Exsolution of transition metal cations from non-stoichiometric perovskites offer a route for the formation of stable nanoparticles on the surface. Here authors present an anti-phase boundaries-accelerated exsolution and two-step crystallisation of nanoparticles in non-stoichiometric perovskite thin films.

While cobalt-based electrocatalysts demonstrate promising performances for oxygen evolution, active site identification is complicated by concurrent structural changes. Here, authors examine crystalline, well-defined cobalt oxyhydroxide nanomaterials and identify the geometric active sites.

Displaying the correct surface functionality at the right time is important for efficient drug delivery. Here, the authors report on the pH-responsive, sequential presentation of cell-penetrating peptide and liver-targeting moiety designed to improve intestinal absorption and liver targeting and demonstrate this with insulin delivery in vivo.

The authors demonstrate a label-free superresolution imaging method by using a hyperbolic material as a substrate for tailored light-matter interactions. The hyperbolic material enhanced scattering, combined with dark-field detection, result in 5.5-fold resolution improvement beyond the diffraction limit.

The authors report high-efficiency emission depletion through a surface migration emission depletion mechanism, which takes advantage of the effects of surface quenching and energy migration in nanocrystals. They demonstrate super-resolution microscopy with very low depletion saturation intensities.

Many complex devices rely on epitaxial growth with high crystallinity and accurate composition. Here authors report epitaxial growth of Ge on deep etched porous Si pillars to provide a fully compliant substrate enabling elastic relaxation of defect free Ge microcrystals.

The application of electric fields >1 V/nm in solid state devices could provide access to unexplored phenomena, but it is currently difficult to implement. Here, the authors develop a double-sided ionic liquid gating technique to generate electric fields as large as 4 V/nm across few-layer WSe₂, leading to field-induced semiconductor-to-metal transitions.

Coherently interfacing microwave and optical radiation at the single photon level is an outstanding challenge in quantum technologies. Here, the authors show bi-directional on-chip conversion between MW and optical frequencies exploiting piezoelectric actuation of a gallium phosphide optomechanical resonator.

While the combination of synthetic and biological systems offers an appealing strategy for solar-to-fuel conversion, such hybrid systems typically suffer from low selectivity. Here, authors integrate a bimetallic alloy with a CdS-containing methanogen for selective CO₂ reduction to methane.

The optoelectronic performance of lead halide perovskite in highfluence applications are hindered by heterogeneous multi-polaron interactions in the nanoscale. Here, Nishda et al. spatially resolve sub-ns relaxation dynamics on the nanometer scale by ultrafast infrared pumpprobe nanoimaging.

Analysis of the protein corona formed around nanoparticles is important for multiple applications in nanomedicine, the methods used at core facilities used for analysis can impact the results. Here, the authors report on a study into the variability of the results obtained from 17 different core facilities and the implications of this.

Natural buffer molecules ensure the controlled and precise delivery of specific molecules in biology. Here, the authors replicate the natural buffer systems using aptamers with controlled binding efficiency to control and maintain the levels of free drugs both in vitro and in vivo.

Understanding the behaviors of droplets at nanoscales is crucial to many applications, yet it remains experimentally challenging to track them in real time. Here, Sbarra et al. use a miniature optomechanical resonator to probe the evaporation dynamics of attoliter droplets with millisecond resolution.

The authors design double shelled hollow superstructures from self-assembled CdSe/CdS nanorods in covalent organic frameworks for CO2 photo-reduction at a gas/solid interface.

The authors developed a pristine hyperspectral SPR microscopy that enables monochromatic and polychromatic SPR imaging with flexible field-of-view option, single-pixel spectral SPR sensing and 2D quantification of thin films with resonant wavelength images.

THz imaging and spectroscopy always request even more efficient components. Here the authors, thanks to a modified photoconductive switch that includes a graphene layer, demonstrate a high-speed photoconductive switch without sacrificing the generated power.

Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) states result from the exchange coupling between a localized magnetic moment and a superconductor. Traditionally, the YSR states have been studied for magnetic atoms. For molecular magnets with extended ligand spin, the entanglement of spin and ligand orbital gives rise to new forms of YSR excitations. Here, Xia et al uncovered spin-orbital YSR states in an unpaired ligand spin in the molecular magnet Tb2Pc3 on Pb.

The motion of a vibrating object is set by the way it is held. Here, the authors show a nanomechanical resonator reversibly slides on its supporting substrate as it vibrates and exploit this unconventional dynamics to quantify friction at the nanoscale.

Stable electrodes which operate at large current density are essential for industrial water electrolysis. Here, a highly active Chevrel phase electrode is reported to achieve 2500 mA/cm⁻² current density for 300 hours at small overpotentials.

Rare-earth elements are vital to advanced technological applications ranging from spintronic devices to quantum information science. Here, the authors formed charged rare-earth complexes on a material surface and demonstrated atomically precise control on their rotational dynamics.

We show frequency domain mirrors that provide reflections of optical mode propagation in the frequency domain. We theoretically investigated the mirror properties and experimentally demonstrate it using polarization and coupled-resonator-based coupling on thin film Lithium Niobate.

PVA is a hydrogel that has attractive swelling properties for use in tunable photonic applications. Here, the authors exploit PVA with nanoimprint lithography to realize multiplexed optical encryption metasurfaces to display, hide, and destroy encrypted information.

Interfacial ferroelectricity may emerge in moiré superlattices. Here, the authors find that the polarized charge is much larger than the capacity of the moiré miniband and the associated anomalous screening exists outside the band.