Physical sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Roll-to-Roll (R2R) coating is a technology that potentially enhances throughput, reduces costs, and accommodates flexible substrates for fabricating various types of solar cells and modules. Here, authors discuss the R2R revolution to tackle the industrial leap for perovskite photovoltaic devices.

    • Ershad Parvazian
    •  & Trystan Watson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbon nanotube-based single photon emitters allow for room-temperature operation, but suffer from vanishing indistinguishability due to strong dephasing. Following a theoretical proposal, the authors tackle the problem experimentally by using a cavity to enhance the photon coherence time and the emission spectral density in the regime of incoherent good cavity-coupling.

    • Lukas Husel
    • , Julian Trapp
    •  & Alexander Högele

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here Pantazopoulos, Feist, García-Vidal, and Kamra explore the combination spin, phonon and photon coupling in a system of magnetic nanoparticles, and find that it leads to an emergent spin-spin interaction. This interaction is long-range and leads to an unconventional form of magnetism that can exhibit strong magnetization at temperatures very close to the critical temperature.

    • Petros Andreas Pantazopoulos
    • , Johannes Feist
    •  & Akashdeep Kamra

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inspired by fireflies, a bimodal information indication system using a photochemical afterglow material within a photonic crystal matrix is developed to display both static and changing information, such as sample type and degree of degradation.

    • Hanwen Huang
    • , Jiamiao Yin
    •  & Changchun Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Damaging energy bursts in a tokamak are a major obstacle to achieving stable high-fusion performance. Here, the authors demonstrate the use of adaptive and machine-learning control to optimize the 3D magnetic field to prevent edge bursts and maximize fusion performance in two different fusion devices, DIII-D and KSTAR.

    • S. K. Kim
    • , R. Shousha
    •  & E. Kolemen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The coupling between topological electronic properties and magnetic order offers a promising route for magnetoelectric control with great potential for both applications and fundamental physics. Here, Susilo et al demonstrate the rich tunability of magnetic properties in nodal-line magnetic semiconductor Mn3Si2Te6 using pressure as control knob.

    • Resta A. Susilo
    • , Chang Il Kwon
    •  & Jun Sung Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surface acoustic wave devices enable modern electronics and are desirable for quantum systems. Here the authors access and control these devices optically, enabling high acoustic quality factors, materials spectroscopy, and hybrid quantum systems.

    • Arjun Iyer
    • , Yadav P. Kandel
    •  & William H. Renninger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite advances in active drug-targeting for blood-brain barrier penetration, challenges related to brain biodistribution, and drug accumulation persist. Here the authors show a molecular library design centered on cyclic tertiary amine compounds and develop a self-enhanced brain-targeted nucleic acid delivery system inspired by the neuroprotective properties of vinpocetine.

    • Xufei Bian
    • , Ling Yang
    •  & Chong Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current thyroid ultrasounds rely heavily on the experience and skills of the sonographer and of the radiologist, and the process is physically and cognitively exhausting. Here, the authors show a fully autonomous robotic ultrasound system, which is able to scan thyroid regions without human assistance and identify malignant nodules.

    • Kang Su
    • , Jingwei Liu
    •  & Peter Xiaoping Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Authors predict polar Bloch points with negative capacitance in tensile-strained ultrathin ferroelectric PbTiO3 film by phase-field simulations, observing their polarization structures by scanning transmission electron microscopic imaging.

    • Yu-Jia Wang
    • , Yan-Peng Feng
    •  & Xiu-Liang Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors theoretically study the pressure dependence of the phase diagram of the nickelate PrNiO2 with and without Sr doping. At high pressure, they find that the superconducting dome is significantly enhanced in both Tc and doping-range of superconductivity compared with ambient pressure, with a maximal Tc of 100 K around 100 GPa in absence of external doping.

    • Simone Di Cataldo
    • , Paul Worm
    •  & Karsten Held

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proton conduction is one of the interesting applications of hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks. Here, the authors report hydrogen-bonded organic framework that can be transformed into glassy state, effectively mitigating grain boundary effects, and significantly enhancing proton conduction performance.

    • Feng-Fan Yang
    • , Xiao-Lu Wang
    •  & Linfeng Liang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Knowledge about the full reaction signature, such as the complete profile of products and side-products is important in accelerating discovery chemistry. Here, the authors report a methodology using high-throughput experimentation and multivariate data analysis to examine Palladium- catalyzed cross-coulpling reactions.

    • George E. Clarke
    • , James D. Firth
    •  & Ian J. S. Fairlamb

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Supramolecular polymer networks have unique and useful properties due to the reversible nature of their cross-links. Here, the authors show that when two distinct supramolecular interaction classes exist within a single cross-link, new functions can result.

    • David J. Lundberg
    • , Christopher M. Brown
    •  & Jeremiah A. Johnson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional material processing methods often suffer by strength-ductility trade-off. Here, the authors show high-pressure and high-temperature treatment can transform an eutectic high entropy alloy to having a hierarchical microstructure with simultaneous enhancements of strength and ductility.

    • Yao Tang
    • , Haikuo Wang
    •  & Haofei Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous work proposed the Berry curvature dipole as the mechanism of the nonlinear Hall effect. Lee et al. establish the sign-changing Berry curvature hot spots from spin-orbit split bands as the origin of the Berry curvature dipole and link it to the nonlinear Hall effect in the topological semimetal NbIrTe4.

    • Ji-Eun Lee
    • , Aifeng Wang
    •  & Hyejin Ryu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors require operation at T < 4 K, and successful attempts to extend their operation at 20 K and above using high-TC BSCCO flakes come at the cost of lower scalability to large areas. Here, the authors break this trade-off by using high-quality MgB2 films and exploiting a helium-ion beam-based irradiation process.

    • Ilya Charaev
    • , Emma K. Batson
    •  & Karl K. Berggren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physicochemical heterogeneity poses a significant constraint in photocatalyst advancement. Here the authors introduce a multimodal optical microscopy platform to assess activity and defects concurrently in photoelectrocatalysts, revealing that disorder can unexpectedly enhance local photoelectrocatalytic performance in certain instances.

    • Camilo A. Mesa
    • , Michael Sachs
    •  & Raj Pandya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Developing stable water oxidation catalysts is of great importance for proton-exchange membrane water electrolyzers. Here the authors report a bicontinuous nanoreactor composed of multiscale defected RuO2 nanocrystals for robust acidic water oxidation reactivity.

    • Ding Chen
    • , Ruohan Yu
    •  & Shichun Mu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Solid polymer electrolytes containing N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) exhibit improved Li+ conductivity but poor cycle life due to incompatibility between the Li metal anode and DMF. Here, the authors report a polymer electrolyte composited with Hofmann-DMF complex that achieves both high Li+ conductivity and long cycle life.

    • Yanfei Zhu
    • , Zhoujie Lao
    •  & Guangmin Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors show a facile and sustainable 3D printing by utilizing a reversible salting-out effect on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) solutions. Aqueous salt solutions lower the phase transition temperature of PNIPAM solutions below 10 °C and instantly solidify the PNIPAM solutions upon contact.

    • Donghwan Ji
    • , Joseph Liu
    •  & Jinhye Bae

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strategies to produce supramolecular glass and the study of its intrinsic structure and mechanical properties remains largely unexplored. Here, the authors prepare a supramolecular glass via the host–guest recognition between methyl-β-cyclodextrin and para-hydroxybenzoic acid with recyclability, compatibility, and thermal processability.

    • Changyong Cai
    • , Shuanggen Wu
    •  & Shengyi Dong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crystal facets are known to be important in traditional heterogeneous catalysis, yet this effect has not been studied in plasmon-assisted catalysis. Here, the authors investigate the impact facets have on CO2 reduction using plasmonic Au NPs.

    • Yicui Kang
    • , Simão M. João
    •  & Emiliano Cortés

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors identify a generic coupling in phase-separated liquids between motility and phase equilibria perturbations: phase-separated droplets swim to their dissolution. This suggests alternative transport mechanism for biomolecular condensates.

    • Etienne Jambon-Puillet
    • , Andrea Testa
    •  & Eric R. Dufresne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    When a solid object is placed in a supersaturated environment, it can exhibit interesting dynamics. Spagnolie et al. conducted an experiment using raisins and 3D-printed bodies in carbonated water and found that the motion of the solid object is influenced by the accumulation and release of bubbles as they reach the surface.

    • Saverio E. Spagnolie
    • , Samuel Christianson
    •  & Carsen Grote

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The self-assembly of nanocrystals into checkerboard lattice patterns is difficult to control. Here, the authors investigate the formation of such patterns from hydrophilic/hydrophobic bifunctionalized Ag nanocubes and use multiscale simulations to understand the effects of physical forces.

    • Yufei Wang
    • , Yilong Zhou
    •  & Andrea R. Tao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors present nonvolatile optical phase shift induced by ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide deposited on a SiN waveguide. This finding paves the way for largescale programmable photonic circuits for communication, computing, and sensing.

    • Kazuma Taki
    • , Naoki Sekine
    •  & Mitsuru Takenaka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of subcellular thermogenesis during neuronal differentiation remains poorly understood. Here, the authors employ methods to monitor local intracellular temperature, and they investigate the effects of non-invasive temperature changes on cell differentiation using neuron-like cells.

    • Shunsuke Chuma
    • , Kazuyuki Kiyosue
    •  & Yoshie Harada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enzymes involve structural flexibility in their function, but understanding enzyme catalysis as connected to protein motions is a major challenge. Here, the authors obtain energetic description of C-H activation in nicotinamide coenzyme-dependent UDP-glucuronic acid C4 epimerase based on temperature kinetic studies and isotope effect measurements.

    • Christian Rapp
    • , Annika Borg
    •  & Bernd Nidetzky

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    The knowledge gained from industrial catalysis benefits advancements of nanocatalytic medicines. Here the authors review the similarities, differences and connections in catalytic reactions between industrial and medical applications to support deep understanding and rational design of nanocatalytic medicines.

    • Zhaokui Jin
    • , Lingdong Jiang
    •  & Qianjun He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The synthesis of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) by a soft-template methodology is challenging. Here, the authors attach the soft templates to the COFs backbone via ion bonds, avoiding crystallization incompatibilities and allowing subsequent removal of the template by ion exchange for enhanced U(VI)/Th(IV) adsorption performance.

    • Ningning He
    • , Yingdi Zou
    •  & Lijian Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The inherent instability of poly(sulfur) renders the conversion of elementary sulfur into sulfur-rich polymers challenging which limits the use of this industrial by-product. Here, the authors demonstrate that inorganic sulfur can be utilized by copolymerizing with cyclic disulfides, producing high-performance thermoplastic elastomers with self-healing ability and degradability.

    • Yuanxin Deng
    • , Zhengtie Huang
    •  & Da-Hui Qu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    So far, only homoleptic N2 complexes of silicon have been reported under matrix-isolation conditions including but the activation of more inert nitrogen by silylenes remains challenging. Here the authors report on the activation of dinitrogen by silylenes under cryogenic conditions.

    • Liyan Cai
    • , Bing Xu
    •  & Xuefeng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving acoustic waveguides with low loss, tailorability, and easy fabrication is a considerable challenge. Here, the authors introduce suspended anti-resonant acoustic waveguides with superior confinement and high selectivity of acoustic modes, supporting both forward and backward SBS on chip.

    • Peng Lei
    • , Mingyu Xu
    •  & Xiaopeng Xie

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