The image illustrates crystallization via a dense liquid precursor as the free energy of the system decreases, as well as the in-situ observation of this process.

Our April issue

Crystallisation in soft and organic materials, design of organic mixed conductors, high-entropy materials, vapour-deposited perovskite LEDs plus in vivo corona and materials science in India

Announcements

  • Artist's impression of a face wearing a mask that can sense health data

    In this collection we explore the different facets of wearable electronics, from the design of wearable sensors and of self-charging power sources, to the use of wearable electronics for deep-tissue monitoring and for collecting signals from the mucosa.

  • A hippo navigating in a sea full of plastic

    Plastics shape the modern world, but between their reliance on fossil fuels and their massive accumulation as waste, plastics are at the heart of a dual environmental crisis.

  • A colorful metal-organic framework

    Making the materials science community more inclusive is an important goal to work towards. This collection brings together articles discussing how the materials science community can become more inclusive, featuring action points and uncovering systemic problems underlying the current lack of diversity in academia and beyond.

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    • Hydrogels are promising in various fields, but improving their mechanical properties is critical for certain applications. This Review comprehensively explores design principles to construct hydrogels with superior mechanical strength, toughness and fatigue resistance, and discusses self-growing and self-reinforced hydrogels.

      • Xueyu Li
      • Jian Ping Gong
      Review Article
    • Nonlinear optical interactions can be substantially enhanced by the wavelength-scale confinement in integrated photonics, providing transformative capabilities for controlling, enhancing and manipulating material nonlinearities in miniaturized platforms. In this Review, we outline the design principles that harness the potential of nonlinear optical materials on integrated platforms and their utility in applications including broadband frequency conversion, frequency-comb generation, quantum light sources and nonlinear optical quantum logic gates.

      • Avik Dutt
      • Aseema Mohanty
      • Michal Lipson
      Review Article
    • Harvesting freshwater from the air using water sorption materials is an innovative strategy to address water scarcity. This Review offers a multiscale perspective to design the next generation of sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting technology by bridging materials innovations to device realization and provides practical guidelines to understand its real-world impact.

      • Yang Zhong
      • Lenan Zhang
      • Evelyn N. Wang
      Review Article
    • Moiré materials are a versatile and tunable platform that offers a wide variety of lattice constants, energy scales and symmetries, leading to a rich interplay of electron correlations and topology. This Review summarizes recent breakthroughs in topological and Berry physics in moiré materials.

      • Pratap Chandra Adak
      • Subhajit Sinha
      • Mandar M. Deshmukh
      Review Article
    • Memristive devices are emerging within the semiconductor industry. Solution-processed memristors present alternatives for flexible, transparent and low-cost applications. This Perspective reviews solution-processed memristors focusing on the reliability of their electrical performance, aiming to increase impact and technology readiness.

      • Sebastian Pazos
      • Xiangming Xu
      • Mario Lanza
      Perspective
  • Disabled scientists are under-represented in STEM and face additional barriers at all career stages. The DisabledInSTEM mentoring programme provides support, an opportunity to learn from others and a sense of community to empower disabled scientists and help them succeed in their careers.

    • Alyssa T. Paparella
    Comment
  • An article in Nature Communications describes a straightforward strategy to synthesize chemically recyclable polytrithiocarbonates with diverse structures.

    • Ariane Vartanian
    Research Highlight
  • The increasing popularity of electric vehicles as an alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles brings new realities, challenges and opportunities for scientists and engineers. A key element of this transition will be to develop solutions for lubrication, thermal management, electrical compatibility and corrosion inhibition. Two-dimensional materials are well poised to address these challenges and enhance the performance, efficiency, durability and, hence, sustainability of electric vehicles during this century and beyond.

    • Diana Berman
    • Leonardo Israel Farfan-Cabrera
    • Ali Erdemir
    Comment
A colorful artistic impression of a metal-organic framework

Inclusivity in materials science

This collection brings together articles discussing how the materials science community can become more inclusive, featuring action points and uncovering systemic problems underlying the current lack of diversity in academia and beyond.
Collection

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