Over the past decades, continual advancement of computational power has led to the prevalence of automation across science, industry, and society, whereby digital solutions were developed algorithmically to exploit technical knowledge of a problem. However, we are currently entering a critical period of computational innovation, particularly in materials science. Non-intuitive materials acceleration

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The growing field of data-driven materials research poses a challenge to educators: teaching machine learning to materials scientists. We share our recent experiences and lessons learnt from organizing educational sessions at the fall 2021 meeting of the Materials Research Society.

This Matter of Opinion is the first of three in a “Tales from Sabbatical” series focusing on sabbaticals in academia with perspectives from before you go, during the sabbatical, and once you return. This piece discusses some of the reasons why you would choose to go on sabbatical in the first place, the potential impact on personal and professional life, and logistics for planning.

Everyone has crumpled a sheet of paper at some point in their lives, either in frustration or to toss it in the office trash. Squeezed in your hands, it clearly becomes “stiffer” as it is compressed. In this issue of Matter, Xia et al. explore the compressive stiffness and strength of crumpled sheets and probe the effect of adhesion, exploring the effect of complex dimensionality on material properties

Bio inspired composites are often acclaimed for their outstanding properties, but their fabrication and compositions may not be compatible with both the natural world and engineering applications. Si-Ming et al. solve this problem with a layer-by-layer brush method for fish scale-inspired composites that are strong, tough, tear resistant, biocompatible, and eco-friendly.

Some of the most advanced techniques for deep-brain stimulation rely on chronic brain implants that can damage fragile tissues and induce adverse immune responses. Herein, researchers report a macromolecular construct as an injectable photothermal nanotransducer for neuromodulation that bypasses these limitations.

The simultaneous differentiation of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into different cell types is the basis for obtaining organoids and tissues with complex cell components, structures, and functions. Lewis and colleagues' latest work published in Nature Biomedical Engineering presented a new one-pot orthogonally differentiation strategy combined with a multi-material 3D bioprinting method

Donor-acceptor organic semiconductor heterojunction nanoparticles are currently among the most efficient visible-light-active H2 evolution photocatalysts due to their long-lived reactive charges. In the current issue of Nature Energy, McCulloch et al. developed two donor-acceptor organic semiconductors with heterojunction nanoparticles for highly efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution.

Nanoparticles have been largely designed and exploited for intracellular delivery of biomacromolecules, classically via endocytosis pathways. A recent work published by Miserez et al. in Nature Chemistry showed that micron-sized liquid droplets can be used for efficient and cytosolic delivery of cargoes including proteins, peptides, and mRNAs, opening new avenues for intracellular delivery of macromolecular

As a non-contact, real-time, accurate, and flexible control technique, the magnetic field has been widely utilized in a variety of applications, including industrial grab, robot drives, medical assistance, etc. However, non-magnetic phase change materials (PCMs) are difficult to manipulate with magnetic fields. Recently in Nature Communications, He et al. innovatively proposed magnetically tightened

Human-machine interfaces (HMIs) are increasingly important for next-generation virtual reality (VR) applications. Recently in Science Advances, Liu et al. reported a skin-integrated closed-loop wearable HMI with adequate haptic feedback information for intelligent robotic VR application that enables interaction with robots in visual, auditory, and haptic VR manners. The intriguing advances are briefly

mRNA therapy, which possesses distinctive advantages over DNA and protein-based therapies, has immense potential for diverse applications, including mRNA vaccines, protein-replacement therapy, gene editing, and cell reprogramming. Nevertheless, successful mRNA therapy requires the production of stable mRNA with minimal immunogenicity and establishment of a safe and effective delivery system. Polymeric

Since the proposal of the concept of topological superconductivity in condensed-matter physics, a new chapter has opened in the history of the development of topological superconductivity and Majorana zero modes (MZMs). Topological superconductors have become the main candidate materials for realizing topological quantum computing due to the Majorana zero-energy mode satisfying non-Abelian statistics

Inspired by the active color change in chameleon, Ko and co-workers have achieved adaptive camouflage in an artificial chameleon robot that can actively sense the surrounding colors and rapidly change skin colors with specific patterns to blend itself into the surrounding background.

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Up-scaling halide-perovskite solar cell manufacturing is critical for the renewable-energy economy but is challenging to accomplish using traditional strategies. Applying Bayesian Optimization with human knowledge constraints, Liu et al. demonstrated an efficient process optimization for rapid spray plasma processing.

It is a still a great challenge to achieve high selectivity of CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to methane. In the April 2022 issue of Chem Catalysis, Sargent et al. develop an element-doping strategy to construct highly selective CO2RR electrocatalysts by disrupting C-C coupling and simultaneously suppressing hydrogen evolution reaction in neutral electrolyte at high current densities.

Inspired by how enzymes catalyze macromolecules deconstruction, a collaborative research group has developed a general biomimetic strategy for preparing smart and efficient nanocatalysts for polyolefin recycling with high catalytic activity and selectivity, as well as catalyst stability.

The smart textile research community is advancing rapidly with the aim of changing the way we wear clothes in the near future. An eardrum-inspired acoustic textile was recently developed that can function as a sensitive audible microphone. The acoustic textile is woven from yarns with a high Young’s modulus and thermal drawing composite piezoelectric fibers that can concentrate mechanical stress in

Circularly polarized light is vital for many emerging applications, yet the highly sensitive detection of right- and left-CPL remains challenging. In a recent study in Nature Nanotechnology reported by Kuang and colleagues, chiral nanofluidic membranes assembly by L- and D-phenylalanine-modified plasmonic Au nanoparticles were applied to realize the highly sensitive detection to circular polarization

Recent work in Nature Communications by Xu et al. reveals that synthesis-induced crystallographic defects are the real culprit for performance degradation in sodium-ion batteries rather than the conventional belief in cyclic-induced structural deformations. The catastrophic performance degradation is tied to structural earthquakes arising from the spontaneous relaxation of native lattice strain possessed

Ultraselective polyamide (PA) reverse osmosis membranes are a highly desired sustainable water resource. In a recent study published in Science Advances, Wang et al. used amphiphilic metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoflakes to regulate the interfacial polymerization process to build an ultraselective PA membrane showing high-performance desalination and water reuse.

While halide perovskites attract significant academic attention, examples of industrial production at scale are still sparse. In this perspective, we review practical challenges hindering the commercialization of halide perovskites and discuss how machine-learning (ML) tools could help: (1) active-learning algorithms that blend institutional knowledge and human expertise could help stabilize and rapidly

Limiting carbon output is indeed one route to a sustainable future, but in parallel, what if the waste carbons could be efficiently recaptured and effectively recycled—i.e., flipping carbon from a waste to a resource? Unlike separating plastic containers from a bin, extracting gaseous carbon dioxide and monoxide (among other products) from the atmosphere is a large-scale problem that requires molecular

The energy sector is today the largest greenhouse gas emitter, accounting for ∼70% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Rigorous decarbonization of the global energy supply is required to limit the temperature rise to below 1.5°C and reach net zero by 2050. Solar photovoltaics will play a key role, and massive upscaling of solar photovoltaics is faced with many challenges. Here we discuss how materials

Wood, as one of the most abundant bioresources on the planet, holds great promise for providing green energy and materials for a sustainable future. The inherent mesoporous and hierarchical structure of wood provides ample opportunities for engineering this natural material using advanced nanotechnologies to achieve novel optical, thermal, and transport properties. In this Matter of Opinion, we outline