Browse Articles

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.

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.

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.

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.

An article in Nature Energy reports an epitaxial entropy-assisted oxide coating strategy to suppress the propagation of structural fatigue in ultrahigh-Ni cathodes while maintaining desired ion transport capacity.

An article in Nature Communications describes a straightforward strategy to synthesize chemically recyclable polytrithiocarbonates with diverse structures.

An article in Nature Communications presents a method for the nanoscale integration of metal atoms with elastomeric chains, leading to stretchable conductors that are environmentally resilient.

Interdisciplinary strategies bridging oncology, neuroscience, bioelectronics and materials science will facilitate the development of next-generation therapies and devices for cancers of the central nervous system.

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.

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.

Light-emitting perovskite solar cells are emerging optoelectronic devices that integrate light-emitting and electricity-generating functions in one device. This type of device unlocks new possibilities for applications as outdoor light sources, in multifunctional architecture, smart automobiles, self-powered displays and portable power floodlights.

Interlayer hybridization in van der Waals stacks is key to understanding their physical properties. This Perspective article discusses the various parameters influencing interlayer hybridization and how they can be controlled, providing a comprehensive guide for designing materials with desired properties.

An article in Nature describes regular, modular protein building blocks that can be combined — following a standard blueprint — into a variety of architectures.

Solid-state lithium metal batteries have the potential to meet energy density and safety requirements that current commercial Li-ion batteries cannot. Given their solid-state components, these batteries are subject to — and strongly affected by — external pressure during their manufacturing and operation. This Review examines the relationship between external pressure and electrochemical behaviour in these batteries.

An article in Advanced Materials presents a drug delivery platform for cancer chemotherapy that is activated by radiation.

An article in Nature Materials reports the use of a co-doping strategy to produce a Cu₂Se-based superionic material that has a figure of merit of 3 at 1,050 K, an efficiency of over 13% when integrated into a thermoelectric module and good operational stability.

India’s commitment to its ambitious technology goals brings a unique opportunity for the materials science community in the country to achieve synergy, focus, large-scale employment and global impact. However, scientists need to engage more spontaneously in goal-oriented collaborations along with stakeholders in industry and government.

As new materials and manufacturing techniques are discovered, their benefits transform every branch of science and engineering. In spacecraft propulsion, a new generation of ion engines could provide unprecedented performance and flexibility in space mission design.

High-entropy materials (HEMs) are characterized by their high configurational entropy, providing unique property-tuning capabilities for a variety of applications. This Perspective discusses the potential of HEMs for applications in energy storage, energy conversion and electronics.