Articles in 2021

Triplet exciton harvesting through thermally activated delayed fluorescence is shown to be effective also under X-ray excitation, increasing the efficiency and imaging quality of X-ray detectors based on organic scintillation.

Ionic and dipolar liquids display unexpected behaviours, especially in confinement, that are relevant to energy storage, electrochemistry and catalysis. An approach that involves electronic screening while capturing molecular aspects of interfacial fluids is now proposed.

The large-scale fabrication of cellulose nanocrystal photonic films in a roll-to-roll device is achieved by careful optimization of the cellulose nanocrystal formulation and its controlled deposition and drying on a substrate. Once dry, these photonic films can be peeled and milled into effect pigments, highlighting the potential of cellulose nanocrystals as a sustainable material for industrial photonic applications.

The authors demonstrate ultrafast symmetry breaking by optically driven photocurrents.

The glass forming ability of alloys is found to be strongly correlated with the full-width at half-maximum of the first diffraction peak in the X-ray diffraction pattern, which facilitates the discovery of bulk metallic glass compositions.

Theoretical descriptors differentiate catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction by the strength of oxygen binding in the reactive intermediate created upon electron transfer. Picosecond optical spectra of the Ti-OH* population on doped SrTiO₃ are now shown to be ordered by surface hydroxylation.

A functional bioadhesive has been developed to possess properties such as mechanical compliance, electrical conductivity and optical transparency, and is utilized for bonding electronic devices to various organs in the body for up to several months.

Nanoarchitected carbon composed of intricate tube-in-tube beams connected with nanostruts has been fabricated, achieving both ultralightweight and ultrahigh modulus.

A transparent suspension containing colloidal silica is used to additively manufacture three-dimensional structures and photonic devices of silica glass at the nanoscale.

Centimetre-scale crack-free metal nanolattices are realized, enabling outstanding high tensile strength in low-density materials.

Nanoarchitecture design of materials offers great opportunities to achieve unusual properties, but requires fabrication techniques that ensure sufficient resolution and material quality.

A nanoscale tube-in-tube sandwich structure is generated by a two-step templating-pyrolysis process, which strengthens the log-pile carbon architecture and slows down the decrease of stiffness with decreasing density.

Tamm plasmon thermal emitters can provide efficient infrared emission, but are limited by design complexity. Now, the inverse design of Tamm modes facilitated by CdO films on aperiodic dielectric reflectors enables emission with an on-demand spectrum.

Tamm plasmon thermal emitters can provide low-cost, efficient mid to long infrared emission, but have been limited by a challenging design. Here the authors apply an inverse design protocol to demonstrate tailorable multi-band emission on CdO films.

Thermoelectric materials can generate energy from a heat differential. This Review provides an overview of mid- to high-temperature thermoelectrics, their application in modules, and the issues that need to be addressed to enable commercial implementation of state-of-the-art materials.

Integrin-mediated substrate-rigidity sensing triggers microtubule acetylation, modulating mechanosensitive cellular responses and focal adhesion dynamics, subsequently promoting actomyosin organization and collective cell migration.

Substrate-rigidity-dependent microtubule acetylation is now shown to be triggered by mechanosensing at focal adhesions, and in turn controls the mechanosensitivity of Yes-associated protein (YAP) translocation, focal adhesion distribution, actomyosin contractility and cell migration.

Atomic electron tomography is used to determine the three-dimensional atomic structure of monatomic amorphous solids with liquid-like structure, which is characterized by the existence of pentagonal bipyramid networks with medium-range order.

The solvent-free conversion of phthalonitrile derivatives into phthalocyanines in the bulk is described, involving a reductive cyclotetramerization step and the formation of one-dimensional single-crystalline fibres. This solvent-free autocatalytic supramolecular polymerization may enable for a sustainable fabrication of multi-block supramolecular copolymers.