News & Views in 2015

Topological defects in liquid crystals guide the self-assembly of molecular amphiphiles.

Studying three Weyl semimetals of the same family — TaAs, TaP and NbP — reveals how the properties of Weyl points and Fermi arcs depend on the spin–orbit coupling and on surface conditions.

Conducting complex oxides with correlated electrons at room temperature offer a less explored materials platform for the high conductivity and optical transparency needed for ultrathin invisible circuitry.

Thin and continuous films of porous metal–organic frameworks can now be conformally deposited on various substrates using a vapour-phase synthesis approach that departs from conventional solution-based routes.

Large single-crystalline graphene monolayers have been synthesized on a Cu–Ni alloy using a local precursor feeding method with an enhanced growth rate. The fast production of wafer-scale single crystals brings graphene closer to real applications.

An implantable, flexible mesh with embedded electrodes for sensing neural activity in vivo improves brain-sampling efficiency and reduces the amount of cortical tissue injured.

Self-assembling covalent organic frameworks can boost electrode performance for the catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide.

The propagation of plasmons in graphene–hexagonal boron nitride moiré patterns is experimentally studied for the first time via infrared scattering near-field optical spectroscopy.

The walls of microtubules can self-repair bending-induced damage.

Short-lived topological defects in active liquid crystals can exhibit long-range, long-lived orientational order.

An additive manufacturing technique makes heterogeneous composites with tunable local microstructure and composition.

Intrinsically disordered protein polymers can be designed to encode tunable lower or upper critical solution temperatures in physiological solutions.

Strength, ductility and corrosion resistance have been simultaneously obtained in a low-density lithium-containing magnesium alloy, thereby enhancing its potential use in transportation.

Porous solids comprising a self-entangled coiled polymer fibre or metal wire reversibly increase their volume when either stretched or compressed in an axial direction, possibly providing a new type of mechanical behaviour for tuning functional properties.