Research POP (Page 4)

Energy

Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics team uses electrolyser waste heat to co-produce hydrogen and fresh water from seawater

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-026-02130-6 At a glance Seawater provides an abundant water source for green hydrogen production, but its direct use in an electrolyser introduces chloride chemistry, calcium and magnesium deposits, corrosion and membrane contamination. Desalinating seawater before electrolysis protects the electrolyser, although conventional

Chemistry

Macau University of Science and Technology and collaborators use dynamic Zn-site asymmetry to steer urea and peroxide electrosynthesis

Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anie.3649572 At a glance Single-atom catalysts offer well-defined active sites, and their coordination environments provide a way to regulate how reaction intermediates bind. Researchers from Macau University of Science and Technology, the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of

Chemistry

Southern University of Science and Technology team couples minerals and electrochemistry for membrane-free urine valorization

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77732-5 At a glance Human urine is a concentrated source of nitrogen and phosphorus, but its composition begins changing soon after collection. Urease converts urea into ammonia/ammonium and bicarbonate, raising pH and promoting uncontrolled mineral precipitation. This process can lead

Chemistry

South China Normal University team couples polystyrene electrodegradation with C1-product upgrading in a COF system

Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.5012045 At a glance Polystyrene is useful precisely because its carbon backbone and aromatic rings are difficult to disrupt, but that durability also complicates chemical recycling. Oxidative methods can shorten PS chains and form oxygenated aromatic products, while deeper oxidation can

Chemistry

Macau University of Science and Technology-led team maps two-dimensional metal oxide polaritonics

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77629-3 At a glance Polaritons are hybrid waves formed when light couples to collective excitations in matter. Their ability to confine electromagnetic energy far below the free-space wavelength makes them important to nanophotonics and possible on-chip optical systems. A

Institute of Physics and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics team separates space and electric-field effects in photoelectrochemical water splitting

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77786-5 At a glance Photoelectrochemical water splitting uses semiconductor electrodes to turn light energy into chemical fuel. Its charges must remain separated long enough to reach different reaction sites. Near the semiconductor-electrolyte interface, band bending produces a space-charge layer

Chemistry

Nanjing University team uses mixed-linker MOFs to guide lithium-ion transport across battery separators

Source: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6c11237 At a glance Lithium metal offers high theoretical capacity and a low electrochemical potential, making it a promising anode for high-energy batteries. Its surface, however, changes continuously during lithium plating and stripping. Uneven ion transport can lead to porous deposits, inactive

Chemistry

Shanghai Advanced Research Institute-led team steers syngas toward sustainable aviation fuel

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77708-5 At a glance Fischer–Tropsch synthesis can turn syngas into liquid hydrocarbons and is an established route from feedstocks such as biomass to sustainable aviation fuel. The catalyst faces a linked challenge: raising carbon monoxide conversion does not necessarily place

Chemistry

Ulm University Team Uses Raman Overtones to Reassign the Nickel-Anode Surface during Alkaline Electrolysis

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-026-01613-9 At a glance Nickel-based anodes are active and relatively low-cost catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline water electrolysis. Under operating conditions, their oxidized surfaces have commonly been described as nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH). A team from

Career

Why funny science can still carry serious value

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02793-x Must science always present itself seriously? A Nature editorial uses the 2026 Ig Nobel prizes to argue that humour, curiosity and unconventional questions can make a meaningful contribution to research culture. The piece treats playfulness not as an alternative to

Career

Moving forward without certainty: one scientist's early tenure decision

Source: https://www.science.org/content/article/academic-scientist-u-s-i-m-learning-live-uncertainty In a first-person Working Life essay for Science, Violeta J. Rodriguez describes a decision that felt both urgent and impossible to predict: applying for tenure three years earlier than usual. Her account is

Career

What keeps AI researchers in academia when industry pays far more?

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02026-1 Why would a leading artificial-intelligence researcher stay at a university when technology companies can offer dramatically higher salaries? A Nature Career Feature by Ben Deighton explores that question through an economic analysis and conversations with 14 academics, mainly in

Latest

Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics team uses electrolyser waste heat to co-produce hydrogen and fresh water from seawater

Macau University of Science and Technology and collaborators use dynamic Zn-site asymmetry to steer urea and peroxide electrosynthesis

Southern University of Science and Technology team couples minerals and electrochemistry for membrane-free urine valorization

South China Normal University team couples polystyrene electrodegradation with C1-product upgrading in a COF system

Macau University of Science and Technology-led team maps two-dimensional metal oxide polaritonics

Institute of Physics and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics team separates space and electric-field effects in photoelectrochemical water splitting

Nanjing University team uses mixed-linker MOFs to guide lithium-ion transport across battery separators

Shanghai Advanced Research Institute-led team steers syngas toward sustainable aviation fuel

Ulm University Team Uses Raman Overtones to Reassign the Nickel-Anode Surface during Alkaline Electrolysis

Why funny science can still carry serious value

Moving forward without certainty: one scientist's early tenure decision

What keeps AI researchers in academia when industry pays far more?