Highlights
C&EN: Gas looping boosts efficiency of carbon nanotube production
22 December 2025Methane pyrolysis reactor recycles process gases to improve output of nanotubes and hydrogen.
C&EN: Enhanced rock weathering shows little climate benefit in large trial
18 December 20253-year Swiss study underscores the importance of site selection to maximize CO2 sequestration.
Nature Nanotechnology: Brain–computer interfaces race to the clinic
12 December 2025Advances in materials science, microelectronics and semiconductor manufacturing are helping these devices to benefit patients.
C&EN: Europium complex harvests ambient energy to power minirobots
20 November 2025Inchworms can stroll for hours using scraps of heat from the environment.
Nature Biotechnology: Chemistry Nobel materials in the clinic
14 November 2025Human trials using metal–organic frameworks for drug delivery are underway, but challenges remain.
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Category Archives: Highlights
C&EN: Water boosts light-driven coupling chemistry
A thin film of organic molecules floating on water can undergo useful photochemical reactions, without needing organic solvents or catalysts.
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C&EN: Lasers liberate hydrogen from ammonia water
Light pulses offer an alternative approach to harnessing ammonia as a carrier for green hydrogen.
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C&EN: Roll up for flexible silicon solar cells
Thin cells could wrap around corners and use less silicon without sacrificing efficiency, potentially reducing solar costs.
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C&EN: Robot assistant optimizes photochemistry
RoboChem combines flow chemistry and machine learning to improve yield of light-driven reactions.
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C&EN: Molecular shuttle thinks inside the box
Flat guest molecules zoom back and forth within iridium-based nanobox.
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Nature: Robot chemist sparks row with claim it created new materials
Researchers question whether an AI-controlled lab assistant actually made any novel substances.
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Nature: Google AI and robots join forces to build new materials
Google DeepMind tool predicts nearly 400,000 stable substances, and an autonomous system learns to make them in the lab.
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Nature: A new kind of solar cell is coming: is it the future of green energy?
Firms commercializing perovskite–silicon ‘tandem’ photovoltaics say that the panels will be more efficient and could lead to cheaper electricity.
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C&EN: Lithium-ion battery recycling goes large
As companies scramble to increase recycling capacity, they are navigating a tricky path through shifting battery chemistries and a raft of new regulations.
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C&EN 10 Start-ups to Watch: DePoly
Recycling complex plastic waste for a circular economy.
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