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Photonic metasurfaces can be used to control the polarization, phase and amplitude of light. Nonlinear metasurfaces enable giant nonlinear optical chirality, realization of the geometric Berry phase, wavefront engineering, and optical switching and modulation, and hold potential for on-chip applications.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based approaches enable the characterization and manipulation of biological and synthetic biointerfaces, including tissues, cells, membranes, proteins, nucleic acid and functional materials. In this Review, the advantages and limitations of imaging, sensing, parameterizing and designing biointerfaces using AFM techniques are discussed.
Domains and domain walls are relevant for the engineering of materials functionalities. In this Review, a new classification scheme for topological domain configurations is presented and applied to several materials, including multiferroics, ferroelectrics, transition metal dichalcogenides and magnetic superconductors.
Liquid-crystalline nanostructures can form well-organized 1D, 2D and 3D channels capable of transporting ions or electrons. In this Review, the design of liquid-crystalline phases, their self-assembled structures, and the fabrication and function of devices incorporating them are described.
High pressure offers a unique degree of freedom for the creation of new materials, leading to new superconductors, superhard materials, high-energy-density materials and exotic chemical materials with unprecedented properties. This Review discusses these materials, along with recently developed theoretical and experimental methods for materials discovery at high pressures.
This Review details recent advances in battery chemistries and systems enabled by solid electrolytes, including all-solid-state lithium-ion, lithium–air, lithium–sulfur and lithium–bromine batteries, as well as an aqueous battery concept with a mediator-ion solid electrolyte.
Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) comprise a diverse range of chemical compositions from halides and azides to formates, dicyanamides, cyanides and dicyanometallates. In this Review, advances in the synthesis, structures and properties of all HOIP subclasses are summarized and their future opportunities are discussed.
Conventional photodetectors, made of crystalline inorganic semiconductors, are limited in terms of the compactness and sensitivity they can reach. Photodetectors based on solution-processed semiconductors combine ease of processing, tailorable optoelectronic properties and good performance, and thus hold potential for next-generation light sensing.
More than twenty 2D carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides of transition metals (MXenes) have been synthesized and studied, and dozens more predicted to exist. Highly electrically conductive MXenes show promise in electrical energy storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, electrocatalysis, plasmonics and other applications.
Understanding the dynamics and architecture of the nervous system requires tools for recording and modulating the activity of billions of neurons. This Review explores the history of neural engineering and the materials innovation at the interface between neural tissue and synthetic sensors.
Highly crystalline 2D superconductors can exhibit very low sheet resistances and unusual physical properties, such as a quantum metallic state, a quantum Griffiths phase and superconductivity robust against in-plane magnetic fields. The origins of these phenomena and the materials in which they are observed are reviewed.
Discoveries of new hydride properties beyond those expected are ushering in a new era in hydride research and development. This Review covers these rapidly evolving advancements; explains their relevance to future energy storage and transmission applications; and proposes future research directions.
Recent works in boiling and condensation have achieved unprecedented performance and revealed new mechanistic insights that will aid in material design. In this Review, we focus on nanoengineered materials, with emphasis on further improving the heat-transfer performance and long-term robustness.
Plasmonic colours can be used to colour large surfaces, can be mass-produced and dynamically reconfigured, and can provide sub-diffraction resolution. In this Review, basic properties of plasmonic colours, different platforms supporting them and recent developments in the field are discussed.
Strain engineering can be used to control the properties of thin-film ferroelectric materials, which are promising for electronic, thermal, photovoltaic and transduction applications. This Review addresses fundamental aspects, novel ways to control materials properties and the development of new ferroelectric-based devices.
Flow-battery technologies open a new age of large-scale electrical energy-storage systems. This Review highlights the latest innovative materials and their technical feasibility for next-generation flow batteries.
The pores of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) make them attractive materials for gas- and liquid-phase separations. In this Review, the fabrication of MOF-based membranes and analytical techniques used to characterize them are outlined with a focus on the surfaces and interfaces in these composite materials.
Bioresponsive materials capable of responding to specific biological cues hold vast promise for developing next-generation precision medications. This Review highlights recent advances in the design of bioresponsive materials and provides insights into design rules as well as future perspectives.
Hydrogels can provide spatial and temporal control over the release of various therapeutic agents and have found clinical use. This Review presents multiscale mechanisms underlying hydrogel delivery systems and quantitative comparison between them, while discussing clinical translation and future opportunities.
New solutions are needed to meet the growing demand for data storage systems with ultra-high capacity, ultra-long lifetime and ultra-low energy consumption. Nanomaterials, including metal nanoparticles, graphene and graphene oxide, semiconductor quantum dots and rare-earth-doped nanocrystals, hold promise for the next generation of optical data storage methods.
