Researchers at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) outline in a perspective paper how high-performance materials for batteries, hydrogen technologies, wind turbines, energy conversion, chemical processes and modern electronics can be designed to be more sustainable, safer and more resource-efficient in the future. This is intended to address growing dependencies on critical raw materials, limited recyclability and performance losses in practical use.
Researchers have developed a solar-driven catalyst material that harnesses the energy of a single photon to reduce carbon dioxide and oxidize organic waste at the same time, producing valuable chemicals in both reactions.
Artificial intelligence is often used to generate images. In research, specialized AI models are used for scientific applications—for example, to predict the positions of atoms in materials. The MatterGen model developed by Microsoft can generate complex crystal structures from just a few pieces of information—which atoms should be present and in what proportions—and researchers can then use these structures for computer simulations of new materials.
Oxidation reactions are indispensable to the chemical industry, but from a process safety perspective, they are among the most challenging transformations. A research team at the University of Bayreuth, working in collaboration with international partners, has now introduced a fundamentally new approach to oxidation reactions in which carbon dioxide is used as the oxygen source for chemical synthesis. This makes the reaction both safer and more sustainable. The researchers report on this new approach in Science.
Mechanoluminescent materials convert mechanical energy such as stress, strain and vibration directly into light, making them attractive as self-powered sensors that require no batteries or wiring. From biomedical sensors to self-powered infrastructure monitoring sensors, mechanoluminescent materials have a wide range of potential applications. However, high-performance mechanoluminescent materials have traditionally relied on expensive rare-earth materials or complex material compositions.
Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have achieved two major breakthroughs in interfacial polymerization, a key technique for preparing advanced functional materials. By integrating quantum mechanics with machine learning, the team has elucidated the mechanism by which water molecules facilitate reactions at the molecular level. At the same time, it has transformed microcapsule design from a traditional trial-and-error approach into a predictive science.
A new cellulose-based material platform developed in Finland responds to tightening regulatory requirements and industry pressure to both replace and reduce plastic in packaging, including emerging thresholds such as limiting plastic content to below 5 wt% in fiber-based materials. The technology enables transparent, high-performance films and coatings that match the functionality of plastics while supporting industrial scalability and enabling simplified recycling or biodegradation across multiple environments.
A joint research team has discovered high-performance catalysts capable of significantly reducing "boil-off losses," which had been a longstanding issue in liquid hydrogen storage and transportation. These composite catalysts, in which metallic nanoparticles, such as iron, are supported on silicon dioxide (silica) or other low-cost oxide, demonstrate significantly superior performance compared to conventional iron oxide-based catalysts.
Discovering new catalysts is one of the central challenges in developing clean-energy technologies such as green hydrogen production. Yet catalyst discovery has traditionally remained confined within individual material families, limiting researchers' ability to transfer knowledge across chemically distinct systems.
"Biodegradable" has become one of the most reassuring words in modern packaging. It appears on coffee cups, shopping bags and food containers, implying a promise: this product is better for the environment because nature will eventually take care of it.
Many diseases are driven by proteins interacting with each other inside cells. But blocking these interactions with drugs is difficult because typical "small-molecule" drugs often prove to be too small to grip the broad, flat surfaces involved in protein-protein interactions.
Proteins systematically lose their protective hydration shell when their environment becomes more acidic. Until recently, this was just a theory. State-of-the-art imaging techniques have helped researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) directly observe this process for the first time at the level of the individual water molecule. This has answered a question in biochemistry that had remained unanswered for 50 years.
From household plastic packaging to the flexible frameworks that support wearable electronics, polymer materials form the invisible backbone of modern life. At a microscopic level, polymers consist of long, ribbon-like molecular chains that are entangled into a disorganized mass resembling a bowl of cooked noodles.
The latest production from the "molecular movie" imaging technology developed at Oregon State University is a new, inexpensive way of dealing with a common environmental pollutant. Based on short-pulse lasers, the imaging technology allows chemical and biological actions to be measured as they are occurring, one high-speed frame at a time.
Applying an external magnetic field during the synthesis of CoFe2O4 electrocatalysts triples the ammonia yield during electrocatalytic conversion. The magnetic field alters the surface states of the spinel oxide thin films, making catalytically active sites more accessible. In the journal Advanced Functional Materials, a team led by Marcel Risch at HZB and Sanjay Mathur at University of Cologne demonstrates a scalable strategy for developing next-generation electrocatalysts for efficient and sustainable chemical production.
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