Supramolecular chemistry articles within Nature Materials

Featured

  • Article |

    Soft building blocks tend to be near spherical, limiting their packing structures to those found in metallic systems. Here the authors report the spontaneous generation of highly deformed mesoatoms using molecular pentagons and observe Frank–Kasper phases not found in metal alloys.

    • Xian-You Liu
    • , Xiao-Yun Yan
    •  & Stephen Z. D. Cheng

  • News & Views |

    A composite membrane that contains porous organic cages is shown to be dynamic, with pore aperture diameter controlled by solvent allowing for graded molecular sieving.

    • Jeffrey R. McCutcheon
    • , Mayur Ostwal
    •  & Mi Zhang

  • Editorial |

    From the realization of their true nature one hundred years ago to the latest approaches for structuring materials using molecular weaving, high-molecular-weight polymers still have much to offer society.

  • Perspective |

    Molecular weaving is the entanglement of one-dimensional flexible molecules into higher-dimensional networks. This Perspective provides an overview of the progress so far, and discusses the future challenges and potentials of this field.

    • Zhi-Hui Zhang
    • , Björn J. Andreassen
    •  & Liang Zhang

  • Article |

    The solvent-free conversion of phthalonitrile derivatives into phthalocyanines in the bulk is described, involving a reductive cyclotetramerization step and the formation of one-dimensional single-crystalline fibres. This solvent-free autocatalytic supramolecular polymerization may enable for a sustainable fabrication of multi-block supramolecular copolymers.

    • Zhen Chen
    • , Yukinaga Suzuki
    •  & Takuzo Aida

  • Review Article |

    Porous materials can selectively and reversibly adsorb large quantities of gas. This Review highlights progress made in using this class of materials for CO2 capture processes and discusses key gaps that the materials community can address to accelerate greater adoption of adsorptive carbon capture technologies.

    • Rebecca L. Siegelman
    • , Eugene J. Kim
    •  & Jeffrey R. Long

  • Comment |

    The complexity of DNA-programmed nanoparticle assemblies has reached an unprecedented level owing to recent advances that enable delicate and comprehensive control over the formation of DNA bonds.

    • Shuoxing Jiang
    • , Fei Zhang
    •  & Hao Yan

  • Letter |

    A multifunctional molecule acting both as diode and variable resistor is used to fabricate compact molecular switches with a thickness of 2 nm, good current rectification and resistive on/off ratio, and requiring a drive voltage as low as 0.89 V.

    • Yingmei Han
    • , Cameron Nickle
    •  & Christian A. Nijhuis

  • News & Views |

    Using organic solvent shortens formation time of membrane nanosheets comprising proteins and copolymers, while tuning protein structure tailors the pore geometry, resulting in superior water permeation.

    • Andrew G. Livingston
    •  & Zhiwei Jiang

  • Article |

    Protein channels are highly selective, but application in membranes is limited due to low protein content. Here, protein channels are embedded into block copolymers to form nanosheets using rapid solvent casting, with better water permeability and similar molecular exclusions relative to other membrane systems.

    • Yu-Ming Tu
    • , Woochul Song
    •  & Manish Kumar

  • Perspective |

    This Perspective describes the recent advances in understanding and controlling the properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes as well as the progress towards the fabrication of new electrically driven single-photon sources.

    • X. He
    • , H. Htoon
    •  & C. Voisin

  • Letter |

    By using stacked macrocycle dimers, a 2D nanosheet self-assembles that exclusively captures a single enantiomer, and can release it by external stimulus via salt addition.

    • Bo Sun
    • , Yongju Kim
    •  & Myongsoo Lee

  • Article |

    Molecular simulations reveal the self-assembly of small molecules into nanoparticle drug carriers. Targeting of colon and liver cancer cells by the nanoparticles via kinase inhibitors is employed in anti-tumour therapy in vivo.

    • Yosi Shamay
    • , Janki Shah
    •  & Daniel A. Heller

  • News & Views |

    Nanoparticle mimics of heparan sulfate proteoglycans offer a new strategy for the inhibition of a range of viral infections.

    • Benson J. Edagwa
    •  & Howard E. Gendelman

  • Article |

    DNA origami allows the design of rod-shaped particles with specific geometrical features. This is exploited to examine how particle-level characteristics affect properties of the bulk phase and the superstructures such colloids assemble into.

    • Mahsa Siavashpouri
    • , Christian H. Wachauf
    •  & Zvonimir Dogic

  • Editorial |

    The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry celebrates the development of molecular machinery and highlights the importance of fundamental and curiosity-driven research for furthering science.

  • News & Views |

    New findings suggest that the mechanical stretching of layered crystals can transform them from a polar to a nonpolar state. This could spur the design of multifunctional materials controlled by an electric field.

    • Venkatraman Gopalan
    •  & Roman Engel-Herbert

  • Article |

    Peptide-based nanofibres with bioactive proteins attached can now be made such that the protein ligands are introduced in a controlled manner. This tailoring of the nanofibre’s composition enables the ratio of multiple different proteins to be highly tuned within the assemblies. By changing the protein content of the nanofibres, it is possible to adjust the antibody responses in mice to the different nanofibres.

    • Gregory A. Hudalla
    • , Tao Sun
    •  & Joel H. Collier

  • News & Views |

    Planar patterns of colloidal microparticles have been manufactured with high yield over square centimetre areas by using magnetic-field microgradients in a paramagnetic fluid. This approach could evolve into technology capable of printing three-dimensional objects through programmable and reconfigurable 'magnetic pixels'.

    • Changqian Yu
    • , Jie Zhang
    •  & Steve Granick

  • Article |

    A major obstacle to fully understanding the catalytic mechanisms of oxygen reduction reactions and to designing more efficient catalysts is the lack of detailed information about the active site structure. Molecular local chemisorption sites and the long-range supramolecular arrangement of metallophthalocyanine molecules on a metal surface can now be controlled by the fine tuning of the overlayer coverage.

    • F. Sedona
    • , M. Di Marino
    •  & M. Sambi

  • News & Views |

    A new route to layer-by-layer assembly of metal–organic framework thin films affords highly ordered and controllable surfaces with potential in chemical sensing and catalyst applications.

    • Mark A. Green

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