Radome materials for hypersonic vehicles must simultaneously satisfy stringent performance requirements, including low dielectric constant, low dielectric loss, high mechanical strength, and excellent high-temperature resistance. However, achieving synergistic optimization between wave-transparent performance and load-bearing capacity has long remained a central challenge in material design. Research group from Sun Yat-sen University innovatively constructed three composite systems, namely Si₃N_4f/BN, Si₃N_4f/SiO₂, and Si₃N_4f/SiO₂–BN, and systematically elucidated the cross-scale mechanism by which material composition modulates the mechanical and dielectric properties of composites through tailoring interfacial bonding and thermal mismatch stress. This work provides important theoretical guidance and experimental support for the design optimization and interfacial engineering of high-temperature wave-transparent materials for hypersonic vehicle applications.

The booming electric vehicle industry is approaching a wave of spent lithium-ion batteries. Recovering critical metals—lithium, cobalt, and nickel—from battery cathodes efficiently and sustainably has become a critical issue for both resource security and environmental protection.

In a review article published in Materials Reports: Solidwaste and Ecomaterials, researchers at North China University of Science and Technology innovatively combine bibliometric analysis with technical assessment to map the full technological chain for cathode resource recovery. Their analysis reveals that while hydrometallurgy remains the dominant approach, it suffers from high energy consumption and secondary pollution. The authors argue that future technologies should prioritize green, low-carbon processes, intelligent sorting, and system integration to achieve a truly closed-loop recycling system.

The journal Materials Reports: Solidwaste and Ecomaterials (MRSE) is welcoming submissions at this time. MRSE has a mission of communicating innovative and original research, interesting and critical thinking, development, and application of various solid wastes around the world. The editorial team will consider original research, reviews, progress reports, and communications that have the concept of turning solid wastes into unhazardous, useful, functional, and valuable ecomaterials. 

Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Park, Sun-Kyu) has developed a new cubic equation of state (EOS) that provides a physical justification for a mathematical structure that the chemical and petroleum industries have relied on for more than half a century without a first-principles explanation.

Researchers are exploring what is known as DNA’s physical code – the molecule’s physical properties, which may influence how cells use the genetic information encoded within DNA. An international team of researchers, including Dr Daiva Petkevičiūtė-Gerlach from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), investigated this code on an unprecedented scale by performing atomistic simulations and analyses of the shape, flexibility, and dynamics of a large set of DNA sequences.