Pub Date : 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00297-5
Mo Qiao
{"title":"In charge of selectivity","authors":"Mo Qiao","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00297-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00297-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"620-620"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341946","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00282-y
Todd M. Squires
Todd Squires highlights the distinction between weight and volume fraction as a conceptual strategy to control the flow and feel of complex fluid products.
{"title":"Helping ingredients punch above their weight fraction","authors":"Todd M. Squires","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00282-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00282-y","url":null,"abstract":"Todd Squires highlights the distinction between weight and volume fraction as a conceptual strategy to control the flow and feel of complex fluid products.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"663-663"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00296-6
Alessio Lavino
{"title":"A robot walks in high dimensions","authors":"Alessio Lavino","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00296-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00296-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"619-619"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-21DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00284-w
Qijun Pei, Ping Chen
Ammonia is a promising hydrogen carrier, but hydrogen production via ammonia decomposition presents kinetic challenges. Now, a high-temperature tungsten wire lightbulb reactor is demonstrated as an energy-efficient solution for ammonia decomposition.
{"title":"A lightbulb moment for ammonia decomposition","authors":"Qijun Pei, Ping Chen","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00284-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00284-w","url":null,"abstract":"Ammonia is a promising hydrogen carrier, but hydrogen production via ammonia decomposition presents kinetic challenges. Now, a high-temperature tungsten wire lightbulb reactor is demonstrated as an energy-efficient solution for ammonia decomposition.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"623-624"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-17DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00291-x
Nicholas A. Jose, Alexei A. Lapkin
Precision nanomaterials are key to many technologies; however, effective industrial-scale production typically requires decades of development. Here we share the commercialization pathway of our Accelerated Materials Platform for Engineered Nanomaterials (AMPLE), which integrates microreactors, machine learning and automation to accelerate materials synthesis from gram to tonne scales.
{"title":"A roadmap toward closed-loop autonomous experimentation for engineered nanomaterials","authors":"Nicholas A. Jose, Alexei A. Lapkin","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00291-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00291-x","url":null,"abstract":"Precision nanomaterials are key to many technologies; however, effective industrial-scale production typically requires decades of development. Here we share the commercialization pathway of our Accelerated Materials Platform for Engineered Nanomaterials (AMPLE), which integrates microreactors, machine learning and automation to accelerate materials synthesis from gram to tonne scales.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"615-617"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-17DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00292-w
Commercialization is a key milestone in chemical process design and product development. In this Editorial, we emphasize the importance of incorporating industrial expertise and introduce a new article format to support this aim: Down to Business.
商业化是化工工艺设计和产品开发的重要里程碑。在这篇社论中，我们强调了整合行业专业知识的重要性，并引入了一种新的文章格式来支持这一目标：Down to Business。
{"title":"Building industry connections","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00292-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00292-w","url":null,"abstract":"Commercialization is a key milestone in chemical process design and product development. In this Editorial, we emphasize the importance of incorporating industrial expertise and introduce a new article format to support this aim: Down to Business.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"609-609"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-025-00292-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00293-9
Brian Seger
As the CO2 electrolysis field transitions from fundamental studies to commercially relevant engineering challenges, the cations required to maximize catalysis also tend to overconcentrate, leading to salt deposition and concomitant performance degradation. This Comment analyzes both the underlying causes of salt deposition and potential strategies for resolving this issue.
{"title":"Causes of and mitigation approaches for salt deposition in CO2 electrolysis","authors":"Brian Seger","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00293-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00293-9","url":null,"abstract":"As the CO2 electrolysis field transitions from fundamental studies to commercially relevant engineering challenges, the cations required to maximize catalysis also tend to overconcentrate, leading to salt deposition and concomitant performance degradation. This Comment analyzes both the underlying causes of salt deposition and potential strategies for resolving this issue.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"611-614"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-14DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00285-9
Guoliang Liu
The deconstruction of polyolefins into monomers is essential for chemical recycling. Now, a tandem strategy is presented that first converts polyethylene into short-chain hydrocarbons, followed by a second-stage reaction that further cracks these intermediates into ethylene and propylene.
{"title":"Deep cracking of polyethylene to light olefins","authors":"Guoliang Liu","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00285-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00285-9","url":null,"abstract":"The deconstruction of polyolefins into monomers is essential for chemical recycling. Now, a tandem strategy is presented that first converts polyethylene into short-chain hydrocarbons, followed by a second-stage reaction that further cracks these intermediates into ethylene and propylene.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"621-622"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Conversion of polyethylene (PE) into ethylene and propylene will enable closed-loop recycling of plastics. Conventional catalytic cracking of PE is restricted by kinetic entanglement between the formation of main products and by-products, limiting ethylene and propylene yields to less than 25%. Here we address this challenge with a kinetic decoupling–recoupling (KDRC) strategy, achieving yields of ethylene and propylene up to 79% from PE conversion using a tandem reactor with dual zeolite catalysts. Reaction kinetics analysis, synchrotron-based vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry and in situ neutron powder diffraction reveal that KDRC decouples kinetics of PE cracking to intermediates (butenes and pentenes) in the first stage and synchronizes this process with dimerization–β-scission reactions in the second stage. This synchronization minimizes by-products and enhances ethylene and propylene production substantially. Combined with high catalytic stability, this KDRC strategy represents a robust pathway to combating plastic pollution via a circular economy. 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.
{"title":"Closed-loop recycling of polyethylene to ethylene and propylene via a kinetic decoupling–recoupling strategy","authors":"Tianrui Bi, Yinlin Chen, Longfei Lin, Xue Han, Yang Pan, Chengyuan Liu, Ziyu Cen, Cong Luo, Weilong Wen, Hunain Zulfiqar, Xinrui Zheng, Pascal Manuel, Qian Li, Ningning Wu, Junfeng Xiang, Sihai Yang, Buxing Han","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00290-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00290-y","url":null,"abstract":"Conversion of polyethylene (PE) into ethylene and propylene will enable closed-loop recycling of plastics. Conventional catalytic cracking of PE is restricted by kinetic entanglement between the formation of main products and by-products, limiting ethylene and propylene yields to less than 25%. Here we address this challenge with a kinetic decoupling–recoupling (KDRC) strategy, achieving yields of ethylene and propylene up to 79% from PE conversion using a tandem reactor with dual zeolite catalysts. Reaction kinetics analysis, synchrotron-based vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry and in situ neutron powder diffraction reveal that KDRC decouples kinetics of PE cracking to intermediates (butenes and pentenes) in the first stage and synchronizes this process with dimerization–β-scission reactions in the second stage. This synchronization minimizes by-products and enhances ethylene and propylene production substantially. Combined with high catalytic stability, this KDRC strategy represents a robust pathway to combating plastic pollution via a circular economy. 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.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"650-661"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-025-00290-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-07DOI: 10.1038/s44286-025-00289-5
Weixiang Chen, Siyu Song, Avik Samanta, Soumya Sethi, Christoph Drees, Michael Kappl, Hans-Jürgen Butt, Andreas Walther
Intracellular structures, such as cytoskeletons, form within a crowded cytoplasm with viscoelastic properties. While self-assembly in crowding is well studied, the effects of coupled viscoelastic environments remain elusive. Here we engineer all-DNA synthetic cells (SCs) with tunable viscoelastic interiors to investigate this phenomenon. We introduce facile DNA barcode engineering to selectively enrich DNA tiles with adjustable concentrations into SCs to form artificial cytoskeletons coupled to their interior. Distinct mechanistic differences in assembly occur compared with solution or simple crowding. Furthermore, we develop light, molecular and metabolic switches to direct structure formation and create self-sorted SC populations with distinct artificial cytoskeletons. These cytoskeletons strengthen SCs and support stable contacts with mammalian cells. By bridging molecular-scale DNA nanotube assembly with mesoscale condensate structures, our SCs provide a versatile platform to investigate self-assembly under viscoelastic confinement and to harness subcellular architectures for emerging applications. 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.
{"title":"Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells","authors":"Weixiang Chen, Siyu Song, Avik Samanta, Soumya Sethi, Christoph Drees, Michael Kappl, Hans-Jürgen Butt, Andreas Walther","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00289-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00289-5","url":null,"abstract":"Intracellular structures, such as cytoskeletons, form within a crowded cytoplasm with viscoelastic properties. While self-assembly in crowding is well studied, the effects of coupled viscoelastic environments remain elusive. Here we engineer all-DNA synthetic cells (SCs) with tunable viscoelastic interiors to investigate this phenomenon. We introduce facile DNA barcode engineering to selectively enrich DNA tiles with adjustable concentrations into SCs to form artificial cytoskeletons coupled to their interior. Distinct mechanistic differences in assembly occur compared with solution or simple crowding. Furthermore, we develop light, molecular and metabolic switches to direct structure formation and create self-sorted SC populations with distinct artificial cytoskeletons. These cytoskeletons strengthen SCs and support stable contacts with mammalian cells. By bridging molecular-scale DNA nanotube assembly with mesoscale condensate structures, our SCs provide a versatile platform to investigate self-assembly under viscoelastic confinement and to harness subcellular architectures for emerging applications. 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.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 10","pages":"627-639"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-025-00289-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145341939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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