Materials science articles from across Nature Portfolio

A direct bonding–debonding method has been developed to fabricate stacked two-dimensional semiconductors at the wafer scale with engineered layer numbers and interlayer twist angles. The as-produced structures feature pristine surfaces and interfaces, and wafer-scale uniformity — all of which are essential for application in next-generation electronic devices.

An intermediate phase steers the preferential {100} orientation of evaporated perovskites, securing long-term device stability for perovskite photovoltaics.

The structure of interpolymer complex formed by poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and poly(methacrylic acid) by controlling the hydrogen bonds between the polymer chains by changing solvent pH or adding urea was investigated. The viscosity of solution containing the interpolymer complex was drastically increased in solvent with pH~12, then decreased at pH~13. This behavior can be explained by a model that the dimension of the complex was changed with a decrease of inter-polymer hydrogen bonds at high pH or urea concentration.

Using the shear jamming transition within soft composite solids, non-reciprocal mechanics are achieved for the asymmetric spatiotemporal control of soft materials.

The authors demonstrate that Ti diffusion and segregation at the Al2O3 grain boundary induces a structural transformation of that boundary, which in turn enhances both its diffusivity and segregation capacity, revealing intricate segregation-phase-diffusion interactions within the grain boundary.

A direct bonding–debonding method has been developed to fabricate stacked two-dimensional semiconductors at the wafer scale with engineered layer numbers and interlayer twist angles. The as-produced structures feature pristine surfaces and interfaces, and wafer-scale uniformity — all of which are essential for application in next-generation electronic devices.

An intermediate phase steers the preferential {100} orientation of evaporated perovskites, securing long-term device stability for perovskite photovoltaics.

Complex architectures of conductive and dielectric domains have been created through the thermal drawing of liquid-metal-embedded elastomers. The stretchable electronic fibres from this scalable process can be easily integrated in textiles, including for sport or health-monitoring applications.

It is challenging to generate ultrashort laser pulses at high powers, but repeatedly overlapping light pulses in a crystal can efficiently amplify a weak signal.

Phase-separation-generated DNA condensates provide a versatile platform for building synthetic cells that mimic crowded intracellular environments. By integrating phase separation with DNA nanotechnology, we have programmed cytoskeleton growth inside synthetic cells. This growth provides switchable and orthogonal architectures that reinforce mechanical stability and can establish robust interfaces with living cells.