Layered MXenes are normally obtained by chemically etching the A element of MAX phases (M is the early transition element, A is the main group element, and X is nitrogen or carbon) by using fluoride-containing compounds or a Lewis acidic molten salt (LAMS) for example. After removing the A element in the MAX phase, the exposed M atoms can spontaneously coordinate with anions, such as F–, O2–, OH– or

Chemically treated and coated paper, as well as cellulose fibres reconstituted from wood, have been used to make a variety of low-cost, printable electronic devices such as solar cells and battery electrodes, and woody materials have been the source of porous activated carbons for devices such as electrochemical capacitors1. The performance might not always equal that of more highly engineered materials

The Materials Research Society, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, has long been a central hub for the materials community.

Ferroelectrics have already impacted scientific research and commercial applications, but they still show plenty of potential to surprise.

Perhaps the most promising and intriguing examples of ‘deformation engineering’ of materials behaviour, however, can be found in microstructured systems in which the bulk material is constituted from many small components: beads, droplets, rods, sheets and filamentary networks. Here, considerably different bulk properties can be elicited, often reversibly, by deformation-induced changes to the shapes

But while the subsequent race to boost the Tc of copper oxides led to contested claims, these arguments pale in comparison to those that have raged around reports of superconductivity at close to room temperature in hydrogen-containing materials. The latest of these1 is no exception: the claim has excited much controversy, and the session of the American Physical Society’s March meeting in Las Vegas

Increasing chemical complexity expands the design space and drives the coupling of materials science and computational techniques.