Communications Materials最新文献

{"title":"Electrochemical deactivation of high-strength, catechol-based adhesives incorporated with anhydrous proton and electron conducting elements.","authors":"Han Peng, Zhongtian Zhang, Vedika Khare, Abhilash Arjan Das, Fatemeh Razaviamri, Kan Wang, Bruce P Lee","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01124-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43246-026-01124-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Catechol offers switchable adhesion in response to electrochemical redox reaction. However, electrochemistry requires water for effective proton transport, but water weakens adhesive performance. Here, we incorporate proton and electron conducting elements (sulfonic acid-containing monomer and multiwalled carbon nanotube, respectively) into a water-free catechol-based adhesive to create a high-strength adhesive that is also susceptible to electrochemical control. These additions increase the proton and electrical conductivity by over 100-fold. The adhesive also exhibits elevated lap shear adhesion strength (4.6 MPa) to metal substrates and outperforms a commercial epoxy glue. Under mild electrical stimulation (9 V), the adhesive strength decreases by over 90%. X-ray photon spectroscopy confirms the deactivation of the adhesive is achieved by catechol oxidation to its poorly adhesive quinone form. When the adhesive is used to create two adjacent adhesive joints connected by a single metallic substrate, the adhesive can be selectively deactivated without affecting neighboring joint. These results present a promising approach for switchable adhesives with high adhesive performance and precise electrical control.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"114"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13124596/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147811825","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Discovering metal-organic framework/polymer mixed-matrix membranes via machine learning for CO₂ separation.","authors":"Feride Neva Yüngül, Seda Keskin","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01207-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43246-026-01207-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) that incorporate metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as fillers surpass the permeability-selectivity trade-off of polymeric membranes. However, the enormous chemical diversity of MOFs and high computational cost of molecular simulations have hindered the systematic evaluation of large numbers of MOF/polymer MMMs. In this work, we present a data-driven discovery framework that integrates molecular simulations and machine learning (ML) to predict the CO₂, CH₄, N₂, and H₂ permeabilities of 104,196 different types of MOF/polymer MMMs. Molecular simulations were performed to obtain gas adsorption and diffusion properties for 3,982 synthesized MOFs and 4,701 hypothetical MOFs. Leveraging this dataset, we developed three ML approaches to enable rapid prediction of MMMs' permeabilities and benchmarked their performance against both simulation results and experimental measurements. Our results revealed that many MOF/polymer MMMs exceed the upper bounds by achieving very high CO₂ permeabilities and MOFs' structural and chemical features play a decisive role in fine-tuning MMM performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"230"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13541610/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148896538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cr-LiF as a high energy density conversion-type cathode for Li-ion solid-state batteries.","authors":"Joel Casella, Jȩdrzej Morzy, Vittorio Montanelli, Felix C Mocanu, Arnold Müller, Moritz H Futscher, Marta D Rossell, M Saiful Islam, Maksym Yarema, Yaroslav E Romanyuk","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01121-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43246-026-01121-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Transition-metal fluorides (TMFs) are attracting attention as alternative lithium-ion battery cathodes, primarily focusing on Fe-based systems. Here, we report chromium as a previously unexplored transition metal (TM) for TMF cathodes in rechargeable lithium batteries. Utilizing a thin-film solid-state platform, we mitigate the common shortcomings of TMF cathodes, such as sluggish kinetics and electrolyte incompatibility. Coevaporation of Cr and LiF produces a heterogeneous thin film of Cr-LiF with a 1.1:2 stoichiometric ratio, delivering an initial capacity of 435 mAh/g and an energy density of 0.71 Wh/g at a C/10 cycling rate. Experimental measurements and first-principles calculations identify CrF₂ as the dominant delithiated phase. The cathode maintains a capacity of 208 mAh/g at both 1C and 5C discharge rates after 1500 cycles. Compared to Fe-LiF (FeF₂) analogs, Cr-LiF demonstrates a higher rate capability with 0.255 Wh/g at 3.80 W/g. This work introduces chromium fluorides as a new high-energy conversion cathode, expanding the options of viable positive electrode materials for next-generation batteries.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"113"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13106034/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147764912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of grain size on the solid-state direct reduction of polycrystalline iron oxide.","authors":"Barak Ratzker, Martina Ruffino, Shiv Shankar, Yan Ma, Dierk Raabe","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01106-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43246-026-01106-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Direct reduction of iron oxide using hydrogen offers a sustainable route to lower carbon emissions in steelmaking. Although iron oxide feedstocks consist of polycrystalline pellets, the influence of initial hematite grain size on direct reduction remains unexplored. Herein, the effect of grain size on reduction kinetics and microstructure evolution were uncovered using model polycrystalline hematite samples with large ( ~ 30 µm) and ultrafine ( ~ 1 µm) grains. Thermogravimetric analysis showed grain-size-dependent reduction behavior, while microstructural examination of partially reduced samples revealed that large-grained hematite forms finer directional pore channels due to fewer grain boundaries and orientation changes. Consequently, large-grained samples reduce faster initially as the pore network develops, while ultrafine-grained samples achieve more efficient reduction in later stages facilitated by a more homogenous pore network. These results demonstrate how grain size dictates porosity and texture evolution, providing fundamental insights relevant not only to hydrogen-based iron production but also to the design of porous materials by solid-state reduction processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"82"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12995716/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147485084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Simultaneous optimization of film morphology and structure dimensionality in Cs₃Sb₂I₉ through butylamine gas treatment.","authors":"Fuxiang Ji, Tristan Sachsenweger Ballantyne, Kazem Meraji, Sharun Parayil Shaji, Laura Nicolette Schusser, Sandile Kumalo, Wolfgang Tress","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01240-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-026-01240-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Metal halide perovskite derivatives (A₃B₂X₉) are attractive alternatives to toxic and unstable lead-based perovskites, but their optoelectronic performance is often limited by poor film morphology and zero-dimensional (0D) crystal structures. Here, we report an amine gas post-treatment strategy that simultaneously improves film uniformity and transforms Cs₃Sb₂I₉ from a 0D phase into a two-dimensional (2D) layered phase. The transformation is driven by the reversible adsorption and desorption of amine molecules, which induce coordination-mediated liquefaction and subsequent recrystallization of the material. Among the amines investigated, the liquefaction capability increases with alkyl-chain length, leading to progressive improvements in film morphology and 2D phase purity. Consequently, butylamine (BA⁰)-treated Cs₃Sb₂I₉ solar cells exhibit nearly an order of magnitude improvements in both short-circuit current density and power conversion efficiency compared to untreated reference devices. This work demonstrates the broad applicability of amine-gas treatment to all-inorganic perovskites and their derivatives for optoelectronic applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"254"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13630554/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149105015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Near-zero hysteresis van der Waals MnAl₂S₄ field-effect transistors with low minimal threshold voltage degradation and high thermal stability.","authors":"Seyed Mehdi Sattari-Esfahlan, Yury Illarionov, Fang Xu, Alexandros Provias, Saeed Mirzaei, Jan Michalička, Theresia Knobloch, Ondřej Man, Yangbo Zhou, Tibor Grasser","doi":"10.1038/s43246-025-01020-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43246-025-01020-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The integration of high-quality, ultrathin van der Waals (vdW) dielectrics with 2D semiconductors remains a critical bottleneck in the development of reliable, ultra-scaled field-effect transistors (FETs). Here, we report a comprehensive study of MoS₂-based FETs employing layered rhombohedral MnAl₂S₄ as the gate insulator, a previously unexplored vdW dielectric that can be isolated down to the monolayer limit. Devices fabricated in both top-gated (TG) and bottom-gated (BT) configurations exhibit excellent electrical performance, featuring low gate leakage, minimal hysteresis ( < 2 mV) under high electric fields up to 11 MV cm^-1 across a wide range of gate voltage sweep rates (0.001-10 Vs^-1). We observed a consistent counterclockwise hysteresis and an anomalous bias temperature instability (BTI), possibly caused by the diffusion of Mn interstitials and S vacancies formed inside the MnAl₂S₄ film during growth. Notably, we show that threshold voltage degradation at high temperatures was observed to be negligible, and hysteresis dynamics and very small BTI are reproducible over a long time, demonstrating the high reliability of our devices. In addition, the vdW interface between MnAl₂S₄ and MoS₂ in our device is of good quality and is expected to provide a small density of insulator defects, a promising gate dielectric for reliable 2D devices.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"11"},"PeriodicalIF":9.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12789022/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145951540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tracing the horizon of tetragonal-to-monoclinic distortion in pressurized trilayer nickelate La₄Ni₃O₁₀.","authors":"Sitaram Ramakrishnan, Yingzheng Gao, Valerio Olevano, Elise Pachoud, Abdellali Hadj-Azzem, Gaston Garbarino, Matteo d'Astuto, Olivier Perez, Alain Pautrat, Diego Valenti, Matthieu Quénot, Sébastien Pairis, Dmitry Chernyshov, Leila Noohinejad, Carsten Paulmann, Johnathan Bulled, Alexei Bosak, Sander van Smaalen, Pierre Toulemonde, Marie-Aude Méasson, Pierre Rodière","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01297-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-026-01297-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The crux of understanding the superconducting mechanism in pressurized Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates hinges on elucidating their structural phases. Under ambient conditions, the trilayer nickelate La₄Ni₃O₁₀ stabilizes in a twinned monoclinic structure with space group <i>P</i>2₁/<i>c</i>. Upon heating, it undergoes a structural transition to the tetragonal <i>I</i>4/<i>m</i> <i>m</i> <i>m</i> phase at <i>T</i> _<i>s</i>   ≈ 1030 K, while a second transition associated with the onset of density-wave (DW) ordering emerges upon cooling below <i>T</i> _{<i>D</i> <i>W</i>}   ≈ 135 K. Here, from pressure-temperature x-ray diffraction (XRD) on high quality flux-grown single crystals we demonstrate a direct tetragonal-to-monoclinic transition without an intermediate orthorhombic <i>B</i> <i>m</i> <i>a</i> <i>b</i> phase. Ab initio density-functional theory calculations as a function of pressure corroborate the experimental observations. The tetragonal-to-monoclinic transition unfolds as the formation of a two-fold superstructure, as evidenced by the emergence of commensurate superlattice reflections and can be progressively suppressed from 1030 K down to 20 K under 14 GPa. Notably, from XRD we establish the observation of weak incommensurate satellite reflections associated with the DW ordering in flux-grown samples, as previous findings were confined only to crystals grown by the floating-zone technique. This is further reinforced by Raman spectroscopy that reveal the emergence of additional phonon modes below 130 K, concomitant with the onset of the incommensurate DW state.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"248"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13623655/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149105026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spontaneous emergence of skyrmions beyond room temperature in boron-doped CrTe.","authors":"Jagannath Jena, Konstantin Holst, Börge Göbel, Yangkun He, Binoy Krishna Hazra, Pedram Bassirian, Katayoon Mohseni, Georg Woltersdorf, Ingrid Mertig, Holger Meyerheim, Claudia Felser, Stuart S P Parkin","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01336-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-026-01336-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Magnetic skyrmions are vortex-like spin textures that exhibit remarkable emergent phenomena and hold great promise for applications in spintronics, magnonic devices, and neuromorphic computing. Typically, these spin textures are formed in magnetic samples through the application of magnetic fields on a ground state helical phase. However, achieving the formation of zero-field skyrmions, without the need of prior field-cooling, has remained a significant challenge. Here, using real-space Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, we directly observe the spontaneous emergence of skyrmions beyond room temperature in a centrosymmetric crystal of boron-doped CrTe without the presence of external magnetic fields. These skyrmions exhibit robust stability over a large temperature range in zero field and various specimen thicknesses. We nevertheless demonstrate that a field-cooling process can control the density and arrangement of metastable zero-field skyrmions, which is confirmed by micromagnetic simulations. The stabilization of field-free spontaneous skyrmions beyond ambient temperature holds implications for nonvolatile memory systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"210"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13472906/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148765949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Buckling of elastomer-embedded thermoplastic microspheres under uniaxial compression revealed by in-situ X-ray micro-CT.","authors":"Matthew E Curd, Gareth Wyn Jones, Zeshan Yousaf, Steve Edmondson, Parmesh Gajjar, Michael J A Smith, Partha P Paul, Rhys Thomas, Eleanor Russell, Tom Shearer, Thomas White, Jonathan Perrin, Timm Weitkamp, Mario Scheel, Guillaume Daniel, William J Parnell","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01214-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43246-026-01214-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding and predicting the morphological changes of filler particles within composites under load is critical to design improved materials. Syntactic foams, consisting of microspheres embedded in a solid matrix, have recently emerged as an ultra-lightweight metamaterial with highly tuneable mechanical properties. Glass microspheres are commonly used in syntactic foams, but can fracture, leading to a loss in the bulk mechanical properties. It is thought that hollow thermoplastic microspheres instead buckle, inducing strong, reversible, constitutive nonlinearity in the syntactic foam. Here we demonstrate, in-situ, the buckling of embedded thermoplastic shells under uniaxial compression. The results validate several important predictions from theory; regardless of sphere size, equatorial buckling prevails whenever the shell walls are thin relative to their diameter. Furthermore, the buckling wavelength is shown to be tuneable via different mechanical and geometrical parameters for the microspheres and/or matrix. Now better understood, we anticipate that tuneable, controlled and coordinated microsphere buckling can be exploited in diverse applications including strain sensing.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"236"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13561867/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148955120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanical detection of sub-band mobilities of two-dimensional electron gas on reduced SrTiO₃(001) surface.","authors":"Akash Gupta, Marcin Kisiel, Rémy Pawlak, Ernst Meyer","doi":"10.1038/s43246-026-01208-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43246-026-01208-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in reduced strontium titanate offers a versatile platform for oxide electronics, yet its dissipation mechanisms under field driven charge fluctuations remain poorly understood. Here, we combine low-temperature atomic force microscopy with scanning tunneling spectroscopy to probe the force and dissipation responses of a mechanical oscillator interacting with the STO 2DEG. The observation of Rydberg-like image potential states by tunneling experiments confirm the 2DEG formation, while dissipation spectroscopy reveals bias-dependent peaks linked to local electrostatic gating and charge redistribution within the 2DEG energy sub-bands. Our analysis identifies electron exchange between oxygen vacancies and the 2DEG as a dominant mechanism responsible for AFM dissipation peaks. These features are quantitatively explained by variations in quantum capacitance as carrier density is tuned by electric fields. Under magnetic fields, dissipation peaks obey the Kohler's rule, allowing extraction of carrier mobilities in each sub-band. Our results establish a non-invasive AFM-based methodology for quantifying energy losses in quantum oxides, providing new insights into charge dynamics relevant for spintronic applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":10589,"journal":{"name":"Communications Materials","volume":"7 1","pages":"227"},"PeriodicalIF":9.1,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13526642/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148863817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}