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Solar water evaporation has the potential to offer an attractive method of energy harvesting for water desalination and purification. To fare well in real-life applications, this technology requires cost-effective, high-performance and compact solar vapour generators. Zhao, Zhou and co-workers have designed a hierarchically nanostructured gel formulated of hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and light absorbing polypyrrole (PPy) capable of fast and efficient solar energy conversion into pure water. The water collected in a PVA network can rapidly diffuse via multiple micron channels and internal gaps, allowing the PVA molecular meshes to replenish with water to match high-rate vapour generation. The cover image represents water molecules confined in the molecular mesh of the PVA network.
The 2018 Kavli Prize recognizes scientists working in the field of basic biology and reminds us of the importance of fundamental research for uncovering the technologies of the future.
RNA polymerase-based nanomotors can not only rotate a supramolecular wheel, but can also walk along a predefined linear track — autonomously and unidirectionally.
The van der Waals gaps in h-BN and MoS2 provide quantum confinement effects at ambient temperature, dominating the entry barriers of protons and deuterons.
Monodispersed superparamagnetic nickel colloidal nanocrystal clusters synthesized by pyrolysis can capture bacteria and bacterial spores and simultaneously exert antimicrobial activity.
A non-invasive, transdermal monitor extracts and detects glucose from the interstitial fluid through individual, privileged, follicular pathways in the skin accessible via a miniaturized, graphene-supported pixel array.
Kostya S. Novoselov, professor of physics at the University of Manchester, UK, has been digging into the details of the life of an editor by asking Fabio Pulizzi, Chief Editor of Nature Nanotechnology, some inside information on his work.