Article 30 November 2023 | Open Access Design for improving corrosion resistance of duplex stainless steels by wrapping inclusions with niobium armour Nonmetallic inclusions often induce serious corrosion failure of steel, causing catastrophic accidents and economic losses. Here, the authors propose a strategy of wrapping deleterious inclusions with niobium armour (Z phase), improving the corrosion resistance of duplex stainless steel. Shucai Zhang, Hao Feng & Guoping Li Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access A click chemistry-mediated all-peptide cell printing hydrogel platform for diabetic wound healing Diabetic wounds are challenging to heal, with vascular injury induced by high glucose a key pathological factor. Here, the authors report a hydrogel designed to interrupt the process of vascular injury, with angiogenic capacity. Jinjian Huang, Rong Yang & Jianan Ren Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access Discovery of ultrafast spontaneous spin switching in an antiferromagnet by femtosecond noise correlation spectroscopy Antiferromagnets exhibit high frequency magnons, in the THz regime, a point potentially useful for applications, however, it has meant that detecting spin-fluctuations in antiferromagnets is typically too fast for current experimental approaches. Here Weiss et al use femtosecond noise correlation spectroscopy to observe magnon fluctuations in Sm0.7Er0.3FeO3. M. A. Weiss, A. Herbst & T. Kurihara Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access Unraveling the synergistic effects of Cu-Ag tandem catalysts during electrochemical CO2 reduction using nanofocused X-ray probes Combining in situ nanoprobe techniques paves the way for gaining insights into structure-selectivity relations for electrocatalysts. Herein, the dynamic evolution of lattice strain in individual nanoparticles is directly visualized with nanoscale resolution in Cu-Ag tandem catalysts during the electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals. Marvin L. Frisch, Longfei Wu & Peter Strasser Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access Preferential ice growth on grooved surface for crisscross-aligned graphene aerogel with large negative Poisson’s ratio Ice formation on grooved surfaces is ubiquitous, but controlling orientation is difficult due to lack of mechanistic insight. Here, the authors observed oriented growth using graphene oxide nanosheets as probes, revealing the effect of groove size, and programmed ice growth to fabricate freeze-cast metamaterials. Meng Li, Nifang Zhao & Hao Bai Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access A polymer tethering strategy to achieve high metal loading on catalysts for Fenton reactions This work reports a self-polymerization confinement strategy to develop and synthesize carbon-supported metal catalysts with high metal loading. Efficient Fenton reactivity is observed for samples containing well dispersed iron sites. Lixin Wang, Longjun Rao & Mingyang Xing Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access Enhancement of short/medium-range order and thermal conductivity in ultrahard sp3 amorphous carbon by C70 precursor sp3 amorphous carbon exhibits exceptional mechanical, thermal, and optical properties, but cannot be synthesized using traditional processes. Here authors report a nearly pure sp3−hybridized amorphous carbon synthesized from C70 which shows more short/medium-range order and enhanced thermal conductivity compared to C60. Yuchen Shang, Mingguang Yao & Bingbing Liu Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access Charge-loop current order and Z3 nematicity mediated by bond order fluctuations in kagome metals Unconventional charge order with chiral response to a magnetic field was observed in kagome metals like KV3Sb5, but the mechanism is not fully understood. Tazai et al. develop a theory based on the bond order fluctuation mechanism and provide a unified view of quantum phases in this material family. Rina Tazai, Youichi Yamakawa & Hiroshi Kontani Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access Atomic-level polarization in electric fields of defects for electrocatalysis The visible evidence bridging atomic defects with catalytic properties has been scarcely explored. Using differential phase contrast technology, this work discloses the existence of a polarized electric field surrounding the antisite defects of a monolayer MoS2 material and its correlation to its electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution property. Jie Xu, Xiong-Xiong Xue & Jun Lu Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access TransformEHR: transformer-based encoder-decoder generative model to enhance prediction of disease outcomes using electronic health records Using AI to predict disease can improve interventions slow down or prevent disease. Here, the authors show that generative AI models built on the framework of Transformer, the model that also empowers ChatGPT, can achieve state-of-the-art performance on disease predictions based on longitudinal electronic records. Zhichao Yang, Avijit Mitra & Hong Yu Article 29 November 2023 | Open Access Unlocking the mysterious polytypic features within vaterite CaCO3 The structure of vaterite has been debated for a century. Combining systematic TEM characterisations, crystallographic analysis, and machine learning aided molecular dynamics simulations, the authors unlock the structural mystery in vaterite. Xingyuan San, Junwei Hu & Xiaobing Hu Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Emulator-based Bayesian inference on non-proportional scintillation models by compton-edge probing Scintillators are widely used for radiation detection and require proper calibration in such applications. Here the authors discuss a Bayesian inference and machine learning method in combination with the Compton-edge probing that can describe the non-proportional scintillation response of inorganic scintillators. David Breitenmoser, Francesco Cerutti & Sabine Mayer Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access 3D-printed liquid metal polymer composites as NIR-responsive 4D printing soft robot “The combination of stimuli responsive nanomaterials and 3D printing leads interesting applications in the fields of soft robots and actuators. Here, the authors present a 3D printing approach for the fabrication of liquid metal nanoparticles-polymer composites acting as light controlled soft robots which can lift weights, grasp and release items”. Liwen Zhang, Xumin Huang & Ruirui Qiao Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Ultrasonic barrier-through imaging by Fabry-Perot resonance-tailoring panel Breakthrough ultrasonic imaging captures objects behind barriers. Leveraging Fabry-Perot resonance with a unique resonance-tailoring panel, our method allows imaging through high-impedance barriers helping to revolutionise underwater and brain imaging. Chung Il Park, Seungah Choe & Yoon Young Kim Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Peculiar transient behaviors of organic electrochemical transistors governed by ion injection directionality Few studies have investigated the structural properties of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors in relation to the transient device characteristics. Here, Kim et al. show that backbone-dependent molecular orientation affects ion injection directionality, which determines ion mobility and transient response. Ji Hwan Kim, Roman Halaksa & Myung-Han Yoon Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Hidden magnetism uncovered in a charge ordered bilayer kagome material ScV6Sn6 Recently, time-reversal symmetry-breaking charge order was demonstrated in the AV3Sb5 (A = K, Rb, Cs) family of kagome superconductors. Here the authors extend this observation to the recently discovered kagome material ScV6Sn6 and discuss differences and similarities to other charge-ordered kagome lattices. Z. Guguchia, D. J. Gawryluk & H. Luetkens Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Programmable catalysis by support polarization: elucidating and breaking scaling relations Can support polarisation introduce an extra degree of freedom in catalyst scaling relations? This research considers a computational approach for studying catalysts on polar supports and identifies the origin of broken scaling relations. Seongjoo Jung, Cristina Pizzolitto & Turan Birol Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access The two-qubit singlet/triplet measurement is universal for quantum computing given only maximally-mixed initial states It has been conjectured that an alternative model of quantum computation—in which one only applies two-qubit singlet-vs-triplet measurements to almost any source of input qubits—is as powerful as the usual gate-based model. Here, the authors prove this conjecture, ending up with a model where computations are independent from the way in which one picks the axes of the Bloch sphere. Terry Rudolph & Shashank Soyuz Virmani Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Functional Janus structured liquids and aerogels A combination of functional nanoparticles and liquid streaming can be used to generate structures for the fabrication of soft functional materials. In this study, authors demonstrate the creation of Janus-structured liquids with anisotropic and programmable distributions of nanoparticles by utilizing interfacial assembly and jamming of nanoparticles at the liquid-liquid interface. Ahmadreza Ghaffarkhah, Seyyed Alireza Hashemi & Mohammad Arjmand Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Unexpected dynamics in femtomolar complexes of binding proteins with peptides High binding affinities are usually obtained when ligands are rigidified. Here the authors present flexible peptides binding to Armadillo repeat proteins with femtomolar affinity. They demonstrate that the bound state is characterized by residual dynamics limiting entropic losses upon binding. Stefano Cucuzza, Malgorzata Sitnik & Oliver Zerbe Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Data-driven grading of acute graft-versus-host disease Acute GVHD severity grading is based on target organ assessments. Here, the authors show that data-driven grading can identify 12 distinct grades with specific aGVHD phenotypes, which are associated with clinical outcomes, and that their method outperformed conventional gradings. Evren Bayraktar, Theresa Graf & Amin T. Turki Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Label-free identification of protein aggregates using deep learning The authors use deep learning to detect and segment unlabeled and unaltered protein aggregates in living cells from transmitted-light images. The method provides a way to quantitatively study protein aggregation dynamics in a simple, fast and accurate way. Khalid A. Ibrahim, Kristin S. Grußmayer & Aleksandra Radenovic Article 28 November 2023 | Open Access Learning few-shot imitation as cultural transmission The modelling of human-like behaviours is one of the challenges in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Inspired by experimental studies of cultural evolution, the authors propose a reinforcement learning approach to generate agents capable of real-time third-person imitation. Avishkar Bhoopchand, Bethanie Brownfield & Lei M. Zhang Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access Lithium carbonate-promoted mixed rare earth oxides as a generalized strategy for oxidative coupling of methane with exceptional yields Lithium carbonate-promoted mixed rare earth oxides can be used as redox catalysts for OCM at 700 °C and achieve a single-pass C2+ yield up to 30.6%. The high activity is assigned to the peroxide and OH radicals induced by Pr4+ in the redox catalyst. Kun Zhao, Yunfei Gao & Fanxing Li Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access Ultra-durable cell-free bioactive hydrogel with fast shape memory and on-demand drug release for cartilage regeneration Achieving successful in vivo cartilage regeneration remains challenging. Here they present a cell-free, multiple hydrogen-bond crosslinked hydrogel loaded with tannic acid and Kartogenin with ultra-durable mechanical properties and stage-dependent drug release behavior to promote cartilage regeneration. Yuxuan Yang, Xiaodan Zhao & Xuesi Chen Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access In situ observation of a stepwise [2 + 2] photocycloaddition process using fluorescence spectroscopy Using highly sensitive and selective in situ techniques to investigate the dynamics of intermediates formation is key to better understand reaction mechanisms but investigating the early stages of solid-state reactions or transformations is still challenging. Here the authors use in situ fluorescence spectroscopy to observe the evolution of intermediates during a two-step [2 + 2] photocycloaddition process in a coordination polymer. Meng-Fan Wang, Yun-Hu Deng & Jian-Ping Lang Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access Anomalous efficiency elevation of quantum-dot light-emitting diodes induced by operational degradation Quantum-dot light-emitting diodes may exhibit anomalous efficiency enhancement upon electrical stress, as revealed by the authors, resulting from the continuous deterioration of cathode contacts. Siyu He, Xiaoqi Tang & Yizheng Jin Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access Non-equilibrium dynamics of spin-lattice coupling Experimental approaches that can directly measure spin-lattice coupling are rare. Here, authors report direct observation of the coupling of the phonon and magnon dynamics of a coherently driven electromagnon in a multiferroic hexaferrite using time-resolved X-ray diffraction. (277 characters in total). Hiroki Ueda, Roman Mankowsky & Urs Staub Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access Metal-organic framework boosts heterogeneous electron donor–acceptor catalysis Heterogeneous electron donor–acceptor (EDA) catalysis has seen limited progress to date. Here, the authors showcase a significant improvement in EDA interaction by employing a metal-organic framework (MOF) as the donor catalyst, underscoring the potential of MOFs in catalytic processes. Jiaxin Lin, Jing Ouyang & Yangjian Quan Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access A promising perovskite primary explosive A primary explosive (DPPE-1) with a double perovskite structure and ignition function was reported. It is synthesized in a straightforward manner and has good stability, with a minimum primary charge of 5 mg. Yongan Feng, Jichuan Zhang & Jean’ne M. Shreeve Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access A fully integrated, standalone stretchable device platform with in-sensor adaptive machine learning for rehabilitation Methods for the wireless, continuous monitoring and analysis of activities directly from the throat skin have not been developed. Here, the authors present a stretchable device platform that provides wireless measurements and machine learning-based analysis of vibrations and muscle electrical activities from the throat. Hongcheng Xu, Weihao Zheng & Libo Gao Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access Local H2 release remodels senescence microenvironment for improved repair of injured bone Senescence microenvironment inhibits tissue repair in elderly individuals. Here, the authors demonstrate that local H2 supply has anti-inflammation and anti-senescence effects, and develop a H2-releasing scaffold to enhance aging bone defect repair. Shengqiang Chen, Yuanman Yu & Qianjun He Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access Proton and molecular permeation through the basal plane of monolayer graphene oxide GO monolayers are presumed to invariably contain a large density of nanoscale pinholes. Here the authors present gas and proton transport measurements which show that GO monolayers can be pinhole-free over micrometer-scale areas. Z. F. Wu, P. Z. Sun & M. Lozada-Hidalgo Article 27 November 2023 | Open Access A simeprevir-inducible molecular switch for the control of cell and gene therapies Chemical inducer of dimerization (CID) modules can be used to effectively control biological processes; however, CID modules have been explored primarily in engineering cells for in vitro applications using inducers that have limited clinical utility. Here, the authors identify a CID module with favorable properties to enable rapid translation from in vitro applications to potential use in humans. Stacey E. Chin, Christina Schindler & Natalie J. Tigue Article 26 November 2023 | Open Access Universal selective transfer printing via micro-vacuum force Transfer printing of inorganic semiconductors is essential for high-performance flexible electronics. Here, Park et al. report the micro-vacuum assisted selective transfer to integrate inorganic thin-film semiconductors on unusual substrates. Sang Hyun Park, Tae Jin Kim & Keon Jae Lee