A promising birthplace for skyrmions

Nature Materials, Published online: 09 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0642-7Skyrmions emerging from complex order offer superior stability and functionality for data processing and storage, but creating such objects is intrinsically difficult. Homochiral electric and antiferromagnetic structures at the domain walls of a room-temperature multiferroic...

Mar 2020

Marriage of topology and magnetism

Nature Materials, Published online: 09 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0632-9A monolayer topological insulator is magnetized by proximity to a layered antiferromagnetic insulator.

Mar 2020

Efficient metal ion sieving in rectifying subnanochannels enabled by metal–organic frameworks

Nature Materials, Published online: 09 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0634-7Here, using an interfacial growth strategy, UiO-66 MOF nanocrystals are asymmetrically embedded into conical pores in a polymer membrane. These pores have a pH-tunable mono/divalent cation selectivity of 103 102–104 and act as ionic rectifiers.

Mar 2020

A 3D map of atoms in 2D materials

Nature Materials, Published online: 09 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0646-3Scanning atomic electron tomography measurements reveal the 3D local structure around single dopant atoms in 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, providing essential information to investigate and predict their electronic properties.

Mar 2020

Seeing crystal formation one particle at a time

Nature Materials, Published online: 09 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0649-0Low-electron-dose liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy reveals a two-step nucleation process during the crystallization of triangular nanoplatelets in water at the single-particle level.

Mar 2020

Ground-state electron transfer in all-polymer donor–acceptor heterojunctions

Nature Materials, Published online: 09 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0618-7Doping through spontaneous electron transfer between donor and acceptor polymers is obtained by selecting organic semiconductors with suitable electron affinity and ionization energy, achieving high conductivity in blends and bilayer configuration.

Mar 2020

Magnetic proximity and nonreciprocal current switching in a monolayer WTe₂ helical edge

Nature Materials, Published online: 09 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0620-0The coupling between magnetism and topology is studied in a van der Waals heterostructure.

Mar 2020

Publisher Correction: Nanoscale percolation in doped BaZrO₃ for high proton mobility

Nature Materials, Published online: 09 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0654-3Publisher Correction: Nanoscale percolation in doped BaZrO3 for high proton mobility

Mar 2020

High oxide ion and proton conductivity in a disordered hexagonal perovskite

Nature Materials, Published online: 02 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0629-4Fast oxide ion and proton conductors at intermediate temperature are required to improve the performance of ceramic fuel cells. An undoped hexagonal perovskite Ba7Nb4MoO20 electrolyte with high proton and oxide ion conductivity (4.0 mS cm−1) at 510 °C is now reported.

Mar 2020

Contact and macroscopic ageing in colloidal suspensions

Nature Materials, Published online: 02 March 2020; doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0624-9The progressive stiffening of the solid–solid contacts that freeze dense colloidal suspensions are shown to cause the macroscopic ageing of such materials.

Mar 2020