Nanoscale materials articles from across Nature Portfolio

Rolling two-dimensional materials into one-dimensional nanoscrolls unlocks tunable emergent properties; however, existing methods rely on external forces. Now, intrinsically driven scrolling in polar two-dimensional materials mediated by out-of-plane electric polarization is reported, establishing a platform for the design of functional nanoscrolls.

The development of kesterite photovoltaic modules has long been hindered by low efficiencies and poor reproducibility. Researchers have now developed a solution-processing approach to achieve uniform and phase-pure kesterite films, enabling the fabrication of large-area modules with 10.1% efficiency.

Metal nanoparticles have been made with polymer patches accurately placed on their surfaces — enabling them to self-assemble into otherwise inaccessible 3D structures.

Tuning the electronic properties of nanocatalysts by doping them with uniformly dispersed hetero-metal atoms is an effective way to improve catalytic performance. Here, the authors show that weakening the Cu–O bond energy in CuO nanocatalysts boosts the efficiency of NH₃ oxidation.

Mechanical metamaterials with large strain zero Poisson’s ratio are crucial for applications needing dimensional stability under deformation. Here, the authors develop a 3D zero Poisson’s ratio metamaterial employing shape-optimized helical ligaments, demonstrating reduced stress concentrations and substantial elastic deformation, confirmed by experiments, making it ideal for adaptive actuators and energy-absorbing systems.

This study presents ultrasmall, bright lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles that overcome surface quenching, enabling high spatiotemporal resolution tracking of membrane proteins with exceptional photostability.

A ligand-restricted strategy is developed to realize the synthesis of dual-atom catalysts with high pairing ratio and tunable atomic distances.

Rolling two-dimensional materials into one-dimensional nanoscrolls unlocks tunable emergent properties; however, existing methods rely on external forces. Now, intrinsically driven scrolling in polar two-dimensional materials mediated by out-of-plane electric polarization is reported, establishing a platform for the design of functional nanoscrolls.

Precision nanomaterials are key to many technologies; however, effective industrial-scale production typically requires decades of development. Here we share the commercialization pathway of our Accelerated Materials Platform for Engineered Nanomaterials (AMPLE), which integrates microreactors, machine learning and automation to accelerate materials synthesis from gram to tonne scales.

The development of kesterite photovoltaic modules has long been hindered by low efficiencies and poor reproducibility. Researchers have now developed a solution-processing approach to achieve uniform and phase-pure kesterite films, enabling the fabrication of large-area modules with 10.1% efficiency.

Metal nanoparticles have been made with polymer patches accurately placed on their surfaces — enabling them to self-assemble into otherwise inaccessible 3D structures.

The microscopic magnetic textures of isospin symmetry-broken phases in rhombohedral tetralayer graphene have been directly imaged. By probing spin orientation and magnetic anisotropy at ultra-low fields, key energy scales — the spin–orbit coupling and intervalley Hund’s exchange — have been extracted, shedding new light on the phase hierarchy in strongly correlated electron systems.

The visualization of periodic electronic and vibrational textures in conjugated polymers using a multimodal probe provides possible evidence of ordered states formed by the interaction of multiple polarons.