Surface chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fouling is a continuous challenge for the effective application of membranes in oily wastewater treatment. Here, the authors present a hydrophobic chain engineering strategy to regulate the surface of graphene oxide-based membranes at a molecular scale for increased antifouling even at high permeance.

    • Chao Yang
    • , Mengying Long
    •  & Zhongyi Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hierarchical surface micro/nanopatterns enable iontronic materials to show performance enhancement in piezoionic mechanoreception and skin-interfaced coupling electrode adhesion. Here, the author proposes a facile and robust method to fabricate hierarchical and asymmetrical iontronic micropatterns through programmed regulation of the internal stress distribution and local ionic migration.

    • Zehong Wang
    • , Tiantian Li
    •  & Xuesong Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation on Li-ion battery anodes is critical for long-term performance. Here, the authors use operando soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy in total electron yield mode to resolve the chemical evolution of the SEI during electrochemical formation on silicon anodes.

    • Jack E. N. Swallow
    • , Michael W. Fraser
    •  & Robert S. Weatherup

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Donnan electrical potential is widely adopted to describe ion distribution between two solutions separated by a permeable membrane with implications for many chemical and biological systems. Aydogan Gokturk et al. directly measures this potential for the first time and compare the data with theoretical models.

    • Pinar Aydogan Gokturk
    • , Rahul Sujanani
    •  & Ethan J. Crumlin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Growth at liquid-liquid interfaces differ inherently from that on solids, making it attractive for nanomaterial formation. Here, the authors use X-ray scattering to derive a detailed microscopic picture of lead-halide growth on liquid mercury that reveals the key importance of anion adsorption.

    • Andrea Sartori
    • , Rajendra P. Giri
    •  & Olaf M. Magnussen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water-in-salt electrolytes can be useful for future electrochemical energy storage systems. Here, the authors investigate the potential-dependent double-layer structures at the interface between a gold electrode and a highly concentrated aqueous electrolyte solution via in situ Raman measurements.

    • Chao-Yu Li
    • , Ming Chen
    •  & Tianquan Lian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most SERS-active nanostructures suffer from low robustness against misalignment to field polarization. Here, the authors demonstrate three-dimensional nanoframes of octahedral geometry, with two rims engraved on each facet, as polarization-independent SERS nanoprobes.

    • Hajir Hilal
    • , Qiang Zhao
    •  & Sungho Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wang et al. report an underwater capillary adhesive that is strengthened by the conjunction of inner water bridge and outer air shell, and switched timely by a small direct current voltage. The design can also be constructed on flexible tapes, which can be applied to non-conductive substrates.

    • Huanxi Zheng
    • , Jing Li
    •  & Zuankai Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Defect-free surfaces with excess charge are typically described as a homogeneous 2D electron gas. Here, in contrast, the authors find that the KTaO3(001) surface hosts a charge density wave coexisting with a pattern of electron polarons, highly localized states of excess electrons bound to a lattice distortion.

    • Michele Reticcioli
    • , Zhichang Wang
    •  & Cesare Franchini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoparticle elasticity is known to affect physiological fate but how this occurs is largely unknown. Here, the authors report on a study using nanoparticles differing in elasticity alone to show a difference in the protein corona, in particular apolipoprotein A-1 absorption, corresponds to differences in circulation time.

    • Mingyang Li
    • , Xinyang Jin
    •  & Lihua Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Magnetic molecules have long been seen to hold promise in magnetic sensing applications. In this paper, Serrano et al show that a single layer of a magnetic molecule, a terbium based complex, is sensitive to the local magnetic field variation of a superconducting surface on which it is deposited.

    • Giulia Serrano
    • , Lorenzo Poggini
    •  & Roberta Sessoli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anisotropic functional patterned surfaces have shown significant applications in microfluidics, biomedicine, and optoelectronics. Here, authors demonstrate a fast and mask-free etching method for accurate surface patterning by confined decomposition, enabling the efficient fabrication of complex patterns.

    • Rui Feng
    • , Fei Song
    •  & Yu-Zhong Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Positioning and trapping single atoms at specific sites of surfaces is a challenging goal that can advance the development of single atom devices. Here the authors demonstrate that single Ag atoms are trapped inside corner holes of the Si(111)-7×7 surface for more than 4 days at room temperature, and suggest that this behavior may be shared by other elements.

    • Jacek R. Osiecki
    • , Shozo Suto
    •  & Arunabhiram Chutia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Infrared and Raman spectroscopies are often assumed to provide similar insights into heterogeneous reaction mechanisms. This study shows that these techniques provide similar data when CO is strongly bound to a surface, yet distinct subpopulations of CO are probed when binding is weaker.

    • Xiaoxia Chang
    • , Sudarshan Vijay
    •  & Bingjun Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It remains a challenge to fabricate metal catalysts with interfacial active sites distributed on the whole two-dimensional (2D) surface of metal nanoparticles. Here the authors demonstrate that the overgrowth of atomic-thick porous Cu2O on Pd readily creates an unprecedented 2D catalytically active metal-support interface with significantly enhanced catalysis toward the semi-hydrogenation of alkynes.

    • Kunlong Liu
    • , Lizhi Jiang
    •  & Nanfeng Zheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Manipulating the rotational motions of molecules may provide a tool for controlling chemical processes. Here the authors demonstrate that the rotation of a D2 molecule can be stopped, upon collision with a metal surface, by a magnetic field that affects the rotational levels to a much smaller extent than the energy difference upon de-excitation.

    • Helen Chadwick
    • , Mark F. Somers
    •  & Gil Alexandrowicz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Additive manufacturing methods at the macroscale have seen significant advances in recent times, but advances for the bottom-up formation of nanoscale polymeric features are yet to be realized. Here, the authors demonstrate that rapid crosslinking of an AFM delivered norbornene crosslinker in presence of a surface-tethered metathesis catalysts facilitates the curing of delivered material in an extremely rapid fashion

    • Thomas G. Pattison
    • , Shuo Wang
    •  & Greg G. Qiao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In field, visual, chemical detection is of use for a wide range of possible applications. Here, the authors report on the creation of a host-guest liquid gating mechanism where detection of the target host triggers gate opening allowing for gas through the liquid gate, which can be used for visual detection.

    • Huimeng Wang
    • , Yi Fan
    •  & Xu Hou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors report the use of ultrahigh vacuum tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to characterize the oxidation processes of monolayer borophene with atomic-scale resolution and single-bond sensitivity, demonstrating the potential of the technique for probing the local chemistry of surface adsorbates on low-dimensional materials.

    • Linfei Li
    • , Jeremy F. Schultz
    •  & Nan Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Preparing triangulene-based high spin structures is of interest for molecular spintronics. Here, the authors generate high spin triangulene trimers on Au(111) via a surface-assisted dehydration reaction.

    • Suqin Cheng
    • , Zhijie Xue
    •  & Ping Yu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Heteroatom substitution in larger acenes represents a fundamental step towards precise engineering of the remarkable electronic properties of the acene family. Here, the authors present an on-surface synthesis strategy and detailed characterization for three undecacene analogs substituted with four nitrogen atoms.

    • Kristjan Eimre
    • , José I. Urgel
    •  & Carlo A. Pignedoli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Why are lubricant-infused surfaces so effective at reducing drag in microfluidic flow? Here, authors reveal that infused nanostructured Teflon wrinkles induce large interfacial slip due to the spontaneous nucleation of surface nanobubbles, a mechanism likely to occur on most rough infused surfaces.

    • Christopher Vega-Sánchez
    • , Sam Peppou-Chapman
    •  & Chiara Neto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Theoretical studies of the air-water interface of a water droplet show a wide distribution of strong electric fields at the surface that can make or break chemical bonds to accelerate chemical reactions over the bulk water phase.

    • Hongxia Hao
    • , Itai Leven
    •  & Teresa Head-Gordon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tracking single molecule movements is a challenging task, but highly desired for applications and fundamental studies. Here the authors reconstruct the sub-angstrom relative movements of a molecule interacting with a metal adatom, by measuring its vibrational spectrum in a self-assembled monolayer, continuously modified by the adatom in a nanoparticle-on-mirror construct.

    • Jack Griffiths
    • , Tamás Földes
    •  & Jeremy J. Baumberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Catalytic reactions may exhibit oscillations in the reaction rate even at constant external parameters. Here, the authors observe and explain the coexistence of such oscillations and the steady states of catalytic activity in H2 oxidation on differently structured grains of a polycrystalline Rh foil.

    • P. Winkler
    • , J. Zeininger
    •  & G. Rupprechter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Knowing how individual water molecules interact with surfaces is crucial for understanding surface and interface phenomena. Here, the authors show how local water-water interactions enable an unforeseen and surprisingly rapid mechanism of atom exchange between a common mineral and its surroundings.

    • Zdenek Jakub
    • , Matthias Meier
    •  & Gareth S. Parkinson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    By now a plethora of ultrathin hydrophobic coatings are available but their durability are not well developed. Here, the authors present a thin, durable and fluorine-free PDMS-based vitrimer coating that implements many desirable aspects like energy efficiency, durability and sustainability.

    • Jingcheng Ma
    • , Laura E. Porath
    •  & Christopher M. Evans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Similarly to graphene, attempts to fabricate phosphorene by epitaxy or starting from a few layers of bulk black phosphorus have failed so far. Here, the authors present a controllable bottom-up approach to grow atomically thin, crystalline 1D flat phosphorus chains on a Ag(111) substrate.

    • Wei Zhang
    • , Hanna Enriquez
    •  & Hamid Oughaddou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Adsorption is a fundamentally important process but challenging to quantify, especially at the nanoscale. Here, the authors map the adsorption affinity and cooperativity of various ligands on single gold nanoparticles and discover adsorption crossover behaviors between different facets, leading to a strategy to control particle shape.

    • Rong Ye
    • , Ming Zhao
    •  & Peng Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reactions at the interface between mineral surfaces and flowing liquids are ubiquitous in nature. Here the authors explore, using surface-specific sum frequency generation spectroscopy and numeric calculations, how the liquid flow affects the charging and dissolution rates leading to flow-dependent charge gradients along the surface.

    • Patrick Ober
    • , Willem Q. Boon
    •  & Mischa Bonn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are a promising class of ligands for forming robust self-assembled monolayers on metals, many questions remain about their behavior on surfaces. Here, the authors address these fundamental questions—such as the factors controlling NHC orientation, mobility, and ability to self-assemble—through an in-depth examination of NHC overlayers on Au(111).

    • Alex Inayeh
    • , Ryan R. K. Groome
    •  & Alastair B. McLean

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dynamics of water molecules at interfaces controls natural and artificial processes, but experimental investigations have been challenging. Here the authors investigate water molecules on a graphene surface using helium spin-echo spectroscopy, and reveal a regime where freely mobile molecules undergo strong repulsive mutual interactions which inhibit ice nucleation.

    • Anton Tamtögl
    • , Emanuel Bahn
    •  & William Allison

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The preparation of lanthanide-transition metal clusters containing multiple lanthanide atoms remains challenging. Here, the authors present the controlled on-surface formation of ligand-stabilized heterometallic Ce/Au clusters containing two, three and four Ce atoms bridged by Au adatoms.

    • Jing Liu
    • , Jie Li
    •  & Yongfeng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Designing ultra small metal nanoclusters or single atoms with metallic state is a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate the stabilization of ultra small silver clusters in the nearly-metallic state by oxygen adsorption at high temperature, using in situ spectroscopy and microscope technologies.

    • Rongtan Li
    • , Xiaoyan Xu
    •  & Xinhe Bao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vibronic coupling is a key feature of molecular electronic transitions, but its visualization in real space is an experimental challenge. Here the authors, using scanning tunneling microscopy induced luminescence, resolve the effect of vibronic coupling with different modes on the electron distributions in real space in a single pentacene molecule.

    • Fan-Fang Kong
    • , Xiao-Jun Tian
    •  & J. G. Hou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ice-nucleating proteins promote ice formation at high sub-zero temperatures, but the mechanism is still unclear. The authors investigate a model ice-nucleating protein at the air-water interface using vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy and simulations, revealing its reorientation at low temperatures, which increases contact with water molecules and promotes their ordering.

    • Steven J. Roeters
    • , Thaddeus W. Golbek
    •  & Tobias Weidner

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