Semimetals can establish a low-resistance contact to semiconductors by suppressing metal-induced gap states. Although semimetals like bismuth have enabled an ultralow contact resistance for n-type two-dimensional semiconductors by mitigating metal-induced gap states, achieving a similar performance for p-type two-dimensional counterparts remains a notable hurdle. Here we introduce an ultrathin selenium interfacial layer with the highest work function among elements, effectively reducing the Schottky barrier height at the interface. Critically, the selenium layer interacts with the gold electrode, inducing band hybridization that transforms the contact interface from a semiconductor to a semimetal. This semimetallic characteristic, with its low density of states near the Fermi level, suppresses the formation of detrimental metal-induced gap states within the semiconductor. Applying this band-hybridized semimetallic contact to p-type WSe2 transistors results in a reduction in contact resistance to 540 Ω μm. Furthermore, the devices achieve a saturated ON-state current density of up to 430 μA μm−1 with an 80-nm channel length. This methodology is highly transferable and can be readily applied to other p-type semiconductors, including black phosphorus and carbon nanotubes, offering a scalable and reliable pathway for establishing low-resistance electrical contacts to nanoscale p-type semiconductor devices. A band-hybridized selenium contact is developed for nanoscale p-type field-effect transistors (WSe2, black phosphorus and carbon nanotubes), achieving a low contact resistance through a scalable fabrication process.
{"title":"Band-hybridized selenium contact for p-type semiconductors","authors":"Cong Wang, Jianmiao Guo, Dexing Liu, Ziyuan Lin, Shuai Guo, Songhua Cai, Jianmin Yan, Baizhe He, Zhiyong Zhang, Min Zhang, Yang Chai","doi":"10.1038/s41565-025-02084-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41565-025-02084-y","url":null,"abstract":"Semimetals can establish a low-resistance contact to semiconductors by suppressing metal-induced gap states. Although semimetals like bismuth have enabled an ultralow contact resistance for n-type two-dimensional semiconductors by mitigating metal-induced gap states, achieving a similar performance for p-type two-dimensional counterparts remains a notable hurdle. Here we introduce an ultrathin selenium interfacial layer with the highest work function among elements, effectively reducing the Schottky barrier height at the interface. Critically, the selenium layer interacts with the gold electrode, inducing band hybridization that transforms the contact interface from a semiconductor to a semimetal. This semimetallic characteristic, with its low density of states near the Fermi level, suppresses the formation of detrimental metal-induced gap states within the semiconductor. Applying this band-hybridized semimetallic contact to p-type WSe2 transistors results in a reduction in contact resistance to 540 Ω μm. Furthermore, the devices achieve a saturated ON-state current density of up to 430 μA μm−1 with an 80-nm channel length. This methodology is highly transferable and can be readily applied to other p-type semiconductors, including black phosphorus and carbon nanotubes, offering a scalable and reliable pathway for establishing low-resistance electrical contacts to nanoscale p-type semiconductor devices. A band-hybridized selenium contact is developed for nanoscale p-type field-effect transistors (WSe2, black phosphorus and carbon nanotubes), achieving a low contact resistance through a scalable fabrication process.","PeriodicalId":18915,"journal":{"name":"Nature nanotechnology","volume":"21 2","pages":"207-215"},"PeriodicalIF":34.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145704349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Reducing individual inflammatory factors does not always translate into clinical efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease characterized by joint inflammation. Proinflammatory M1 macrophages are a key driver of the hyperinflammatory joint microenvironment, which also promotes the progression of RA. Here we show that folate-receptor-targeted photosynthetic nanothylakoid (FA-PEG-NTK)-based phototherapy reprogrammes macrophages from M1 to anti-inflammatory M2, and successfully remodels the inflammatory RA microenvironment. The nanothylakoids were sourced from plant-derived thylakoids and developed by surface modification with distearoyl phosphoethanolamine–polyethylene glycol (PEG) via hydrophobic interactions to preserve their photocatalytic enzymes. We show that upon light irradiation in a mouse macrophage model of inflammation, the FA-PEG-NTK system generates oxygen and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, alleviating hypoxia and reducing reactive oxygen species. This rebalances the oxidative stress in M1 macrophages, thereby remodelling the inflammatory microenvironment in RA. We also show that in a collagen-induced arthritis rat model, FA-PEG-NTK-mediated phototherapy notably alleviated synovial hyperplasia and enhanced bone and cartilage regeneration, outperforming the clinical treatment methotrexate, with no apparent side effects. A plant-derived photosynthetic nanoplatform uses light to reprogramme immune cells, reduce inflammation and repair joints in rheumatoid arthritis, offering a safe and bioinspired therapy
{"title":"Bioengineered photosynthetic nanothylakoids reshape the inflammatory microenvironment for rheumatoid arthritis therapy","authors":"Ziyue Li, Yipei Yang, Yesi Shi, Dehong Hu, Duyang Gao, Yan Zhang, Hao Yu, Zichao Luo, Qimanguli Saiding, Na Kong, Hongyan Qian, Yuan Liu, Hairong Zheng, Yingjia Li, Wei Tao, Zonghai Sheng","doi":"10.1038/s41565-025-02063-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41565-025-02063-3","url":null,"abstract":"Reducing individual inflammatory factors does not always translate into clinical efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease characterized by joint inflammation. Proinflammatory M1 macrophages are a key driver of the hyperinflammatory joint microenvironment, which also promotes the progression of RA. Here we show that folate-receptor-targeted photosynthetic nanothylakoid (FA-PEG-NTK)-based phototherapy reprogrammes macrophages from M1 to anti-inflammatory M2, and successfully remodels the inflammatory RA microenvironment. The nanothylakoids were sourced from plant-derived thylakoids and developed by surface modification with distearoyl phosphoethanolamine–polyethylene glycol (PEG) via hydrophobic interactions to preserve their photocatalytic enzymes. We show that upon light irradiation in a mouse macrophage model of inflammation, the FA-PEG-NTK system generates oxygen and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, alleviating hypoxia and reducing reactive oxygen species. This rebalances the oxidative stress in M1 macrophages, thereby remodelling the inflammatory microenvironment in RA. We also show that in a collagen-induced arthritis rat model, FA-PEG-NTK-mediated phototherapy notably alleviated synovial hyperplasia and enhanced bone and cartilage regeneration, outperforming the clinical treatment methotrexate, with no apparent side effects. A plant-derived photosynthetic nanoplatform uses light to reprogramme immune cells, reduce inflammation and repair joints in rheumatoid arthritis, offering a safe and bioinspired therapy","PeriodicalId":18915,"journal":{"name":"Nature nanotechnology","volume":"21 1","pages":"125-139"},"PeriodicalIF":34.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145680730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-05DOI: 10.1038/s41565-025-02061-5
Archit Dhingra
{"title":"Interpretation of the binding energy shifts in the Mo 3d core-level XPS spectra of molybdenene","authors":"Archit Dhingra","doi":"10.1038/s41565-025-02061-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41565-025-02061-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18915,"journal":{"name":"Nature nanotechnology","volume":"20 12","pages":"1746-1747"},"PeriodicalIF":34.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145680738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-04DOI: 10.1038/s41565-025-02055-3
Mingran Xu, Axel J. M. Deenen, Huixin Guo, Pamela Morales-Fernández, Sebastian Wintz, Elina Zhakina, Markus Weigand, Claire Donnelly, Dirk Grundler
Spin chirality is a fundamental property that manifests non-reciprocal transport—magnetochiral anisotropy (MChA). However, the application of MChA in technology is constrained by the necessity for an external magnetic field, complex non-centrosymmetric crystal synthesis and cryogenic environments. Here we overcome these challenges by imprinting geometric chirality onto a nickel tube via three-dimensional nanoengineering. We use two-photon lithography to create a structurally twisted polymeric template with micrometre-sized pitch and diameters and cover it with a uniform 30-nm-thick nickel shell. The nickel tube exhibits spontaneous MChA—non-reciprocal transport at zero magnetic field and room temperature. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism microscopy confirms helical spin textures stabilized by the torsion- and curvature-engineered shape anisotropy, while inelastic light scattering spectroscopy demonstrates robust non-reciprocal magnon transport at remanence, reconfigurable via magnetic field history. The chiral parameter in our device surpasses that of natural chiral magnets such as Cu2OSeO3. Analytical theory and micromagnetic simulations demonstrate that the non-reciprocity is further enhanced by downscaling the feature sizes. Our results establish a scalable, geometry-driven nanotechnology that imprints spin chirality on non-chiral ferromagnets and may enable nanoscale integration of chirality-enhanced magnonics and spintronics for real-world use cases. Three-dimensional chiral magnetic tubes created via two-photon lithography and nickel film deposition exhibit chiral spin textures and non-reciprocal magnon transport.
{"title":"Geometry-induced spin chirality in a non-chiral ferromagnet at zero field","authors":"Mingran Xu, Axel J. M. Deenen, Huixin Guo, Pamela Morales-Fernández, Sebastian Wintz, Elina Zhakina, Markus Weigand, Claire Donnelly, Dirk Grundler","doi":"10.1038/s41565-025-02055-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41565-025-02055-3","url":null,"abstract":"Spin chirality is a fundamental property that manifests non-reciprocal transport—magnetochiral anisotropy (MChA). However, the application of MChA in technology is constrained by the necessity for an external magnetic field, complex non-centrosymmetric crystal synthesis and cryogenic environments. Here we overcome these challenges by imprinting geometric chirality onto a nickel tube via three-dimensional nanoengineering. We use two-photon lithography to create a structurally twisted polymeric template with micrometre-sized pitch and diameters and cover it with a uniform 30-nm-thick nickel shell. The nickel tube exhibits spontaneous MChA—non-reciprocal transport at zero magnetic field and room temperature. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism microscopy confirms helical spin textures stabilized by the torsion- and curvature-engineered shape anisotropy, while inelastic light scattering spectroscopy demonstrates robust non-reciprocal magnon transport at remanence, reconfigurable via magnetic field history. The chiral parameter in our device surpasses that of natural chiral magnets such as Cu2OSeO3. Analytical theory and micromagnetic simulations demonstrate that the non-reciprocity is further enhanced by downscaling the feature sizes. Our results establish a scalable, geometry-driven nanotechnology that imprints spin chirality on non-chiral ferromagnets and may enable nanoscale integration of chirality-enhanced magnonics and spintronics for real-world use cases. Three-dimensional chiral magnetic tubes created via two-photon lithography and nickel film deposition exhibit chiral spin textures and non-reciprocal magnon transport.","PeriodicalId":18915,"journal":{"name":"Nature nanotechnology","volume":"21 1","pages":"58-64"},"PeriodicalIF":34.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-025-02055-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145665177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-04DOI: 10.1038/s41565-025-02057-1
Oksana Chubykalo-Fesenko, Cristina Bran
Geometrical chirality in three-dimensional nanostructures enables the control and reconfiguration of anisotropic spin wave propagation.
三维纳米结构中的几何手性使得各向异性自旋波传播的控制和重构成为可能。
{"title":"Imprinting spin wave non-reciprocity onto 3D artificial chiral nanomagnets","authors":"Oksana Chubykalo-Fesenko, Cristina Bran","doi":"10.1038/s41565-025-02057-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41565-025-02057-1","url":null,"abstract":"Geometrical chirality in three-dimensional nanostructures enables the control and reconfiguration of anisotropic spin wave propagation.","PeriodicalId":18915,"journal":{"name":"Nature nanotechnology","volume":"21 1","pages":"11-12"},"PeriodicalIF":34.9,"publicationDate":"2025-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145665176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1038/s41565-025-02034-8
Practical application of portable, mechanical-energy-driven water disinfection technologies has, to date, been limited. Now, a portable, disinfection system is developed based on the generation of a nanoscale interfacial electric field through manual agitation. The system can achieve 99.9999% inactivation of Vibrio cholerae within 1 min and demonstrates broad-spectrum disinfection against various pathogens.
{"title":"Interfacial electric fields for portable, electricity-free water disinfection","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41565-025-02034-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41565-025-02034-8","url":null,"abstract":"Practical application of portable, mechanical-energy-driven water disinfection technologies has, to date, been limited. Now, a portable, disinfection system is developed based on the generation of a nanoscale interfacial electric field through manual agitation. The system can achieve 99.9999% inactivation of Vibrio cholerae within 1 min and demonstrates broad-spectrum disinfection against various pathogens.","PeriodicalId":18915,"journal":{"name":"Nature nanotechnology","volume":"20 12","pages":"1727-1728"},"PeriodicalIF":34.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145545160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1038/s41565-025-02049-1
Costanza Toninelli
Two molecules coupled to independent waveguides emit indistinguishable photons and the number of accessible pairs is ready for scaling up.
耦合到独立波导上的两个分子发射出难以区分的光子,并且可访问的光子对的数量已经准备好扩大。
{"title":"Record high visibility of two-photon interference from distinct molecules on a chip","authors":"Costanza Toninelli","doi":"10.1038/s41565-025-02049-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41565-025-02049-1","url":null,"abstract":"Two molecules coupled to independent waveguides emit indistinguishable photons and the number of accessible pairs is ready for scaling up.","PeriodicalId":18915,"journal":{"name":"Nature nanotechnology","volume":"20 12","pages":"1717-1718"},"PeriodicalIF":34.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145545161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1038/s41565-025-02059-z
Yun Song, Charles B. Musgrave III, Jianjun Su, Libei Huang, Weihua Guo, Yong Liu, Geng Li, Yinger Xin, Qiang Zhang, Xing Feng, Can Liao, Shunjie Liu, Ryan Tsz Kin Kwok, Jacky W. Y. Lam, Mingming He, Kai Shen Choong, Zhenxing Feng, Ben Zhong Tang, William A. Goddard III, Ruquan Ye
Electrosynthesis of value-added chemicals in strong acids can mitigate carbon loss and the operational cost of CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, molecular catalysis for CO2RR is typically conducted in neutral or alkaline environments. CO2RR in acidic media is challenged by the scarcity of catalyst candidates, competitive hydrogen evolution and slow product formation. Here we report a locally ionic yet simultaneously hydrophobic and aerophilic layered structure that modulates the microenvironment surrounding cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecular catalysts, enabling efficient, multielectron CO2RR in acidic media. Experiment and theoretical modelling reveal that the polarized electrostatic field arising from the cationic groups suppresses hydronium migration. Concurrently, the van der Waals forces between the reactant gas and alkyl groups improve local CO availability, combining to achieve a methanol partial current density of 132 mA cm−2 with 62% selectivity at a pH of ~1 and –1.37 VRHE for CoPc, exceeding previous reports on neutral or alkaline electrolytes. The improved CO coverage also enables the detection of *CHO and *CO intermediates from in situ spectroscopy. We validate our strategy on various molecules, which champion the efficient inhibition of hydrogen evolution and improved CO2RR partial current density in acidic media. CoPc-based layered structure with similar ionic, hydrophobic and aerophilic interfaces also yields comparable methanol productivity. Multielectron molecular CO2 reduction in acid is challenged by weak CO binding and competing hydrogen evolution. Here a methanol Faradaic efficiency of 62% is achieved in acid by tuning the microenvironment with cationic, hydrophobic and aerophilic layers.
在强酸中电合成增值化学品可以减少碳损失和二氧化碳还原反应(CO2RR)的运行成本。然而,CO2RR的分子催化通常在中性或碱性环境中进行。CO2RR在酸性介质中受到催化剂候选物稀缺、竞争性析氢和缓慢产物形成的挑战。在这里,我们报道了一种局部离子但同时疏水和亲气的层状结构,该结构调节了酞菁钴(CoPc)分子催化剂周围的微环境,使酸性介质中高效的多电子CO2RR成为可能。实验和理论模型表明,阳离子基产生的极化静电场抑制了水合氢离子的迁移。同时,反应物气体和烷基之间的范德华力提高了局部CO的可用性,使CoPc在pH为~1和-1.37 VRHE时的偏电流密度达到132 mA cm - 2,选择性为62%,超过了之前关于中性或碱性电解质的报道。改进的CO覆盖范围也使原位光谱检测*CHO和*CO中间体成为可能。我们在各种分子上验证了我们的策略,这些策略支持在酸性介质中有效抑制析氢和提高CO2RR偏电流密度。基于copc的层状结构具有相似的离子、疏水和亲气界面,也产生相当的甲醇生产率。酸中的多电子分子CO2还原受到弱CO结合和竞争性析氢的挑战。在这里,通过调整带有阳离子、疏水和亲氧层的微环境,在酸中实现了62%的甲醇法拉第效率。
{"title":"Efficient CO2-to-methanol electrocatalysis in acidic media via microenvironment-tuned cobalt phthalocyanine","authors":"Yun Song, Charles B. Musgrave III, Jianjun Su, Libei Huang, Weihua Guo, Yong Liu, Geng Li, Yinger Xin, Qiang Zhang, Xing Feng, Can Liao, Shunjie Liu, Ryan Tsz Kin Kwok, Jacky W. Y. Lam, Mingming He, Kai Shen Choong, Zhenxing Feng, Ben Zhong Tang, William A. Goddard III, Ruquan Ye","doi":"10.1038/s41565-025-02059-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41565-025-02059-z","url":null,"abstract":"Electrosynthesis of value-added chemicals in strong acids can mitigate carbon loss and the operational cost of CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, molecular catalysis for CO2RR is typically conducted in neutral or alkaline environments. CO2RR in acidic media is challenged by the scarcity of catalyst candidates, competitive hydrogen evolution and slow product formation. Here we report a locally ionic yet simultaneously hydrophobic and aerophilic layered structure that modulates the microenvironment surrounding cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecular catalysts, enabling efficient, multielectron CO2RR in acidic media. Experiment and theoretical modelling reveal that the polarized electrostatic field arising from the cationic groups suppresses hydronium migration. Concurrently, the van der Waals forces between the reactant gas and alkyl groups improve local CO availability, combining to achieve a methanol partial current density of 132 mA cm−2 with 62% selectivity at a pH of ~1 and –1.37 VRHE for CoPc, exceeding previous reports on neutral or alkaline electrolytes. The improved CO coverage also enables the detection of *CHO and *CO intermediates from in situ spectroscopy. We validate our strategy on various molecules, which champion the efficient inhibition of hydrogen evolution and improved CO2RR partial current density in acidic media. CoPc-based layered structure with similar ionic, hydrophobic and aerophilic interfaces also yields comparable methanol productivity. Multielectron molecular CO2 reduction in acid is challenged by weak CO binding and competing hydrogen evolution. Here a methanol Faradaic efficiency of 62% is achieved in acid by tuning the microenvironment with cationic, hydrophobic and aerophilic layers.","PeriodicalId":18915,"journal":{"name":"Nature nanotechnology","volume":"21 1","pages":"78-86"},"PeriodicalIF":34.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145531526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}