{"title":"Atomic-scale interface strengthening unlocks efficient and durable Mg-based thermoelectric devices","authors":"Wusheng Zuo, Hongyi Chen, Ziyi Yu, Yuntian Fu, Xin Ai, Yanxiao Cheng, Meng Jiang, Shun Wan, Zhengqian Fu, Rui Liu, Guofeng Cheng, Rui Xu, Lianjun Wang, Fangfang Xu, Qihao Zhang, Denys Makarov, Wan Jiang","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02167-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02167-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Solid-state thermoelectric technology presents a compelling solution for converting waste heat into electrical energy. However, its widespread application is hindered by long-term stability issues, particularly at the electrode–thermoelectric material interface. Here we address this challenge by constructing an atomic-scale direct bonding interface. By forming robust chemical bonds between Co and Sb atoms, we develop MgAgSb/Co thermoelectric junctions with a low interfacial resistivity (2.5 µΩ cm<sup>2</sup>), high bonding strength (60.6 MPa) and high thermal stability at 573 K. This thermally stable and ohmic contact interface enables MgAgSb-based thermoelectric modules to achieve a conversion efficiency of 10.2% at a temperature difference of 287 K and to exhibit negligible degradation over 1,440 h of thermal cycling. Our findings underscore the critical role of atomic-scale interface engineering in advancing thermoelectric semiconductor devices, enabling more efficient and durable thermoelectric modules.</p>","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":41.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143635175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature MaterialsPub Date : 2025-03-14DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02150-9
Andreas Schoenit, Siavash Monfared, Lucas Anger, Carine Rosse, Varun Venkatesh, Lakshmi Balasubramaniam, Elisabetta Marangoni, Philippe Chavrier, René-Marc Mège, Amin Doostmohammadi, Benoit Ladoux
{"title":"Force transmission is a master regulator of mechanical cell competition","authors":"Andreas Schoenit, Siavash Monfared, Lucas Anger, Carine Rosse, Varun Venkatesh, Lakshmi Balasubramaniam, Elisabetta Marangoni, Philippe Chavrier, René-Marc Mège, Amin Doostmohammadi, Benoit Ladoux","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02150-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02150-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Cell competition is a tissue surveillance mechanism for eliminating unwanted cells, being indispensable in development, infection and tumourigenesis. Although studies have established the role of biochemical mechanisms in this process, due to challenges in measuring forces in these systems, how mechanical forces determine the competition outcome remains unclear. Here we report a form of cell competition that is regulated by differences in force transmission capabilities, selecting for cell types with stronger intercellular adhesion. Direct force measurements in ex vivo tissues and different cell lines reveal that there is an increased mechanical activity at the interface between two competing cell types, which can lead to large stress fluctuations resulting in upward forces and cell elimination. We show how a winning cell type endowed with a stronger intercellular adhesion exhibits higher resistance to elimination and benefiting from efficient force transmission to the neighbouring cells. This cell elimination mechanism could have broad implications for keeping the strong force transmission ability for maintaining tissue boundaries and cell invasion pathology.</p>","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":41.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143618410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"De novo design of self-assembling peptides with antimicrobial activity guided by deep learning","authors":"Huayang Liu, Zilin Song, Yu Zhang, Bihan Wu, Dinghao Chen, Ziao Zhou, Hongyue Zhang, Sangshuang Li, Xinping Feng, Jing Huang, Huaimin Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02164-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02164-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Bioinspired materials based on self-assembling peptides are promising for tackling various challenges in biomedical engineering. While contemporary data-driven approaches have led to the discovery of self-assembling peptides with various structures and properties, predicting the functionalities of these materials is still challenging. Here we describe the deep learning-guided de novo design of antimicrobial materials based on self-assembling peptides targeting bacterial membranes to address the emerging problem of bacterial drug resistance. Our approach integrates non-natural amino acids for enhanced peptide self-assembly and effectively predicts the functional activity of the self-assembling peptide materials with minimal experimental annotation. The designed self-assembling peptide leader displays excellent in vivo therapeutic efficacy against intestinal bacterial infection in mice. Moreover, it exhibits an enhanced biofilm eradication capability and does not induce acquired drug resistance. Mechanistic studies reveal that the designed peptide can self-assemble on bacterial membranes to form nanofibrous structures for killing multidrug-resistant bacteria. This work thus provides a strategy to discover functional peptide materials by customized design.</p>","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":41.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143618408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature MaterialsPub Date : 2025-03-14DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02166-1
Chenxiao Zhao, Lin Yang, João C. G. Henriques, Mar Ferri-Cortés, Gonçalo Catarina, Carlo A. Pignedoli, Ji Ma, Xinliang Feng, Pascal Ruffieux, Joaquín Fernández-Rossier, Roman Fasel
{"title":"Spin excitations in nanographene-based antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains","authors":"Chenxiao Zhao, Lin Yang, João C. G. Henriques, Mar Ferri-Cortés, Gonçalo Catarina, Carlo A. Pignedoli, Ji Ma, Xinliang Feng, Pascal Ruffieux, Joaquín Fernández-Rossier, Roman Fasel","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02166-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02166-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains exhibit two distinct types of excitation spectrum: gapped for integer-spin chains and gapless for half-integer-spin chains. However, in finite-length half-integer-spin chains, quantization induces a gap, requiring precise control over sufficiently long chains to study its evolution. Here we create length-controlled spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains by covalently linking Olympicenes—Olympic-ring-shaped magnetic nanographenes. With large exchange interactions, tunable lengths and negligible magnetic anisotropy, this system is ideal for investigating length-dependent spin excitations, probed via inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy. We observe a power-law decay of the lowest excitation energy with length <i>L</i>, following a 1/<i>L</i> dependence in the large-<i>L</i> regime, consistent with theory. For <i>L</i> = 50, a V-shaped excitation continuum confirms a gapless behaviour in the thermodynamic limit. Additionally, low-bias current maps reveal the standing wave of a single spinon in odd-numbered chains. Our findings provide evidence for the realization of a one-dimensional analogue of a gapless spin liquid within an artificial graphene lattice.</p>","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":41.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143618402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature MaterialsPub Date : 2025-03-12DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02119-8
James Utama Surjadi, Carlos M. Portela
{"title":"Enabling three-dimensional architected materials across length scales and timescales","authors":"James Utama Surjadi, Carlos M. Portela","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02119-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41563-025-02119-8","url":null,"abstract":"Architected materials provide a pathway to defy the limitations of monolithic materials through their engineered microstructures or geometries, allowing them to exhibit unique and extreme properties. Thus far, most studies on architected materials have been limited to fabricating periodic structures in small tessellations and investigating them under mostly quasi-static conditions, but explorations of more complex architecture designs and their properties across length scales and timescales will be essential to fully uncover the potential of this materials system. In this Perspective, we summarize state-of-the-art approaches to realizing multiscale architected materials and highlight existing knowledge gaps and opportunities in their design, fabrication and characterization. We also propose a roadmap to accelerate the discovery of architected materials with programmable properties via the synergistic combination of experimental and computational efforts. Finally, we identify research opportunities and open questions in the development of next-generation architected materials, intelligent devices and integrated systems that can bridge the gap between the conception and implementation of these materials in real-world engineering applications. Architected materials provide a pathway to achieve properties beyond those of monolithic materials. This Perspective discusses complex architecture designs and their fabrication, characterization and functions across length scales and timescales.","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"24 4","pages":"493-505"},"PeriodicalIF":37.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143599065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature MaterialsPub Date : 2025-03-12DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02153-6
Hong Phong Duong, Jose Guillermo Rivera de la Cruz, David Portehault, Andrea Zitolo, Jacques Louis, Sandrine Zanna, Quentin Arnoux, Moritz W. Schreiber, Nicolas Menguy, Ngoc-Huan Tran, Marc Fontecave
{"title":"Incorporation of isolated Ag atoms and Au nanoparticles in copper nitride for selective CO electroreduction to multicarbon alcohols","authors":"Hong Phong Duong, Jose Guillermo Rivera de la Cruz, David Portehault, Andrea Zitolo, Jacques Louis, Sandrine Zanna, Quentin Arnoux, Moritz W. Schreiber, Nicolas Menguy, Ngoc-Huan Tran, Marc Fontecave","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02153-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02153-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p>CO electroreduction has recently been explored as an alternative to CO<sub>2</sub> electroreduction for multicarbon product formation, because it bypasses the large carbon loss associated with CO<sub>2</sub> electroreduction. Although ethylene is generally obtained as the major product, shifting electrolysis towards the production of alcohols is an industrially promising path forward. Here we report a trimetallic-copper-based catalyst, consisting of copper nitride doped with gold nanoparticles and isolated silver atoms, with high selectivity for the formation of C<sub>2+</sub> alcohols (Faradic efficiency for ethanol + <i>n</i>-propanol is >70%), within gas-fed flow cells at high current densities. Although active sites are metallic Cu(111) copper atoms derived from copper nitride, gold and silver doping suppresses ethylene formation due to the increased carbophibicity of the catalyst surface, as shown computationally. Overall, these findings open new perspectives regarding the design of catalysts for the production of liquid products from CO.</p>","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":41.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143598772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature MaterialsPub Date : 2025-03-10DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02134-9
Tao Zhou, Xu Li, Jiankang Zhao, Lei Luo, Yanru Wang, Zizhen Xiao, Sunpei Hu, Ruyang Wang, Zekun Zhao, Chengyuan Liu, Wenlong Wu, Hongliang Li, Zhirong Zhang, Long Zhao, Han Yan, Jie Zeng
{"title":"Ultrafine metal nanoparticles isolated on oxide nano-islands as exceptional sintering-resistant catalysts","authors":"Tao Zhou, Xu Li, Jiankang Zhao, Lei Luo, Yanru Wang, Zizhen Xiao, Sunpei Hu, Ruyang Wang, Zekun Zhao, Chengyuan Liu, Wenlong Wu, Hongliang Li, Zhirong Zhang, Long Zhao, Han Yan, Jie Zeng","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02134-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02134-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ultrafine nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted extensive research interest, especially in heterogeneous catalysis. However, the inherent sintering propensity of NPs has been a major obstacle to their catalytic stability. Here we report an isolation strategy to preserve highly dispersed ultrafine NPs under extremely harsh conditions. Oxide nano-islands were grafted between the catalyst support and metal NPs, serving as a general approach by following a charge attraction principle. Specifically, LaO<sub><i>x</i></sub> nano-islands were ideally suited for stabilizing Ru NPs among the synthetic library, exhibiting strong adhesion to minimize the chemical potential and disconnect the sintering path. Thus, ultrafine Ru NPs in Ru/LaO<sub><i>x</i></sub>–SiO<sub>2</sub> were isolated, maintaining a mean size of 1.4 nm in CO- and H<sub>2</sub>-rich atmosphere during efficient catalysis for methane dry reforming at 800 °C for 400 h. This isolation strategy has proved effective for many other metals on various supports, paving a practical way for the design of sintering-resistant catalysts.</p>","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":41.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143582859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature MaterialsPub Date : 2025-03-10DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02144-7
Xu Gao, Biao Li, Kurt Kummer, Andrey Geondzhian, Dmitry A. Aksyonov, Rémi Dedryvère, Dominique Foix, Gwenaëlle Rousse, Mouna Ben Yahia, Marie-Liesse Doublet, Artem M. Abakumov, Jean-Marie Tarascon
{"title":"Clarifying the origin of molecular O2 in cathode oxides","authors":"Xu Gao, Biao Li, Kurt Kummer, Andrey Geondzhian, Dmitry A. Aksyonov, Rémi Dedryvère, Dominique Foix, Gwenaëlle Rousse, Mouna Ben Yahia, Marie-Liesse Doublet, Artem M. Abakumov, Jean-Marie Tarascon","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02144-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02144-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Anionic redox has reshaped the conventional way of exploring advanced cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. However, how anions participate in the redox process has been the subject of intensive debate, evolving from electron holes to O–O dimerization and currently to a focus on trapped molecular O<sub>2</sub> based on high-resolution resonant X-ray inelastic scattering research. Here we show that the resonant X-ray inelastic scattering signal of molecular O<sub>2</sub> is not exclusive to Li-rich oxide cathodes, but appears consistently in O-redox-inactive oxide materials even with a short beam exposure time as low as 1 min, indicating that molecular O<sub>2</sub> species are not directly related to voltage hysteresis and voltage decay. We further demonstrated that molecular O<sub>2</sub> is not a direct product of electrochemistry but more likely a consequence of the core excitation process in resonant X-ray inelastic scattering, for which the possible scenarios of the dissociation of ‘M-(O–O)’-like species on beam excitation must be considered. Collectively, our results reconcile the conflicting reported results on the (non-)observation of molecular O<sub>2</sub> signal collected from different beamlines and suggest that molecular O<sub>2</sub> is not the energetic engine of new battery oxide cathodes.</p>","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":41.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143583059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature MaterialsPub Date : 2025-03-07DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02165-2
{"title":"A non-layered two-dimensional semiconductor for p-type transistors","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41563-025-02165-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02165-2","url":null,"abstract":"The number and performance of p-type two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors has been limited. Now, non-layered 2D β-Bi2O3 single crystals are synthesized on a SiO2/Si substrate using a vapour–liquid–solid–solid growth method. Field-effect transistors based on 2D β-Bi2O3 crystals exhibit high hole mobility, on/off current ratio and air stability.","PeriodicalId":19058,"journal":{"name":"Nature Materials","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":41.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143570150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}