News & Comment

Nanoscale control — through solvents, additives, colloidal engineering, or atomic-scale characterization — is pushing perovskite photovoltaics closer to commercialization.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) computing and data storage are emerging fields that are unlocking new possibilities in information technology. Here, we discuss technologies and challenges regarding using DNA molecules as computing substrates and data storage media.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a commonly used coating agent in nanomedicine, but there are growing concerns about its immunogenicity. Two Comment articles discuss the issue and possible alternatives to PEG.

Mass vaccination using polyethylene glycol (PEG)-containing nanoparticles during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in cases of adverse reactions, bringing to the fore the issue of PEG immunogenicity and reinforcing the view that this polymer should be substituted with other stealth-inducing molecules. Before considering alternatives, however, it is crucial to carry out more detailed analyses of the anti-PEG antibodies, to standardize the procedures for their detection and to better contextualize their generation within different nanoformulations, routes of administration, indication, safety and efficacy. The resulting studies could guide both the future use of PEGylated nanomedicines and the synthesis of the next generation of PEG or its alternatives.

Synchrotron techniques can probe battery materials and devices at unprecedented scales of time and space, providing in-depth mechanistic understanding. However, the lack of standardization in synchrotron measurements and analyses can lead to biased interpretations of data and results. Here, we propose possible strategies to address the reliability, representativeness and reproducibility issues of synchrotron characterizations in battery research.

Developing nanomedicines that avoid fast blood clearance while retaining targeting specificity in vivo is inherently challenging. Leveraging the individual biomolecular corona, optimizing the nature of targeting ligands and exploring alternative stealth formulations might be the key to engineering tailored nanomedicine approaches.

Interdisciplinary dialogues and mutual insights help researchers to unravel catalytic mechanisms and engineer more potent catalysts.

How far away are lab-scale nanotechnologies from commercialization? We asked two journalists to investigate.

Nanotechnology fosters energy-efficient devices that significantly boost on-chip performance for faster, more powerful AI, while also supporting dense integration of sensing and computing, reducing power consumption for advanced on-chip intelligence.

Thermophotovoltaics has made great progress recently and the first start-ups are entering the market with storage systems for renewable energy. But how promising is this technology?

Companies are scaling up proton exchange membrane electrolyser production, but the technology needs to grow much faster, and become less expensive, to meet ambitious climate goals.

The lack of standardization in the protocols used to assess the physicochemical properties of the battery electrode surface layer has led to data dispersion and biased interpretation in the literature. Here I propose guidelines for investigating it properly — or at least to allow a fair comparison between literature data.

Understanding and adopting an appropriate electrochemistry language will foster constructive collaborations among battery research community members with diverse scientific backgrounds.

The 50th anniversary of its discovery underscores surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as one of the oldest and most dynamic branches of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The time has come for nanostructure-based SERS to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) tools and overcome current commercialization challenges.

The Nano4EARTH challenge, launched by the National Nanotechnology Initiative in the United States, has identified four strategic areas where nanotechnology can make the most impact in addressing the climate crisis.

Climate change is one of humankind’s biggest challenges, leading to more frequent and intense climate extremes, including heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes, ocean acidification, and increased extinction rates. Nanotechnology already plays an important role in decarbonizing critical processes. Still, despite the technical advances seen in the last decades, the International Energy Agency has identified many sectors that are not on track to achieve the global climate mitigation goals by 2030. Here, a multi-stakeholder group of nanoscientists from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors discuss four high-potential application spaces where nanotechnologies could accelerate progress: batteries and energy storage; catalysis; coatings, lubricants, membranes, and other interface technology; and capture of greenhouse gases. This Comment highlights opportunities and current gaps for those working to minimize the climate crisis and provides a framework for the nanotechnology community to answer the call to action on this global issue.

The 2024 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience is awarded to three nanomedicine pioneers who laid the foundation of controlled release, biomedical imaging and diagnostics.

Light extraction is a key factor determining the efficiency of light-emitting diodes. This becomes more pronounced in high-refractive-index perovskite light-emitting diodes according to the ray-optics model. Photon recycling and microcavity effect are important ways to break through the ray-optics efficiency limit. However, these two effects are competing, that is, strategies to optimize them are mutually exclusive. For a breakthrough in efficiency, we should favour one of them and inhibit the other.