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Two-dimensional polyamide/lithiated Nafion interphase layers assembled into ultrathin sheets show high-rate, high-capacity Li plating/stripping as well as high energy and power densities, enabling the fabrication of high-performance anode-free Li metal batteries.

Neuromorphic computing memristors are attractive to construct low-power- consumption electronic textiles. Here, authors report an ultralow-power textile memristor network of Ag/MoS2/HfAlOx/carbon nanotube with reconfigurable characteristics and firing energy consumption of 1.9 fJ/spike.

The authors combine the strong confinement of hyperbolic polaritons with leaky nano-waveguides to demonstrate directional in-plane emission of fast phonon polaritons and their acceleration and deceleration by tailoring waveguide dispersion.

Lightweight, flexible and strong fibre actuators that respond to solvents and vapours are made by twisting together several well-aligned helical fibres of multiwalled carbon nanotubes.

A strategy is reported that improves the performance and lifetime of lithium-ion batteries by adding organic Li salt after assembly, which decomposes during cell formation, liberating Li ions and expelling organic ligands as gases.

A multilayer-stacked two-dimensional polyaniline crystal shows high electrical conductivity and unique out-of-plane metallic transport behaviour, indicating potential for strong electronic coupling beyond in-plane interactions and three-dimensional metallic conductivity.

An artificial ligament replacement is made from aligned carbon nanotubes formed into hierarchical helical fibres with nanometre and micrometre channels which are demonstrated for the replacement of anterior cruciate ligaments in both rabbit and ovine models, showing strong integration and functional recovery.

The authors reveal hyperbolic-to-hyperbolic transitions where two nearby Reststrahlen bands just touch each other. Such phenomena are prevalent in isostructural rare-earth oxyorthosilicates and unfolds vast opportunities for broadband on-chip light control.

A three-channel spinneret simultaneously extrudes and combines electrodes and electrolyte to make 1,500-km-long fibre batteries.

van der Waals materials are usually characterized by a significant out-of-plane optical anisotropy, but in-plane birefringence is also necessary for photonics applications. Here, the authors report the presence of broadband optical anisotropy in a layered material, Ta₂NiS₅, showing in-plane birefringence of ~2 and ~0.5 in the visible and mid-infrared range, respectively.

Polaritonic topological transitions of the isofrequency dispersion contour are observed in a graphene/α-MoO₃ heterostructure by tuning the graphene doping level, which enables partial focusing at deep subwavelength.

Tellurite molybdenum quaternary oxides, a family of van der Waals materials, show slow group velocity and long lifetimes with promising implications for tunable low-loss anisotropic polaritonics.

A fibre lithium-ion battery that can potentially be woven into textiles shows enhanced battery performance and safety compared with liquid electrolytes.

Hyperbolic phonon polaritons that exhibit long-distance, ray-like propagation and oblique wavefronts are described at the surface of an anisotropic bulk crystal.

Scanning near-field optical microscopy measurements show that polaritonic nanophotonics is attainable in natural low-symmetry materials, leading to a general way to manipulate light at the nanoscale.

A Ca–O₂ battery that relies on a highly reversible two-electron redox to form chemically reactive calcium peroxide as the discharge product is reported to be stable in air and rechargeable for 700 cycles at room temperature.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries produced in the form of metre-long fibres can be woven into sturdy, washable textiles on an industrial loom and used to power other fabric-based electronic components.

On copper catalysts, Cu^δ+ sites play a key role in the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to C₂ hydrocarbons, however, they are prone to being reduced (to Cu⁰) themselves. Now, a Cu^δ+-based catalyst is reported that is stable for in excess of ~40 hours while electrochemically reducing CO₂ to multi-carbon hydrocarbons and that exhibits a Faradaic efficiency for C₂ of ~80%.

While multi-carbon (C₂₊) products present high-value species attainable from emitted carbon dioxide, it is challenging to prepare stable, C₂₊ selective catalysts. Here, authors support copper on copper nitride to improve copper’s electrocatalytic stability and selectivity toward C₂₊ synthesis.

Large-area display textiles can be produced by weaving transparent conductive weft and luminescent warp fibres using an industrial rapier loom. The integration of interactive functionalities, such as a keyboard and power supply, with the display textile forms an electronic textile system that can serve as a communication tool.

The real-space imaging of propagating THz polaritons, coupled light-matter excitations, in topological insulators has been elusive so far. Here, the authors report spectroscopic THz near-field images of the topological insulator Bi₂Se₃ revealing polaritons formed by coupling of THz radiation to optical phonons and various charge carriers.

RIG-I is a cytosolic antiviral nucleic acid sensor that signals via MAVS to produce type 1 interferons. Here the authors show that hepatits B virus can repress this pathway by activating glycolysis and lactate production, enabling accumulated lactate to bind MAVS and prevent its mitochondrial localization.

A large electronic display textile that is flexible, breathable and withstands repeated machine-washing is integrated with a keyboard and power supply to create a wearable, durable communication tool.

This Perspective highlights the design concepts, fabrication strategies and recent achievements in textile displays, including promising applications, advances in luminescent materials, design of device interfaces, development of display modules, integration of displaying systems and the remaining challenges.

Deng et al. describe a method for preparing mechanically responsive hierarchically arranged helical fiber (HHF) actuators based on aligned carbon nanotubes. These HHF actuators are responsive to external stimuli in a rapid and reversible manner.