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Nanoscience can play an important role in addressing a number of societal challenges, but, as Rein V. Ulijn and Elisa Riedo explain, research training needs to evolve.

Controlling liquids at small scales is of importance for applications in microfluidics. Ortiz-Young et al.show that shear forces in nanoconfined water change dramatically if the confining surface is either hydrophobic or hydrophilic, offering a new understanding of the flow of liquids on the nanoscale.

Graphene oxide could potentially be used for numerous applications, particularly in electronics. Understanding its structural stability in an ambient atmosphere is essential for the realization of devices. A new study shows that multilayer graphene oxide is in fact metastable at room temperature.

In contrast to the ultralow friction that exists between carbon layers in multiwalled carbon nanotubes, multiwalled boron nitride nanotubes are found to exhibit ultrahigh interlayer friction as a result of their ionic character.

Many aspects of energy flow in nanostructures are not well understood due to difficulties associated with resolution. Here, Laraoui et al. use a diamond-nanocrystal-hosted nitrogen vacancy centre as a nanoscale probe with atomic force microscopy to image thermal conductivity.

The interfacial shear modulus controls the sliding friction of supported two-dimensional materials. Now, experiments demonstrate a reciprocal relationship between friction force per unit contact area and the interfacial shear modulus.

Thermal scanning probe lithography can be used to pattern metal electrodes in direct contact with monolayer MoS₂, creating field-effect transistors that exhibit vanishing Schottky barrier heights, high on/off ratios of 10¹⁰, no hysteresis, and subthreshold swings as low as 64 mV per decade.

Bipolar conductivity is fundamental for electronic devices based on two-dimensional semiconductors. Here, the authors report on-demand p- and n-doping of monolayer MoS₂ via defects engineering using thermochemical scanning probe lithography, and achieve a p-n junction with rectification ratio over 10⁴.

Indentation in bilayer epitaxial graphene induces its reversible transformation into a diamond-like structure with stiffness and hardness comparable to diamond.

Sub-ångström-resolution indentation measurements and semi-analytical methods indicate that, for few-layer-thick films, the elasticity perpendicular to the plane is sensitive to the films’ structure and the presence of intercalated molecules.

Thermal scanning probe lithography (tSPL) is a nanofabrication method for the chemical and physical nanopatterning of a large variety of materials and polymer resists. Riedo and colleagues introduce the main features of tSPL, define the most critical patterning parameters and describe post-patterning analysis of the obtained results.

When a tip slides on a carbon nanotube, the friction along the transverse direction is much larger than in the parallel direction. It is shown that this behaviour is due to hindered rolling of the tube, and a frictional dissipation that is negligible for a tip sliding along the axis.

Thermally assisted magnetic scanning probe lithography is used to reversibly pattern magnetic anisotropy landscapes in a continuous exchange-bias system, where propagating spin waves are excited.

Mechanically and chemically induced phase transitions in 2D materials offer access to new properties, opening up paths towards future applications. This Review summarizes the theoretical models and experimental processes for inducing phase transformations in 2D materials, especially graphene to 2D diamond, and examines the associated applications.

This article reviews the fundamentals and applications of scanning probe lithography, focusing on the methods that offer genuinely lithographic capabilities such as those based on thermal effects, chemical reactions and voltage-induced processes.

Magnonics is gaining momentum as an emerging technology for information processing. The authors experimentally demonstrated spin-wave propagation within nanopatterned circuits based on domain walls, using time-resolved scanning transmission X-ray microscopy imaging.