Nanoscience and technology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lithium dendrite growth in solid-state electrolytes is a significant challenge for next-generation battery development. Here, authors used dark-field X-ray microscopy to investigate dislocations near dendrite tips, suggesting that stress-induced dislocation may influence dendrite branching and material fracture.

    • Can Yildirim
    • , Florian Flatscher
    •  & Daniel Rettenwander

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current specialized function gradient computing hardware is not scalable to common higher-order functions. This work reports an approach for massively parallel gradient calculations of high-degree polynomials. Solving a Boolean satisfiability problem was experimentally implemented on an in-memory computing circuit.

    • Tinish Bhattacharya
    • , George H. Hutchinson
    •  & Dmitri B. Strukov

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Nanocarriers (NCs) are crucial in delivering therapeutic agents to tumors, and transvascular transport is a critical pathway for the tumor delivery of NCs. Here the authors summary strategies enhancing transvascular transport of NCs for efficient tumor delivery, and propose a delivery framework to guide the design of next-generation carriers and implementation strategies for optimized delivery.

    • Xin Li
    • , Yong Hu
    •  & Andrij Pich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mitochondrial dysfunction is linked to various rare genetic disorders and common age-related diseases, but few compounds can stimulate mitochondrial activity. Here, the authors address this issue by developing atomic vacancy-rich molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles that can catalyze intracellular reactive oxygen species to enhance mitochondrial biogenesis and cellular respiration.

    • Kanwar Abhay Singh
    • , John Soukar
    •  & Akhilesh K. Gaharwar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Simultaneous achievement of lightweight and high strength is challenging. Here, authors combine self-assembly of nanoscale block copolymer and carbonization to create nanoporous amorphous carbon materials, which have the density of elastomers or plastic but the strength of metals or alloys.

    • Zhongyuan Li
    • , Ayush Bhardwaj
    •  & Seok-Woo Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanozymes are promising for cancer therapy, but it is challenging to enhance the catalytic activity of nanozymes in the tumor microenvironment. Here, the authors report that modulating lattice spacing of ruthenium-based nanozymes improves their catalytic activity and electro-responsiveness to self-powered electric field, optimizing cancer therapeutic outcome.

    • Songjing Zhong
    • , Zeyu Zhang
    •  & Linlin Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Efficient delivery of copper and iodine ions into tumor cells is promising for boosting the antitumor effect but elusive. Here the authors report a mitochondrial-targeted copper-iodide nanoparticles for the cancer treatment in which copper and iodide ions induce cell death by modulating mitochondrial functions under low-dose Xray irradiation.

    • Xiaoqian Ma
    • , Nuo Lin
    •  & Hongmin Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current approaches for the delivery of CRISPR systems into cells can be hampered by several limitations, including low delivery potential and inefficient genome editing. Here, the authors present Droplet Cell Pincher (DCP), a gene delivery system that combines droplet microfluidics with cell mechanoporation, which attains efficient genome engineering.

    • You-Jeong Kim
    • , Dayoung Yun
    •  & Aram J. Chung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electronic proximity effects between neighbouring nanoscale materials are an important theme in condensed matter physics. Here, the authors experimentally demonstrate a proximity induced charge density wave in graphene due to the nearby presence of 1T-TaS2.

    • Nikhil Tilak
    • , Michael Altvater
    •  & Eva Y. Andrei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bacterial-host competition for micronutrients and inefficient immune responses undermine antimicrobial immunotherapy. Su et al. design an immunostimulatory metalloantibiotic and explore potential sono-metalloimmunotherapy (SMIT) for the treatment of clinical orthopaedic infections, in a murine model.

    • Zheng Su
    • , Dongdong Xu
    •  & Chen Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors introduce an extension of the popular fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) named ixFLIM. By correlating the excitation spectrum with emission lifetime, ixFLIM can distinguish the fluorescent species in each pixel of the microscope image.

    • Pavel Malý
    • , Dita Strachotová
    •  & Petr Heřman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biosensors that accurately detect proteins are critical for biological applications, but modular transduction of binding into useful outputs is a challenge. Here, authors develop a modular platform using aptamer-regulated transcription to detect proteins and process RNA outputs via molecular circuits.

    • Heonjoon Lee
    • , Tian Xie
    •  & Rebecca Schulman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hard X-ray free electron lasers allow new insights into dense matter dynamics. Here, the authors show that a single-beam, short-pulse laser can generate a converging cylindrical shock in a thin wire, providing a new method for high energy density research with improved repetition rates.

    • Alejandro Laso Garcia
    • , Long Yang
    •  & Toma Toncian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Replicating natural processes in synthetic cells is key to further development and understanding. Here, the authors develop a synthetic reaction network for the generation of metabolic energy in the form of proton motive force, used to drive the accumulation of nutrients and enable internal metabolism in cell-like vesicles.

    • Miyer F. Patiño-Ruiz
    • , Zaid Ramdhan Anshari
    •  & Bert Poolman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advancing single-atom quantum information processing necessitates a deep understanding of electron and nuclear spin dynamics. Here, using pump-probe spectroscopy, the authors detect the coherent dynamics of a nuclear and electron spin of a single hydrogenated Ti atom on MgO surface.

    • Lukas M. Veldman
    • , Evert W. Stolte
    •  & Sander Otte

  • Article
    | Open Access

    2D π-conjugated systems incorporated with heteroatoms can suffer from stability issues and aggregation-induced quenching effects. Here, the authors develop a methodology for the synthesis of cluster-ring-fused 3D aromatic heterocycles, which could find use in functional materials, via the palladium-catalyzed B–H activation of boron clusters.

    • Zhaofeng Sun
    • , Jibo Zong
    •  & Hong Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molecular dynamics is a common tool to study microscopic physicochemical systems, however, it is limited by the inhability to form and break chemical bonds. Here the authors present a method to modify traditional force-fields implementing bond dissociation and bond forming.

    • Jordan J. Winetrout
    • , Krishan Kanhaiya
    •  & Hendrik Heinz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Atomically thin materials can form ionic sieves, in which certain species pass through the films, and others are prevented. Here, the authors synthesize nanoporous membranes using chemical vapor deposition and electrochemistry and reveal the mechanism behind the large ion selectivity they observe.

    • Eli Hoenig
    • , Yu Han
    •  & Chong Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inducers of ferroptosis hold potential for cancer therapy. Here, the authors identify a peroxide-decorated liposome capable of inducing ferroptosis and enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy.

    • Jun Jiang
    • , Lili Yang
    •  & Ruibin Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Allostery is a hallmark of cellular function and important in every biological system, but difficult to artificially mimic. Here, the authors report an approach to study aspects of allostery in artificial systems, using a DNA origami domino array structure which, upon binding of trigger DNA strands, undergoes a stepwise allosteric conformational change that can be monitored by a double FRET probe.

    • Fiona Cole
    • , Martina Pfeiffer
    •  & Philip Tinnefeld

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water structures at the electrolyte and electrode interfaces are crucial for electrochemical reactions. Here, the authors report that alkali metal cations can modify two-dimensional water networks at charged surfaces, impacting both reaction kinetics and efficiency.

    • Ye Tian
    • , Botao Huang
    •  & Ying Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors demonstrate enhancement by nearly two-orders of magnitude of the optical Stark effect in WSe2 embedded into a Fabry Perot cavity, and use this mechanism to obtain an effective magnetic field of over 200 T and implement a XOR switch.

    • Lingxiao Zhou
    • , Bin Liu
    •  & Hui Deng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this work, the authors present a metasurface-based wide-angle beam splitter designed for future applications in optical wireless communication. By leveraging the metasurface polarization multiplexing and wavelength division multiplexing properties, they achieved a high-performance optical wireless communication system, possessing a Tbps communication rate, more than 120° coverage range, and up to 144 users parallel communication capabilities.

    • Yue Wu
    • , Ji Chen
    •  & Tao Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antiskyrmions, like skyrmions, are a form of topological spin texture, with a topological charge of opposite sign to the equivalent skyrmion with the same polarity. While antiskyrmions have been less explored, they offer some potential advantages for applications, and here, Guang et al demonstrate antiskyrmion motion within stripe domains.

    • Yao Guang
    • , Xichao Zhang
    •  & Xiuzhen Yu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physical characterisation of proteins is challenging. Here the authors report single-molecule microfluidic diffusional sizing (smMDS) to enable calibration-free single-molecule diffusional-sizing based monitoring of protein hydrodynamic radii even within heterogenous multicomponent mixtures.

    • Georg Krainer
    • , Raphael P. B. Jacquat
    •  & Tuomas P. J. Knowles

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optically addressable spin defects, such as the NV centre in diamond, have enabled the nanoscale measurement of external stimuli. Here, Gao, Vaidya and coauthors observe a single spin colour centres in boron nitride nanotubes, which, due to their spin S = 1/2 ground state, allow for omnidirectional magnetic field sensing. ’

    • Xingyu Gao
    • , Sumukh Vaidya
    •  & Tongcang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic crystal-based superimposed heterostructures demonstrate potential for manipulating excitons/photons at the micro- or nanoscale for integrated optoelectronics but the precise construction of organic these heterostructures with fixed superimposed sites remains challenging. Here, the authors construct vertically superimposed organic heterostructures with fixed superimposed positions which possess preferential nucleation sites for molecular epitaxial growth processes.

    • Ying-Xin Ma
    •  & Xue-Dong Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vertical field-effect transistors (VFETs) have potential for the realization of ultra-scaled devices, but their fabrication is usually limited by trade-offs between scalability and channel length. Here, the authors report a large-scale transfer method to realize indium gallium zinc oxide/graphene VFETs with van der Waals metallic contacts and reduced channel length.

    • Xiaokun Yang
    • , Rui He
    •  & Yuan Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hole-spin qubits based on semiconductor quantum dots offer potential advantages over their electron-spin counterparts, such as fast qubit control and enhanced coherence times. Liles et al. report a hole-based singlet-triplet spin qubit in planar Si MOS device and develop a model to describe its dynamics.

    • S. D. Liles
    • , D. J. Halverson
    •  & A. R. Hamilton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exciton-polaritons result from the strong coupling of excitons and photons, exhibiting strong nonlinearity. Here, Zhao et al demonstrate room-temperature optical polariton spin-switching in a tungsten disulfide superlattice.

    • Jiaxin Zhao
    • , Antonio Fieramosca
    •  & Timothy C. H. Liew

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A repeater takes an input signal and retransmits is, and a vital component for extending the range of signals. Here, Wang et al. demonstrate a magnon repeater, based on the bistable switching between low and high amplitude spin-waves.

    • Qi Wang
    • , Roman Verba
    •  & Andrii V. Chumak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In parallel-stacked materials, ferroelectric order is switched by layer sliding. In 3R-MoS2, excitons react to ferroelectricity via stacking-specific hybridization. Authors show field effect control of ferroelectricity and its effect on spin dynamics.

    • Swarup Deb
    • , Johannes Krause
    •  & Tobias Korn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hydrogen sulfide is essential in many biological processes and a promising cancer imaging and signalling molecule and therapeutic agent, but the potential applications are hindered by its low endogenous levels. Here, the authors develop a nanoplatform based on H2S-responsive self-immolative poly(thiocarbamate) with localized H2S signal amplification capability and use the nanoplatform to encapsulate an H2S-responsive fluorescent probe or an anticancer prodrug.

    • Qingyu Zong
    • , Jun Li
    •  & Youyong Yuan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cancer-targeted drug discovery can be achieved by transcriptomics screening on patients. Here this group reports a drug target screening model built upon triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cohort and drug database with the selected drug pair exhibiting effective pyroptosis induction and TNBC tumor growth inhibition.

    • Boshu Ouyang
    • , Caihua Shan
    •  & Zhiqing Pang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The controlled growth of large-area single-crystalline 2D semiconductors remains a significant challenge for their electronic applications. Here, the authors report a quasi-equilibrium growth method to synthesize inch-scale monolayer α-In2Se3 with high mobility and ferroelectric field-effect transistor performance.

    • Kunpeng Si
    • , Yifan Zhao
    •  & Yongji Gong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermoelectric catalytic therapy is an emerging therapeutic approach but faces the issue of limited temperature variations in living organisms. Here the authors address this issue by developing urchin-like Cu2−xSe hollow nanospheres that display a cascade of plasmonic photothermal and thermoelectric conversion processes for plasmonic-thermoelectric catalytic cancer therapy.

    • Lu Yang
    • , Zhiyu Zhao
    •  & Jun Lin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Functionalised carbon nanotube field-effect transistors have great potential in biosensing, but optimising the attachment of receptor proteins can be challenging. Here the authors use computational modelling to help predict how attached proteins affect electrical conductance in a nano-carbon biosensor.

    • Rebecca E. A. Gwyther
    • , Sébastien Côté
    •  & D. Dafydd Jones

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