Materials science articles from across Nature Portfolio

Instability hinders the commercialization of perovskite solar cells. Now, a co-crystal engineering strategy is developed to create a protective two-dimensional perovskite layer on top of a three-dimensional perovskite layer. This approach increases the stability and efficiency of perovskite solar modules, surpassing current photovoltaic standards, in a step towards industrial manufacturing.

Rapid prototyping of microfluidic systems has made possible an enormous array of studies enabled by controlling fluid flow and chemistry at small scales. In 1998, Whitesides and colleagues introduced manufacturing methods, such as soft lithography, that triggered a wide adoption of these approaches, which now permeate the field of microfluidics and help advance new technologies.

Conventional separations account for a large share of global energy consumption. Efficient membrane technologies have the potential to substantially reduce energy use, costs and CO₂ emissions — particularly through ultramicroporous polymers, a key class of materials advancing membrane-based gas separations first reported by Budd and McKeown in 2004.

Amorphous chalcogenide alloys are promising for Ovonic threshold switching selectors, yet elemental chalcogen based-material design is hindered by poor glass-forming ability of chalcogen species. Hur et al. show defect-mediated switching and self-regulated oscillations in an amorphous Te phase stabilized via on-device quenching.

There has been a recent interest in control of magnetism via ionic transport. The appeal of such magneto-ionic control lies in its extent, non-volatility and potential energy-efficiency, however, the number of systems showing such behaviour is limited. Here, Tan, Ma, and coauthors demonstrate magneto-ionic control through Carbon transport.

The current unbalance between the performance of n-type and p-type 2D transistors limits their applications for next-generation electronics. Here, the authors report the realization of high-performance 2D MoTe₂ p-type transistors by depositing metallic tellurium contacts via thermal evaporation.

In this Editorial, we reflect on some of the striking covers that Nature Synthesis published in 2025 and highlight the research they represent.

Instability hinders the commercialization of perovskite solar cells. Now, a co-crystal engineering strategy is developed to create a protective two-dimensional perovskite layer on top of a three-dimensional perovskite layer. This approach increases the stability and efficiency of perovskite solar modules, surpassing current photovoltaic standards, in a step towards industrial manufacturing.

An article in Nature Communications reports a synthesis that can grow out-of-plane conductive 2D covalent organic framework films directly on substrates, thanks to an induced Marangoni effect.

Rapid prototyping of microfluidic systems has made possible an enormous array of studies enabled by controlling fluid flow and chemistry at small scales. In 1998, Whitesides and colleagues introduced manufacturing methods, such as soft lithography, that triggered a wide adoption of these approaches, which now permeate the field of microfluidics and help advance new technologies.

Conventional separations account for a large share of global energy consumption. Efficient membrane technologies have the potential to substantially reduce energy use, costs and CO₂ emissions — particularly through ultramicroporous polymers, a key class of materials advancing membrane-based gas separations first reported by Budd and McKeown in 2004.

As Nature Reviews Materials turns 10, we look back on a decade of achievements and explore how the landscape of materials science has transformed.