Bioorganic coatings are being increasingly used to promote mineralization on inorganic nanoparticles for bone repair, sensing, and environmental technologies. Researchers at Jeonbuk National University studied how two coating materials, zein and polydopamine, affect calcium phosphate formation on titanium dioxide nanoparticles in real time. They found that the coating's surface chemistry significantly affects initial nucleation and subsequent crystal growth, with polydopamine-coated particles accumulating about 37 percent more mineral mass than zein-coated particles.

This work demonstrates that the synergistic regulation of moisture and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) additive enables methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI₃) films with unprecedented amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) threshold of 8.987 μJ cm⁻² under nanosecond pulse excitation-the lowest value reported to date. Our findings transform moisture from a degradation agent into a crystallization promoter, establishing a materials design paradigm for perovskite lasers that concurrently deliver ultralow operational thresholds and robust stability.

Rice researchers have developed a process to use PFAS to extract lithium from high-salinity brine pools, described in a study recently published in Nature Water. 

POSTECH Professor Jonghun Kam’s team identifies the role of typhoons in mitigating droughts through an analysis assuming a world without typhoons.