Physical sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mechanosensitive materials typically lack complex response patterns due to difficult synthetic methods. Here, the authors introduce FRET-based DNA tension probes into macroscopic 3D DNA hydrogels to prepare mechanofluorescent materials with programmable sacrificial bonds and stress relaxation behaviour.

    • Remi Merindol
    • , Giovanne Delechiave
    •  & Andreas Walther

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lead trihalide perovskites are notable for their excellent optoelectronic properties and uncommon phase behavior. Here, Kirschner et al. show that cesium lead bromide nanocrystals experience a reversible orthorhombic-to-cubic phase transition at moderate excitation fluences and become amorphous at higher fluences.

    • Matthew S. Kirschner
    • , Benjamin T. Diroll
    •  & Richard D. Schaller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Modelling of light-matter interaction in the ultrastrong coupling regime is still debated. Here, the authors study the consequences of gauge freedom for a two-level system in a single-mode cavity, showing that the Jaynes-Cummings model can outperform the quantum Rabi model even for ultrastrong coupling.

    • Adam Stokes
    •  & Ahsan Nazir

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High swelling ratio, speed and long term robustness tend not coexist in hydrogels which limits their use in devices. Here, the authors introduce a pufferfish-inspired hydrogel device ingested as a standard-sized pill, swells rapidly and maintains robustness under repeated mechanical loads in the stomach.

    • Xinyue Liu
    • , Christoph Steiger
    •  & Xuanhe Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-propelled motors operating at the micro- or nanoscale can be powered by catalytic reactions and show appealing potential in robotic applications. Brooks et al. describe how the motions of platinum spinners in hydrogen peroxide solutions can be rationally designed by controlling particle shape.

    • Allan M. Brooks
    • , Mykola Tasinkevych
    •  & Kyle J. M. Bishop

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The structures of fullerenes, or buckyballs, are often very difficult to resolve. Here, the authors describe a decapyrrylcorannulene host with ten flexible pyrryl groups that can efficiently co-crystallize with diverse fullerene derivatives in a ‘hand-ball-hand’ fashion, allowing crystallographic identification of commonly known types of fullerenes.

    • Yun-Yan Xu
    • , Han-Rui Tian
    •  & Lan-Sun Zheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reference frames are ultimately physical systems, and thus it should be possible to quantise them in a consistent way. Here, the authors use a relational formalism to quantise a reference frame and show the covariance of physical laws under transformations between such quantum reference frames.

    • Flaminia Giacomini
    • , Esteban Castro-Ruiz
    •  & Časlav Brukner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mass fabrication of supraparticles is essential for their applications, but it is not easy. Tan et al. produce porous supraparticles with tunable shapes by drying colloidal particles in water-ethanol-oil ternary drops, where the pining effect at drop edges is alleviated by the formation of oil rings.

    • Huanshu Tan
    • , Sanghyuk Wooh
    •  & Detlef Lohse

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The weak effects induced by lattice disorder on the optoelectronic properties of halide perovskites still remain elusive. Here Wu et al. confirm the indirect transition tail states in perovskite crystals which explain their low photoluminescence quantum yield, dual emission peaks and difficulties in realizing lasing.

    • Bo Wu
    • , Haifeng Yuan
    •  & Tze Chien Sum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It has been challenging to probe whether dynamically disordered organic cations affect optical properties of CH3NH3PbI3. Here, Guo et al. employ infrared-pump electronic-probe spectroscopy and show that pump-induced atomic motions of the organic cations do not substantially alter optoelectronic properties.

    • Peijun Guo
    • , Arun Mannodi-Kanakkithodi
    •  & Richard D. Schaller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Placement of charge centres with atomic precision on graphene allows exploration of new types of confinement of charge carriers. Here, the authors fabricate atomically precise arrays of point charges on graphene and observe the onset of a frustrated supercritical regime.

    • Jiong Lu
    • , Hsin-Zon Tsai
    •  & Michael F. Crommie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chinese government has implemented regulations to reduce mining-related methane emission since 2010. Here the authors estimated methane emissions in China using GOSAT satellite observation and results reveal a business-as-usual increase in methane emissions since 2010 despite those ambitious targets.

    • Scot M. Miller
    • , Anna M. Michalak
    •  & Stefan Schwietzke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains unclear when and why the world’s oceans, once largely occupied by bacteria, became dominated by photosynthetic algae. Here, using fossil lipids in million year old rocks, the authors show that predation after the Snowball Earth glaciations created the opportunity for a global shift to algal ecosystems.

    • Lennart M. van Maldegem
    • , Pierre Sansjofre
    •  & Christian Hallmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Alcohols are very useful building blocks in organic synthesis, however C–H functionaliztion in presence of free –OH groups is highly challenging. Here, the authors report a selective visible light-promoted α-functionalization of free alcohols with heteroarenes mediated by Selectofluor.

    • Linbin Niu
    • , Jiamei Liu
    •  & Aiwen Lei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Storage-free quantum repeaters represent a viable alternative to quantum-memory-based ones. Here, the authors propose a modified scheme for Bell state measurements which reduces the necessary resources for realising such an all-photonic repeater, and show a proof-of-principle implementation.

    • Yasushi Hasegawa
    • , Rikizo Ikuta
    •  & Nobuyuki Imoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cis-trans lactam amide rotation is a fundamental process and its understanding might aid molecular design. Here, the authors report the synthesis and study of bicyclic lactams which undergo spin through 360 degrees as in open-chain amides, due to the occurrence of nitrogen pyramidalization.

    • Yuko Otani
    • , Xin Liu
    •  & Tomohiko Ohwada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Space charge effects can distort the results of photoelectron spectroscopic measurements, and usually limit the allowable photon flux in an experiment. Here, the authors present an 18.4 MHz repetition rate high harmonic source in the 25–60 eV range, with a large count rate improvement over state-of-the-art attosecond setups under identical space charge conditions.

    • T. Saule
    • , S. Heinrich
    •  & I. Pupeza

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To date, experimental demonstrations of PT-symmetric systems have been restricted to one dimension. Here, the authors experimentally realize and characterize a two-dimensional PT-symmetric system using photonic lattice waveguides with judiciously designed refractive index landscape and an alternating loss distribution.

    • Mark Kremer
    • , Tobias Biesenthal
    •  & Alexander Szameit

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene is a desirable commodity. Here the authors show that a tri-1-adamantylphosphine-nickel complex, when exposed to alkyl aluminium activators, polymerizes ethylene to ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene with initial activities reaching 3.8 million turnovers/h at 10 °C.

    • Andrew L. Kocen
    • , Maurice Brookhart
    •  & Olafs Daugulis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While the conversion of greenhouse CO2 to chemical fuels offers a promising renewable energy technology, there is a dire need for new materials. Here, authors report the largest CO2 photocathode search using a first-principles approach to identify both known and unreported candidate photocatalysts.

    • Arunima K. Singh
    • , Joseph H. Montoya
    •  & Kristin A. Persson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The incomplete nature and undefined structure of the existing catalysis research data has prevented comprehensive knowledge extraction. Here, the authors report a novel meta-analysis method that identifies correlations between a catalyst’s physico-chemical properties and its performance in a particular reaction.

    • Roman Schmack
    • , Alexandra Friedrich
    •  & Ralph Kraehnert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic–inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells have been under the spotlight but what happens in the working solar cell device at the nanoscale remains elusive. Here Kim et al. show that light and voltage bias can induce strain and structural variation which may cause J–V scan hysteresis.

    • Dohyung Kim
    • , Jae Sung Yun
    •  & Jan Seidel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Realizing efficient on-chip amplification in silicon is challenging due to either non-compatible integration or small gain per unit length of the amplifier material. Here, the authors report ultra-high on-chip optical gain in erbium-based hybrid silicon nitride slot waveguides with a monolithic, CMOS-compatible and scalable atomic-layer deposition process.

    • John Rönn
    • , Weiwei Zhang
    •  & Zhipei Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Temporal control over self-assembly processes is a desirable trait for discovering adaptable and controllable materials. Here the authors show that a chemical fuel driven system can not only self-assemble in a controlled manner, but can also result in precise control over the assembly and disassembly kinetics.

    • Ankit Jain
    • , Shikha Dhiman
    •  & Subi J. George

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The development of electrically conductive fibres is attractive for wearable electronics, but performance should be maintained upon deformation and tensile strain. Here the authors fabricate flexible, stretchable, carbon nanotube-coated spandex fibres for supercapacitors and artificial muscles.

    • Wonkyeong Son
    • , Sungwoo Chun
    •  & Changsoon Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fuel cells are promising for converting fuel into electricity, but rely on development of high-performance catalysts for oxygen reduction. Here the authors report a highly durable platinum-trimer decorated cobalt-palladium catalyst with low platinum loading for electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction.

    • Sheng Dai
    • , Jyh-Pin Chou
    •  & Tsan-Yao Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is commonly assumed that a complete theory for selection rules in optical nonlinear harmonic generation was developed previously. Here, the authors present more general group theory based formalism for harmonic generation from dilute and dense media, yielding new symmetries and selection rules.

    • Ofer Neufeld
    • , Daniel Podolsky
    •  & Oren Cohen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Infrared-light-induced carrier transfer is a key technology for ‘invisible’ optical devices, but making materials with the right properties remains a challenge. Here, the authors fabricate a clear and colourless material which converts infrared light to an electrical signal or energy based on a localized surface plasmon resonance, with implications for the development of invisible optical devices.

    • Masanori Sakamoto
    • , Tokuhisa Kawawaki
    •  & Toshiharu Teranishi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene oxide (GO) dispersions may be used as starting materials for graphene-based architectures. Here, a malleable and versatile dough state of GO is discovered, completing the GO–water continuum, which can be diluted or converted to glassy GO or graphene solids without long-range stacking order with enhanced mechanical and electrochemical properties

    • Che-Ning Yeh
    • , Haiyue Huang
    •  & Jiaxing Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Percolation is a tool used to investigate a network’s response as random links are removed. Here the author presents a generic analytic theory to describe how percolation properties are affected in coloured networks, where the colour can represent a network feature such as multiplexity or the belonging to a community.

    • Ivan Kryven

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Septins are cytoskeletal filaments that localize at constriction sites and impact membrane remodeling. Here authors examine the curvature sensitivity of septins using bilayers on wavy patterns and derive a theoretical model that quantitatively describe the results.

    • Alexandre Beber
    • , Cyntia Taveneau
    •  & Aurélie Bertin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    All-polymer solar cells have shown high efficiencies but the ultrafast charge transfer processes are less known. Here Wang et al. show that polaron pairs play vital role facilitating the hole transfer, which is quite different from the exciton dominated pathway in polymer-fullerene blends.

    • Rui Wang
    • , Yao Yao
    •  & Min Xiao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-index dielectric nanoparticles support a great wealth of multipolar responses but active tunability is still elusive. Here, the authors report how structured Ge2Sb2Te5 can support multipolar Mie resonances and demonstrate the spectral shifting between electric dipole and anapole modes.

    • Jingyi Tian
    • , Hao Luo
    •  & Sergey I. Bozhevolnyi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While hydrogen offers a potential carbon neutral fuel, its production from water using earth-abundant, heterogeneous materials has proven challenging to understand. Here, authors present a series of molecular electrocatalysts based on molybdenum, sulphur, and oxygen for aqueous hydrogen evolution.

    • James McAllister
    • , Nuno A. G. Bandeira
    •  & Haralampos N. Miras

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A computationally efficient description of ice-water systems at the mesoscopic scale is challenging due to system size and timescale limitations. Here the authors develop a machine-learned coarse-grained water model to elucidate the ice nucleation process much more efficiently than previous models.

    • Henry Chan
    • , Mathew J. Cherukara
    •  & Subramanian K. R. S. Sankaranarayanan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transport in quantum systems is complex and can be suppressed by coherent superposition of the involved states. Here, the authors find all-electronic suppression of transport in a carbon nanotube originating from coherent population trapping and give criteria for the presence of such a dark state.

    • Andrea Donarini
    • , Michael Niklas
    •  & Milena Grifoni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electron correlation normally makes electrons less mobile, but it is still not clear when correlation becomes very strong in Dirac semimetals. Here, Fujioka et al. report a very high electron mobility exceeding 60,000 cm2V−1s−1 in correlated Dirac semimetal of perovskite CaIrO3, due to the enhanced electron correlation nearby the Mott transition.

    • J. Fujioka
    • , R. Yamada
    •  & Y. Tokura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the structural dynamics of flexible metal-organic frameworks at a thin-film level is key if they are to be implemented in devices. Here, Fischer and colleagues anchor flexible MOF crystallites onto substrates and identify a structural responsiveness that is distinct to that of the bulk.

    • Suttipong Wannapaiboon
    • , Andreas Schneemann
    •  & Roland A. Fischer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While the Chern number is used to characterize topological states in both electronic and photonic systems, its direct physical meaning in photonics has not yet been established. Here, Silveirinha shows that the photonic Chern number can be understood as a quantum of the optical angular momentum.

    • Mário G. Silveirinha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plant-inspired osmotic actuation has been proposed as a competitive actuation strategy yet reversibility is still an open issue hampering its implementation in soft robotics. Here the authors show a low input voltage reversible osmotic actuation strategy based on the electrosorption of ions on flexible electrodes.

    • Indrek Must
    • , Edoardo Sinibaldi
    •  & Barbara Mazzolai

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