Materials chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Environmentally adaptive hydrogels have great potential as soft robotics but achieving self-regulated reversal shape deformation in homogenous hydrogels under a constant stimulus is challenging. Here, the authors report responsive hydrogels functionalized with two photoswitchable spiropyrans that exhibit self-regulated transient deformation reversal when subjected to constant illumination.

    • Kexin Guo
    • , Xuehan Yang
    •  & Chuang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic afterglow materials have potential in self-monitoring applications but it is challenging to design materials with desired properties. Here, the authors report the development of a lifetime tunable organic afterglow system for use in mechanical self-monitoring 3D printed structures.

    • Rongjuan Huang
    • , Yunfei He
    •  & Wei Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    3D printing has potential in designing personalised scaffolds, but minimally invasive implantation is still challenging. Here, the authors report the development of a polyurethane material with temperature triggered shape memory and water triggered deformation that allows for transcatheter delivery.

    • Bo Liu
    • , Hui Li
    •  & Xiaoli Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extracting rare earth elements (REEs) from wastewater is essential for the growth of an eco-friendly sustainable economy but separating individual rare earth elements remains challenging. Here, the authors report a REE nanotrap that features dense uncoordinated carboxyl groups and triazole N atoms in a two-fold interpenetrated metalorganic framework which is highly responsive to the size variation of rareearth ions.

    • Qing-Hua Hu
    • , An-Min Song
    •  & Jian-Ding Qiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Relating the degree of network crosslinking as a descriptor to the desalination performance of crosslinked polymer membranes remains challenging. Here, the authors introduce a parameter based on distinct amide bonds per unit mass of polyamide, to unravel the relationship between the crosslinked networks of polyamide membranes and their desalination performance.

    • Yu-Ren Xue
    • , Chang Liu
    •  & Zhi-Kang Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mechanoelectric energy conversion is a potential solution for the power supply of soft devices, but the low current output for low frequency motions limits its applicability. Here, the authors report a hydrogel generator with mechanoionic current generation amplified by orders of magnitudes and its application as controlled drug-releasing system for wound healing.

    • Hongzhen Liu
    • , Xianglin Ji
    •  & Lizhi Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although several advances have been made in chemical Polyethylene (PE) re- and upcycling, energy-efficient and selective catalytic processes are still lacking. Here, the authors show coupling of an industrially relevant coordination copolymerization olefins with a functionalized chain-transfer agent, followed by modular assembly of the resulting telechelic polyolefin building blocks by polycondensation to afford ester-linked PE-based random and block copolymers which exhibit full chemical circularity.

    • Xing-Wang Han
    • , Xun Zhang
    •  & Yong Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The abatement of elemental mercury remains an enormous challenge for public health and ecosystems. Here, inspired by the seleno-mercury antagonism effect in biological systems, the authors developed an ideal Hg0 adsorbent with a record-high adsorption capacity of 1621.9 mg g−1.

    • Hailong Li
    • , Fanyue Meng
    •  & Jianping Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Obtaining high-temperature phosphorescence in organic materials can potentially lead to broader applications, but can be challenging to achieve. Here, the authors report the use of rigid molecules as both host and guest to give temperature resistance and therefore high-temperature phosphorescence.

    • Kaijun Chen
    • , Yongfeng Zhang
    •  & Xiang Ma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The development of effective adsorbents of radioiodine nuclear waste remains difficult due to the lack of proper material design strategies. Here the authors report an ultralight hierarchically porous crystalline multifunctional hybrid nanocomposite for ultrafast entrapment of iodine and polyiodide species under both static and dynamic condition.

    • Sahel Fajal
    • , Writakshi Mandal
    •  & Sujit K. Ghosh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The development of heterogeneous photocatalysts applicable under harsh conditions is challenging. Here the authors report the conversion of imine linkages into quinoline groups in triphenylamine incorporated photosensitive covalent organic frameworks to develop robust heterogeneous photocatalysts for photocatalytic applications in harsh conditions.

    • Jia-Rui Wang
    • , Kepeng Song
    •  & Yanli Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many MOFs feature carboxylate ligands with strong coordination bonds, hindering thermal melting. Here, authors present a meltable carboxylate MOF designed with a thermodynamically favored component.

    • Minhyuk Kim
    • , Hwa-Sub Lee
    •  & Hoi Ri Moon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Introduced here is a light-induced MOF synthesis, enabled by plasmonic nanoparticles. The method, proven to be rapid and efficient, can also promote the formation of a nanoparticle-MOF composite, imparting photothermal properties to the new material.

    • Ofir Shelonchik
    • , Nir Lemcoff
    •  & Yossi Weizmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crack formation typically results in random patterns and material failure. Inspired by plant phototropism, the authors use plasmonic absorbers to control crack propagation in colloidal films with light, showcasing a robust, programmable self-assembly process.

    • Fanny Thorimbert
    • , Mateusz Odziomek
    •  & Marco Faustini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dynamic protein corona hinders the uptake of nanocarriers in desired target cell populations, limiting their bench-to-bedside translation. Here the authors reveal that the modification of hydroxyl and amino functional groups on nanovesicles can rationally regulate the composition of protein coronas to improve the efficiency of targeted drug delivery.

    • Yunqiu Miao
    • , Lijun Li
    •  & Yong Gan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coacervate-based compartments are attractive as potential protocells, but formation and control of the compartments can be challenging. Here, the authors report the spontaneous formation of core-shell, cell-sized coacervate compartments driven by droplet evaporation.

    • Cheng Qi
    • , Xudong Ma
    •  & Zhou Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    “Understanding the structure-property relationship of organic molecules which exhibit different properties upon aggregation is important for the field of material science. Here, the authors prepare nonconjugated rhodamine-based molecules without aggregation-induced emission building blocks yet displaying typical aggregation-induced emission behavior.”

    • Lin-Lin Yang
    • , Haoran Wang
    •  & Ben Zhong Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ionic skins have potential in long-term physiological monitoring, but do not always achieve a desirable balance of viscosity and elasticity. Here, the authors report a material with hierarchical topological entanglements allowing desirable viscoelastic properties.

    • Huating Ye
    • , Baohu Wu
    •  & Peiyi Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Artificial ion channels have potential in a range of applications, but achieving performance comparable to biological channels has been challenging. Here, the authors report an artificial, light-driven chloride pump, inspired by halorhodopsin, with a helical porphyrin channel array.

    • Chao Li
    • , Yi Zhai
    •  & Lei Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Toxic amyloid-beta plaque and harmful inflammation are two leading hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and precise AD therapy is elusive due to the lack of dual-targeting therapy function, limited blood-brain barrier penetration, and low imaging sensitivity. Here, the authors address these issues by designing a near-infrared-II aggregation-induced emission nanotheranostic for precise AD therapy.

    • Jiefei Wang
    • , Ping Shangguan
    •  & Ben Zhong Tang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Batch-to-batch reproducibility of device performances is crucial for perovskite photovoltaics moving towards industrialization. Here, the authors show that commercial as-received C60 source materials may coalesce during repeated thermal evaporation processes, jeopardizing such reproducibility.

    • Ahmed A. Said
    • , Erkan Aydin
    •  & Stefaan De Wolf

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To enhance the utility of organic molecular cages (OMCs), the evolution of OMCs into higher-level chiral OMCs with self-similar superstructures is meaningful yet challenging. Here, the authors report a pair of higher-level 3D tri-bladed chiral helical molecular cages, displaying self-similarity in a discrete self-similar superstructure at different levels.

    • Zhen Wang
    • , Qing-Pu Zhang
    •  & Chuan-Feng Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) attract increasing attention as porous materials. Despite the widely studied solid-state properties, little research has been done on the solution state. Here, the authors demonstrate that HOFs fragment into small particles while maintaining their original assemblies upon dispersing in solvents.

    • Qi Yin
    • , Kuan Pang
    •  & Tian-Fu Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Robust hydrogels offer a promising solution for the development of artificial skin for bionic robots, yet few hydrogels have a comprehensive performance comparable to real human skin. Here, the authors present a general method to convert traditional elastomers into tough hydrogels via a unique radiation-induced penetrating polymerization method.

    • Yuan Tian
    • , Zhihao Wang
    •  & Yunlong Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The fabrication of polymeric membranes with high permeance and remarkable selectivity for simultaneous H2 purification and CO2 capture is challenging. Here, the authors design a polymer membrane with sub-micro pores via controlled transformation of amine-linked polymer films into benzimidazole- and amine-linked polymer layers.

    • Xueru Yan
    • , Tianqi Song
    •  & Xinlei Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Native spider silk has desirable mechanical properties, but these are challenging to replicate in an artificial material. Here, the authors report the use of a microfluidic system to create continuous fibers based on recombinant spidroin.

    • Jianming Chen
    • , Arata Tsuchida
    •  & Keiji Numata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Prelithiation can introduce controllable amounts of lithium within porous silicon, however it yields a highly reactive material unsuitable for biomedicine. In this study, the authors present a strategy to lithiate porous silicon nanowires, resulting in a biocompatible and bioresorbable material.

    • Martti Kaasalainen
    • , Ran Zhang
    •  & Ciro Chiappini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Methodologies to achieve efficient and selective uranium separation originating from nuclear waste are desirable. Here the authors report the in-situ formation of π-f conjugated 2D uranium-organic framework for uranium separation, leading to superior performance in uranium uptake and outstanding uranium generation efficiency from seawater.

    • Qing Yun Zhang
    • , Lin Juan Zhang
    •  & Feng Luo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electro-active ionic soft actuators generally present slow responses and poor durability when are applied as artificial muscles. Here, the authors describe a polyelectrolyte membrane based on the assembly of Nafion molecules into micelles with efficient ionic conducting pathways for electro-ionic soft actuators and soft robotics with fast responses and long durability.

    • Van Hiep Nguyen
    • , Saewoong Oh
    •  & Il-Kwon Oh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors report a synthetic strategy to create core@shell catalysts using strong metal-support interactions and low-Tammann-temperature compounds. The resulting materials are highly stable and may be useful in industrial applications.

    • Pei Xiong
    • , Zhihang Xu
    •  & Molly Meng-Jung Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanoscale optoelectrodes hold the potential to optically stimulate individual neuron. Here, the authors form nanoscale capacitive optoelectrodes by incorporating zinc porphyrin into nanorods, coated by TiO2, a design that allows for far-field optical modulation of neurons with efficiency and negligible side effects.

    • Jian Chen
    • , Yanyan Liu
    •  & Wenbo Bu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Soft robots have potential in a number of applications, but the self-regulated steering of the robots under static stimuli is a significant challenge. Here, the authors report the movement of knotbots by symmetry breaking and restoration to achieve tasks including gear rotation and rod climbing.

    • Qing Li Zhu
    • , Weixuan Liu
    •  & Zi Liang Wu

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