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An ultraslow-fluid-like unit cell composed of acoustic channels, arranged in a zigzag shape, exhibits various tunable Mie resonances. It is used for the construction of a highly reflective metasurface that can efficiently block low-frequency sound.
Understanding the mechanisms driving the formation of 2D and 3D superlattices at the atomic scale is difficult. An approach for direct mapping of Li-enabled octahedral tilt ordering and associated strain in nanostructured perovskites is now proposed.
Polymer materials with decoupled spatial structure and mechanical performance can be designed by tuning the relative concentration of two types of metal–ligand crosslink.
A structural epitope on A-type lamins is significantly more exposed in the apical than in the basal nuclear lamina of human mesenchymal stem cells and fibroblasts under environmental conditions known to upregulate cell contractility.
The use of a chromium oxide interlayer separating the perovskite film from the metal contacts improves the stability of perovskite solar cells in air. Deposited on thin plastic foils, these ultralight devices power model airplanes and dirigibles.
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.
Chemical vapour deposition is used to grow stable, ultrathin crystals of α-Mo2C and other transition metal carbides with lateral size up to 100 μm. α-Mo2C shows a superconducting behaviour with 2D character, strongly dependent on the crystal thickness.
Achieving a Li-ion conductivity in the solid state comparable to existing liquid electrolytes is challenging. A fundamental relationship between anion packing and ionic transport now reveals desirable structural attributes for Li-ion conductors.
An ultrasensitive method that uses a genetically engineered bacteriophage to bind miRNA in a one-to-one manner allows the counting, by the naked eye, of miRNA molecules at attomolar concentrations on Petri dishes.
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.
Although Fe–N–C materials are promising catalysts for oxygen electroreduction in polymer fuel cells, the structure of their active sites is unclear. Quantitative analysis of Fe–N–C now reveals the existence of porphyrin-like FeN4C12 moieties.
Capillary forces at the nanoscale can be harnessed for the magnetically directed assembly of lipid-shell-coated nanoparticles into ultraflexible microfilaments and network structures.
The growth of stanene on bismuth telluride has been achieved using molecular beam epitaxy. Photoemission spectroscopy and theoretical calculations are used to investigate the effects of the substrate on the electronic properties of the Sn layers.
Controlled overlap of molecular orbitals in metal–organic frameworks enhances triplet exciton diffusion in these structures, which are now used in solid-state photon upconverters operating under excitation power comparable to solar irradiance.
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.
Vascular smooth muscle cells can harness fluctuations in external cyclic stretching by altering their cytoskeletal organization and the associated mitochondrial network.