Scaling laws articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Macromolecular networks relevant for biological processes and technological applications, are often characterized by complex architectures. The authors uncover the impact of topology on the properties of nanoparticle transport in macromolecular networks.

    • Xiaobin Dai
    • , Xuanyu Zhang
    •  & Li-Tang Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metallic microsamples deform in a sequence of abrupt strain bursts. Here, the authors demonstrate by analysing the elastic waves emitted by these bursts that this intermittent process resembles earthquakes in several aspects, although on completely different spatial and temporal scales.

    • Péter Dusán Ispánovity
    • , Dávid Ugi
    •  & István Groma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identifying scaling laws in metal 3D printing is key to process optimization and materials development. Here the authors report scaling laws to quantify correlation between process parameters, keyhole stability and pore formation by high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging and multiphysics modeling.

    • Zhengtao Gan
    • , Orion L. Kafka
    •  & Wing Kam Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multivalent ligand-receptor interactions enhance binding selectivity in biological systems, and may be exploited to design synthetic systems. Here the authors demonstrate a multivalent behavior where the ability to bind the target occurs when the receptor density is within a specific range.

    • Meng Liu
    • , Azzurra Apriceno
    •  & Stefano Angioletti-Uberti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Addition of small nanoparticles into polymer melt can lead to decrease in viscosity but the underlying mechanism for such viscosity reduction remains unclear. Here, the authors investigate the reduction in viscosity by large-scale molecular dynamics simulation and experimental rheology measurements for an all-polymer nanocomposite formed by linear polystyrene chains and PS single-chain nanoparticle.

    • Tao Chen
    • , Huan-Yu Zhao
    •  & Zhao-Yan Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Assessing catalytic mechanisms using DFT calculations greatly aids catalyst design, but is impractical for large molecules. Here the authors develop a statistical learning-based thermochemical model for estimating adsorption of organics onto metals, retaining DFT accuracy while reducing the number of calculations by a factor of 20.

    • Rodrigo García-Muelas
    •  & Núria López

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Actuation of shape-shifting materials has typically required an external trigger. Here, the authors design a shape-memory hydrogel, regulated by a dual network of covalent and temporary hydrogen bonds, whose actuations are encoded by an intrinsic temporal mechanism.

    • Xiaobo Hu
    • , Jing Zhou
    •  & Sergei S. Sheiko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Random walks on a network describe the dynamics of many natural and artificial systems. Here, Perkins et al.study the path distribution—characterizing how the walker moves—and find that it is either finite, stretched exponential or power law for any random walk on a finite network.

    • Theodore J. Perkins
    • , Eric Foxall
    •  & Roderick Edwards

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dimensionality of nanostructures is important in determining their properties. Using electron spectroscopy, Schmidt et al. systematically study the plasmonic modes in silver nanodisks as they vary their dimensionality, and find that they can be scaled to the film and edge modes of extended silver films.

    • Franz-Philipp Schmidt
    • , Harald Ditlbacher
    •  & Joachim R. Krenn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Van der Waals interactions have a large influence on phenomena that occur at short-length scales. Gobre et al.demonstrate that van der Waals interactions in low-dimensional materials act at very large distances, and can significantly influence the self-assembly of nanostructured systems.

    • Vivekanand V. Gobre
    •  & Alexandre Tkatchenko

  • Article |

    The formation of defects in numerous systems is believed to follow universal scaling laws arising from the Kibble–Zurek mechanism. Ulm et al.measure this scaling law for defects created in ion Coulomb crystals, confirming the predicted behaviour for a system of 16 ions.

    • S. Ulm
    • , J. Roßnagel
    •  & K. Singer

  • Article |

    The Kibble–Zurek mechanism describes the formation of topological defects in systems undergoing continuous phase transitions, and predicts a power law for their density. Pyka et al. create defects in ion coulomb crystals and observe their scaling behaviour in the context of the Kibble–Zurek theory.

    • K. Pyka
    • , J. Keller
    •  & T. E. Mehlstäubler

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