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A flow-through redox-neutral electrochemical reactor–electrodialysis system has been developed to recover water, alkali and acids from hypersaline wastewaters. This accelerates a shift in ‘zero-discharge’ technology from energy-intensive steam-driven to energy-efficient electrically driven processes.
By manipulating the glass transition of the electrolyte, nanometre-resolution electrochemical ion implantation doping can be achieved in various polymeric semiconductors.
The ability to vaccinate against multiple related pathogens is a significant advantage. Here, the authors report on quartets of linked receptor-binding domains attached to designed nanocages using SpyTag/SpyCatcher links, demonstrating effective vaccination against similar viruses as well as the variant of concern.
The emission wavelengths of semiconductor lasers based on group-IV materials can be efficiently reconfigured by using strained nanomechanical resonators.
Ex vivo engineering of T cells for adoptive T-cell therapy without pre-activation is challenging and hinders therapeutic efficacy. Here, using nanowires, the delivery of microRNAs to primary naïve mouse and human CD8+ T cells without pre-activation for immune protection against pathogens is demonstrated.
Toroidic phases and their phase transitions are notoriously hard to study in natural materials. Now, a direct-kagome spin ice provides access to two low-temperature toroidal phases, ferrotoroidicity and paratoroidicity, as well as to toroidic phase transitions.
Biobased materials are of interest for many applications. Here the authors report insect-derived peptides that self-assemble into hollow nanocapsules through a gradient-driven, single-step, solvent exchange process, enabling the encapsulation of diverse cargoes with potential for drug delivery applications.
A simple manipulation of an electrolyte’s glass transition enables nanoresolved electrochemical ion implantation doping in a variety of polymeric semiconductors.
Acid-etching-driven nanosurface reconstruction of perovskite quantum-dot pure-red LEDs facilitates a peak external quantum efficiency of 28.5% and a half-lifetime of 30 h at 100 cd m−2 luminance, enabling highly efficient solution-processed active-matrix perovskite displays.
Plasmonic tunnel junctions integrated with a monolayer semiconductor are found to emit photons with energies exceeding the input electrical potential. This peculiar phenomenon is ascribed to being triggered by inelastic electron tunnelling dipoles inducing optically forbidden transitions in the carrier injection electrode.
A method for overcoming antibiotic resistance uses multimodal nanoparticles that target bacterial defence mechanisms while enhancing the innate immune response.
Antimicrobial resistance is becoming more prevalent. Here the authors use multimodal nanoparticles to modulate the infected microenvironment, recruit neutrophils and alleviate hypoxia to restore neutrophil function, demonstrating therapeutic efficacy against MRSA infections in mice.
A single-walled carbon nanotube spring stores three times more mechanical energy than a lithium-ion battery, while offering wide temperature stability and posing no explosion risk.
A double-blind, randomized, controlled human exposure trial of highly purified and thin nanometre-sized graphene oxide nanosheets shows that acute inhalation of aerosolized nanoparticles is not associated with harmful effects in healthy humans.
Engineering the tunability of protein assembly in response to pH changes within a narrow range is challenging. Here the authors report the de novo computational design of pH-responsive protein filaments that exhibit rapid, precise, tunable and reversible assembly and disassembly triggered by small pH changes.
How can light be efficiently manipulated below the single-pixel level? An answer is now provided using near-field interactions for nanopillars in a metasurface — phase gradients in the gaps between the nanopillars constitute a new degree of freedom that enables efficient wavefront control at the nanoscale.