Chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Review Article |

    Quantum-mechanical tunnelling currents across nanometre-scale gaps between electrodes are sensitive to the medium in the gap. Albrecht reviews progress towards using tunnelling currents to probe single-molecule processes, and in biosensor and sequencing applications.

    • T. Albrecht

  • Article |

    Tuning the properties of responsive materials by applying an external stimulus could lead to their application as chemical switches or molecular sensors. Coronadoet al. develop a non-porous one-dimensional coordination polymer, the magnetic properties of which undergo drastic changes on chemisorption of gaseous HCl.

    • Eugenio Coronado
    • , Mónica Giménez-Marqués
    •  & Lee Brammer

  • Article |

    Studying the structures of dense colloidal systems of anisotropic Brownian particles provides insight into fundamental processes like protein crystallization. Zhaoet al. study the phases of two-dimensional triatic liquid crystals and find that one of them exhibits local chiral-symmetry breaking.

    • Kun Zhao
    • , Robijn Bruinsma
    •  & Thomas G. Mason

  • Article |

    Flow lithography is used to synthesize microparticles but relies on polydimethylsiloxane microchannels for oxygen to permeate and inhibit polymerization near channel interfaces. Now, non-polydimethylsiloxane devices have been developed, which allow oxygen-free lithography, increasing the capabilities of flow lithography.

    • Ki Wan Bong
    • , Jingjing Xu
    •  & Patrick S. Doyle

  • Article |

    Electrochromic materials reversibly change their colour upon application of an electric field. Seidelet al. measure the optical properties of doped bismuth ferrite and report the largest electrochromic response for an inorganic material, which they attribute to the melting of oxygen-vacancy ordering.

    • J. Seidel
    • , W. Luo
    •  & R. Ramesh

  • Article |

    Conjugated polymers are promising materials for organic photovoltaic solar cells. By usingin situgrazing incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction, Ocko and collaborators report the formation of a new type of crystalline arrangement in a conjugated polymer material known as PCDTBT.

    • Xinhui Lu
    • , Htay Hlaing
    •  & Benjamin M. Ocko

  • Article |

    The assembly of microscopic particles into macroscopic structures may allow the fabrication of complex materials, but general strategies to provide a wide variety of structures are lacking. Khalilet al. develop a colloidal assembly system, which can be tuned to provide over 20 different pre-programmed structures.

    • Karim S. Khalil
    • , Amanda Sagastegui
    •  & Benjamin B. Yellen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-assembly of multi-component systems can be used to construct discrete, well-defined, nanoscopic-sized cages. Pasqualeet al. report the self-assembly of conical-shaped carboxylic acid derivatives of calix[4]arene and calix[5]arene, and the uranyl cation UO22+into octahedral and icosahedral anionic metallocages.

    • Sara Pasquale
    • , Sara Sattin
    •  & Javier de Mendoza

  • Article |

    The kinetics of chemical reactions occurring within confined volumes is relevant to a range of systems, including biological cells. This study examines the kinetics of reaction networks, and finds that below a critical volume there may be pairs of species whose relative concentrations invert.

    • Rajesh Ramaswamy
    • , Nélido González-Segredo
    •  & Ramon Grima

  • Article |

    Microbial metabolism is usually considered to be phototrophic or chemotrophic. By showing that light-induced photoelectrons from metal oxide and metal sulfides can stimulate the growth of chemoautotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria, this study indicates that light may be involved in non-phototrophic microbial activity.

    • Anhuai Lu
    • , Yan Li
    •  & Hailiang Dong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic solar cells are promising for technological applications, as they are lightweight and mechanically robust. This study presents flexible organic solar cells that are less than 2 μm thick, have very low specific weight and maintain their photovoltaic performance under repeated mechanical deformation.

    • Martin Kaltenbrunner
    • , Matthew S. White
    •  & Siegfried Bauer

  • Article |

    A record of the daily light cycle in tropical regions is difficult to extract from biogenic marine carbonates such as shells. Here, the precise analysis of Sr/Ca ratios is shown in a cultivated giant clam shell, revealing variations that reflect the daily light cycle and the potential for future development of a proxy.

    • Yuji Sano
    • , Sayumi Kobayashi
    •  & Kenji Iwai

  • Review Article |

    High-valent iron–oxo and –nitrido complexes are intermediates in the catalytic cycles of various metalloenzymes that activate dioxygen and dinitrogen. Hohenbergeret al. review the advances in the chemistry of model high-valent iron–oxo and –nitrido systems and relate them to our understanding of related enzymes.

    • Johannes Hohenberger
    • , Kallol Ray
    •  & Karsten Meyer

  • Article |

    Teflon is a carbon based polymer that cannot be intrinsically ferromagnetic. This study shows that room temperature ferromagnetism can be induced in Teflon tape by applying mechanical stress such as stretching or cutting, which gives rise to dangling carbon bonds.

    • Y.W. Ma
    • , Y.H. Lu
    •  & J. Ding

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Intracellular temperature mapping has not previously been achieved. Now, a fluorescent polymeric thermometer has been developed that can be used in combination with fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy to allow thermometry with spatial and temperature resolutions of 200 nm and 0.18–0.58 ° C.

    • Kohki Okabe
    • , Noriko Inada
    •  & Seiichi Uchiyama

  • Article |

    Light-emitting diodes in the form of nanocrystals offer promise for environmental and biomedical diagnostics. Brovelliet al. present a method for realizing mechanically robust and chemically stable nanocrystals emitting light in the ultraviolet range.

    • Sergio Brovelli
    • , Norberto Chiodini
    •  & Alberto Paleari

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-assembly through molecular recognition events is used in the production of functionalized materials. This study shows that macroscopic gel assembly can be regulated through photoisomerization of an azobenzene moiety that interacts differently with two host molecules.

    • Hiroyasu Yamaguchi
    • , Yuichiro Kobayashi
    •  & Akira Harada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Prenucleation clusters have been observed during the early stages of calcium carbonate formation, contrary to classical models. Here, computer simulations indicate that the clusters are composed of an ionic polymer with alternating calcium and carbonate ions, and a dynamic topology of chains, branches and rings.

    • Raffaella Demichelis
    • , Paolo Raiteri
    •  & Denis Gebauer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biomass-derived monomers are a renewable resource for the production of polymers. Robertet al. develop an auto-tandem catalytic transformation for the synthesis of aliphatic polyesters—'activated' monomers are prepared from dicarboxylic acids, which can be copolymerized with epoxides.

    • Carine Robert
    • , Frédéric de Montigny
    •  & Christophe M. Thomas

  • Article |

    Unlike the other iron-based superconductors, the parent compounds of the alkaline iron selenide superconductors are insulators. Dai and colleagues examine the spin-wave excitations in these materials and uncover evidence for a common magnetic origin for all iron-based superconductors.

    • Miaoyin Wang
    • , Chen Fang
    •  & Pengcheng Dai

  • Article |

    Dissociation of ice into an ionic solid is rare due to the high energy cost of proton transfer. In this study, structure search simulation is used to predict the formation of a partially ionic phase in ice at low temperature and high pressure, which consists of coupled alternate layers of hydroxide and hydronium.

    • Yanchao Wang
    • , Hanyu Liu
    •  & Yanming Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tunnelling transitions triggered by microwave irradiation between coupled quantum dots have generally been assumed to be spin-conserving. This study shows that this condition is violated in the presence of spin–orbit coupling, thus opening new possibilities for manipulating a two–spin qubit system by microwave irradiation.

    • L.R. Schreiber
    • , F.R. Braakman
    •  & L.M.K. Vandersypen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    External electric fields have been used to control the motion of small objects through electrostatic repulsion. Here, electric fields are used to polarize conducting objects, triggering their movement by spatially separated electrochemical reactions leading to directionally controlled bubble evolution.

    • Gabriel Loget
    •  & Alexander Kuhn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Covalent organic frameworks form a porous skeleton with a precise pore size and geometry, but control of the pore surface is challenging. Here, a protocol is introduced for pore surface engineering of covalent organic frameworks, allowing the control of composition and density of organic groups in the pores.

    • Atsushi Nagai
    • , Zhaoqi Guo
    •  & Donglin Jiang

  • Article |

    Leaves and tissues contain three-dimensional networks of fluidic channels, but similar artificial self-assembling systems have not yet been produced. Jamalet al. develop methods to produce three-dimensional microfluidic networks with curved geometries from the self-assembly of photopatterned polymers.

    • Mustapha Jamal
    • , Aasiyeh M. Zarafshar
    •  & David H. Gracias

  • Article |

    Surface characterization of soft materialsin situis challenging due to the importance of non-covalent interactions. Now, a new chemical imaging method is reported that generates images of surface interactions by combining many molecular probe trajectories.

    • Robert Walder
    • , Nathaniel Nelson
    •  & Daniel K. Schwartz

  • Article |

    Advanced rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have potential applications in the renewable energy and sustainable road transport fields. Junget al. have developed a lithium battery that uses pre-existing concepts but has highly competitive energy densities, life span and cycling properties.

    • Hun-Gi Jung
    • , Min Woo Jang
    •  & Bruno Scrosati

  • Article |

    Graphene may be used in nanoscale electronics and devices, but the ability to synthesise uniform graphene with well-controlled layer numbers is necessary for these applications. Using a Ni–Mo alloy, this study demonstrates single-layer graphene growth with 100% surface coverage and tolerance to variations in growth conditions.

    • Boya Dai
    • , Lei Fu
    •  & Zhongfan Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stimulus-responsive hydrogels have previously been developed that display heat-, light-, pH- or redox-induced sol–gel transitions. Nakahataet al. develop a self-healing supramolecular hydrogel based on host–guest polymers in which redox potential can induce a reversible sol–gel phase transition.

    • Masaki Nakahata
    • , Yoshinori Takashima
    •  & Akira Harada

  • Article |

    Intercalating alkali metals into picene—a hydrocarbon with five linearly fused benzene rings—results in superconducting materials. Now, alkali-metal-doped phenanthrene, which consists of three fused benzene rings, is also found to be superconducting, opening up a broader class of organic superconductors.

    • X.F. Wang
    • , R.H. Liu
    •  & X.H. Chen

  • Article |

    Molecular probes that can detect aqueous sulphides could help to elucidate their roles in biological signalling. Qianet al. develop two sulphide-selective fluorescent probes and demonstrate their ability to image free sulphide in living cells.

    • Yong Qian
    • , Jason Karpus
    •  & Chuan He

  • Article |

    Hoop-shaped aromatic hydrocarbons can be considered as finite models of single-wall carbon nanotubes. Hitosugiet al. describe the bottom-up synthesis of a macrocyclic tetramer of chrysene, and show that its persistent rotational isomers are finite models of chiral nanotubes.

    • Shunpei Hitosugi
    • , Waka Nakanishi
    •  & Hiroyuki Isobe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advanced biofuels with comparable properties to petroleum-based fuels could be microbially produced from lignocellulosic biomass. In this study,Escherichia coliis engineered to produce bisabolene, the immediate precursor of bisabolane, a biosynthetic alternative to D2 diesel.

    • Pamela P. Peralta-Yahya
    • , Mario Ouellet
    •  & Taek Soon Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin ices are magnetic materials in which excitations equivalent to monopoles can occur. Using high-pressure techniques, Zhouet al. synthesize a new member of the spin ice family, Dy2Ge2O7, in which monopoles exist at higher densities, and can stabilize as dimers.

    • H.D. Zhou
    • , S.T. Bramwell
    •  & J.S. Gardner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transparent conducting oxides are wide bandgap conductors that have found a range of applications in optoelectronic devices. In this study, Hosono and colleagues fabricate the first transparent conducting oxide based on germanium.

    • Hiroshi Mizoguchi
    • , Toshio Kamiya
    •  & Hideo Hosono

  • Article |

    Hydrogels have a variety of applications including tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery. Here, liquid-crystal hydrogels are developed which transform into a fluid solution upon cooling; cells can be encapsulated in the gel at room temperature, then released at physiological temperatures.

    • Zhegang Huang
    • , Hyojin Lee
    •  & Myongsoo Lee

  • Article |

    Quadrupoles have many engineering applications, but experimental observations of fluidic multipoles have not been reported. This study presents an experimental two-dimensional microfluidic quadrupole, a theoretical analysis consistent with observations, and a first application as a channel-free floating gradient generator.

    • Mohammad A. Qasaimeh
    • , Thomas Gervais
    •  & David Juncker

  • Article |

    Property coupling by heteroepitaxy is severely limited in material combinations with highly dissimilar bonding. This report presents a chemical boundary condition methodology to actively engineer two-dimensional film growth in such systems that otherwise collapse into island formation and rough morphologies.

    • Elizabeth A. Paisley
    • , Mark. D. Losego
    •  & Jon-Paul Maria

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cell-penetrating peptides can deliver molecular cargoes into living cells, and cross biological membranes by transduction—a non-endocytic mechanism. Here, the transduction efficiency of cyclic arginine-rich peptides is shown to be higher than that of more flexible linear peptides.

    • Gisela Lättig-Tünnemann
    • , Manuel Prinz
    •  & M. Cristina Cardoso

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Various methods have been investigated to locally control atmospheric precipitation. In this study, field experiments show that laser-induced condensation is initiated when the relative humidity exceeds 70%, and that this effect is largely a result of photochemical HNO3formation.

    • S. Henin
    • , Y. Petit
    •  & J.-P. Wolf

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