The latest research from Nature Materials June 2021

[Nature Materials]( [] Advertisement [New Articles Now Online]( Biophysics Reviews (BPR) is a new journal featuring authoritative reviews and original research covering all areas of biophysics. BPR publishes studies of high quality and general interest to the biophysics community. [Read the latest issue now]( [AIP]( TABLE OF CONTENTS --------------------------------------------------------------- June 2021 Volume 20, Issue 6 [Current issue]( [Editorial](#_20_6-1) [News & Views](#_20_6-2) [Editorial](#_20_6-3) [Perspectives](#_20_6-4) [Review Articles](#_20_6-5) [Letters](#_20_6-6) [Articles](#_20_6-7) [Why it Matters](#_20_6-8) [Amendments & Corrections](#_20_6-9) Advertisement [AIP]( [Special Topics on Materials and Condensed Matter Now Open for Submissions!]( Novel Epitaxy of Functional Materials, Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Materials and Devices, Engineering and Understanding of Thermal Conduction in Materials, and more. [Learn more]( Advertisement Accelerating innovation for polymeric materials with molecular modeling Schrödinger’s Dr. Andrea Browning will describe how polymer innovation can benefit from chemically informed simulations, with examples in bio-based polymers, thermoset resins, and thermoplastics. [Register for this webcast FREE today]( Sponsored by: [Schrödinger, Inc.]( Advertisement [npj Flexible Electronics]( Publish your research on all types of materials degradation. [Learn more about our submission process ]( [npj Flexible Electronics]( [] Editorial [ ] [It’s all about the climate]( doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01024-0 The Biden administration proposed a huge boost in US federal research spending. Materials science, and many other fields, would win big if Congress agrees to the president’s sweeping agenda. [] News & Views [ ] [Liquid assets for soft electronics]( Michael D. Bartlett doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00939-y Liquid-metal networks have been developed that can be stretched to extreme deformations with minimal change in electrical resistance, ushering in approaches for breathable and integrated soft and stretchable electronic devices. [ ] [The sound of Weyl hinges]( R. Fleury doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01018-y Clever 3D-printed acoustic materials allow probing a new higher-order semimetallic topological phase using audible sound. [ ] [Ferroelectricity in bulk hafnia]( Thomas Mikolajick & Uwe Schroeder doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00914-z Ferroelectricity in bulk crystals of hafnium oxide demonstrates that these properties are not limited to films prepared by thin-film deposition techniques. [ ] [Keeping ice at bay]( Philip Ball doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01028-w [ ] [Hot plasmons make graphene shine]( Frank H. L. Koppens & Klaas-Jan Tielrooij doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00952-1 Bright hot plasmon emission is observed in graphene due to the ultrafast relaxation of hot carriers that were excited by femtosecond laser pulses of visible light. [ ] [Netrin-4 regulates stiffness and metastasis]( Patrick Mehlen & Laurent Fattet doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01012-4 The stiffness of the basement membrane is a determinant of the process of metastasis and patient survival. Netrin-4 is now shown to be a key regulator of the basement membrane stiffness. [] Editorial [ ] [Computational materials design]( Shevlin Stephen doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01038-8 [] Perspectives [ ] [Discovering and understanding materials through computation]( Steven G. Louie,Yang-Hao Chan, Felipe H. da Jornada, Zhenglu Li & Diana Y. Qiu doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01015-1 This Perspective provides an overview of the different approaches used to understand the behaviour of materials at different length scales and timescales through computation, and outlines future challenges in the description of complex systems or ultrafast non-equilibrium behaviour. [] Review Articles [ ] [Electronic-structure methods for materials design]( Nicola Marzari, Andrea Ferretti & Chris Wolverton doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01013-3 Simulations can be used to accelerate the characterization and discovery of materials. Here we Review how electronic-structure methods such as density functional theory work, what properties they can be used to predict and how they can be used to design materials. [ ] [Machine-learned potentials for next-generation matter simulations]( Pascal Friederich, Florian Häse, Jonny Proppe & Alán Aspuru-Guzik doi:10.1038/s41563-020-0777-6 Materials simulations are now ubiquitous for explaining material properties. This Review discusses how machine-learned potentials break the limitations of system-size or accuracy, how active-learning will aid their development, how they are applied, and how they may become a more widely used approach. [ ] [From predictive modelling to machine learning and reverse engineering of colloidal self-assembly]( Marjolein Dijkstra & Erik Luijten doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01014-2 This Review provides an overview of computational tools and strategies, from simulation methods to machine learning and reverse-engineering approaches, used for the design of soft materials made from self-assembling colloids and nanoparticles. [ ] [Mesoscopic and multiscale modelling in materials]( Jacob Fish, Gregory J. Wagner & Sinan Keten doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00913-0 Multiscale modelling is a powerful tool to simulate materials behaviour, which has important features across multiple length and time scales. This Review provides an overview of multiscale computation methods and discusses their development for use in material design. [] Letters [ ] [A percolation theory for designing corrosion-resistant alloys]( Yusi Xie, Dorota M. Artymowicz, Pietro P. Lopes, Ashlee Aiello, Duo Wang et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00920-9 A percolation theory of alloy passivation is developed accounting for selective dissolution and the quantity of metal dissolved during the primary passivation process, which provides a quantitative way for designing corrosion-resistant alloy compositions. [ ] [Observation of a phononic higher-order Weyl semimetal]( Li Luo, Hai-Xiao Wang, Zhi-Kang Lin, Bin Jiang, Ying Wu et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00985-6 Symmetry is utilized to realize a phononic higher-order Weyl semimetal. [ ] [Observation of the antiferromagnetic spin Hall effect]( Xianzhe Chen, Shuyuan Shi, Guoyi Shi, Xiaolong Fan, Cheng Song et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00946-z A magnetic spin Hall effect is reported in the collinear antiferromagnet Mn2Au. [] Articles [ ] [Mid-infrared radiative emission from bright hot plasmons in graphene]( Laura Kim, Seyoon Kim, Pankaj K. Jha, Victor W. Brar & Harry A. Atwater doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00935-2 The optical emission of graphene under pumping with femtosecond laser pulses contains a strong component linked to plasmon emission from the hot electrons in the system. [ ] [Higher-order topological semimetal in acoustic crystals]( Qiang Wei, Xuewei Zhang, Weiyin Deng, Jiuyang Lu, Xueqin Huang et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00933-4 A second-order topological Weyl semimetal based on a 3D-printed acoustic crystal, exhibiting Weyl points, Fermi arc surface states, and hinge states, has been experimentally demonstrated. [ ] [Van der Waals epitaxial growth of air-stable CrSe2 nanosheets with thickness-tunable magnetic order]( Bo Li, Zhong Wan, Cong Wang, Peng Chen, Bevin Huang et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00927-2 CrSe2 nanosheets grown on WSe2 show no apparent change in surface roughness or magnetic properties after months of exposure in air. Calculations suggest that charge transfer from the WSe2 substrate and interlayer coupling within CrSe2 play a critical role. [ ] [Kinetically stabilized ferroelectricity in bulk single-crystalline HfO2:Y]( Xianghan Xu, Fei-Ting Huang, Yubo Qi, Sobhit Singh, Karin M. Rabe et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00897-x Hafnia ferroelectrics are of industrial interest owing to their compatibility with silicon-based electronics, but the ferroelectricity only exists in nanoscale films. Here, using a floating zone growth approach, ferroelectricity in bulk Y-doped hafnia is demonstrated. [ ] [Extraction of mobile charge carrier photogeneration yield spectrum of ultrathin-film metal oxide photoanodes for solar water splitting]( Daniel A. Grave, David S. Ellis, Yifat Piekner, Moritz Kölbach, Hen Dotan et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00955-y Although the photogeneration yield spectrum is a key property for photoabsorbers in photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical cells, its characterization remains challenging. An empirical method to extract this parameter through quantum efficiency measurements of ultrathin films is proposed. [ ] [Revisiting metal fluorides as lithium-ion battery cathodes]( Xiao Hua, Alexander S. Eggeman, Elizabeth Castillo-Martínez, Rosa Robert, Harry S. Geddes et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00893-1 Metal-fluoride-based lithium-ion battery cathodes are typically classified as conversion materials because reconstructive phase transitions are presumed to occur upon lithiation. Metal fluoride lithiation is now shown to be dominated instead by diffusion-controlled displacement mechanisms. [ ] [Highly stretchable multilayer electronic circuits using biphasic gallium-indium]( Shanliangzi Liu, Dylan S. Shah & Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00921-8 Conductors made of a mixture of liquid and solid domains of Ga–In alloy can be stretched over 1,000%, keeping almost constant conductivity, and used to connect commercial electronic components and realize stretchable multilayer printed circuit boards. [ ] [Permeable superelastic liquid-metal fibre mat enables biocompatible and monolithic stretchable electronics]( Zhijun Ma, Qiyao Huang, Qi Xu, Qiuna Zhuang, Xin Zhao et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00902-3 Coating of liquid metals on electrospun elastomeric fibre mats leads to the realization of conducting buckled meshes that can be stretched up to 1,800% strain while preserving both stable electrical properties and permeability to air and moisture. [ ] [Bio-inspired mechanically adaptive materials through vibration-induced crosslinking]( Zhao Wang, Jun Wang, Jorge Ayarza, Tim Steeves, Ziying Hu et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00932-5 A polymer gel composite self-strengthens in response to mechanical vibrations due to activation of mechanically sensitive ZnO crosslinking agents in its matrix, in a process that resembles bone remodelling observed in animals. [ ] [Spatiotemporal control of liquid crystal structure and dynamics through activity patterning]( Rui Zhang, Steven A. Redford, Paul V. Ruijgrok, Nitin Kumar, Ali Mozaffari et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00901-4 Light-responsive myosin motors enable spatial and temporal control over the dynamics and transport of active nematic liquid crystals composed of actin filaments and myosin at an oil–water interface. [ ] [Self-repair protects microtubules from destruction by molecular motors]( Sarah Triclin, Daisuke Inoue, Jérémie Gaillard, Zaw Min Htet, Morgan E. DeSantis et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00905-0 Molecular motors destroy a microtubule lattice as they walk on it, but it is now shown that a self-healing process incorporates new dimers in the damaged regions and prevents microtubule disassembly. [ ] [Basement membrane stiffness determines metastases formation]( Raphael Reuten, Sina Zendehroud, Monica Nicolau, Lutz Fleischhauer, Anu Laitala et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-020-00894-0 The basement membrane stiffness is shown to be a more dominant determinant than pore size in regulating cancer cell invasion, metastasis formation and patient survival. This stiffness is now known to be affected by the ratio of netrin-4 to laminin, with more netrin-4 leading to softer basement membranes. [] Why it Matters [ ] [Building on trust and vision]( Olga Malinkiewicz doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00976-7 Olga Malinkiewicz, founder of Saule Technologies, discusses her transition from academia to industry. [] Amendments & Corrections [ ] [Author Correction: Local negative permittivity and topological phase transition in polar skyrmions]( S. Das, Z. Hong, V. A. Stoica, M. A. P. Gonçalves, Y. T. Shao et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00962-z [ ] [Author Correction: Soft fibrin gels promote selection and growth of tumorigenic cells]( Jing Liu, Youhua Tan, Huafeng Zhang, Yi Zhang, Pingwei Xu et al. doi:10.1038/s41563-021-01032-0 [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](. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on [natureevents.com](. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com [More Nature Events]( This email has been sent to {EMAIL}. 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