To realize a sustainable low-carbon society, it is essential to establish a catalytic process that converts various concentrations of CO₂ in combustion exhaust gases from thermal power plants and other sources into useful chemicals using renewable hydrogen. However, due to the high oxygen (O₂) content (about 10%) in such exhaust gases, conventional catalytic methods face a major challenge in that H₂ reacts preferentially with O₂, making efficient CO₂ conversion technically impossible. A research team led by Hokkaido University has developed a tandem system that continuously captures and converts CO₂ in a wide concentration range, from atmospheric levels to exhaust gases. Their work is published in the journal Industrial Chemistry & Materials on June 13, 2025.

Researchers will study how ocean currents and river nutrients affect deep coral ecosystems on the West Florida Shelf – one of the Gulf’s largest and least-studied habitats. Funded by the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program, the project aims to support sustainable fisheries and conservation of these vital, little-explored habitats, which are home to economically important marine life. The research will guide science-based strategies for protecting the gulf coast’s long-term ecological and economic health.

Hybrid Photonic polycrystals with a synthetic hybrid dimension enable versatile control of edge channels and corner modes in multiple frequency bands.

A controlled/“living” click polymerization method developed by researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo and Nagoya University enables precise chain-growth of AB-type monomers—traditionally limited to step-growth processes—by leveraging copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition. The approach achieves well-defined polymers with narrow dispersity and enables the bidirectional synthesis of ABA-type block copolymers, offering a powerful new strategy for constructing functional macromolecular architectures from a wide range of monomers.

A new palladium-loaded amorphous InGaZnO_x (a-IGZO) catalyst achieved over 91% selectivity when converting carbon dioxide to methanol, report researchers from Japan. Unlike traditional catalysts, this system leverages the electronic properties of semiconductors to generate all the species necessary for the conversion reaction. This study demonstrates novel design principles for sustainable catalysis based on electronic structure engineering.

Indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO)-based displays suffer from instability caused by atomic-scale defects. Now, a new study provides the first insights into these instabilities in single-crystal IGZO. Researchers grew high-quality IGZO single crystals and uncovered how oxygen vacancies and structural disorder create unwanted electronic states—details that were unclear in previous studies using amorphous IGZO samples. These findings could guide the development of more stable and longer-lasting displays for smartphones, televisions, and other devices.

A recent review published in National Science Review delves into the significance and potential of synchronous electrolytes for aqueous zinc-halogen batteries. The review examines challenges such as zinc corrosion and halogen instability, while proposing advanced strategies like gradient hydrogels and biphasic electrolytes to simultaneously optimize both sides. These insights pave the way for practical applications in grid-scale energy storage.