Nature Reviews Materials最新文献

Oxide nanoparticles have garnered significant attention in biomedical research owing to the numerous available synthetic approaches and highly tunable physicochemical properties, which enable diverse functions within biological systems. These nanoparticles can be broadly categorized based on their characteristics useful for biomedical applications. Magnetic oxide nanoparticles, for instance, are prominently used as contrast agents in MRI and as mediators to generate heat, mechanical force or electricity for therapy. Catalytic oxide nanoparticles can generate or eliminate reactive oxygen species, which are central to numerous biological processes. Porous oxide nanoparticles are adept at loading dye or drug molecules, making them invaluable for bioimaging and therapeutic interventions. In this Review, we highlight strategies for the fabrication and advanced engineering of oxide nanoparticles tailored for biomedical applications. We primarily focus on iron oxide, ceria and silica nanoparticles, delving into their diagnostic and therapeutic potentials. We also discuss future prospects and the challenges that must be addressed to meet clinical needs.

Correction to: Nature Reviews Materials https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-024-00759-x, published online 9 January 2025

The engineering of therapeutic living cells through genetic programming is poised to transform medicine. Diverse living medicines, including mammalian cells, fungi, bacteria and viruses, are under development. However, for these medicines to progress in the clinic, new strategies are needed to successfully deliver them into the body. Unlike conventional small-molecule and protein-based biologics, living medicines present distinct challenges for delivery, including the need to maintain viability, control replication, manage metabolism and mitigate immunogenicity. This Review focuses on delivery strategies for living medicines, identifying key challenges and efforts to overcome them. We survey clinically adopted biomaterial strategies for delivering conventional drugs and explore how these approaches can be tailored for living medicines. Finally, we discuss remaining challenges and future directions towards next-generation living medicine delivery.

The 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29) adjourned in late November in Baku, Azerbaijan — over a day after it was scheduled to end — with a rushed and, to some, bitterly disappointing outcome. A key aim of the summit was to reach a new climate finance goal for high-income countries to help low- and middle-income nations cope with climate shocks and transition to renewable energy. But as seems to be a theme in international environmental summits of late, negotiations stalled until the final panicked moments of the meeting. Under intense pressure to reach a compromise, including a walkout by the most climate-vulnerable countries like small island states, high-income nations hastily pledged to channel at least US$300 billion per year to low- and middle-income countries by 2035. Although triple the existing climate finance goal, this commitment still falls far short of the annual US$1.3 trillion that low- and middle-income nations had hoped to secure, and the many trillions they will actually need. Negotiations will continue at COP30.

In 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly voted to establish the world’s first legally binding international treaty to end plastic pollution — with the goal of having it finalized by the end of 2024. In December 2024 in Busan, South Korea, the intergovernmental negotiating committee met for the fifth, and what was supposed to be final, round of talks. They did not leave with an agreement as hoped. Two main coalitions, with opposing environmental and economic desires, are at the heart of the impasse. On one side of the divide is the so-called High Ambition Coalition: more than 100 member states that are impatient for strict measures, fortified by support from scientists, certain businesses and public opinion. On the other side are a handful of primarily oil-producing countries whose economies are structured around fossil fuels, bolstered by corporations with similar vested interests. Whereas the former group is eager for regulations on the entire plastic life cycle — including, and even especially, upstream plastic production — the latter group opposes production caps and prefers to focus on downstream waste management and recycling instead. The committee will reconvene sometime in 2025.

Metal halide perovskites have attracted considerable attention among emerging semiconductors because they can be fabricated at a low cost and have outstanding optoelectronic properties, exhibiting record-breaking performance in photovoltaic, light-emitting and sensing devices. Since the first report of halide perovskites in 1892, studies have predominantly focused on their crystalline state, characterized by long-range atomic order. Introducing the possibility of a melt and/or glass state, devoid of substantial periodicity, unlocks new avenues for property tunability, reminiscent of the transformative impact that chalcogenide glasses have provided for commercial applications, including memory and computing. In this Perspective, we highlight the mounting evidence suggesting that melt and/or glass states of halide perovskites and related hybrids hold substantial promise for expanding the property and application spectrum of this materials family. We provide a comprehensive overview of melt and glass-forming perovskites, underscore pivotal concepts behind generating low-melting-temperature and switchable crystalline or glassy states, and emphasize the crucial importance of investigating these states in the context of structure–property tunability and application.