Articles

Tactile sensing to differentiate normal and shear forces remains a challenge. A force microsensor array based on graphene and a liquid-metal composites decouples normal–shear force sensing, achieving a 200 μm scale and a 0.9 μN force detection limit.

A distinct class of ordered states without symmetry breaking is reported with perfect non-crystalline steric order. These ideal non-crystals exhibit non-trivial long-range orientational correlations and crystal-like properties.

The open interfaces of a three-dimensional all-dielectric photonic topological insulator operate as effective metasurfaces with helical surface states, enabling spin-dependent steering and directional control of far-field surface state emission.

Using a regioirregular polymerization strategy, diverse polymer structures containing urethane, carbonate and urea linkages are synthesized from a single tetramethylene urethane monomer. Mixed polymers can be depolymerized to the starting monomer in a closed-loop manner.

A molecular-level understanding of structural evolution upon electrochemical doping in organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors is required. A pronounced reduction in mass and thickness is observed in an n-type ladder polymer upon doping with protic cations owing to water expulsion.

Nano-confinement between a capping layer composed of graphene or hexagonal boron nitride and a substrate directs the growth kinetics during chemical vapour deposition, which enables the atomically precise synthesis of 2D transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers, Janus monolayers and van der Waals heterostructures with ultraclean interfaces.

A martensitic alloy with a tensile strength exceeding 3 GPa and a fracture elongation of 5.13% is developed. These mechanical properties arise from interface complexes interacting with dense dislocation networks, which is a mechanism shown to be applicable to other compositions.

Resistance noise in memristive devices is often described as a thermally activated process across simple energy barriers, but this can underestimate the role of entropy in a complex free energy landscape. Quantifying transition rates between discrete resistance states during resistance fluctuations in nanoscale GeTe shows that entropic contributions can strongly shape the free energy barriers.

A microwave-assisted process is developed for the rapid and scalable manufacture of pure-phase metallic MoS₂ nanosheets, enabling practical electrochemical devices for energy applications.

Freestanding membranes of hexagonal oxides remain difficult to obtain. In this work, a water-soluble crystalline hexagonal BaAl₂O₄ is found to serve as a sacrificial layer for obtaining freestanding membranes with six-fold or three-fold symmetry.

Ferroelectric ordering of moiré excitons and collective photon emission emerge in WSe₂/WS₂ heterobilayers near the Mott state driven by strong dipolar interactions and a transition to symmetry-broken ferroelectric phases.

Amorphous sulfurized polyacrylonitrile suppresses polysulfide shuttling in Li–S batteries, enabling long cycle life, but the structural processes involved during synthesis and initial cycling remained unclear. An operando pair distribution function, wide-angle scattering and sulfur absorption spectroscopy reveal S–C bond formation, π–π stacking and sulfur-chain shortening, which enable reversible sulfur redox.

Strong paramagnetism is generated in hydrogels rich in carbon–oxygen double bonds simply by coupling with diamagnetic Ca cations. These paramagnetic hydrogels are applied as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents and magnetic drug carriers.

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering interferometry reveals a highly entangled electronic phase in Nd₂Ir₂O₇, enabling extraction of its entanglement structure and confirming the cubic-symmetry-breaking order predicted from complementary Raman spectroscopy.

Producing isolated single-photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride with predefined spin transitions is challenging. Oxygen annealing enables the controlled fabrication of narrowband quantum emitters with optically active spin for quantum applications.

Guided by density functional theory, a commercially viable refractory alloy is developed, which exhibits excellent room-temperature ductility and strength, and high strength at elevated temperatures.

Atomic force microscopy is used to investigate the adsorption and organization of ions on charged surfaces. Trivalent ions adopt complex networks, clusters and layers associated with overcharging, whereas divalent ions follow classical predictions.

Tissue stiffness mediated by Piezo1 is shown to regulate the expression of diffusive guidance cues in the developing Xenopus laevis brain, revealing a crosstalk between mechanical signals and long-range chemical signalling.

The viscosity of tumour cells is shown to govern their ability to disseminate through the bloodstream and extravasate, establishing a key biomechanical factor of metastasis.

Controllable and scalable phase transition of transition metal chalcogenides is challenging. Using in situ microscopic analysis, a non-stoichiometric phase transition from PdTe₂ to PdTe is observed on the atomic scale, providing mechanistic insights into the scalable phase engineering of transition metal chalcogenide films and heterostructures.