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Electron tomography is used to create a 3D reconstruction of a tungsten needle that allows the positions of individual atoms to be localized with a precision of 19 picometres, without using averaging or assuming the sample crystallinity.
Highly bendable yet unstretchable ultrathin sheets can wrap a liquid droplet to form an optimal non-spherical shape that minimizes the unwrapped interfacial area, regardless of interfacial energies and the sheet’s mechanical properties.
Polymer materials with decoupled spatial structure and mechanical performance can be designed by tuning the relative concentration of two types of metal–ligand crosslink.
Experiments and coarse-grained simulations show, in an active system based on microtubules, a system-spanning phase of motile defects with orientational order that persists over hours despite a defect lifetime of seconds.
Although WO3 thin films are promising as electrodes for electrochromic devices, they suffer from degradation of optical modulation. Ion-trapping-induced degradation can now be successfully eliminated by constant-current-driven de-trapping.
The temperature-mediated modulation of anisotropic electrostatics in response to changes of electrostatic permittivity in a hydrogel consisting of cofacially oriented electrolyte nanosheets imparts the hydrogel with actuation properties.
It is shown that a phase change to a denser crystal structure in PbTiO3 nanowires creates a negative-pressure stress state, which is effective in enhancing ferroelectric performance.
Capillary forces at the nanoscale can be harnessed for the magnetically directed assembly of lipid-shell-coated nanoparticles into ultraflexible microfilaments and network structures.
Femtosecond optical spectroscopy and single-shot electron diffraction measurements during the photoinduced amorphization of the phase-change material Ge2Sb2Te5 demonstrate that optical properties can be separated from the structural state.
Surfaces patterned lithographically with nanoscale craters can alter the morphology, migration and localization of cells, and can be designed to create specific cellular patterns.
Antiferromagnetic order at room temperature is stabilized in Mn phthalocyanine layers in contact with a cobalt layer. In addition, the molecular layer pins the inorganic ferromagnetic layer through exchange bias at low temperature.
Intraband optical spectroscopy—using an ultrashort mid-infrared probe pulse and a visible pump pulse—probes the bright and dark exciton dynamics simultaneously in a transition metal dichalcogenide monolayer.
Large-amplitude, infrared-active vibrations excited in a LaAlO3 substrate induce magnetic order melting in a NdNiO3 film. The melt front initiated at the interface propagates in the film at supersonic speeds, likely to be driven by electronic processes.
Gas-filled bubbles at the interface between a metal substrate and an oxide coating can cause blistering and eventual cracking of the oxide layer. The microscale mechanisms of how hydrogen bubbles form and grow have now been elucidated.
Dynamic liquid exchanges in a supramolecular polymer-gel matrix with liquid-storage compartments and a thin liquid layer on top lead to self-healing properties and controllable secretion kinetics.
Networks of notches in nanocomposite sheets prevent unpredictable local failure and increase the ultimate strain of the sheets from 4% to 370% without affecting their electrical conductance.
High-speed photography has been used to study the dynamic fracture of nanoporous gold as a function of electrochemical potential, providing insight into stress-corrosion cracking.
An approach for synthesizing a one-atom-thick layer of a radioactive iodine isotope on a gold substrate is reported, with a substantial increase in the emission of low-energy electrons. Such a system might have potential for targeted nanoparticle therapies.
Liquid-crystalline arrangements of complexes of DNA and antimicrobial peptides can lead to multivalent electrostatic interactions that drastically amplify TLR9-mediated immune responses.