Themed collection Materials Horizons 10th anniversary regional spotlight collection: The Americas

An effective framework for the band engineering in 2D covalent organic frameworks is revealed by describing the fundamental relationships among the electronic structures, the lattice symmetries, and the frontier molecular orbitals of building units.

The effects of mixing in organic photovoltaics are unclear partly due to challenges in characterization. X-Ray and neutron scattering techniques have been successful in quantifying mixing but meet new challenges with emerging non-fullerene systems.

Electronic levels and energies of a solid, such as Fermi level, vacuum level, work function, ionization energy or electron affinity, are of paramount importance for the control of device behavior, charge carrier injection and transport.

We review recent progress in the development of self-driving laboratories and discuss their application to autonomous inorganic materials synthesis.

This review summarizes the recent progress in a novel route to both synthesize and process complex and multi-component materials as thin films, based on interfaces between immiscible liquids, highlighting different materials and applications.

A review covering catalytic method development to enable efficient chemical recycling and upcycling of the most abundant commercial polymers.

This review revisits the state of the art of research efforts on the design of mechanical materials using machine learning.

All major classes of porous crystalline frameworks including zeolites, metal–organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks and hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks exhibit structural flexibilities.

Lithium storage properties of organosulfur electrodes including organodisulfide, thioethers, organosulfide polymers and sulfurized polyacrylonitrile have been comprehensively reviewed.

A concise review on the semiconductor-based photocatalytic CO₂ conversion based mainly on the leading-edge reports published within the last three years.

Existing analytical models, such as the Hill model, are a powerful tool to understand the process of protein binding to nanoparticles.

Erosion-resistant materials demonstrate a surprisingly low interfacial toughness (LIT) with ice around 1 J m⁻². The LIT property is retained after linear erosion, indicating potential as durable anti-icing coatings.

This study presents a computationally guided approach for producing layered PVDF composite foams with absorption-based EMI shielding capabilities. It systematically analyzes the impact of thickness, nanofiller, and microstructures on EM properties.

Supramolecular temperature responsive self-assembly of graphene colloidal systems is enabled by an amphiphilic structure incorporating polydopamine clusters on reduced graphene oxide flakes, without using temperature responsive polymers.

Heterogeneous architectures with defined patterns enabled by all-cellulose 3D printing ink stimulate the burgeoning development of biomimetic hydrogels for advanced applications.

Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) and PEDOT:PSS have been combined to create a superior class of supramolecular and conductive ionic-electronic material that present attractive application in the field of bioelectronics.

Tissue-mimetic hybrid bioadhesives for the repair of intervertebral disc after nucleotomy is proposed, comprising a viscoelastic glue for delivering cells to fill the cavity and a tough adhesive sealant to prevent re-herniation post-nucleotomy.

Temperature dependent luminescence of multi-molecular excited states like excimers and charge-transfer states is described by a Frank–Condon model based on an inter-molecular vibrational mode and different potentials for the ground and excited state.

Macrophage-targeted bioorthogonal nanozyme designed to generate antibiotics at the site of infection.  Nanozymes had targeted uptake by macrophages through mannose functionalization, then generated antibiotics to specifically kill infectious bacteria.

Direct ink writing (DIW) of Pickering emulsions offers great potential for constructing on-demand objects.

Design principles for an effective doping in halide perovskites: DP(i) – shallow transition levels; DP(ii) – pinning of Fermi level in conduction or valence band; DP(iii) – Large doping-induced Fermi level shift towards conduction or valence band.

The anharmonicity of the Ruddlesden Popper metal-halide lattice, and its consequences for their electronic and optical properties, are paramount in their basic semiconductor physics.

By tuning donor strength, we produce an organic electro-optic chromophore with high hyperpolarizability, low absorption, and excellent electro-optic activity, which is demonstrated in a plasmonic–organic hybrid modulator with near record low V_πL.

Shape-programmable soft actuators are developed through the integration of electrically conductive liquid metals with shape-morphing liquid crystal networks. Their applications in light-fueled oscillator, crawler and programmable robotic Shadow Play are demonstrated.

Dynamic interfacial interactions between the HAPAA and PANI hydrogels are favorable for self-healing; thus, the PANI network can enhance the mechanical and electronic properties of HAPAA hydrogel without compromising its self-healing performance.

We reveal that the brittle or ductile behavior of disordered materials is quantitively encoded in the topography of the static energy landscape before loading.

Predictions of high thermoelectric performance in RECuZnP₂ were verified by elastic, electrical, and thermal measurements. Low thermal conductivities result from strong anharmonicity, with electron transport limited by polar optical phonons.

Chaotic flows are used to rapidly fabricate densely packed lamellar micro- and nanostructure that is then preserved by curing or photocrosslinking.

Thin films of a molecular spin crossover iron(II) complex featuring a photochromic diarylethene-based ligand have been grown by sublimation in ultra-high vacuum on Au(111) and investigated by photoelectron spectroscopies.

Light-driven monodisperse chiral microsphere with dynamic chirality was fabricated via a capillary-based microfluidic technique.

An epoxy ink and its 3D printing method were developed to allow printed parts to be recycled and reprinted.

The concept of electronic dimensionality, i.e., the connectivity of the atomic orbitals that comprise the lower conduction band and upper valence band, is introduced to better account for the device performance of the perovskite-based solar cells.

Nanostructured sulfur host materials that embrace both high electronic conductivity and strong chemisorption towards polysulfides are central to enable high performance Li–S batteries.