News & Comment

An article in Nature Materials uses entropy engineering to fabricate capacitors with high energy density.

An article in Angewandte Chemie International Edition finds that a frozen environment can accelerate the degradation of microplastics.

An article in Nature Materials sheds light on the mechanisms underlying dendrite formation in solid-state batteries and shows that a well-chosen metallic interlayer at the electrode–electrolyte interface can mitigate dendrite growth.

An article in Nature Communications reports a wireless theranostic contact lens that can sense and treat the onset of glaucoma.

Scientists need to come together to fight for human rights, science diplomacy and peace, says Zafra Lerman, a chemist who has been working for many years on human rights abuses against scientists and on the use of science as a bridge to peace.

An article in Nature Synthesis uses dynamic covalent chemistry to synthesize crystalline graphyne on a large scale.

An article in Communications Engineering reports the upcycling of waste plastics from vehicles into graphene that can be then used as an additive in foams for cars.

An article in Nature Communications presents a hardware implementation of a stochastic artificial neural network.

An article in Science Advances presents a platform with embedded metal–organic framework nanoparticles for efficient stem cell differentiation with minimal external input.

An article in Nature presents a superconducting diode that works without the need for a magnetic field.

An article in Nature Communications reports a 3D nanoprinting platform that combines a microfluidic atomic force microscope to precisely deposit tiny amounts of polymer ink and surface-initiated crosslinking chemistry to solidify the ink immediately upon delivery.

Many graduate students experience mental health struggles that lead them to question their place in academia. Two scientists who experienced extreme lows in graduate school reflect on what helped them during their low points, and suggest strategies for everyone to contribute to mentally healthier workplaces in academia.

An article in Nature presents an all-polymer light-emitting diode that can be stretched to 100% strain while preserving a high brightness.

Producing low-carbon hydrogen to use as a clean energy carrier is an important step towards a decarbonized economy. Plasma pyrolysis is an emerging technology that has great potential for the large-scale production of low-carbon and affordable hydrogen.

An article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports a family of metal–organic macrocycles that can be envisioned as discrete versions of electrically conductive metal–organic frameworks.

An article in Advanced Materials reports the development of a stretchable, breathable and stable energy harvester that harnesses energy from a range of human movements to power electronic devices.

An article in Nature Materials reports a 3D-printing method to fabricate electrodes that efficiently harness energy from photosynthetic cells.

An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports a surface treatment method that enables biocompatible, versatile and chemically stable functionalization of diamond quantum sensors.

Solar fuel production provides a sustainable route towards simultaneous energy harvesting and storage. However, this technology is hampered by the complexity and slow manual screening of the chemical design space to find suitable catalytic and light-harvesting materials. One solution is offered by automation, which has begun changing the landscape of material discovery and energy research.

An article in Nature Synthesis reports a rapid and scalable strategy to synthesize a range of high-entropy nanoparticles at atmospheric temperature and pressure.