The transition to climate-friendly cities has led to a renaissance of wood as a renewable building material. To prevent severe raw material shortages in the future, the material-first utilization of wood in long-living, resource-efficient engineered wood products and constructions will be key.

An article in Nature Communications reports an environmentally friendly and selective way to synthesize propylene and propylene oxide.

An article in Angewandte Chemie reports a solution-phase synthesis method to obtain free-standing crystalline circumcoronenes.

An article in Nature Chemistry reports the use of a single-molecule junction to monitor the individual steps of a Michael reaction in real time through the chirality-induced spin selectivity effect.

Tissue engineering has produced innovative tools for cancer research. 3D cancer models based on molecularly designed biomaterials aim to harness the dimensionality and biomechanical and biochemical properties of tumour tissues. However, to date, despite the critical role that the extracellular matrix plays in cancer, only a minority of 3D cancer models are built on biomaterial-based matrices. Major reasons for avoiding this critical design feature are the difficulty in recreating the inherent complexity of the tumour microenvironment and the limited availability of practical analytical and validation techniques. Recent advances emerging at the interface of supramolecular chemistry, materials science and tumour biology are generating new approaches to overcome these boundaries and enable the design of physiologically relevant 3D models. Here, we discuss how these 3D systems are applied to deconstruct and engineer the tumour microenvironment, opening opportunities to model primary tumours, metastasis and responses to anticancer treatment.

DNA origami has emerged as a powerful method to generate DNA nanostructures with dynamic properties and nanoscale control. These nanostructures enable complex biophysical studies and the fabrication of next-generation therapeutic devices. For these applications, DNA origami typically needs to be functionalized with bioactive ligands and biomacromolecular cargos. Here, we review methods developed to functionalize, purify and characterize DNA origami nanostructures. We identify remaining challenges such as limitations in functionalization efficiency and characterization. We then discuss where researchers can contribute to further advance the fabrication of functionalized DNA origami.

A paper in Nature reports the observation of spin-polarized excitonic topological states in the topological insulator Bi2Te3.

Today’s world is filled with ‘grand challenges’ that cannot be solved with knowledge from a single academic field, and interdisciplinary learning opportunities at the undergraduate level are important to overcome barriers between fields. This article takes some of the lessons learned from the co-development and co-teaching of an interdisciplinary course on climate change at the University of Waterloo in Canada to offer suggestions on how to incorporate interdisciplinary education in the materials science and engineering undergraduate curriculum, while providing practical advice on how to create opportunities for students to become interdisciplinary thinkers.

An article in Nature Communications sheds light on the influence of the number of layers in the sample on sliding ferroelectricity based on measurements on rhombohedral MoS2.

Genetic drugs based on nucleic acid biomolecules are a rapidly emerging class of medicines that directly reprogramme the central dogma of biology to prevent and treat disease. However, multiple biological barriers normally impede the intracellular delivery of nucleic acids, necessitating the use of a delivery system. Lipid and polymer nanoparticles represent leading approaches for the clinical translation of genetic drugs. These systems circumnavigate biological barriers and facilitate the intracellular delivery of nucleic acids in the correct cells of the target organ using passive, active and endogenous targeting mechanisms. In this Review, we highlight the constituent materials of these advanced nanoparticles, their nucleic acid cargoes and how they journey through the body. We discuss targeting principles for liver delivery, as it is the organ most successfully targeted by intravenously administered nanoparticles to date, followed by the expansion of these concepts to extrahepatic (non-liver) delivery. Ultimately, this Review connects emerging materials and biological insights playing key roles in targeting specific organs and cells in vivo.

An article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society presents metal–organic frameworks with Olympic rings-inspired structures.

Chirality has a key role in the synthesis of biomolecules and the development of life. Although the effects of many chiral molecules or materials on biological processes have been studied for over 150 years, research aimed at understanding the relationship between the intrinsic chirality of engineered materials and bioresponses is still at the beginning. In this Perspective article, we present three classes of intrinsically chiral engineered materials: carbon dots, metal-based materials and patterned geometries. We elaborate on these chiral materials in terms of design, structural and functional differences between the enantiomers and effects of intrinsic chirality on biological processes. Finally, we address the safety concerns, challenges, opportunities and directions for future development of intrinsically chiral materials.

An article in Science reports new insight in the formation of defects during 3D printing of metals and presents a highly accurate method to track defects as they form, opening the way for closed-loop control systems.

A paper in Nature Nanotechnology reports the room-temperature generation and control of meron–antimeron pairs in an antiferromagnet by means of electrical pulses.

An article in Science Advances explains the mechanisms behind the durability of ancient Roman concrete.

The protein corona spontaneously develops and evolves on the surface of nanoscale materials when they are exposed to biological environments, altering their physiochemical properties and affecting their subsequent interactions with biosystems. In this Review, we provide an overview of the current state of protein corona research in nanomedicine. We next discuss remaining challenges in the research methodology and characterization of the protein corona that slow the development of nanoparticle therapeutics and diagnostics, and we address how artificial intelligence can advance protein corona research as a complement to experimental research efforts. We then review emerging opportunities provided by the protein corona to address major issues in healthcare and environmental sciences. This Review details how mechanistic insights into nanoparticle protein corona formation can broadly address unmet clinical and environmental needs, as well as enhance the safety and efficacy of nanobiotechnology products.

The translation of soft biomedical devices from academia to commercialization remains limited despite the substantial growth of the field over the past decade. To drive the next stage of innovation, it is crucial to identify applications that can be uniquely addressed by soft devices. Neurological surgery presents numerous opportunities for harnessing the potential of soft devices in medical applications.

The miniaturization of conventional light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is a growing trend for emerging virtual and augmented reality and ultrahigh-resolution display applications. However, at present, the downscaling and integration of group III–V LED chips face great challenges, including efficiency droop, inhomogeneous emissions and side-wall losses upon top-down etching and mass-transfer processing. Perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs) are a promising alternative candidate for displays. Within a decade, they have achieved competitive performance owing to their narrowband emission, wide colour gamut and facile fabrication protocols. In particular, solution-processed perovskite emitting layers can be arranged into microscale pixels using various patterning techniques and show great potential for the development of advanced microscale PeLED (micro-PeLED) devices. In this Perspective article, we summarize the recent progress in perovskite patterning techniques and in the fabrication of micro-PeLED demos. We also share our viewpoint regarding the unique advantages of hybrid perovskites for microscale and nanoscale miniaturization, and we conclude by discussing the future challenges and technical roadmap for the development of micro-PeLED displays.

Getting diagnosed with a physically disabling illness in graduate school can be overwhelming and isolating. This article shares a researcher’s personal journey with such an experience, offering advice and encouragement to those facing similar challenges. By confronting the disease, the author found resilience and developed appreciation for life beyond work.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are promising electrical power sources complementary to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and could be crucial in future electric vehicles and energy storage systems. Spent LIBs and SIBs both face many of the same environmental and economic challenges in their recycling, but SIB recycling has a much higher economic barrier. Although LIB recycling can be profitable by recovering high-valued metals of lithium and cobalt, the lower material valuation of spent SIBs diminishes profitability and may hinder industrial recycling. Pre-emptive strategies to facilitate recycling spent SIBs should be made during the early commercialization stage to ensure that SIBs are designed for ease of recycling, low operation costs and optimum efficiency. This Perspective article summarizes the material components of SIBs, discusses strategies for their recycling and outlines the associated challenges and future outlook of SIB recycling. The insights presented should aid scientists and engineers in creating a circular economy for the SIB industry.