Materials

You are what you eat! Researchers discovered that a small change to the diet of silkworms improves the quality of silk they produce.

Silk-reinforced bicycle tyres outperformed nylon controls and showed lower impacts in a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment.

Early rice gets the flower, Exercising against cancer, Efficient artificial photosynthesis, New “living pink rocks”, Unlocking megathrust earthquakes, Longevity protein demystified and Death gene paradox. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice.

Scientists have found a way to spot early signs of skin aging, discovering that collagen's hidden internal structure begins to unravel before the fibers themselves break apart.

A recyclable enzyme catalyst could support cleaner production of flavour esters for food, drink and cosmetics.

Researchers developed a highly filled liquid epoxy for chip packaging that remains easy to process despite its exceptionally high silica content. By optimizing particle packing, surface treatment, and rubber nanoparticle reinforcement, the material minimizes wafer warpage while maintaining excellent toughness and reliability during packaging.

Used across the Indian subcontinent from the sixteenth century onward, the zafar takiya is distinguished by its characteristic crutch-shaped hilt, designed to serve as a hand- or arm-rest while seated or standing. Taking varied forms such as swords, daggers, and staffs, it reflects courtly customs, skilled craftsmanship, and the ascetic practices of Sufi dervishes.

A patented portable filter offers a practical route to cleaner drinking water during droughts, floods and contamination events.

Research comparing Dunlop and Talalay processing offers practical guidance for better natural latex foam products.

Catalysts are everywhere—from fertilizer production to clean energy—but making them more active without sacrificing stability has remained a major challenge. Researchers have now engineered a gold-platinum nanocluster catalyst that can be activated at lower temperatures while maintaining its precise atomic structure, boosting low-temperature carbon monoxide oxidation performance. Yet a clever ligand design could pave the way for more efficient and durable catalysts.

A study shows palm oil can replace aromatic oil in natural rubber composites while supporting greener rubber products.

A mild enzymatic method helps refine algae oil for nutrition products while preserving its valuable nutritional components

An AI assistant for high-entropy alloy (HEA) electrocatalysis named ChatHEA provided a helping hand not just to extract data from the literature, but provide suggestions for promising catalysts, design experiments, and analyze data.

Pineapple leaf fibres gain strength through alkali treatment, supporting stronger and more sustainable biobased composites.

Researchers break a fundamental rule to create a new concept: heat that can be directed and “programmed”. In most materials, heat absorption and heat emission are linked, meaning a surface that absorbs thermal radiation well from a particular direction will also emit it in the same way. A team from OMU in Japan has designed a reconfigurable device that breaks this symmetry, enabling heat to be absorbed and emitted differently depending on the direction of absorption. This technology could eventually lead to smarter thermal-management systems and infrared sensors.

The end of colored plastic downgrading could be near with new approach

Base-mediated degradation of carbon−Carbon main chain polymers bearing alkoxycarbonylmethylene repeating units

Prof Chen Xi, Dean of the Wu Jieh Yee School of Interdisciplinary Studies (WJYSIS) and Chair Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Lingnan University, has been elected an ICCES Distinguished Fellow by the International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences. This prestigious honour recognises his outstanding contributions in distributed carbon dioxide capture and utilisation, advanced materials and structures of AI adoption, soft robots, and flexible batteries.

A research group has developed “TP-An,” a molecule that enables even low-energy, long-wavelength light to be used more effectively by solar cells and photocatalysts. The molecule can be used even at high concentrations that are difficult for traditional materials, suggesting their usefulness in technology.

Catalysts play a vital role in the chemical reactions used to produce fertilizers, fuels, pharmaceuticals, and hydrogen, to name a few. AI-driven catalyst discovery is revolutionizing the field of materials science. But AI is only as reliable as the data it learns from. Therefore, researchers from Tohoku University have introduced an AI-powered digital catalysis platform that serves as a one-stop source for experimental data, theoretical calculations, and scientific literature.

Lingnan University has secured funding for 49 research projects in the 2026/27 competitive funding rounds of the Research Grants Council (RGC), including the General Research Fund (GRF), the Early Career Scheme (ECS), and the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (HSSPFS), with total awarded funding approaching HK$27 million. Of these, 48 projects were supported under the GRF and ECS schemes, marking a record high for the University. Funding secured under the ECS scheme alone increased by nearly 30 per cent year-on-year, underscoring the strong research capability and academic excellence of Lingnan’s early-career scholars.

A new electrochemical system simultaneously converts plant-derived materials and nitrate pollutants into valuable industrial chemicals. Developed by Tohoku University researchers, the system provides a more sustainable way to manufacture chemicals while helping address wastewater pollution.

Hydrogen can store renewable energy, but then what stores the hydrogen? A new AI-powered, logic-based method provides probable materials for the job – and explains the reasoning behind its decision.

New experimental evidence demonstrates that discrete space-time crystals can be realized in classical soft-matter systems, thereby moving beyond the traditional complexities of quantum mechanics.

Researchers in Taiwan have developed a cell-free extracellular matrix material from axolotl skin that helped mouse burn wounds close faster and showed signs of reduced fibrotic scarring. The findings suggest that one of nature’s most remarkable regenerators may inspire future strategies for burns, chronic wounds, and surgical injuries, but the approach is not yet a treatment for human wounds.

Janus 2D materials, named after the two-faced Roman god, boast bottom surfaces composing two different elements. This asymmetry gives them unique properties, and Janus two-dimensional semiconductors are becoming more common. While scientists have long known how to produce Janus 2D materials, they have yet to grasp the underlying physics behind the process. Now, researchers from Tohoku University have solved the mystery.

Seen in funerary architecture, homes, and religious buildings across regions spanning modern-day India and Pakistan, pinjrakari involves transforming wood into intricate latticed screens that filter light, allow ventilation, and create privacy. Drawing from Central Asian and broader Islamicate design traditions, the craft evolved through architectural exchange, regional patronage, and highly skilled woodworking practices across South Asia.

Kanazawa University-led researchers developed a one-step recycling method that recovers toxic lead (Pb) and valuable metals including gold (Au) and indium (In) from flexible perovskite solar cells, supporting sustainable solar energy technologies.

Sweet power nanogenerator, Cosmic fossil, Dopamine and Alzheimer's link, Sustainable 3D printing, Quantum dots for brain diseases, Smart trolley and Bamboo and bone. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice. Plus SciCom Coffee talk: Inside a University Merger.

Researchers demonstrate a systematic screening method that can help find promising catalyst candidates without the tedious trial-and-error of every single possible combination.