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It is shown that vanadium dioxide thin films can reversibly accommodate hydrogen within their lattice structures, while demonstrating an insulator–metal–insulator phase modulation with hydrogen doping.
Plasmon-mediated growth of Au nanoprisms is demonstrated by using polyvinylpyrrolidone as surfactant, which extends the lifetime of the plasmon-generated hot electrons and makes them available to reduce Au precursors from solution.
The half-Heusler GdPtBi is reported to exhibit negative longitudinal magnetoresistance. This is attributed to the chiral anomaly due to the formation of Weyl nodes with an applied magnetic field. The anomaly is also found to suppress the thermopower.
Molecular materials are shown to have asymmetry in their elastic modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion in tension and compression, associated with terminal chemical groups that alter network connectivity.
A biocompatible and biodegradable mesostructured form of silicon is used to make lipid-bilayer-supported bioelectric interfaces that can optically modulate the electrophysiology of single dorsal root ganglia neurons.
Charge-density-wave formation in YBa2Cu3O6+δ (δ ∼ 1) is enhanced at the interface with the metallic ferromagnet La2/3Ca1/3MnO3. This long-range proximity effect—it persists over several tens of nm—is claimed to have an electronic origin.
Increasing the temperature of jet engines requires materials that are stable against degradation. Towards this goal, growth of TiAl alloys with high strength and ductility, as well as superior creep resistance, is reported at high temperatures.
Excess electrons from intrinsic defects, dopants and photoexcitation play a key role in TiO2 properties. Simulations now predict that excess electrons depend on the exposed anatase surface, the environment and the character of the electron donor.
Results from a model soap foam consisting of compressible spherical bubbles suggest that soft glassy rheology results from emergent fractal geometry in the foam’s energy landscape.
Epitaxial strain is known to induce and enhance ferroelectricity in thin films of complex oxides. It is now shown that a polar-to-nonpolar transition might also occur.
Increasing the edge concentration of metallic MoS2 nanosheets will improve their electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution. The activity of MoS2 can now be enhanced by facilitating electron injection from the electrode to the catalyst.
X-ray scattering and density functional theory calculations reveal that ligand-induced tensile stress can distort the rock-salt structure of small PbS and PbSe colloidal quantum dots, creating a Pb-deficient core surrounded by a Pb-enriched shell.
The chemical instability of perovskite oxide surfaces limits their energy conversion performance. Significantly enhanced electrochemical stability in a model perovskite electrocatalyst has now been achieved using less reducible cations.
Zeolites encapsulating clusters of silver offer interesting optical properties. Here it is shown how the interactions between these clusters and the framework can be tuned to achieve photoluminescence quantum yields approaching unity.
2D surface plasmon polaritons are used to probe the domain-wall solitons in bilayer graphene; near-field infrared nanoscopy reveals various domain-wall structures in mechanically exfoliated graphene bilayers.
Single-cell mechanical homeostasis is found to be driven by the mechanosensitive, collective subcellular dynamics of cytoskeletal tension and focal adhesions.
Optically rewritable surface phonon–polariton resonators are demonstrated in a system combining phase-change materials that can reversibly switch between amorphous and crystalline phases, with polar crystals that support surface phonon–polaritons.
Lipid nanoparticles incorporating proteins from the leukocyte plasma membrane retain the properties of liposomal formulations and enable delivery of drugs to inflamed tissues.