Themed collection Celebrating 10 Years of Materials Horizons: 10th Anniversary Collection

Inaugural Editorial Board Chair Seth Marder reflects on the early days of the journal in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Materials Horizons.

Current Editorial Board Chair Martina Stenzel reflects on the last 10 years of the journal in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Materials Horizons, looking back at her time as Scientific Editor, and now Chair of the Editorial Board.

We summarise progress in the fabrication and mechanics of nacre-like materials in recent years and explore pathways to translate nacre-like materials to real-life applications, while providing avenues for future work.

Superstructures of hydrophobic nanocrystals dispersed in water acting as heating nanoelements are internalized in cells creating photothermal damage.

An n-type organic photoelectrochemical transistor produces large and reversible current changes in response to light-intensity variations in aqueous electrolytes. A long exciton lifetime of the n-type gate ensures a high photovoltage response.

Magnetoelectric composite multiferroic comprising ferroelectric doped HfO₂ and ferromagnetic cobalt coupled films is demonstrated to be a promising candidate for energy efficient memory computing.

This work investigates the changes in the mechanical properties of glycolated polythiophenes induced by electrochemical addressing and by electrolyte concentration, due to its ability to stabilize water.

Stretchable later-induced graphene (LIG) heaters with kirigami structures are produced via laser engraving/cutting for wearable thermotherapy. Such a heater has a rapid electrothermal response and robust performance for on-body use.

We report the development of strong and robust myco-composites compatible with additive manufacturing. We exemplify unique applications of this hybrid-living materials platform with fabrication of bio-welded containers and flexible mycelium textiles.

2D tin halide perovskites are promising semiconductors for FETs owing to their fascinating electronic properties. The charge transport properties of 2D tin halide perovskites are systematically investigated using linear alkyl ammonium cations with different carbon chain lengths.

Mechanically strong, self-healing and recyclable rubber-based ionic elastomers for soft robotics hand.

The asymmetric gradient design of the polymer-based composite dielectric can inhibit carrier injection and transport simultaneously, which significantly improves the energy density at room temperature and high temperature.

Sulfonyl-capped laser-converted 3D turbostratic carbon foams enable efficient faradaic reactions, resulting in a 157.6 F g⁻¹ supercapacitor that is stable after 15 000 cycles, comparable to state-of-the-art pseudocapacitors and hybrid capacitors.

A molecular ferroelectric complex [Cu₂(l-phe)₂(bpy)₂(H₂O)](ClO₄)₂·2H₂O exhibits anisotropic responses. This shows excellent mechanical/thermal energy harvesting efficiencies in single-crystal-PENG device, which exceed that of certain bulk oxides.

This work presents a one-step molten salt synthesis approach to achieve a tunable isotype heterojunction in N-rich crystalline C₃N₅. The crystalline C₃N₅ successfully improved solar-driven hydrogen, benzaldehyde and H₂O₂ production.

2D SnO₂ nanosheets based chemiresistive sensor with microporosity and oxygen rich-surface detects ammonia at room temperature in extreme humidity at ppb levels for breath based early disease diagnostics and healthcare.

A new class of TADF pyridine-/pyrazine-containing tetradentate C^C^N^N gold(III) complexes is reported. Through strategic structural modifications, the horizontal alignment of the emitters and the resulting OLED performance can be enhanced.

Electrochemical hydrogen compression (EHC) is an emerging energy conversion technology.

The energetic landscape at the interface between electron donating and accepting molecular materials favors efficient conversion of intermolecular charge-transfer (CT) states into free charge carriers (FCC) in high-performance organic solar cells.

Modeling growth and shape change in polymer gels.

We demonstrate the simulation of brickwork-related polymorphs with conditional branching for methylthiolated peri-condensed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which allows us to discuss the likelihood of the appearance of each polymorph.

The compounds RbH₂PO₄ and Rb₅H₇(PO₄)₄ display eutectoid behavior, with superprotonic α-RbH_2−3y(PO₄)_1−y forming at a eutectoid temperature of 244 °C in a cubic, CsCl-type structure with a high concentration of phosphate vacancies.

The total static disorder reduces, even to zero, upon increasing the conjugation length of a pi-conjugated polymer, as shown here for the regioregular polythiophene PDOPT. This is intrinsically linked to the nature of the pi-conjugated system.

A self-cooperative nanochaperone mimics the cooperation of Hsp40 with Hsp70 was reported. The Hsp40-mimetic facilitates the transfer of client protein into the Hsp70-mimetic hydrophobic microdomain, significantly enhancing the chaperone activity.

We report on the use of molecular acceptors and donor polymers processed with a biomass-derived solvent 2-methyltetrahydrofuran to facilitate bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics with power conversion efficiency approaching 15%.

Dual therapeutics use cationic polymers to kill bacteria and deliver siRNA to macrophages to decrease inflammation and enhance wound healing.

A two stage UV-curable resin is an ideal feedstock material to enable the printing of continuous fiber composites with outstanding mechanical properties. It also enables the repair, reshaping, and recycling of printed composites.

Tri-component thin films based on MoS₂, graphene and CuO/Cu₂O nanoparticles were prepared, characterized and applied as electrodes in aqueous-based Na-ion batteries.

An all-round therapeutic strategy based on high-density platinum nanoparticle assemblies nanozymes was developed to simultaneously scavenge ROS, generate O₂ and regulate the immune system for accelerating diabetic wound healing.

A smart clothing system based on electrochemical sensing fibers that can effectively capture sweat and monitor multiple physiological markers.

Coal was transformed by laser ablation into single-walled carbon nanotubes, which were used to fabricate field effect transistors after one-step purification.

An electrolessly tin-plated sulfur nanocomposite is designed for a practical high-loading sulfur cathode, which attains excellent electrochemical utilization, stability, and cyclability in lean-electrolyte lithium–sulfur cells.

Doped quater(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), capped either side of the chain with two pyridine units, is a promising alternative to PEDOT:PSS, as it removes the issue of acid-induced degradation of devices caused by PEDOT:PSS.

A material design framework is formulated to investigate how MXenes’ size, layered structure, and volume fraction impact the elasticity and functionality of their composites, expediting their application in flexible electronics and wearables.

A “break-and-repair” strategy for confinement synthesis of ultrasmall CsPbBr₃ quantum dots in a zeolite to achieve efficient and stable blue photoluminescence.

Employing rare earth metal atoms as an electron transfer bridge, directional polarization was achieved for inert nitrogen molecules, leading to a significant enhancement in photocatalytic nitrogen fixation.

3D-printed microfluidic systems that incorporate rigid polymeric structures in soft elastomeric encapsulation layers gently bond to the skin, to capture sweat and provide the basis for accurate, spectroscopic measurements of sweat biomarkers.

Development of electrocatalysts may be aided by machine learning integration into experimental workflows.

The concept of forming composites of covalent organic framework crystals and sugar alcohols (SAs)—green and low-cost phase change materials—has solved the long-standing problem of SAs’ strong supercooling, which degrades the stored thermal energy.

While magnetic induction heating has found uses in hyperthermia, metallurgy, and catalysis, its potential in material synthesis remains largely unexplored. This study unveils its promising role in crafting core-shell nanoparticles from magnetic cores.

A two-step method to fabricate COF nanosheets is proposed, comprising framework assembly and functional group switching. Functionalized COF-316 membranes were fabricated and demonstrated excellent separation performance.

Simple descriptors to search for low-temperature thermoelectric materials.

Oxygen-coordinated iron single-atom sites (Fe–O₄) modified with vacancy defects show high 2e⁻-ORR catalytic performance. The Fe–O₄ moiety is relevant to the selectivity and kinetic rate of the 2e⁻ pathway while vacancy defects enhance the stability.

Inorganic phototropic growth produces ordered, anisotropic semiconductor mesostructures via a template-free, light-mediated process. Asymmetric inclination of the input illumination counterintuitively increases the symmetry of the output structures.

A scalable, two-step synthesis facilitates the preparation of a polymer library of varying side chain and co-monomer, enabling rapid photovoltaic device screening. FO6-T emerged as the optimal donor achieving 15.4% PCE with L8BO as the acceptor.

Advanced Li–S batteries made by solid-state single-ion conducting hybrid electrolytes Co-assembling binary core–shell polymer nanoparticles achieved ionic conductivity of 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹, electrochemical stability of >6 V, and elastic moduli of 0.12 GPa at 25 °C.

Two isomeric emitters are developed by connecting two multiple resonance (MR) frameworks via a single bond. The connection following the resonance alignment enhances atomic frontier molecular orbital separation, resulting in narrower emission.

3D printed microstructured pressure sensors based on microgel-reinforced double network hydrogels show high toughness and sensitivity, and are used to fabricate a flexible sensor array for biomechanical and motion tracking applications.

A kirigami-inspired smart window is presented with a solar/radiative cooling dual-control function and improved durability. It is promising for building energy saving and outperforms state-of-the-art dual-regulation smart windows in the literature.

Rigid ladder-type conjugated polymers enable the development of stable and high-performance organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) and complementary OECT-based amplifiers for brain-inspired artificial neurons.

Charge–orbital synergism is achieved by doping boron atoms into Ti₃C₂O₂. The TM-to-C and B-to-C π-back bonding contribute to the activation of CO₂ molecules and CO intermediates in the CO₂RR process.

By taking inspiration from Pitcher plant and hummingbird’s beak, we display a slippery/superaerophobic hierarchical open channel for durable and functional gas transport to diversify the gas/liquid exchanging process in an aqueous environment.

Gold catalyses Si etching in dry plasmas via Metal-Assisted Plasma Etching (MAPE). Here, MAPE is shown to be uniquely inhibited by both heavily doped n- and p-type Si, in contrast with reactive ion etching and metal assisted chemical etching (MACE).

Four-fold degenerate magnetic skyrmions are demonstrated in 2D multiferroics of Co₂NF₂. When interfacing with monolayer MoSe₂, Ferroelectrically controllable skyrmion physics can be realized.

Drastically enhanced sound absorption can be achieved in Helmholtz resonators by simply reshaping the cavity and bringing the cavity walls close to the pore.

Large-scale computer simulations of layered covalent-organic frameworks reveal temporal and spatial fluctuations that can be described as zigzag disorder.