Materials

• Abstract Directional mass transport in confined space is crucial to life and the water-energy-environment nexus • Despite progress in understanding biological and designing artif

• Subjects Electronic devices Polymers Unlike common organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors that swell upon electrochemical doping, poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline) exhibits

• Abstract Active solids using energy influx to generate non-equilibrium forces undergo spontaneous mechanical failure, but how topological defects concentrate internal stresses an

• Abstract Lanthanide (Ln) elements have distinctive electronic structures and chemical behaviours that can be used to tune electrocatalytic performance when they are introduced as

• Abstract Increased extracellular matrix deposition and stiffness promotes solid tumour progression. • Yet, the precise mechanotransduction pathways, especially in less-studied me

• Abstract Efficient carrier injection at metal-semiconductor interfaces is essential for probing intrinsic electronic properties and enabling high-performance devices. • Thinning

• Subjects Electronic devices Electronic properties and materials A charge transfer between metal oxide and halide perovskites occurring beneath the metal contact surface locally d

• Subjects Mechanical properties Metals and alloys A martensitic medium-entropy alloy surpasses the long-standing strength-ductility ceiling of conventional ultrahigh-strength stee

• Abstract Vacuum-based deposition is a scalable, solvent-free industrial method ideal for uniform coatings on complex substrates. • However, all-vacuum-deposited perovskite solar

• Abstract The study of collective behaviour driven by spontaneous symmetry breaking and topology is crucial for understanding phase transitions in quantum matter. • The two-dimens

• Subjects Ferroelectrics and multiferroics Magnetic properties and materials We discuss altermagnetic multiferroics, materials hosting distinct advantages for low-power spintronic

• Subjects Two-dimensional materials Tellurium vacancies can drive atomic reconstruction in PdTe2thin films, converting them into non-layered PdTe. • Such a non-stoichiometric phas

• Abstract Flexible tactile sensors are pivotal for advancing neuroprosthetics, human-machine interactions and intelligent robotics. • However, achieving highly sensitive tactile s

• Abstract Molecular afterglow imaging is a biomedical modality with high sensitivity and specificity. • However, due to the short half-lives of existing afterglow agents, longitud

• Subjects Two-dimensional materials Tellurium vacancies can drive atomic reconstruction in PdTe2thin films, converting them into non-layered PdTe. • Such a non-stoichiometric phas

• Abstract Flexible tactile sensors are pivotal for advancing neuroprosthetics, human-machine interactions and intelligent robotics. • However, achieving highly sensitive tactile s

• Abstract Molecular afterglow imaging is a biomedical modality with high sensitivity and specificity. • However, due to the short half-lives of existing afterglow agents, longitud

• Abstract Lanthanide (Ln) elements have distinctive electronic structures and chemical behaviours that can be used to tune electrocatalytic performance when they are introduced as

• ECM stiffness and deposition fuel vocal fold cancer progression through mechanotransduction. • Patient-derived cells show loss of laminin-binding integrins and flocking motility

• Abstract Efficient carrier injection at metal-semiconductor interfaces is essential for probing intrinsic electronic properties and enabling high-performance devices. • Thinning

• Subjects Electronic devices Electronic properties and materials A charge transfer between metal oxide and halide perovskites occurring beneath the metal contact surface locally d

• Subjects Mechanical properties Metals and alloys A martensitic medium-entropy alloy surpasses the long-standing strength-ductility ceiling of conventional ultrahigh-strength stee

• Abstract Controlling ion-polymer interactions in organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors is crucial for optimizing device performance in applications ranging from bioelectronic

• Abstract The development of polymer products with a circular economy lifecycle represents a path to alleviate the growing plastic waste and energy crisis. • However, long-standin

• Abstract Topological photonics expands the landscape of artificial electromagnetic materials and provides a variety of responses via robust boundary modes. • Three-dimensional ph

• Abstract Order and disorder are central concepts in condensed-matter physics. • Crystals break translational and rotational symmetries, whereas quasicrystals challenge this parad

• Abstract Two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and hexagonal boron nitride, exhibit intriguing properties that are sensitive t

• Subjects Materials science Nanoscience and technology Growing transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers at a buried van der Waals interface simultaneously improves thickness con

• Single-step thermal process produces high-density, narrowband quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride. • Emitters exhibit narrow spectral linewidths, ideal for single-photon

• Deceptive sun orchids are known to mimic nearby flowering plants, displaying showy anthers to lure bees. • Now, researchers report that fruit production in sun orchids plummeted

• Plajer did not begin his career intending to become a polymer scientist. • His doctoral work at Cambridge under Dominic Wright was characterized by the unusual degree of academic

• Microplastics are everywhere, from the highest mountains to the deepest seas and even in rainwater, as recently detected in Jakarta, Indonesia. • Now, for the first time, scienti

• Implementing multi-cancer blood tests in routine screening could help doctors diagnose cancer at earlier stages, when treatment is more effective and patients are more likely to

• Modern agriculture is facing a paradoxical crisis: we need to produce more food than ever before, yet the tools we use to protect that food are slowly destroying the environment

• IIT Madras team uses machine learning to pinpoint noise sources in quantum computers. • Neural networks trained on synthetic data predict noise features with minimal accuracy los

• In this interview, Elisenda Lara, EPIC’s MarCom Manager, talks with Laura Horan, Staff Engineer and Head of Product Management at Vanguard Automation, about how young people can

• An ‘Eastern meets Western medicine’ study reveals that tiny vesicles from the honeysuckle plant reduce colon inflammation and restore the balance between ‘good and bad’ gut bacte

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, while some people were experimenting with homemade bread, others were focused on beverage fermentation. • Kombucha was the focus of this trend, as i

• Animals and birds that eat fruits help spread plant seeds and shape ecosystems. • Historically, researchers have argued that this mutualism has led fruits to evolve traits tailor