Articles

This study reports a post-assembly, reversible crosslinking strategy that enhances lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-mediated mRNA delivery while preserving efficient intracellular release. The resulting crosslinked LNPs enable improved endosomal escape, sustained in vivo expression and robust immune and antitumor responses across multiple clinically relevant LNP platforms.

Conventional hemodialysis devices are limited by their need for large dialysate volumes, which restricts portability. This study introduces a dialysate-free wearable artificial kidney prototype that uses gas-permeable, blood-repellent membranes for vapor-gradient-driven water removal and integrated adsorption for toxin clearance, offering a promising technology for portable blood purification.

Rapid pH changes can trigger hollow vacuoles in associative condensates of pH-responsive biomolecules. Using a model enzyme–polymer system, how larger droplets and faster pH changes promote vacuole formation by creating unstable non-equilibrium compositions is shown. A physics-based model reproduces these observations, showing when and how vacuoles arise through spinodal decomposition.

This study reports on flow-synchronized ring-shaped electrochemical ion pumping, which eliminates the need for terminal electrodes and enables redox-free, energy-efficient and continuous desalination across scales.

Cost-effective, environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient ways to address rising atmospheric CO₂ levels are urgently needed. Here the authors combine electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to formate with biosynthetic conversion of formate to the universal building block acetyl-CoA using a synthetic metabolic pathway called ReForm.

This study reports on an AI-powered autonomous experimentation platform that overcomes data scarcity in electronic materials discovery by using an AI advisor for real-time progress monitoring, data analysis and interactive human–AI collaboration. Applied to mixed ion–electron conducting polymers, it rapidly optimized performance in 64 experimental trials, revealing morphology–property relationships and an unreported polymer polymorph.

This study presents an approach to reducing the regeneration energy of aqueous carbonate carbon capture sorbents that utilizes tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane as a thermally responsive pH regulator. A continuous-flow system shows the efficient concentration of diluted CO₂ streams to high-purity products under sunlight with high stability and promising economic viability.

This study reports highly selective Li⁺Mg²⁺ separation via concentration gradient-driven transport using negatively charged membranes with high charge content. The separation mechanism involves selective partitioning of Li⁺ ions into the membrane and uphill transport of Mg²⁺ ions. Bench-scale diffusion dialysis experiments with model brine solutions demonstrate effective monovalent/divalent ion separation.

This work introduces a passive method for capturing CO₂ directly in the solid form using a carbonate crystallizer. This system harnesses wind-driven evaporation to enable rapid CO₂ capture and carbonate crystallization. This method provides a simplified and scalable alternative to conventional air contactors, which require substantial capital investments.

This study reports on an industrial-grade, large-scale, all-in-one integrated and automated laboratory (iAutoEvoLab), combined with a genetic circuit-controlled, growth-coupled continuous evolution system based on OrthoRep, which can evolve proteins with diverse and complex functionalities. These include protein–protein interactions, protein–DNA interactions, proteins requiring both protein–DNA and protein–ligand interactions, and fusion proteins with low to near-zero activities.

Reverse-biased bipolar membranes can enable CO₂ electrolysis with iridium-free anodes for extended durations, but only if 100% of the ionic charge is carried by water dissociation. Here, the authors show that practical systems fall far below unity water dissociation efficiencies, highlighting a performance gap for sustained alkaline operation using nickel-based anodes.

This study reports on a modular and scalable tungsten wire lightbulb reactor that achieves ultrafast ammonia decomposition by electrifying a tungsten wire to extremely high temperatures, increasing productivity without diminishing energy efficiency.

This study introduces a kinetic decoupling–recoupling strategy to overcome kinetic limitations in plastic recycling. A tandem catalytic reactor, utilizing zeolite catalysts, converts polyethylene into ethylene and propylene with yields of up to 79%, offering a promising pathway toward efficient closed-loop recycling of polyolefins.

Engineering structurally and functionally complex synthetic cells remains a key challenge. Here DNA condensate synthetic cells combine phase separation and DNA nanostructures to reveal how switchable artificial cytoskeletons assemble in viscoelastic confinements. These cytoskeletons improve the mechanical properties of synthetic cells and enable stable mechano-interfaces with mammalian cells.

This study reports on a closed-loop approach combining multiscale simulations, interpretable machine learning, experiments and techno-economic analysis for systematic plasma catalyst design, showing that alloys from noncritical minerals can potentially replace costly noble metals such as ruthenium for hydrogen production from ammonia decomposition under plasma conditions.

A solid-phase hot-pressing method is introduced, which can rapidly produce highly crystalline covalent organic framework platelets in a convenient, solvent-free manner. Fifteen platelets of various linkage types are produced, with a proof-of-concept demonstration of the resulting high-performing platelet type in an atmospheric water harvesting device.

The lack of reliable coating methods for amorphous zeolitic imidazolate framework (aZIF) materials hinders their development for applications such as photolithography and separation membranes. Supported by computational fluid dynamics modeling, the authors develop a spin-coating technique to deposit aZIF films from dilute precursors and demonstrate their wafer-scale use in advanced lithographic processes.

Net-zero bioplastics are possible when combined with high recycling rates. This study presents a mixed polyester recycling process integrated with monomer separation and purification for both fossil- and bio-based plastics. Techno-economic and life cycle analyses confirm its environmental and commercial advantages, advancing the path toward circular, low-emission polyester plastics.

Uncovering the rules of microtubule network self-organization under confinement is key to understanding how cells build structure in complex environments. This study reveals a tunable boundary-sensing feedback mechanism, wherein pioneer microtubules navigate confined environments and generate nucleation sites for new microtubules, thereby shaping network architecture.

Metal–organic frameworks hold promise as electrocatalysts for water splitting, but their large-scale production remains a challenge. This study reports on a scalable synthetic approach to fabricate large-area metal–organic framework-based electrodes, achieving high catalytic activity and stability in practical alkaline water electrolysis.