In a study published in Nature Chemistry, Rutgers chemist Yuwei Gu and a team of Rutgers scientists have shown that by borrowing a principle from nature, they can create plastics that break down under everyday conditions without heat or harsh chemicals.

Denitrification is essential to remove toxic nitric oxide from industrial emissions and polluted water. So far, the industrial process has involved high temperatures. Professor Kitagishi’s group accidentally stumbled upon a new chemical mechanism of denitrification at room temperature and in aqueous solution. They report hemoCD-I/P supramolecules that bind nitric oxide and release nitrogen when in acidic glycine-containing solution. This pioneering finding will aid industrial denitrification and accelerate efforts to protect the environment.

Scientists have developed plant-based decomposable plastics using phenylpropanoids, compounds from essential oils. These high-biomass polymers are heat-resistant, durable and recyclable, capable of breaking down under mild conditions for use in chemical recycling or upcycling. They offer a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics, reducing environmental impact and supporting a circular economy.

Ion migration capability and interfacial chemistry of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) in all-solid-state sodium metal batteries (ASSMBs) are closely related to the Na⁺ coordination environment. Herein, an electrostatic engineering strategy is proposed to regulate the Na⁺ coordinated structure by employing a fluorinated metal–organic framework as an electron-rich model. Theoretical and experimental results revealed that the abundant electron-rich F sites can accelerate the disassociation of Na-salt through electrostatic attraction to release free Na⁺, while forcing anions into a Na⁺ coordination structure though electrostatic repulsion to weaken the Na⁺ coordination with polymer, thus promoting rapid Na⁺ transport. The optimized anion-rich weak solvation structure fosters a stable inorganic-dominated solid–electrolyte interphase, significantly enhancing the interfacial stability toward Na anode. Consequently, the Na/Na symmetric cell delivered stable Na plating/stripping over 2500 h at 0.1 mA cm⁻². Impressively, the assembled ASSMBs demonstrated stable performance of over 2000 cycles even under high rate of 2 C with capacity retention nearly 100%, surpassing most reported ASSMBs using various solid-state electrolytes. This work provides a new avenue for regulating the Na⁺ coordination structure of SPEs by exploration of electrostatic effect engineering to achieve high-performance all-solid-state alkali metal batteries.

In physical systems, transport takes many forms, such as electric current through a wire, heat through metal, or even water through a pipe. Each of these flows can be described by how easily the underlying quantity—charge, energy, or mass—moves through a material. Normally, collisions and friction lead to resistance causing these flows to slow down or fade away. But in a new experiment at TU Wien, scientists have observed a system where that doesn’t happen at all.