Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a new method to recycle mixed plastic packaging without using harmful chemical solvents – an approach that could make one of the world's most difficult waste streams significantly easier to handle.

This study demonstrates the gram-scale synthesis of water-stable M-Gallate (M = Mg, Ni, Co) metal-organic frameworks from inexpensive raw materials, and their application in harvesting water vapour from ultra-low humidity air. The optimal Mg-Gallate MOF achieves a record-high atmospheric water capture capacity of 170.0 mg/g at 0.2% relative humidity (RH) and 25 °C, surpassing all previously reported porous adsorbents under equivalent conditions.

Researchers have developed tough, conductive RBA hydrogels using a hyperbranched multi-arm crosslinking strategy. The hydrogels form a dense, stable network that enables wearable sensors to monitor full-body motion and support Morse-code-based human–machine interaction.

Birgitta Schultze-Bernhardt and her team at the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have developed a new type of UV dual-comb spectrometer that detects gaseous air pollutants with unrivalled accuracy and sensitivity. Using ultraviolet double laser light, the device measures the concentration of harmful gases such as formaldehyde within half a second. Thanks to its compact design and a measuring range of up to two and a half kilometres, the spectrometer is not only suitable for laboratory analyses, but also for mobile measurements in cities, industrial areas and agricultural regions.

Researchers have developed a new approach to compressing X-ray imaging data in real time, reducing the size of data files by more than 8,000 times, while at the same time preserving the detailed X-ray intensity information required for quantitative analysis.

For the first time, scientists have succeeded in artificially mimicking the ion signalling of heart muscle cells. To succeed, researchers at LiU, Sweden, have used organic electronics based on conductive plastics. The findings, published in Nature Communications, open up for new types of prostheses, heart implants and sensors in the long term.

In a new Nature Communications study, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and the Institute of Protein Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences have described in detail a structural adaptation supporting the survival of one of the Dead Sea’s few hardy inhabitants — a single-celled archaea called Haloarcula marismortui (H. marismortui). Using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), the researchers characterized the proteins that form the archaeal filament (also known as archaellum), a long tail-like structure essential for movement.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new, entirely bio-based material from a somewhat unexpected ingredient: yeast. The material is 3D printed and customised for use in architectural and interior design elements that are currently made from non-renewable or fossil-based materials, such as plaster, plastic or synthetic textiles. These may be daylight modulating and sunlight protecting screens, room partitions or wall systems.