Physical sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Post-translational modifications modulate nanomechanics of proteins. Here the authors use single-molecule force-clamp spectroscopy supported by density functional theory calculations to show how reactive low-weight molecular thiol compounds directly affect mechanical protein folding.

    • Amy E. M. Beedle
    • , Marc Mora
    •  & Sergi Garcia-Manyes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Principles underlying crumpling of one-dimensional objects may be relevant to both biomolecular processes and to design of mechanical devices. By compacting various wires under rigid confinement and modelling observed geometric features, the authors show how friction, plasticity and torsion enhance disorder and lead to a transition from coiled to folded geometries.

    • M. Reza Shaebani
    • , Javad Najafi
    •  & Mehdi Habibi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reducing the charge potential is of importance to advance the performance of Li-O2 batteries. Here the authors show that hydrogen peroxide solution allows decomposition of lithium hydroxide at ∼3.5 V and the organic urea hydrogen peroxide additive enables a charge potential of only about 3.26 V and stable cycling for non-aqueous Li-O2batteries.

    • Shichao Wu
    • , Yu Qiao
    •  & Haoshen Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The general consensus is that random walking, such as Brownian motion, follows a linear dependence of diffusion motions with time. Here, the authors show that random motion of macromolecules in an isotropic fluid could be governed by non-random dynamics that are only detectable in their relative motions.

    • Maged F. Serag
    •  & Satoshi Habuchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Due to the synthetic utility of the products, stereoselective halogenation is a powerful method for the synthesis of chiral compounds. Here the authors report an enantioselective decarboxylative chlorination, giving access to a range of α-chloroketones.

    • Kazutaka Shibatomi
    • , Kazumasa Kitahara
    •  & Seiji Iwasa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spintronics, graphene, and carbon nanotubes are potential components of next-generation high performance computers. Here, the authors propose and theoretically evaluate a spintronic logic family composed solely of carbon materials with the potential for a 100 × improvement in energy efficiency.

    • Joseph S. Friedman
    • , Anuj Girdhar
    •  & Alan V Sahakian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal-organic frameworks are generally considered to be inert catalysts for many electrochemical reactions, however this is not always the case. Here the authors fabricate an ultrathin nanosheet array of metal-organic frameworks exhibiting enhanced performance toward electrocatalytic water splitting.

    • Jingjing Duan
    • , Sheng Chen
    •  & Chuan Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reaction-diffusion controls the spatial formation of many natural structures but is rarely applied to organic materials. Here, the authors couple reaction-diffusion to the self-assembly of a supramolecular gelator, introducing a strategy to forming soft, free-standing objects with controlled shape and functionality.

    • Matija Lovrak
    • , Wouter E. J. Hendriksen
    •  & Jan H. van Esch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The complex speckle pattern produced by coherent multiple scattering contains information about the incident light field, which has recently been used for imaging. Metzgeret al. use speckle to construct a wavemeter with sub-femtometre resolution which is subsequently used for laser stabilization.

    • Nikolaus Klaus Metzger
    • , Roman Spesyvtsev
    •  & Kishan Dholakia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    For monitoring hydrogen partial pressure, optical sensors have a particular safety advantage due to absence of wiring in operation area. Here authors show hysteresis-free, reproducible change in optical transmission in palladium-capped hafnium hydride films over six orders of magnitude in hydrogen partial pressure.

    • C. Boelsma
    • , L. J. Bannenberg
    •  & B. Dam

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Memristors are key structural units of complex memory and computing systems, yet most currently available memristors are based on materials that are not compatible with silicon technology. Here, the authors demonstrate a CMOS-compatible, self-rectifying memristor and arrays entirely based on p-Si/SiO2/n-Si.

    • Can Li
    • , Lili Han
    •  & Qiangfei Xia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides can be grown on large scale using chemical vapour deposition which, however, determines presence of grain boundaries. Here, the authors report that third-harmonic generation imaging provides excellent sensitivity and fast speed for grain boundary visualization in MoS2.

    • Lasse Karvonen
    • , Antti Säynätjoki
    •  & Zhipei Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The coexistence of ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity in a multiferroic material often arises from complex magnetoelectric couplings. Here, the authors observe switching of domains in Mn2GeO4using neutron diffraction and develop a phenomenological theory to explain their results.

    • T. Honda
    • , J. S. White
    •  & T. Kimura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Machine learning methods can be useful for materials discovery; however certain properties remain difficult to predict. Here, the authors present a universal machine learning approach for modelling the properties of inorganic crystals, which is validated for eight electronic and thermomechanical properties.

    • Olexandr Isayev
    • , Corey Oses
    •  & Alexander Tropsha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whether carbon allotropes may host emergent topological fermions is unknown. Here, Zhonget al. predict a three-dimensional carbon allotrope entirely composed of pentagon rings, showing a plethora of topological fermions under strain.

    • Chengyong Zhong
    • , Yuanping Chen
    •  & Shengbai Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    X-ray free-electron lasers, important light sources for materials research, suffer from shot-to-shot fluctuations that necessitate complex diagnostics. Here, the authors apply machine learning to accurately predict pulse properties, using parameters that can be acquired at high-repetition rates.

    • A. Sanchez-Gonzalez
    • , P. Micaelli
    •  & J. P. Marangos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proposals for skyrmion-based high-density memory devices require an understanding of the formation and shape of skyrmions in confined geometries. Here, the authors use electron holography to image magnetic textures in FeGe nanostripes and explore the parameters governing skyrmion morphology.

    • Chiming Jin
    • , Zi-An Li
    •  & Rafal E Dunin-Borkowski

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Kinetic resolution of alcohols by silylation is an attractive method to produce enantiopure compounds, but known systems often display limited substrate scope. Here the authors report a copper catalysed enantioselective dehydrogenative silylation of alcohols that have high selectivity across a broad range of substrates.

    • Xichang Dong
    • , Andreas Weickgenannt
    •  & Martin Oestreich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Semiconductors are promising for high performance spintronics but the low functioning temperature hampers their applications. Here the authors achieve a strong room temperature modulation of spin-dependent resistance in GaN nanowires, which marks an important step towards practical spintronic devices.

    • Tae-Eon Park
    • , Youn Ho Park
    •  & Joonyeon Chang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hourglasses measure time because the discharge rate of dry sand is constant. Here Koivistoet al. show that when such a system contains water there is a surge in discharge because the fluid drains faster than the grains, which might help us understand the transport of grains in silos.

    • Juha Koivisto
    •  & Douglas J. Durian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding excited carrier dynamics in semiconductors is central to the continued development of optoelectronic devices. Using extreme ultraviolet transient absorption spectroscopy, Zürchet al. directly and simultaneously observe ultrafast electron and hole dynamics in germanium thin films.

    • Michael Zürch
    • , Hung-Tzu Chang
    •  & Stephen R. Leone

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hyperpolarized molecules provide unique contrast for MRI but due to their short relaxation time need to be prepared shortly before injection. Here the authors report a method for eliminating the main source of relaxation and producing frozen polarized substances that can be stored and transported.

    • Andrea Capozzi
    • , Tian Cheng
    •  & Arnaud Comment

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The detection of topological invariants in the bulk remains challenging even in state-of-the-art experiments. Here, Cardanoet al. propose a method to read-out the Zak phases and topological invariants in one-dimensional chiral systems and detect those in a photonic quantum walk of twisted photons.

    • Filippo Cardano
    • , Alessio D’Errico
    •  & Pietro Massignan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whether a polymorphic transition exists in high entropy alloys or not remains unclear since discovery of these alloys more than a decade ago. Here authors report an irreversible polymorphic transition fromfcc to hcp in the prototype FeCoCrMnNi high entropy alloy and provide evidence for fccphase being more stable than hcp phase only at high temperatures.

    • Fei Zhang
    • , Yuan Wu
    •  & Zhaoping Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Up-scaling represents a key challenge for photovoltaics based on metal halide perovskites. Using a composite of 2D and 3D perovskites in combination with a printable carbon black/graphite counter electrode; Granciniet al., report 11.2% efficient modules stable over 10,000 hours.

    • G. Grancini
    • , C. Roldán-Carmona
    •  & Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid-state materials that exhibit large caloric effects have the potential to replace compressed greenhouse gases in refrigeration technologies. Here the authors report near room temperature giant barocaloric effects in hybrid perovskite [TPrA][Mn(dca)3] under easily accessible pressures.

    • Juan M. Bermúdez-García
    • , Manuel Sánchez-Andújar
    •  & María A. Señarís-Rodríguez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crystalline uraninite is believed to be the dominant form in uranium deposits. Here, the authors find that non-crystalline U(IV) generated through biologically mediated U(VI) reduction is the predominant U(IV)species in ore deposits, implying that biogenic processes are more important than previously thought.

    • Amrita Bhattacharyya
    • , Kate M. Campbell
    •  & Thomas Borch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    By utilizing electron-hole asymmetry in ultra-short single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) transistors, McRaeet al., develop ‘two-in-one’ SWCNT quantum devices that can switch from behaving as quantum-dot transistors for holes to quantum buses for electrons by changing the transistor’s gate voltage

    • A. C. McRae
    • , V. Tayari
    •  & A. R. Champagne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors introduce the concept of nanocscale lasers based on a tightly confined anapole mode. Using first-principle calculations they show that the superposition of internal modes can generate radiation-less states that are scattering free, potentially overcoming the limitations of conventional nanolasers.

    • Juan S. Totero Gongora
    • , Andrey E. Miroshnichenko
    •  & Andrea Fratalocchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Liquid metals are excellent candidate materials for biomedicine, owing to their intriguing optical properties and chemical stability. Here, the authors design multifunctional theranostic liquid metal nanocapsules that, upon irradiation, generate heat and reactive oxygen species and change shape to release drugs.

    • Svetlana A. Chechetka
    • , Yue Yu
    •  & Eijiro Miyako

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shear thickening characterizes liquid suspensions of particles that reversibly solidify subject to stress. Here, Comtetet al. show that shear thickening occurs at the transition from lubricated contacts to frictional contacts at a single-particle level, which can be linked to the change in macroscopic rheology.

    • Jean Comtet
    • , Guillaume Chatté
    •  & Annie Colin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Random fibre lasers constitute a class of lasers where the optical feedback is provided by multiple scattering in a disordered system. Here, Gonzálezet al. theoretically and experimentally study the statistical turbulence behaviour in relation to the lasing transition in such lasers.

    • Iván R. Roa González
    • , Bismarck C. Lima
    •  & Raman Kashyap

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large-scale commercialization of organic light-emitting diodes is impeded by the short operational lifetime of blue emitting materials. Leeet al. show a strategy to manage the energy dissipation on molecular dissociation using dopants with high triplet exciton energy that improves device stability.

    • Jaesang Lee
    • , Changyeong Jeong
    •  & Stephen R. Forrest

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antiferroelectric capacitors hold great promise for high-power energy storage. Here, through a first-principles-based computational approach, authors find high theoretical energy densities in rare earth substituted bismuth ferrite, and propose a simple model to assess the storage properties of a general antiferroelectric material.

    • Bin Xu
    • , Jorge Íñiguez
    •  & L. Bellaiche

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Silicon vacancy centres in diamond have favourable optical properties for use in quantum information processing. Here, the authors demonstrate coherent control of silicon vacancy spins, a prerequisite for the implementation of quantum computing operations.

    • Benjamin Pingault
    • , David-Dominik Jarausch
    •  & Mete Atatüre

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