Physical sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The detailed folding mechanisms of membrane proteins in their natural bilayer-like environments remains poorly understood due to the lack of tools for measuring stabilities and kinetics. Here, by simulating the folding of GlpG in a bilayer, the authors provide support for the helical-hairpin hypothesis and prompt a re-evaluation of a long-standing paradigm, the two-stage hypothesis.

    • Wei Lu
    • , Nicholas P. Schafer
    •  & Peter G. Wolynes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Devices that generate electricity from electric fluctuations are promising for wireless power transmission as well as energy harvesting from environmental radio waves. Here the authors report the electric power generation from environmental fluctuations by using superconducting vortex strings in MoGe/YIG bilayer system.

    • J. Lustikova
    • , Y. Shiomi
    •  & E. Saitoh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fixation of CO2 in organic molecules is an area of great interest due to the implications in sustainable chemistry. Here, the authors show a visible light-mediated hydrocarboxylation of ketimines with atmospheric CO2 to afford a number of α,α–diaryl α-amino acid derivatives.

    • Xinyuan Fan
    • , Xu Gong
    •  & Patrick J. Walsh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Adapting the cavity of a coordination capsule generally involves the addition or removal of subcomponents. Here, the authors report two vanadium-organic coordination nanocapsules with the same number of components but variable cavity sizes—an expanded ball and contracted octahedron—whose solvent-controlled interconversion is attributed to the versatile coordination geometry of the vanadium centers.

    • Kongzhao Su
    • , Mingyan Wu
    •  & Maochun Hong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Real-time characterisation of nonlinear processes in the time domain is challenging. Here, Närhi et al. show that machine learning techniques can help overcome this limitation and use them to infer time-domain properties of optical fibre modulation instability from spectral intensity measurements.

    • Mikko Närhi
    • , Lauri Salmela
    •  & Goëry Genty

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal-organic frameworks are promising materials for proton exchange membrane fuel cells, but cumbersome ligand preparation and use of toxic metals or solvents hinders their application. Here, the authors report the green synthesis of a zirconium, amino acid-based MOF that displays high proton conductivity and excellent stability.

    • Sujing Wang
    • , Mohammad Wahiduzzaman
    •  & Christian Serre

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conductive domain walls of ferroelectric materials are considered for device applications demanding a fundamental understanding of their dynamics. Here, frequency-dependent decoupling of strains upon electric field cycling in BiFeO3 is demonstrated to arise from conductive domain walls.

    • Lisha Liu
    • , Tadej Rojac
    •  & John Daniels

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Emission of electromagnetic waves is expected when superconducting vortices cross sample edges, but such a radiation has not been observed so far. Here, Dobrovolskiy et al. evidence the electromagnetic radiation from vortices crossing the layers of a Mo/Si superlattice, where the emission spectra can be tuned by dc bias current and coarsely by the in-plane magnetic field.

    • O. V. Dobrovolskiy
    • , V. M. Bevz
    •  & M. Huth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The time that a particle takes to traverse an electronic junction by tunneling has been discussed in theory but not detected directly. Here, the authors take advantage of both optical and electronic information from a tunnelling event to estimate this traversal time at around 1.1 femtosecond.

    • Pierre Février
    •  & Julien Gabelli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors propose an acoustic metasurface design to extend the wave manipulations to both far- and near-fields while reducing the complexity with a simple structure, which consists of an array of deep-subwavelength-spaced slits perforated in a thin plate.

    • Jian Chen
    • , Jing Xiao
    •  & Zheng Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Low-dimensional materials show promise for applications in imaging, spectroscopy and ultra-broadband communications. Here, the authors report an effect of Brewster angle control at graphene-quartz interface for applications in terahertz modulation over a broadband range from 0.5 to 1.6 THz.

    • Zefeng Chen
    • , Xuequan Chen
    •  & Jian-Bin Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoparticles are often used as nanothermometers by measuring their luminescence from upconverted energy under illumination. The authors uncover the artificial appearance of a temperature rise at high excitation intensities due to effects involving higher energy states.

    • Andrea D. Pickel
    • , Ayelet Teitelboim
    •  & Chris Dames

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is known that intermolecular interactions impact electron transfer rates, but the mechanisms involved are challenging to define experimentally. Here, the authors have developed a platform that enables atomic orbital resolution of electron transfer through an explicit intermolecular interaction.

    • Cameron W. Kellett
    • , Wesley B. Swords
    •  & Curtis P. Berlinguette

  • Article
    | Open Access

    LiCoO2 is a cathode material widely used in lithium-ion batteries but suffers from solubilization of cobalt and structural disorder when the voltage is increased to release more capacity. Here the authors show a ternary Li, Al and F-modified LiCoO2 and battery cells with stable cycling behavior over 4.55 V.

    • Jiawei Qian
    • , Lei Liu
    •  & Yingying Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Characterization of nanoparticles is a complex and important problem for the vast number of applications that require them. Here, the authors present a method to uncover the two-dimensional distribution of length and diameter of anisotropic nanoparticles like gold nanorods with a single measurement by combining spectroscopic and sedimentation data.

    • Simon E. Wawra
    • , Lukas Pflug
    •  & Wolfgang Peukert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While liquid-phase synthesis of 2D materials presents opportunities for large-scale production, achieving precise control over product quality, size and morphology remains challenging. Here, the authors show that hydrodynamic manipulation of nanoparticle assembly enables control over crystallinity, size and aspect ratio.

    • Nicholas A. Jose
    • , Hua Chun Zeng
    •  & Alexei A. Lapkin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many experiments have been performed that study rectification by exciting electrons to tunnel across a single quantum barrier. Here, the authors take a 2-dimensional approach by combining 2D closed-loop tunneling barriers with broken symmetry to enable geometrically controllable rectification of THz fields.

    • Taehee Kang
    • , R. H. Joon-Yeon Kim
    •  & Dai-Sik Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite major drug discovery efforts, the therapeutic options for glioblastoma (GBM) remain inadequate. Here they analyze patient-derived xenograft model of GBM to quantitatively map distribution and cellular response to the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib, and report heterogeneous erlotinib delivery to intracranial tumors to be inadequate to inhibit EGFR signaling.

    • Elizabeth C. Randall
    • , Kristina B. Emdal
    •  & Nathalie Y. R. Agar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-interaction of a bound state through its coupling to the continuum is a phenomenon that is very difficult to observe. Here, the authors optically collide atomic clouds of rubidium and potassium to observe the self-interaction energy through precise measurements of magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances.

    • Ryan Thomas
    • , Matthew Chilcott
    •  & Niels Kjærgaard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hybrid perovskite semiconductors are promising for wavelength-tunable laser diodes but their behavior under intense electrical excitation remains unexplored. Kim et al. investigate perovskite light emitting diodes at current densities nearing 1 kA cm−2 and suggest that a laser diode is within reach.

    • Hoyeon Kim
    • , Lianfeng Zhao
    •  & Noel C. Giebink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultrathin metallic films are most often fabricated by atomic or molecular beam epitaxy under ultrahigh vacuum conditions, where it is difficult to control deposition and growth. Here, the authors describe a wet deposition method, using solution-borne gold nanocluster precursors, to regulate growth of atomically flat gold nanoislands on a surface.

    • Hai Cao
    • , Deepali Waghray
    •  & Steven De Feyter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Controlling complex properties of optical systems, like the output of nonlinear light sources, is increasingly important for applications. Here, Wetzel et al. use an actively-controlled photonic chip to prepare patterns of femtosecond laser pulses used for tailoring supercontinuum generation.

    • Benjamin Wetzel
    • , Michael Kues
    •  & Roberto Morandotti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Common radical fluorination reagents, such as Selectofluor®, are penalized by the need for metal catalysts and possible oxidation side reactions. Here, the authors reported the synthesis and application of N-fluoro-N-arylsulfonamides (NFASs) as third generation of radical fluorinating reagents to overcome those limitations.

    • Daniel Meyer
    • , Harish Jangra
    •  & Philippe Renaud

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A current challenge in the development of molecular water oxidation catalysts is to overcome their inherent susceptibilities to oxidative or hydrolytic degradation under turnover conditions in water. Here, the authors design an inherently-stable water oxidation catalyst using oxidatively-inert ligands to harness a reactive metal oxide.

    • Biswarup Chakraborty
    • , Gal Gan-Or
    •  & Ira A. Weinstock

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Negative optical torque has been predicted theoretically, but experimental demonstrations have been scarce. Here, the authors show that the optical torque in a mesoscopic optical matter array can be reversed depending on number, separation and configuration of nanoparticles in a circularly polarized optical trap.

    • Fei Han
    • , John A. Parker
    •  & Zijie Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Online misinformation is a threat to a well-informed electorate and undermines democracy. Here, the authors analyse the spread of articles on Twitter, find that bots play a major role in the spread of low-credibility content and suggest control measures for limiting the spread of misinformation.

    • Chengcheng Shao
    • , Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia
    •  & Filippo Menczer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving control over the thermomechanical properties of functional materials is desirable, yet remains highly challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate continuous negative-to-positive tuning of thermal expansion in two Prussian blue analogues, by varying the concentration of adsorbed CO2.

    • Josie E. Auckett
    • , Arnold A. Barkhordarian
    •  & Cameron J. Kepert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Continuous-time computation paradigm could represent a viable alternative to the standard digital one when dealing with certain classes of problems. Here, the authors propose a generalised version of a continuous-time solver and simulate its performances in solving MaxSAT and two-colour Ramsey problems.

    • Botond Molnár
    • , Ferenc Molnár
    •  & Mária Ercsey-Ravasz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molecular tessellations of complex tilings are difficult to design and construct. Here, the authors show that molecular tessellations can be formed from a single building block that gives rise to two distinct supramolecular phases, whose self-similar subdomains serve as tiles in the periodic tessellations.

    • Fang Cheng
    • , Xue-Jun Wu
    •  & Kian Ping Loh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Removal of anthropogenic mercury from water streams is of great importance given its high toxicity and ability to spread rapidly. Here, the authors demonstrate the direct alloying of mercury with a fully recyclable platinum electrode, providing effective removal at different concentrations and pH, and in the presence of other contaminants.

    • Cristian Tunsu
    •  & Björn Wickman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnon-based spintronic devices crucially rely on the capability of spin wave manipulation. Here the authors achieve active control of spin wave transmission by programming a pinned 90 degree Néel domain wall in a continuous CoFeB/BaTiO3 film with abrupt rotations of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy.

    • Sampo J. Hämäläinen
    • , Marco Madami
    •  & Sebastiaan van Dijken

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Arterial pulsations are thought to drive CSF flow through perivascular spaces (PVSs), but this has never been quantitatively shown. Using particle tracking to quantify CSF flow velocities in PVSs of live mice, the authors show that flow speeds match the instantaneous speeds of the pulsing artery walls that form the inner boundaries of the PVSs.

    • Humberto Mestre
    • , Jeffrey Tithof
    •  & Douglas H. Kelley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Irradiating iron introduces defects such as interstitial dislocation loops, whose exact formation mechanism remains unclear. Here, the authors use large scale molecular dynamics simulations to reveal a punch out mechanism that can directly create < 100 > interstitial dislocation loops.

    • Qing Peng
    • , Fanjiang Meng
    •  & Fei Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gradient-based hybrid quantum-classical algorithms are often initialised with random, unstructured guesses. Here, the authors show that this approach will fail in the long run, due to the exponentially-small probability of finding a large enough gradient along any direction.

    • Jarrod R. McClean
    • , Sergio Boixo
    •  & Hartmut Neven

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The electro-optical response of suspended graphene membranes measured by change in wavelength-dependent reflectance can enable interferometric modulation display (IMOD) technology. Here, the authors report suspended double layer graphene based IMOD drums with 2500 pixels per inch.

    • Santiago J. Cartamil-Bueno
    • , Dejan Davidovikj
    •  & Samer Houri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Supported metal nanoparticles hold great promise for many fields, including catalysis and renewable energy. Here the authors report a novel methodology for the in-situ growth of architecturally tailored, regenerative metal nanocatalysts that is applicable to a wide range of materials.

    • No Woo Kwak
    • , Seung Jin Jeong
    •  & WooChul Jung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coherent multidimensional spectroscopy has greatly advanced our understanding of molecular dynamics but was so far broadly limited to complex condensed phase probes. Bruder et al. extend the method to isolated nanosystems in the gas phase and study cold molecules in a superfluid helium environment.

    • Lukas Bruder
    • , Ulrich Bangert
    •  & Frank Stienkemeier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water based inks used for water-jet rewritable paper (WJRP) are an environmental friendly alternative to conventional printing, but black colour in WJRP could not be realized so far. Here the authors demonstrate black as well as other colour WJRP based on binary systems containing less-sensitive acidochromic dyes and mild proton donors.

    • Guan Xi
    • , Lan Sheng
    •  & Sean Xiao-An Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While the sharp emission lines of microlasers are advantageous for cell tagging, their relatively large size can impede cell migration and behavior. Here, Fikouras et al. develop nano-sized lasers that can readily tag and track various types of cells, including through narrow constrictions.

    • Alasdair H. Fikouras
    • , Marcel Schubert
    •  & Malte C. Gather

  • Article
    | Open Access

    HIV infected cells persist for decades in patients under ART, but the mechanisms responsible remain unclear. Here, Reeves et al. use modeling approaches adapted from ecology to show that cellular proliferation, rather than viral replication, generates a majority of infected cells during ART.

    • Daniel B. Reeves
    • , Elizabeth R. Duke
    •  & Joshua T. Schiffer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the ground state (GS) phase transitions in the quantum tunneling regime of a superconducting system is important for future qubit devices. Here, Shen, Heedt and Borsoi et al. report distinct types of fermion parity GS transitions as a function of magnetic field and gate voltages in a Coulomb-blockaded InSb–Al island.

    • Jie Shen
    • , Sebastian Heedt
    •  & Leo P. Kouwenhoven

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diversity-oriented synthesis is a valuable strategy to construct complex molecules of medicinal interest. Here, the authors show a folding cascade strategy to convert linear substrates into polycyclic compounds with multiple stereocentres by combining the reductive chemistry of SmI2 with 1,5-hydrogen atom transfer.

    • Mateusz P. Plesniak
    • , Monserrat H. Garduño-Castro
    •  & David J. Procter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite recent advances in organic optoelectronics development, integration of electronics and photonics in a chip remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate organic field-effect optical waveguides that control propagating photons by the electric field produced in an organic transistor.

    • Guangyao Zhao
    • , Huanli Dong
    •  & Wenping Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The short exciton life time in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides poses limitations to efficient control of the valley pseudospin and coherence. Here, the authors manipulate the exciton coherence in a WSe2 monolayer embedded in an optical microcavity in the strong light-matter coupling regime.

    • S. Dufferwiel
    • , T. P. Lyons
    •  & A. I. Tartakovskii

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