Soft materials articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    The fabrication self-sorting supramolecular gels, containing co-existing homomolecular assemblies with similar physical and chemical properties, is challenging. Here pH-controlled self-sorting gelators are reported, where the order of assembly of each component is predetermined by gelator pKa.

    • Kyle L. Morris
    • , Lin Chen
    •  & Dave J. Adams

  • Article |

    Colloidal crystals are 3D periodic structures formed from small colloidal particles as basic building blocks and exhibit unique optical and electronic properties. Nych et al.report a laser controlled assembly of 3D colloidal crystals, which can be compressed and rotated in a collective manner.

    • A. Nych
    • , U. Ognysta
    •  & I. Muševič

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tandem solar cell structures combine high- and low-bandgap materials, allowing a broader spectral absorption of solar radiation. The authors report the synthesis of a high performance low-bandgap polymer which enables fabrication of a tandem solar cell with a certified power conversion efficiency of 10.6%.

    • Jingbi You
    • , Letian Dou
    •  & Yang Yang

  • Article |

    Blood clotting is caused by biopolymer-mediated aggregation of platelets and is enhanced by fast shear flows. Chen et al. find a similar process that arises during the self-assembly of polymer–colloid composites—a process that can be controlled and even reversed by flow rate and interparticle interaction.

    • Hsieh Chen
    • , Mohammad A. Fallah
    •  & Alfredo Alexander-Katz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polymer-based actuators, which deform in response to external stimuli, may advance the understanding of biological movement or realization of soft robotics. Here, Harada et al. report a photo-responsive supramolecular hydrogel that displays expansion–contraction abilities owing to host–guest interactions.

    • Yoshinori Takashima
    • , Shogo Hatanaka
    •  & Akira Harada

  • Review Article |

    Hydrogels are water-containing polymer networks that have been applied in various biological settings. Burdick and Murphy review recent advances in the development of dynamic hydrogels whose properties and mechanics change in response to biological signals.

    • Jason A. Burdick
    •  & William L. Murphy

  • Article |

    The 3D self-assembly of nanocrystals could generate materials with unique optical and electronic properties. Barrowet al. report the DNA-mediated assembly of symmetrical 3D gold tetrahedra, pentamers and hexamers, and elucidate their plasmon modes.

    • Steven J. Barrow
    • , Xingzhan Wei
    •  & Paul Mulvaney

  • Article |

    Heterogeneous composite materials, which are potentially useful for flexible electronics, are widespread in nature but synthetic examples are rare. Here, a site-specific hierarchical approach is used to fabricate composites with extreme local variations in elastic modulus and which are reversibly stretchable.

    • Rafael Libanori
    • , Randall M. Erb
    •  & André R. Studart

  • Article |

    Crystalline material may be stabilized by complementary DNA interactions but its subsequent capacity for structural transformation is poorly understood. Here, by tuning the DNA handshaking between two sets of nanoparticles, a Martensitic transformation within the binary colloidal crystals is observed.

    • Marie T. Casey
    • , Raynaldo T. Scarlett
    •  & John C. Crocker

  • Article |

    Integration of different compounds with silica is important for developing small-scale optical devices, yet the high temperatures needed to build silica waveguides impose limits. Here, a room-temperature, self-assembly approach is shown, which produces long microwires containing nanodiamonds or organic dyes.

    • Masood Naqshbandi
    • , John Canning
    •  & Maxwell J. Crossley

  • Article |

    Liquid crystal elastomers can perform mechanical motion triggered by external stimuli, and are light weight, flexible materials that may be integrated into micromechanical systems. Here they are used to fabricate a one-piece temperature-responsive micropump viaa microfluidic double-emulsion process.

    • Eva-Kristina Fleischmann
    • , Hsin-Ling Liang
    •  & Rudolf Zentel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic semiconductors may be processed in solution under ambient conditions; however, liquid manipulation on hydrophobic surfaces is difficult, which may hinder development of devices. Here, a push-coating technique is used to produce large-area semiconducting polymer films over hydrophobic surfaces.

    • Mitsuhiro Ikawa
    • , Toshikazu Yamada
    •  & Tatsuo Hasegawa

  • Article |

    Bursting of electrified drops is a fundamental physical process and important for diverse technical applications. Wanget al. find that bursting of electrified drops in polymers is sensitive to the shape of the drops, which in turn is determined by the polymer's elasticity

    • Qiming Wang
    • , Zhigang Suo
    •  & Xuanhe Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The orientational order of nematic liquid crystals is a property that is controllable by external parameters such as electromagnetic fields and pressure gradients. Lavrentovich and co-workers demonstrate that thermal expansion can also induce orientational order that results in a flow of the liquid crystals.

    • Young-Ki Kim
    • , Bohdan Senyuk
    •  & Oleg D. Lavrentovich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Copolymers prepared by controlled radical chain-growth polymerizations usually contain ill-defined monomer sequences. Here, successive feeds of donor and acceptor comonomers are used to control the primary structure of the synthesized copolymers with very high accuracy.

    • Mirela Zamfir
    •  & Jean-François Lutz

  • Article |

    T- and X-shaped polyphilic liquid crystals can generate ordered structures with potential nanotechnology applications. Here, the inability of polyphiles to achieve optimal packing and complete nanophase separation is exploited to produce a flexible two-dimensional honeycomb with giant octagonal and square cylinders.

    • Feng Liu
    • , Robert Kieffer
    •  & Carsten Tschierske

  • Article |

    Well-defined, monodisperse colloids of semiconducting polymers are required as new photonic and optoelectronic materials. Here, a Suzuki–Miyaura dispersion polymerization is used to produce monodisperse sub-micrometer particles of a range of semiconducting polymers.

    • Alexander J.C. Kuehne
    • , Malte C. Gather
    •  & Joris Sprakel

  • Article |

    The coil-globule transition undergone by polymers in solution delineates a transition from expanded coils to collapsed globules, depending on the polarity of the solvent. This study examines the influence of vibrational entropy on the transition, and finds it can induce a crossover from a second-order to a first-order transition.

    • Carlo Maffi
    • , Marco Baiesi
    •  & Paolo De Los Rios

  • Article |

    Chirality can be induced both by physical forces and by chemical induction processes. Here, a self-assembled system is reported in which chiral selection is controlled by the combined action of a chiral dopant and vortical stirring, which can act either constructively or destructively.

    • Núria Petit-Garrido
    • , Josep Claret
    •  & Francesc Sagués

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Non-uniform light beams can create patterns in azo-polymer films by inducing mass transport, yet the process is not well understood. Using optical vortex beams, Ambrosioet al. observe the formation of spiral patterns that are surprisingly sensitive to the optical phase, which they explain with a new model.

    • Antonio Ambrosio
    • , Lorenzo Marrucci
    •  & Pasqualino Maddalena

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Patchy colloids are colloidal particles with chemically or physically patterned surfaces that result in complex interactions arising between them. By means of numerical simulations, Romano and Sciortino show that suitably tailored patches can induce the crystallization of patchy colloids into specific crystal structures.

    • Flavio Romano
    •  & Francesco Sciortino

  • Article |

    Flow lithography is used to synthesize microparticles but relies on polydimethylsiloxane microchannels for oxygen to permeate and inhibit polymerization near channel interfaces. Now, non-polydimethylsiloxane devices have been developed, which allow oxygen-free lithography, increasing the capabilities of flow lithography.

    • Ki Wan Bong
    • , Jingjing Xu
    •  & Patrick S. Doyle

  • Article |

    Studying the effects of extracellular matrix stiffening has been impeded because mostin vitromodels are static. Here, dynamic hydrogels are developed that stiffen in the presence of cells and are used to investigate the short-term (minutes-to-hours) and long-term (days-to-weeks) cellular responses to dynamic stiffening.

    • Murat Guvendiren
    •  & Jason A. Burdick

  • Article |

    The assembly of microscopic particles into macroscopic structures may allow the fabrication of complex materials, but general strategies to provide a wide variety of structures are lacking. Khalilet al. develop a colloidal assembly system, which can be tuned to provide over 20 different pre-programmed structures.

    • Karim S. Khalil
    • , Amanda Sagastegui
    •  & Benjamin B. Yellen

  • Article |

    Teflon is a carbon based polymer that cannot be intrinsically ferromagnetic. This study shows that room temperature ferromagnetism can be induced in Teflon tape by applying mechanical stress such as stretching or cutting, which gives rise to dangling carbon bonds.

    • Y.W. Ma
    • , Y.H. Lu
    •  & J. Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological materials efficiently exploit self-assembly of simple constituents to produce complex functional structures such as optical devices. By controlling organic molecules, Leeet al. show fast two-step self-assembly of CaCO3microlens arrays, reminiscent of their biological counterparts.

    • Kyubock Lee
    • , Wolfgang Wagermaier
    •  & Peter Fratzl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multicompartment micelles can be assembled from block copolymers but it is difficult to manipulate their hierarchical superstructures using straightforward concepts. Here, methods are developed that involve the pre-assembly of subunits for the structurally controlled production of micelles.

    • André H. Gröschel
    • , Felix H. Schacher
    •  & Axel H.E. Müller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-assembly through molecular recognition events is used in the production of functionalized materials. This study shows that macroscopic gel assembly can be regulated through photoisomerization of an azobenzene moiety that interacts differently with two host molecules.

    • Hiroyasu Yamaguchi
    • , Yuichiro Kobayashi
    •  & Akira Harada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Prenucleation clusters have been observed during the early stages of calcium carbonate formation, contrary to classical models. Here, computer simulations indicate that the clusters are composed of an ionic polymer with alternating calcium and carbonate ions, and a dynamic topology of chains, branches and rings.

    • Raffaella Demichelis
    • , Paolo Raiteri
    •  & Denis Gebauer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biomass-derived monomers are a renewable resource for the production of polymers. Robertet al. develop an auto-tandem catalytic transformation for the synthesis of aliphatic polyesters—'activated' monomers are prepared from dicarboxylic acids, which can be copolymerized with epoxides.

    • Carine Robert
    • , Frédéric de Montigny
    •  & Christophe M. Thomas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chiral liquid crystals of two-dimensional colloids have not been extensively investigated. Xu and Gao show that graphene oxide can form chiral liquid crystals, and demonstrate that they can be spun into macroscopic fibres, and that subsequent chemical reduction provides graphene fibres with high conductivity.

    • Zhen Xu
    •  & Chao Gao

  • Article |

    X-ray ptychography has been used to extend the field of view in high-resolution quantitative imaging. Godardet al. develop Bragg-mode ptychography to reconstruct, in three dimensions, a crystalline specimen that is too large to be studied as a single object with a coherence-limited X-ray beam.

    • P. Godard
    • , G. Carbone
    •  & V. Chamard

  • Article |

    Leaves and tissues contain three-dimensional networks of fluidic channels, but similar artificial self-assembling systems have not yet been produced. Jamalet al. develop methods to produce three-dimensional microfluidic networks with curved geometries from the self-assembly of photopatterned polymers.

    • Mustapha Jamal
    • , Aasiyeh M. Zarafshar
    •  & David H. Gracias

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stimulus-responsive hydrogels have previously been developed that display heat-, light-, pH- or redox-induced sol–gel transitions. Nakahataet al. develop a self-healing supramolecular hydrogel based on host–guest polymers in which redox potential can induce a reversible sol–gel phase transition.

    • Masaki Nakahata
    • , Yoshinori Takashima
    •  & Akira Harada

  • Article |

    Simple routes to self-assembling magnetic materials are elusive. Tew and colleagues produce copolymers containing cobalt complexes, which phase separate to give ferromagnetic properties at room temperature following heat treatment.

    • Zoha M. AL-Badri
    • , Raghavendra R. Maddikeri
    •  & Gregory N. Tew

  • Article |

    Hydrogels have a variety of applications including tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery. Here, liquid-crystal hydrogels are developed which transform into a fluid solution upon cooling; cells can be encapsulated in the gel at room temperature, then released at physiological temperatures.

    • Zhegang Huang
    • , Hyojin Lee
    •  & Myongsoo Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional fluid interfaces are ubiquitous, but studying their surface dynamic properties is difficult because of coupling between the film and bulk fluid. Choiet al.combine active microrheology with fluorescence microscopy to image fluid interfaces under applied stress.

    • S.Q. Choi
    • , S. Steltenkamp
    •  & T.M. Squires

  • Article |

    Monitoring the impact of annealing on nanometre-thick polymer layers provides new insight into the changes in the performance of macromolecular materials. Here, the authors present results showing a correlation between the deviations from bulk behaviour and the growth of an irreversibly adsorbed layer.

    • Simone Napolitano
    •  & Michael Wübbenhorst

  • Article |

    Skyrmions are particle-like topological entities in a continuous field that have a role in various condensed matter systems. Here, numerical methods are used to show that a chiral nematic liquid crystal could be used as a model system to facilitate direct structural investigation of Skyrmions.

    • Jun-ichi Fukuda
    •  & Slobodan Žumer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Distinguishing closely related molecules using chemosensor materials is a continuing challenge. Here, an entangled porous coordination polymer is developed, which confines volatile organic compounds, and allows photoluminescence-based distinction of structurally similar aromatic molecules.

    • Yohei Takashima
    • , Virginia Martínez Martínez
    •  & Susumu Kitagawa

  • Article |

    Colloidal suspensions are important in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Here, the breaking of filaments of a colloidal liquid under tensile loading is shown to be closely related to the jamming transition seen in its shear rheology; surprising viscoelasticity is also observed in the fluid under tension.

    • M.I. Smith
    • , R. Besseling
    •  & V. Bertola

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the thermal transitions of confined polymers is important for the design of molecular scale devices. In this study, unusual thermal transitions are observed in polyethylene glycol chains incorporated in nanochannels of porous coordination polymers.

    • Takashi Uemura
    • , Nobuhiro Yanai
    •  & Susumu Kitagawa

  • Article |

    One challenge in the development of proton exchange fuel cells is the requirement for durable, high-conductivity electrolytes. The authors show that incorporating ionic liquids into synthetic block co-polymer electrolytes results in nanostructured membranes with much higher conductivities than currently available.

    • Sung Yeon Kim
    • , Suhan Kim
    •  & Moon Jeong Park

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