In recent years, the notion of ‘Quantum Materials’ has emerged as a powerful unifying concept across diverse fields of science and engineering, from condensed-matter and coldatom physics to materials science and quantum computing. Beyond traditional quantum materials such as unconventional superconductors, heavy fermions, and multiferroics, the field has significantly expanded to encompass topological

The partial replacement of Cu by Ag in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-film solar cells is strategically interesting to achieve smooth devices with high conversion efficiencies. Yet, the industrial exploitation requires further understanding of the deposition process and control of the absorber layer properties. In this study, three-stage co-evaporation of (Ag,Cu)(Ga,In)Se2 films with [Ag]/([Ag] + [Cu]) contents

Ion-gated transistors are attracting significant attention due to their low operating voltage (<1 V) and modulation of charge carrier density by ion-gating media. Here we report flexible organic ion-gated transistors based on the high mobility donor–acceptor conjugated copolymer poly[4-(4,4-dihexadecyl 4H-cyclopenta[1,2-b:5,4-b′]-dithiophen-2-yl)-alt[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4c]pyridine](PCDTPT) and the

We characterise the local mechanical properties of two-dimensional colloidal crystals with hexagonal symmetry assembled at the flat interface between oil and water. Our experiments elucidate the conditions under which the material behaves isotropically, as opposed to those where the microstructure plays a major role. Brownian fluctuations are used to extract the stiffness of the lattice under the continuum

Monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS2) has recently attracted a great deal of interest as a promising material for advanced electronic and optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors, modulators, and sensors. Since these devices can be integrated in a silicon (Si) chip via back-end-of-line (BEOL) processes, the stability of monolayer WS2 in BEOL fabrication conditions should be studied. In this work

Ag-Pd core–shell nanoparticles with different thickness of Pd shell are successfully prepared applying polyol methods with 1,2-propanediol as a solvent and reducing agent. A strongly electronic interaction between the sublayer Ag and surface Pd atoms are measured for the Ag-Pd core–shell particles with lower Pd/Ag atom ratios (Pd:Ag ⩽ 3:10), which derives from the near-surface alloying effect. Upon

The seamless incorporation of electronics in textiles have the potential to enable various applications ranging from sensors for the internet of things to personalised medicine and human-machine interfacing. Graphene electronic textiles are a current focus for the research community due to the exceptional electrical and optical properties combined with the high flexibility of this material, which makes

Owing to their unique photophysical and physicochemical properties, nanoscale photosensitizers (nano-PSs) comprising nanocarriers and molecular photosensitizers (PSs) have emerged as the practical solutions to circumvent current limitations in photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. Nanosized materials have demonstrated their superiority either as the delivery vehicles for PSs to enhance the therapeutic

We conduct ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy in monolayer WS2 at high pump fluences to gain direct insight into interactions between a high density of carriers, defects, and phonons. We find that defects in the lattice play a major role in determining the relaxation dynamics by trapping the photoexcited carriers and acting as non-radiative recombination centers that emit phonons. In the high carrier

The self-assembly of colloidal nanocrystals at interfaces provides a bottom-up approach to create functional materials for developing next-generation flexible optoelectronic devices and sensors. In this work, we report phase diagrams of simple models of colloidal nanocrystals confined at a flat interface. By performing extensive computer simulations we elucidate the mesoscale organization that takes

In this work, a high-throughput screening of binary and ternary pnictide- and halide-based compounds is performed to identify promising p-type transparent conductors. Our investigation profits from the emergence of open-access databases based on ab-initio results. The band gap, stability, hole effective mass, and p-type dopability are employed for the materials screening and the validity of these descriptors

Rational design and synthesis of low-cost noble-metal free electrode with high efficiency for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial for the realization of eco-friendly hydrogen economy. Here, we report and design topologically nontrivial 1T’-MoTe2 single crystals as remarkable hydrogen evolution electrocatalyst. The catalytic 1T’-MoTe2 was controllably synthesized via solid-state reaction and

We report the effect of bias stress on the drain current and threshold voltage of n-channel thin-film transistors based on solution processed In2O3 layers. Application of a positive gate bias for variable time-periods led to displacements of the transfer curves in the positive gate bias direction. On switching off the gate bias, the transfer curves returned close to their pre-stress state on a timescale

We present a strategy, by taking a prototypical model system for photocatalysis (viz. N-doped (TiO2) n clusters), to accurately design photocatalyst with enhanced reactivity at a given environmental conditions (i.e. temperature (T), pressure () and doping ( e )). Since free energy potential energy surface consists of many competing isomers even in a small energy window, computational design of specific

Two dimensional (2D) materials are of interest for a wide range of applications, including low-power electronics, catalysis, optoelectronics, and quantum information. Scalable synthesis is the foundation of a ‘Lab-to-Fab’ transition, where significant advances in material scalability over the last few years is made possible via common industrially adopted thin film deposition techniques. To date, elevated

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) along with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) are synthesized using modest methods and their composites with the polymers PEDOT:PSS and P3HT are prepared using an easy solution method. An attractive improvement in the composites’ physical properties with wt% increase of the filler material is observed, encouraging their applications in the fabrication of organic solar cells (OSCs)

Currently, rechargeable sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) with high voltage and high energy density have attracted considerable attention. However, compared with lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), there are many urgent challenges that need to be solved to achieve the practical application of SIBs. Due to the similar physicochemical properties of sodium and lithium, the study of SIBs is based on LIBs. However

In this work, we present a review of quantum dot (QD) material systems that allow us to obtain light emission in the telecom C-band at 1.55 µ m. These epitaxial semiconductor nanostructures are of great technological interest for the development of devices for the generation of on-demand quanta of light for long-haul communication applications. The material systems considered are InAs QDs grown on

Among the existing two-dimensional materials, MXenes, i.e. transition metal carbides, nitrides and/or carbonitrides, stand out for their excellent electrochemical properties. Due to their high charge storage capacity, metal-like conductivity, biocompatibility as well as hydrophilicity, Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene-based inks hold great potential for scalable production of skin conformable electronics via direct

In the past few years, considerable progress has been made on the controlled synthesis of bilayer van der Waals (vdW) materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), which are of interest due to their attractive optical and electronic properties. A variety of methods have been developed to synthesize bilayer vdW materials. This review is devoted to recent advances in the properties

Nano-sized advanced reference materials (RMs) based on synthetic polymers were developed using supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) and certain size measurement methods. These RMs have reference values of accurate molecular size and molecular weight. One of the RMs investigated was poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with no distribution in its degree of polymerization, i.e., its absolute degree of polymerization

Au-based protein nanoclusters (PNCs) represent an emerging class of fluorescence probes that are inherently biocompatible and combine the functionality of proteins and optical properties of Au nanoclusters. Here we report on a methodology to create conjugated Au PNCs using amino acid coupling strategies from a series of common laboratory proteins. We discover that the host protein and the specific

This study investigates the magnetisation process of a martensitic Ni–Mn–Ga thin film with microstructure optimized to obtain a unidirectional and reversible magnetisation jump. The study has been realised by a thorough vector magnetometry characterisation and supported by micromagnetic modelling, considering different orientations of the applied field with respect to the symmetry directions of the

As spintronic devices become more and more prevalent, the desire to find Pt-free materials with large spin Hall effects is increasing. Previously it was shown that β-W, the metastable A15 structured variant of pure W, has charge-spin conversion efficiencies on par with Pt, and it was predicted that β-W/Ta alloys should be even more efficient. Here we demonstrate the enhancement of the spin Hall ratio

Engineering of atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is highly sought after for novel optoelectronic and spintronic devices. With the limited number of naturally existing TMDs, chalcogen based alloying has become a viable solution for developing TMDs for optical modulators and photovoltaics. Here, we report on detailed optical and microscopic studies of ternary TMD alloys of molybdenum

To control rheological properties and accomplish perfect sensory properties and mouthfeel, polysaccharides are added to milk-based beverages. However, in contrast to expectations, it is often found that adding low concentrations of xanthan gum or guar gum to milk provokes phase separations of unclear physical origin. From this observation, questions arise regarding the interaction of added polysaccharides

Crystallography employing conventional large-volume diffraction has enabled the firm connections between structure and properties and structure and function that have solved many of the most difficult problems in materials science and biology. Disordered materials possess a large variety of local structural arrangements and pose a special challenge for crystallography. Often the local structures and

Metal halide perovskite-based nanostructures, nanosheets and nanoparticles at the forefront, show attractive optoelectronic properties, suitable for photovoltaics and light emission applications. Achieving a sounded understanding of these basic electronic and optical properties represents therefore a crucial step for the full technological exploitation of this class of semiconductors. The rapidly expanding

A topical review of recent theoretical work on the properties of lyotropic solutions and melts containing semiflexible polymers in thermal equilibrium is given, with a focus on the liquid-crystalline and smectic order of these systems in the bulk and under confinement. Starting with a discussion of single chain properties in terms of the Kratky-Porod worm-like chain model and its limitations, extensions

The family of 2D materials has expanded quite rapidly, especially with the addition of transition metal carbides and nitrides called MXenes, in the last decade. Since their discovery in 2011, about 30 different MXenes have been synthesized, and the structure and properties of several dozens have been predicted by first-principles approaches. Given the outstanding advances in the MXene field, it is

Infinite-layer nickelate thin films materialize an intriguing new platform for high-temperature unconventional superconductivity, with LaNiO 2 /SrTiO 3 as reference setup. We discuss the relative stability of the elementary interfaces of this system and determine the corresponding electronic band structure. We find substantial changes compared to the bulk, in particular in relation to the 5 d orbital

Vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) receives a great deal of attention because of its intriguing properties of metal-insulator transition and its wide applications in electronics, optoelecronics, smart coatings, and so on. To further enhance the performance of their applications, low dimensional VO 2 nanomaterials, such as nanobeams and nanomembranes, have become a research hotspot due to their structural advantages

Recently, two-dimension transition metal carbides, carbonitrides, and nitrides called MXenes have attracted huge attention due to their outstanding physical properties in various fields. Here we highlight the enormous potential of MXenes as nonlinear optical materials in the laser technologies, which includes ultrafast laser pulse generation, laser frequency modulation based on four-wave mixing, and