The latest research from Nature Materials September 2020

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[Read the latest original research articles]( [API]( TABLE OF CONTENTS --------------------------------------------------------------- September 2020 Volume 19, Issue 9 [Current issue]( [Editorial](#_19_9-1) [Comment](#_19_9-2) [News & Views](#_19_9-3) [Perspectives](#_19_9-4) [Review Articles](#_19_9-5) [Matters Arising](#_19_9-6) [Letters](#_19_9-7) [Articles](#_19_9-8) [Amendments & Corrections](#_19_9-9) Advertisement [Virtual Symposium: AI for Materials: From Discovery to Production]( October 6 - 7, 2020 Materials scientists, industry experts, and AI researchers provide perspective on the benefits of AI in materials simulations, materials synthesis, and translating research into industrial production. Featuring Contributed Talks and a Poster Session. Abstract Deadline 8/28. [Register](. [New York Academy of Sciences] [] Editorial [ ] [Conducting polymers forward p921]( doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0792-7 [] Comment [ ] [The journey of conducting polymers from discovery to application pp922 - 928]( Xugang Guo & Antonio Facchetti doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0778-5 Advertisement Improving Li-ion battery performance through materials characterisation Oxford Instruments’ Kim Larsen, Dr. Sam Marks, and Dr. James Sagar will demonstrate how materials characterization techniques including EDS, EBSD, NMR, and AFM can each be used to enable materials and design improvements to enhance Li-ion battery performance. [Register for this webcast FREE today]( Sponsored by: [Oxford Instruments NanoAnalysis]( [] News & Views [ ] [Flipping handedness in ferrimagnets pp929 - 930]( Satoshi Okamoto doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0779-4 [ ] [Testing the nonlinear Luttinger liquid pp931 - 932]( Leonid I. Glazman doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0675-y [ ] [Crystallographic design for energy storage pp932 - 934]( Jürgen Rödel doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0745-1 [ ] [Learning with brain chemistry pp934 - 935]( Tobias Cramer doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0711-y [ ] [Apical poles without neighbouring cells pp935 - 937]( Covadonga Díaz-Díaz & Fernando Martín-Belmonte doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0766-9 [ ] [The plastic legacy p938]( Philip Ball doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0785-6 [] Perspectives [ ] [Chiral metal surfaces for enantioselective processes pp939 - 945]( Nisha Shukla & Andrew J. Gellman doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0734-4 Chiral surfaces are fundamental materials for the preparation of enantiomerically pure pharmaceuticals. This Perspective discusses the recent advances in the fabrication of chiral surfaces and the progress towards scalable, high-surface-area, enantiomerically pure surfaces. [] Review Articles [ ] [Applications and challenges of thermoplasmonics pp946 - 958]( Guillaume Baffou, Frank Cichos & Romain Quidant doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0740-6 Thermoplasmonics is based on the use of plasmonic nanoparticles as sources of heat remotely controlled by light. This Review discusses its current applications and challenges in a broad range of scientific fields, from nanomedicine to hot-electron chemistry and nanofluidics. [] Matters Arising [ ] [How much does corrosion of nuclear waste matrices matter pp959 - 961]( Dirk Mallants & Neil Chapman doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0741-5 [ ] [Reply to: How much does corrosion of nuclear waste matrices matter pp962 - 963]( Xiaolei Guo, Stephane Gin, Penghui Lei, Tiankai Yao, Hongshen Liu et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0742-4 [] Letters [ ] [Broad spectral tuning of ultra-low-loss polaritons in a van der Waals crystal by intercalation pp964 - 968]( Javier Taboada-Gutiérrez, Gonzalo Álvarez-Pérez, Jiahua Duan, Weiliang Ma, Kyle Crowley et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0665-0 The spectral range of long-lived and confined phonon polaritons in a polar van der Waals crystal is shown to be tunable by intercalation of Na atoms, expanding their potential for nanophotonic applications in the mid-infrared domain. [ ] [A biohybrid synapse with neurotransmitter-mediated plasticity pp969 - 973]( Scott T. Keene, Claudia Lubrano, Setareh Kazemzadeh, Armantas Melianas, Yaakov Tuchman et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0703-y A cell culture interfacing an organic neuromorphic device in a microfluidic system reversibly modifies the device synaptic weight through chemical reactions mediated by the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter used in biological synapses. [] Articles [ ] [Evidence of higher-order topology in multilayer WTe2 from Josephson coupling through anisotropic hinge states pp974 - 979]( Yong-Bin Choi, Yingming Xie, Chui-Zhen Chen, Jinho Park, Su-Beom Song et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0721-9 Transport measurements and calculations show that WTe2 may be a higher-order topological insulator with topological hinge states. [ ] [Distinct handedness of spin wave across the compensation temperatures of ferrimagnets pp980 - 985]( Changsoo Kim, Soogil Lee, Hyun-Gyu Kim, Ji-Ho Park, Kyung-Woong Moon et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0722-8 Right- and left-handed spin-wave modes are identified in ferrimagnets, and their dynamics are revealed. [ ] [Nonlinear Luttinger liquid plasmons in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes pp986 - 991]( Sheng Wang, Sihan Zhao, Zhiwen Shi, Fanqi Wu, Zhiyuan Zhao et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0652-5 Electric-field tunable plasmonic excitations in semiconducting carbon nanotubes are shown to behave consistently with the nonlinear Luttinger liquid theory, providing a platform to study non-conventional one-dimensional electron dynamics and realize integrated nanophotonic devices. [ ] [Radiation-induced segregation in a ceramic pp992 - 998]( Xing Wang, Hongliang Zhang, Tomonori Baba, Hao Jiang, Cheng Liu et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0683-y Radiation-induced segregation is widely observed in metals. Here it is discovered that radiation-induced segregation also occurs in a ceramic, with carbon atoms in silicon carbide segregating to the grain boundaries under irradiation. [ ] [Grain-orientation-engineered multilayer ceramic capacitors for energy storage applications pp999 - 1005]( Jinglei Li, Zhonghui Shen, Xianghua Chen, Shuai Yang, Wenlong Zhou et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0704-x The energy density of dielectric ceramic capacitors is limited by low breakdown fields. Here, by considering the anisotropy of electrostriction in perovskites, it is shown that <111>-textured Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3–Sr0.7Bi0.2TiO3 ceramics can sustain higher electrical fields and achieve an energy density of 21.5 J cm−3. [ ] [Molecular crowding electrolytes for high-voltage aqueous batteries pp1006 - 1011]( Jing Xie, Zhuojian Liang & Yi-Chun Lu doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0667-y Developing cheap and sustainable aqueous electrolytes with a wide voltage window is key to achieving safe and high-energy Li-ion batteries. An electrolyte using the polymer poly(ethylene glycol) as a crowding agent to decrease water activity achieves a wide operation window at low salt concentration. [ ] [A poly(thymine)–melamine duplex for the assembly of DNA nanomaterials pp1012 - 1018]( Qian Li, Jiemin Zhao, Longfei Liu, Sagun Jonchhe, Felix J. Rizzuto et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0728-2 Melamine is shown to associate with two poly(thymine) strands, forming antiparallel duplexes that can be used for the dynamic assembly of DNA-based nanostructures. [ ] [Cortical cell stiffness is independent of substrate mechanics pp1019 - 1025]( Johannes Rheinlaender, Andrea Dimitracopoulos, Bernhard Wallmeyer, Nils M. Kronenberg, Kevin J. Chalut et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0684-x Atomic force microscopy indentation measurements of cells cultured on soft substrates may result in an underestimation of cell stiffness. A model has now been developed that takes this soft substrate effect into account, revealing that cortical cell stiffness is largely independent of substrate mechanics. [ ] [Biomimetic niches reveal the minimal cues to trigger apical lumen formation in single hepatocytes pp1026 - 1035]( Yue Zhang, Richard De Mets, Cornelia Monzel, Vidhyalakshmi Acharya, Pearlyn Toh et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0662-3 The polarity of primary hepatocytes has now been shown to be inducible at the single-cell level by passive artificial micro-niches, indicating that the early development of polarity occurs largely independently of the types and response of the neighbouring cells. [] Amendments & Corrections [ ] [Publisher Correction: Electronic structure of the parent compound of superconducting infinite-layer nickelates p1036]( M. Hepting, D. Li, C. J. Jia, H. Lu, E. Paris et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0761-1 [ ] [Author Correction: Evidence of higher-order topology in multilayer WTe2 from Josephson coupling through anisotropic hinge states p1036]( Yong-Bin Choi, Yingming Xie, Chui-Zhen Chen, Jinho Park, Su-Beom Song et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0762-0 [ ] [Author Correction: Electrical switching in a magnetically intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide p1036]( Nityan L. Nair, Eran Maniv, Caolan John, Spencer Doyle, J. Orenstein et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0776-7 [nature events]( Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available [here](. 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