Physical chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photoinduced electron transfer through, and between, pyrrole moieties is an important process both in the natural world and emerging technologies. Here, the authors use both experiment and theoretical calculation to investigate a previously undiscovered relaxation pathway arising in pyrrole dimers.

    • Simon P. Neville
    • , Oliver M. Kirkby
    •  & Helen H. Fielding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The design and understanding of electrode–electrolyte interfaces is important for the development of improved energy storage devices. Here, the authors study the controlled deposition of molybdenum polyoxometalate anions onto carbon nanotube electrodes, and show this can result in increased specific capacitance.

    • Venkateshkumar Prabhakaran
    • , B. Layla Mehdi
    •  & Julia Laskin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Noble metals can promote the stable lattice oxygen of metal oxides to take part in oxidation reactions. Here, the authors report the preparation and reactivity of rhodium-aluminum oxide cluster ions, in which the rhodium ion promotes the transfer of five oxygen atoms from a nine-atom parent cluster to oxidize carbon monoxide.

    • Xiao-Na Li
    • , Hua-Min Zhang
    •  & Sheng-Gui He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Direct band gap nanostructures compatible with Si-based electronics are actively investigated. Here, Biswas et al. incorporate unusually large amounts of tin in germanium nanowires by non-equilibrium kinetic trapping, and optical characterizations suggest that the nanowires exhibit a direct band gap.

    • Subhajit Biswas
    • , Jessica Doherty
    •  & Justin D. Holmes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conducting polymers are promising materials for applications including bioelectronics and soft robotics, but little is known about how morphology affects mixed conduction. Here, the authors show how bulk ionic/electronic transport is affected by changes in nano- and meso-scale structure in PEDOT:PSS films.

    • Jonathan Rivnay
    • , Sahika Inal
    •  & George G. Malliaras

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To exploit the internal structure of molecules it is necessary to reach very low temperatures, but this is made impractical by long relaxation times for molecular vibrations. Here the authors provide a theoretical description for the existence of a large class of systems exhibiting efficient vibrational cooling.

    • Thierry Stoecklin
    • , Philippe Halvick
    •  & Eric R. Hudson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal oxides can suppress detrimental polysulfide shuttling in lithium-sulfur batteries, however selection criteria for oxide materials are still lacking. Here, the authors investigate polysulfide adsorption and diffusion on metal oxides and propose selection criteria based on balancing these two effects.

    • Xinyong Tao
    • , Jianguo Wang
    •  & Yi Cui

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The classical Lorentz gas model is widely used to describe constrained transport, but its assumption of an immobile environment is not applicable to many biological and industrial processes. Here, the authors show that the mobility of the matrix induces anomalous, logarithmic dynamics of the confined particles.

    • Tatjana Sentjabrskaja
    • , Emanuela Zaccarelli
    •  & Marco Laurati

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most high-loading silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries suffer from low efficiency and volumetric capacity. Here, the authors show that a paper-like electrode of silicon oxycarbide glass and graphene at mass loading of >2 mg cm−2can efficiently deliver high energy density for over 1,000 cycles.

    • Lamuel David
    • , Romil Bhandavat
    •  & Gurpreet Singh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solute segregation is challenging to experimentally identify at the atomic scale. Here, the authors report the direct observation of atomic site-dependent solute segregation behaviour in an yttria-stabilized zirconia grain boundary by atomic-resolution energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.

    • Bin Feng
    • , Tatsuya Yokoi
    •  & Naoya Shibata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Perovskite oxides are attractive candidates as catalysts for water electrolysis however their rational design is rare. Here, the authors report a series of cobaltite perovskites where the covalency of the Co-O bond and concentration of oxygen vacancies are controlled, and assess their catalytic performance.

    • J. Tyler Mefford
    • , Xi Rong
    •  & Keith J. Stevenson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Calcium is an attractive but poorly studied material for the negative electrode in a rechargeable battery. Here, the authors use a multi-cation binary electrolyte along with an alloyed negative electrode to make a calcium-based rechargeable battery with enhanced stability and reduced operating temperature.

    • Takanari Ouchi
    • , Hojong Kim
    •  & Donald R. Sadoway

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrode materials with high energy density are important for the development of Li-ion batteries. Here, the authors report a molybdenum dioxide anode with abnormal lithium storage sites, exhibiting a discharge capacity twice its theoretical value by utilizing two different storage mechanisms.

    • Jeong Kuk Shon
    • , Hyo Sug Lee
    •  & Galen D. Stucky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium sulfides have been previously investigated as 1 V anodes for Li-ion batteries, but suffered from significant performance issues. Here, the authors report on a 1 V lithium sulfide electrode with noteworthy performance, demonstrating that sulfide-based electrodes may merit further exploration.

    • Steve J. Clark
    • , Da Wang
    •  & Peter G. Bruce

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid electrolytes are an attractive alternative to the flammable organic solvents typically used in intercalation batteries. Here, the authors report the computation-assisted discovery and synthesis of Na10SnP2S12, a sodium electrolyte with room temperature conductivity of 0.4 mS cm−1.

    • William D. Richards
    • , Tomoyuki Tsujimura
    •  & Gerbrand Ceder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Density functional theory is widely used throughout the chemical sciences, but suffers from over-emphasis on charge delocalisation. Here, the authors experimentally probe the energies of two states of a diamine cation and show how a self-interaction correction allows for the accurate prediction of both states.

    • Xinxin Cheng
    • , Yao Zhang
    •  & Peter M. Weber

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aerosol droplets have significant effects on atmospheric photochemistry, however measuring absorption from single droplets is a challenge. Here, the authors report a method to measure absorption of nanodroplets with attolitre sensitivity, showing rate enhancements for light focusing in photolysis reactions.

    • Johannes W. Cremer
    • , Klemens M. Thaler
    •  & Ruth Signorell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surface-mediated synthesis of low-dimensional polymers is a promising approach to design materials for targeted applications. Here, the authors introduce surface-confined thermally tunable pathways to select intra- or intermolecular reactions yielding monomeric or lowdimensional polymeric phthalocyanines.

    • Borja Cirera
    • , Nelson Giménez-Agulló
    •  & David Ecija

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is substantial research into minimizing platinum use in polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzers. Here, the authors report that the hydrogen evolution activity of platinum(111) electrodes can be significantly enhanced by monolayer amounts of copper, which weaken the binding of hydrogen intermediates.

    • Jakub Tymoczko
    • , Federico Calle-Vallejo
    •  & Aliaksandr S. Bandarenka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin selectivity for electron transport through peptide monolayers depends on the dipole moment of the system. Here, the authors show that self-assembled monolayers of peptides with α-helix structures transform to more linear structures upon cooling, inducing a flip in the direction of dipole moment and a change in preferred spin for electron transport.

    • Meital Eckshtain-Levi
    • , Eyal Capua
    •  & Ron Naaman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single metal atoms promise high catalytic performances, but their implementation in future systems depends on an understanding of how their underlying support medium can offer stabilization. Here, the authors investigate Pt2+on ceria to elucidate this important fundamental consideration.

    • Filip Dvořák
    • , Matteo Farnesi Camellone
    •  & Stefano Fabris

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sodium-oxygen batteries are promising energy storage devices but the nature of their discharge products remains unresolved. Here, the authors reveal that the dissolution and ionization of sodium superoxide leads to the formation of other phases, which increases the charge overpotential of the cell.

    • Jinsoo Kim
    • , Hyeokjun Park
    •  & Kisuk Kang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vapour deposition on polycrystalline films can lead to unexpectedly high and reversible compressive stress, the origin of which remains unclear. Here, the authors show, using thermodynamic arguments, that entropic effects in the extremely dilute adatom gas on the surface play a major role.

    • Amirmehdi Saedi
    •  & Marcel J. Rost

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Intermolecular interactions underpin an array of physical and chemical phenomena. Here, the authors probe the three dimensional potential between fullerene molecules in different orientations showing that the positional variation in the intermolecular binding energy is dominated repulsive interactions.

    • Adam Sweetman
    • , Mohammad A. Rashid
    •  & Philip Moriarty

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The controlled orientation of block copolymers promises to deliver high resolution patterning for implementation in future nanoscale technologies. Here, the authors use the electric field from charged electrets to induce extremely localised perpendicularly oriented microdomains in polymer thin films.

    • Mei-Ling Wu
    • , Dong Wang
    •  & Li-Jun Wan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fe2O3is known to undergo a series of structural, electronic and magnetic transformations at high pressures and temperatures but these are poorly understood due to a lack of structural data. Here, the authors perform experiments to elucidate the transformations and relationships between them.

    • E. Bykova
    • , L. Dubrovinsky
    •  & V. Prakapenka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sodium metal halide batteries are attractive technologies for stationary electrical energy storage. Here, the authors report that planar sodium-nickel chloride batteries operated at an intermediate temperature of 190 °C display larger energy densities than tubular batteries operated at higher temperatures.

    • Guosheng Li
    • , Xiaochuan Lu
    •  & Vincent L. Sprenkle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The origin of hysteresis remains an open question in lead-halide perovskite solar cells. Here, Meloni et al. investigate the causes of hysteresis using an experimental and computational approach, finding that the observed hysteresis is due to halide ion-vacancy movement in the perovskite.

    • Simone Meloni
    • , Thomas Moehl
    •  & Michael Graetzel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional crystallography focuses on structurally-ordered systems, where interesting physics or novel material functions emerge. Here, Overy et al. propose an approach of designing functional materials with strongly correlated disorder, which can couple with phonons to affect lattice dynamics.

    • Alistair R. Overy
    • , Andrew B. Cairns
    •  & Andrew L. Goodwin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium–sulfur batteries have high theoretical capacities but their performance is limited by poor conductivity and low stability. Here, the authors fabricate three-dimensional porous graphitic carbon composites containing sulfur nanoparticles and probe the effect of sulfur content on battery performance.

    • Guoxing Li
    • , Jinhua Sun
    •  & Jianxin Geng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ethylene hydrogenation often serves as an example of a structure insensitive reaction. Here, the authors study the reaction, catalyzed by a range of size-selected platinum nanocatalysts, and demonstrate that in the sub-nanometer regime particle size can be used to tune hydrogenation activity and selectivity.

    • Andrew S. Crampton
    • , Marian D. Rötzer
    •  & Uzi Landman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The excitation of metal nanoparticles with light can lead to localized surface plasmon resonances, capable of driving chemical reactions in bound species. Here, the authors elucidate this mechanism and suggest that future plasmonic catalysts may be able to selectively activate specific chemical bonds.

    • Calvin Boerigter
    • , Robert Campana
    •  & Suljo Linic

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Slow switching speeds in device configurations have severely limited the applications of electrochromic materials. Here, Xu et al. use plasmonic nanoslit arrays and demonstrate fast, high-contrast, monochromatic and full-colour electrochromic switching using two different electrochromic polymers.

    • Ting Xu
    • , Erich C. Walter
    •  & A. Alec Talin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electropolymerization of aromatic monomers on bipolar electrodes is emerging as promising route to the surface modification of conductive objects. Here, the authors discover that some conducting polymers propagate as fibres, opening up the possibility of growing conductive polymer networks via a wireless process.

    • Yuki Koizumi
    • , Naoki Shida
    •  & Shinsuke Inagi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In single-molecule spectroscopy typically only emission spectra are recorded. Here, the authors develop a technique to record single-molecule excitation spectra under ambient conditions, which is robust against blinking and bleaching, and reveals a large distribution of spectra across the molecule ensemble.

    • Lukasz Piatkowski
    • , Esther Gellings
    •  & Niek F. van Hulst

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological systems typically operate at conditions far from chemical equilibrium. Here, the authors model and develop a microfluidic reactor allowing control over time-variable supply and dissipation of chemicals by droplet fusion and fission, allowing non-equilibrium chemical reactions to be regulated.

    • Haruka Sugiura
    • , Manami Ito
    •  & Masahiro Takinoue

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The efficiency of photocatalysis on semiconductor-metal hybrid nanostructures can be influenced by myriad factors. Here, through both experimental and theoretical efforts, the authors elucidate the influence of metal domain size upon performance of such structures, allowing future rational design.

    • Yuval Ben-Shahar
    • , Francesco Scotognella
    •  & Uri Banin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The hierarchy of bond stiffness may contribute to the thermal properties of metal clusters. Here, the authors use X-ray absorption spectroscopy to study the stiffness of the gold–gold and gold–sulfur bonds in a series of thiolate-protected, icosahedral-based gold clusters.

    • Seiji Yamazoe
    • , Shinjiro Takano
    •  & Tatsuya Tsukuda

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