Volume 22 Issue 12, December 2023

The monolithic 3D integration of wafer-free all-2D-materials-based electronics can produce an AI processor.

Heat treatment can transform some moiré superlattices into fully commensurate bilayers, where atoms in opposite layers align perfectly with each other. This structural transformation gives rise to markedly brighter interlayer excitons.

Hybridized electron or hole states across semiconducting van der Waals monolayers in heterotrilayer systems enable the emergence of quadrupolar excitons. Quadrupolar excitons, unlike their dipolar counterparts, have a tunable static dipole moment that responds nonlinearly under an applied electric field.

Three protein interaction surfaces are computationally designed into one protein subunit to enable their accurate assembly into three-dimensional crystals with user-specified lattice architectures.

By inserting an epitaxial in-plane buffer layer of Bi₅FeTi₃O₁₅, an artificial flux closure architecture enables ferroelectric polarization from a single unit cell of BaTiO₃ or BiFeO₃.

Post-infusion poly(ethylene glycol) surface modification of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells and a subcutaneous chemokine-adsorbing hydrogel address cytokine release syndrome and the neurotoxicity side effects of CAR T cell therapy against tumours.

A compact, time- and energy-efficient computing architecture — based on ferroelectric-defined reconfigurable two-dimensional photodiode arrays — is shown to be capable of in-memory sensing and computing.

The discovery of passivating agents for perovskite photovoltaics can be an arduous and time-consuming process. Now, a machine-learning model is reported that accelerates the selection of bifunctional pseudo-halide passivators. The identified pseudo-halide passivators were experimentally shown to enhance the performance of perovskite solar cells.

Polymers made by click chemistry with spirocyclic building blocks form membranes that separate the components of crude oil based on molecular size and type, potentially using far less energy than distillation. Key enablers of this separation are moderate levels of polymer dynamic motion and frustrated chain packing.

This Perspective provides an overview on the emergent field of colloidal robotics, discussing recent developments on colloidal and micrometre-sized particles that can perform functions such as sensing, communication, computation and motion.

Encapsulation annealing leads to atomic reconstruction of transition metal dichalcogenide layers into fully commensurate structures with zero twist angle, enabling control over interfacial properties.

Monolithic 3D integration of electronics based on fully 2D materials is demonstrated in the performance of artificial intelligence tasks.

The authors report the emergence of quadrupolar excitons in WS₂/WSe₂/WS₂ trilayer heterostructures where the electron is layer-hybridized in WS₂ layers and the hole localizes in WSe₂. Quadrupolar excitons exhibit distinct behaviour under electric fields, enriching exciton–exciton interactions.

The authors report the emergence of quadrupolar excitons in angle-aligned WSe₂/WS₂/WSe₂ heterotrilayers characterized by a delocalized hole residing in both outer WSe₂ layers, electric-field tunability and reduced exciton–exciton interactions.

Ferroelectric dead layers can form at perovskite interfaces—a major challenge in integrating oxide thin films into devices. Here, by depositing an in-plane-polarized epitaxial buffer layer of Bi₅FeTi₃O₁₅, out-of-plane polarization is demonstrated in ultrathin films down to the single-unit-cell level.

It remains challenging to integrate memory, sensing and computing in one device. Here a compact in-memory sensing and computing architecture based on ferroelectric-defined reconfigurable two-dimensional photodiode arrays has been reported.

Pseudo-halide anion engineering is an effective surface passivation strategy for perovskite-based optoelectronics but the large chemical space of molecules limits its potential. Here, the authors create a machine learning workflow to find optimized pseudo-halide anions, which are verified in devices with improved performances.

Solid polymer electrolytes are crucial for the development of lithium batteries, but their lower ionic conductivity compared with liquid/ceramics at room temperature limits their practical use. Precise positioning of designed repeating units in alternating polymer sequences now allows the Li⁺ conductivity to be tuned by up to three orders of magnitude.

Membrane/catalyst systems in the oxidative coupling of methane are promising for their high product selectivity but suffer from low volumetric chemical conversion rates, high capital cost and optimizing performance. A dual-layer additive manufacturing process, based on phase inversion, is now proposed to optimize a hollow-fibre membrane/catalyst system.

Liquid electrolytes in batteries are considered to be macroscopically homogeneous ionic transport media despite having a complex chemical composition and atomistic solvation structures. A micelle-like structure in a localized high-concentration electrolyte for which the solvent acts as a surfactant is reported.

Thermal fractionation of petroleum consumes large amounts of energy. Here stable microporous polymers are synthesized using click chemistry, which have similar performance to commercial polyimides for the fractionation of light crude oils and successful application to heavy feeds under realistic conditions.

Trapped films of air known as plastrons are promising for underwater engineering but typically have short lifetimes. Here, aerophilic titanium alloy surfaces are developed with thermodynamically stabilized plastrons for antifouling applications.

The process of protein crystallization is poorly understood and difficult to program through the primary sequence. Here the authors develop a computational approach to designing three-dimensional protein crystals with prespecified lattice architectures with high accuracy.

A dilute water–polymer mixture exhibits a percolation-induced gel–gel phase separation, resulting in a two gel co-continuous substrate, which is used for adipose tissue development.

Polyethylene glycol conjugation to chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T) cells creates a physical block between CAR T cell interactions and other immune and tumour cells, controlling tumour lysis and immune response stimulation to mitigate cytokine release syndrome.