Physical sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electric fields can produce strains in soft elastomers but a generalizable method for changing the Gaussian curvature has not been devised. Here the authors demonstrate voltage-tunable shape morphing using a spatially inhomogeneous electric field generated by electrodes incorporated between elastomer layers.

    • Ehsan Hajiesmaili
    •  & David R. Clarke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A new regime of planetary magnetic fields was revealed through the MESSENGER spacecraft mission to Mercury. Here, the authors present a numerical dynamo model that can re-produce both the axisymmetric and anomalously axially offset dipolar magnetic field of Mercury.

    • Futoshi Takahashi
    • , Hisayoshi Shimizu
    •  & Hideo Tsunakawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The integration and release of reagents in portable diagnostic devices is critical for the good functioning of such devices. Here the authors propose a device with a reservoir for long-term storage of reagents with integrated, pressure operated, normally closed, passive check-valve for dispensing.

    • Amin Kazemzadeh
    • , Anders Eriksson
    •  & Aman Russom

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plasmonic effects and subwavelength scattering arrays are used in the optical domain to access subwavelength resolution imaging in the far field. Here, the authors develop an analogous strategy for far-field, subwavelength imaging at acoustic wavelengths and demonstrate edge detection of acoustic scattering objects.

    • Chu Ma
    • , Seok Kim
    •  & Nicholas X. Fang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanism underlying the superlubricity of tetrahedral amorphous carbon coatings lubricated with organic friction modifiers is still under debate. Here the authors combine experiments and simulations to reveal that superlubricious layers form due the mechano-chemical decomposition of friction modifiers.

    • Takuya Kuwahara
    • , Pedro A. Romero
    •  & Michael Moseler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors report an approach for creating various acoustic wavefronts in free space by using soft gradient-index porous metasurfaces. These flat lenses generate steered planar, focused spherical and helical ultrasonic beams in water by manipulating the spatial distribution of the material porosity.

    • Yabin Jin
    • , Raj Kumar
    •  & Thomas Brunet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Broadband photodetectors for various applications are in high demand, however, often suffering from non-linearities at high power densities. Here, a reduced strontium titanate based photodetector exhibiting linear response up to 1235 W/cm2 is presented not achieved by other broadband photodetectors.

    • Xiaowei Lu
    • , Peng Jiang
    •  & Xinhe Bao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shear-induced grain boundary migration at the atomic level is still not well understood. Here the authors combine in situ shear testing experiments and molecular dynamic simulations to reveal the atomistic mechanism of disconnection-mediated GB migration in different gold nanostructures.

    • Qi Zhu
    • , Guang Cao
    •  & Scott X. Mao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strong molecular alignment without a laser field present is important for fundamental experiments in molecular science, but so far this has not been obtained for complex molecules. Here the authors use a shaped laser pulse to demonstrate field-free alignment of complex molecules in helium droplets.

    • Adam S. Chatterley
    • , Constant Schouder
    •  & Henrik Stapelfeldt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The conversion of natural gas to chemicals and fuels via the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process, depends on the ability of catalyst materials to suppress the formation of methane and carbon dioxide. Here, the authors develop a Co1Mn3-Na2S catalyst, which has a hydrocarbon product spectrum deviating from the Anderson–Schulz–Flory distribution.

    • Jingxiu Xie
    • , Pasi P. Paalanen
    •  & Krijn P. de Jong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic luminescent materials are often used in modern technologies, but aggregation induced quenching caused by planar aromatic structures hampers their applicability. Here, the authors demonstrate a facile co-assembly method for luminescent cocrystals and protection with hydrophilic PEO chains which allow good dispersibility in water.

    • Yinjuan Huang
    • , Jie Xing
    •  & Qichun Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Iron oxides prevail in the deep Earth, at extreme pressures and temperatures, with different stoichiometries than in ambient conditions. Here, high-pressure synchrotron X-ray spectroscopic measurements reveal the oxidation states of Fe and O in iron superoxide, shedding light on the puzzling chemistry of iron and oxygen in the deep Earth

    • Jin Liu
    • , Qingyang Hu
    •  & Wendy L. Mao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The selective formation of protein bioconjugates under physiological conditions is a challenging task. Here, the authors report that 1,4-dinitroimidazoles are reagents of choice for protein bioconjugation at either cysteine or lysine sites within short times and provide facile access to peptide macrocycles.

    • Qunfeng Luo
    • , Youqi Tao
    •  & Huan Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding how forces orchestrate tissue formation requires technologies to map internal tissue stress at cellular length scales. Here, authors develop ultrasoft sensors that visibly deform under cell-generated stress to capture patterns of internal stress development during multicellular spheroid formation.

    • Wontae Lee
    • , Nikita Kalashnikov
    •  & Christopher Moraes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The high speed switching and energy efficiency nature grant all-optical switching (AOS) great potential for future photonic integrated spintronic devices. Here the authors demonstrate the combination of AOS and domain wall propagation in Pt/Co/Gd synthetic ferrimagnetic racetrack for applications in photonic memory technologies.

    • M. L. M. Lalieu
    • , R. Lavrijsen
    •  & B. Koopmans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is significant interest in providing real-world applications for metamaterials. Here, the authors design an Advanced Short Backfire Antenna, augmented with anisotropic metamaterial surfaces to achieve high aperture efficiency across two frequency bands, making the antenna ideal for spaceborne applications.

    • J. Daniel Binion
    • , Erik Lier
    •  & Douglas H. Werner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carboazidation of alkenes and alkynes holds the promise to construct valuable, functionalized molecules. Here, the authors report a general and efficient iron-catalyzed carboazidation of both alkenes and alkynes enabled by t-butyl perbenzoate.

    • Haigen Xiong
    • , Nagarajan Ramkumar
    •  & Hongli Bao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hybrid organic-inorganic trihalide perovskites can make remarkable optoelectronic devices but their spin characteristics are less investigated. Here Wang et al. show spin-polarized carriers injection into methylammonium lead bromide films with long lifetime and realize spin LEDs and spin valves.

    • Jingying Wang
    • , Chuang Zhang
    •  & Z. Valy Vardeny

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The demonstration of nature-inspired embodied control logic in simple autonomous material systems is of significant interest in applications such as soft robots and drug delivery. Here, the authors demonstrate 3D printed self-actuating structures with control logic in response to suitable stimuli.

    • Yijie Jiang
    • , Lucia M. Korpas
    •  & Jordan R. Raney

  • Article
    | Open Access

    With the wide adoption of ultrasound methods in biomedical and technological diagnostics, sensitive probes are in demand. Here, the authors employ cavity optomechanics where optical and mechanical resonances are coupled, both enhancing the sensitivity of the device and allowing its chip-integration.

    • Sahar Basiri-Esfahani
    • , Ardalan Armin
    •  & Warwick P. Bowen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cross-coupling reactions have been achieved in solution, yet tend to be inefficient in a solid state. Here, the authors report a solid-state palladium-catalyzed Buchwald-Hartwig cross-coupling using olefins as molecular dispersants, enabling reduction of solvent waste.

    • Koji Kubota
    • , Tamae Seo
    •  & Hajime Ito

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Calixarenes are cyclic oligomers obtained by condensation reactions between phenols and formaldehyde and usually include up to eight phenolic subunits. Here the authors demonstrate the synthesis of calixarenes with up to 90 phenolic subunits with up to 65% yield via a scalable process.

    • Vincent Guérineau
    • , Marion Rollet
    •  & Vincent Huc

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antimony selenide is a promising thin film solar cell absorber material in which grain orientation is crucial for high device performance. Here Li et al. grow the material in nanorod arrays along the [001] direction and obtain record high efficiency of 9.2%.

    • Zhiqiang Li
    • , Xiaoyang Liang
    •  & Yaohua Mai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An anomalous phase shift in a topological insulator based Josephson junction is expected but never been observed. Here, Assouline et al. observe an anomalous phase shift in a Bi2Se3 based Josephson junction in presence of an in-plane magnetic field, opening opportunities for phase-controlled Josephson devices.

    • Alexandre Assouline
    • , Cheryl Feuillet-Palma
    •  & Hervé Aubin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional materials show promise for photon upconversion processes due to their strong photon-exciton and phonon-exciton interactions. Here, the authors report room temperature upconversion photoluminescence in monolayer WS2 with high energy gain up to 150 meV based on variable temperature.

    • J. Jadczak
    • , L. Bryja
    •  & P. Hawrylak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spontaneous activity shifts at constant experimental conditions are widespread among ion channels but the molecular origins are poorly understood. Here, using solid-state NMR and MD simulations, the authors reveal that modal gating shifts in K + channels are caused by large shifts in the channel dynamics which perturb the selectivity filter.

    • Shehrazade Jekhmane
    • , João Medeiros-Silva
    •  & Markus Weingarth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reducing particle size of electrode materials to nanoscale dimensions is believed responsible for their enhanced reaction kinetics and electrochemical performance. Here, the authors use in situ transmission electron microscopy to study the dynamic process of the spinel zinc ferrite nanoparticles as a function of size, finding that the intercalation reaction pathway changes below a critical particle size.

    • Jing Li
    • , Qingping Meng
    •  & Eric A. Stach

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Radiation-induced low-energy electrons in solution are implicated in DNA damage, but their relaxation dynamics are not well understood. Here the authors observe how quasi-free electrons dissociate glycosidic bonds via an excited nucleoside anion radical, whereas solvated electrons reside on the nucleoside as a relatively stable anion radical.

    • Jun Ma
    • , Anil Kumar
    •  & Mehran Mostafavi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical imaging of tissue is a powerful technique but delivering light deep into scattering tissue is not possible without using invasive methods. Here, the authors demonstrate that patterned ultrasound can define and control the trajectory of light in tissue using pressure-induced index contrasts.

    • Maysamreza Chamanzar
    • , Matteo Giuseppe Scopelliti
    •  & Michel M. Maharbiz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measuring multiple neurophysiologic variables usually requires bulky benchtop optical systems and working with anesthetized animals. Here the authors present a miniature portable microscope for neurovascular imaging in awake rodents, combining fluorescence, intrinsic optical signals and laser speckle contrast.

    • Janaka Senarathna
    • , Hang Yu
    •  & Arvind P. Pathak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Traditional water–gas shift reaction process is hindered by harsh reaction conditions and extra steps for hydrogen separation and purification. Here, the authors report a room temperature electrochemical water–gas shift process for direct production of high purity hydrogen with a faradaic efficiency of approximately 100%.

    • Xiaoju Cui
    • , Hai-Yan Su
    •  & Xinhe Bao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological light-driven ion pumps move ions against a concentration gradient to create a membrane potential, converting sunlight into an osmotic potential. Here, the authors make an artificial ion pump which drives ions thermodynamically uphill against a large concentration gradient upon illumination, which can be used for harvesting solar energy.

    • Kai Xiao
    • , Lu Chen
    •  & Markus Antonietti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent research efforts have aimed at discovering thermoelectric materials with high efficiency in the middle-low temperature range, where a majority of waste heat is lost to the ambient. Here, the authors discover colossal Seebeck coefficient values in metallic copper selenide from 340 K to 400 K.

    • Dogyun Byeon
    • , Robert Sobota
    •  & Tsunehiro Takeuchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fluids may avoid crystallization via an underlying mechanism that remains hotly debated. Teich et al. show that hard polyhedral particles form glass because of the competition of local structural motifs, each of which is prevalent in crystals self-assembled from particles of closely related shapes.

    • Erin G. Teich
    • , Greg van Anders
    •  & Sharon C. Glotzer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthesizing precise conjugated nanostructures on a surface requires fine control over the covalent reaction pathways. Here, the authors show that reversible coordinative bonds can be used to template on-surface C-C coupling reactions, guiding the formation of porous organic nanoribbons.

    • Shuaipeng Xing
    • , Zhe Zhang
    •  & Ziliang Shi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The instability of the host structure of cathode materials and sluggish aluminium ion diffusion are the major challenges facing the Al-ion battery. Here the authors show AlxMnO2·nH2O as a cathode that allows for reversible Al3+ (de)intercalation in an aqueous electrolyte and impressive electrochemical performance for a battery device.

    • Chuan Wu
    • , Sichen Gu
    •  & Jun Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Membrane-Proximal External Region (MPER) of the HIV Env gp41 subunit is a target for broadly neutralizing antibodies. Here, the authors apply super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy on single virions and provide insights into how the MPER epitope is recognized.

    • Pablo Carravilla
    • , Jakub Chojnacki
    •  & José L. Nieva

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is becoming clear that the dynamics of transcription factors may be important for gene regulation. Here, the authors study the implications of oscillatory and chaotic dynamics of NF-κB and demonstrate that it allows a degree of control of gene expression and can generate phenotypic heterogeneity.

    • Mathias L. Heltberg
    • , Sandeep Krishna
    •  & Mogens H. Jensen

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