{"title":"Inhibiting and rejuvenating dead lithium in battery materials","authors":"Chengbin Jin, Ouwei Sheng, Guoying Wei, Hongyan Li, Qingyue Han, Qiang Zhang, Xinyong Tao","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00722-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00722-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Lithium and other alkali-metal-based batteries are promising candidates for next-generation energy-storage technologies. However, such batteries suffer from limited lifespans caused by the continuous inactivation of their electrodes during operation and even storage, creating inactivated or ‘dead’ Li, which is a combination of electrically insulated metallic Li and solid–electrolyte interphases (SEIs). Numerous efforts have been devoted to uncovering the origins of this inactivation and how it could be mitigated. Given that dead Li cannot be entirely prevented, rejuvenating it has emerged as a solution for prolonging the lifetimes of batteries and energy-storage systems. Here, we discuss the origins of dead Li and its effects on battery operations. We summarize the emerging challenges related to dead Li, such as SEI dissolution, dead Li migration and Li corrosion. We evaluate the limitations of the present strategies devoted to reducing the formation of dead Li, and how to recover and rejuvenate dead Li through redox chemistry and electrochemical protocols. We conclude with development opportunities in operando diagnoses and the rejuvenation of other inactivated electrode materials beyond Li chemistry in cells and large-scale systems already on the market.</p><figure></figure>","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":36.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144201627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The cosmochemistry of planetary systems.","authors":"Martin Bizzarro, Anders Johansen, Caroline Dorn","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00711-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-025-00711-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Planets form and obtain their compositions from the leftover material present in protoplanetary disks of dust and gas surrounding young stars. The chemical make-up of a disk influences every aspect of planetary composition, including their overall chemical properties, volatile content, atmospheric composition and potential for habitability. This Review discusses our knowledge of the chemical and isotopic composition of Solar System materials and how this information can be used to place constraints on the formation pathways of terrestrial planets. We conclude that planetesimal formation by the streaming instability followed by rapid accretion of drifting pebbles within the protoplanetary disk lifetime reproduces most of the chemical and isotopic observables in the Solar System. This finding has important implications for planetary habitability beyond the Solar System because in pebble accretion, volatiles important for life are accreted during the main growth phase of rocky planets as opposed to the late stage. Finally, we explore how bulk chemical inventories and masses of planetary bodies control the composition of their primordial atmospheres and their potential to develop habitable conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":"378-396"},"PeriodicalIF":38.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144012045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xu Liu, Xu Dong, Henry Adenusi, Yuping Wu, Stefano Passerini
{"title":"Co-solvent strategy for rechargeable post-lithium metal batteries.","authors":"Xu Liu, Xu Dong, Henry Adenusi, Yuping Wu, Stefano Passerini","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00714-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41570-025-00714-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The potential increase in cost of lithium-ion batteries owing to the limited supply of lithium has prompted investigations into alternative and complementary rechargeable batteries that use post-lithium charge carriers with higher elemental abundance. However, achieving highly reversible post-lithium metal anodes with sufficient kinetics remains challenging. The addition of co-solvents to conventional electrolytes is emerging as an important strategy to resolve these issues. In this Perspective, we discuss the progress of the co-solvent strategy for sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc and aluminium post-lithium metal batteries. The coordination ability of co-solvents with post-lithium charge carriers is presented as a useful guide for selecting co-solvents for the respective battery electrolytes, owing to its correlation with several influential factors that affect the electrochemical performance of the metal anodes, such as solvation structure, de-solvation process and solid electrolyte interphase formation. Additionally, a discussion is provided on the importance of unravelling the effects beyond the solvation sheath of cationic charge carriers and for the development of sustainable electrolytes.</p>","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":" ","pages":"415-426"},"PeriodicalIF":38.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143993622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zachary Mathe, Dimitrios Maganas, Frank Neese, Serena DeBeer
{"title":"Coupling experiment and theory to push the state-of-the-art in X-ray spectroscopy","authors":"Zachary Mathe, Dimitrios Maganas, Frank Neese, Serena DeBeer","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00718-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00718-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>X-ray spectroscopy plays a pivotal role in understanding the geometric and electronic structures of countless molecules and materials, from homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts to biological active sites. The element-selectivity of X-ray spectroscopy allows for phenomena at specific photoabsorbers to be investigated. Since the early 2000s, experimental sophistication has progressed, with increasing applications of X-ray emission spectroscopy and two-dimensional photon-in-photon-out spectroscopies, such as resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. Although advanced X-ray spectroscopic methods increase selectivity and information content, the spectra obtained present major challenges for both qualitative and quantitative interpretation. To maximize the insight gained from X-ray spectroscopy, close coupling of experiment and theory is essential. Herein, we present the theoretical and experimental aspects of X-ray spectroscopy, with an emphasis on molecular systems and how an integrated approach with a solid foundation in molecular electronic structure theory enables new modes of inquiry into (bio)chemical catalysis.</p><figure></figure>","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":36.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144177284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Decoupling sequence and structure","authors":"Chuanliu Wu","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00726-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00726-2","url":null,"abstract":"In 1961, it was demonstrated that the enzyme ribonuclease can correctly fold upon oxidation in air from a fully reduced and denatured polypeptide chain. Since then, the principles that govern the oxidative folding of polypeptide chains have been elucidated, and our ability to control this process has advanced significantly.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":36.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144165177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jonas Warneke, Hugo Y. Samayoa-Oviedo, Markus Rohdenburg, Xilai Li, Harald Knorke, Julia Laskin
{"title":"Molecular synthesis with gaseous fragment ions on surfaces","authors":"Jonas Warneke, Hugo Y. Samayoa-Oviedo, Markus Rohdenburg, Xilai Li, Harald Knorke, Julia Laskin","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00719-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00719-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Chemists often treat gaseous fragment ions as esoteric chemical species of interest to only analytical mass spectrometry and gas-phase ion chemistry. However, their potential as building blocks for designing new compounds in the condensed phase is largely unexplored. Developments in preparative mass spectrometry instrumentation have opened up a new research field focused on understanding the chemistry of well-defined gaseous fragment ions on surfaces. In this Review, we highlight the preparative potential of gaseous fragment ions for synthesizing new compounds in the condensed phase. We discuss factors affecting the selectivity of the observed reactivity of fragment ions, examine the effect of charge on reaction mechanisms, and introduce the unexpected reactivity of ions of the same polarity on surfaces in the absence of solvent molecules. These developments hold the potential to transform preparative mass spectrometry into a valuable method for small-scale chemical synthesis in almost all fields of molecular sciences.</p><figure></figure>","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"242 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":36.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144165178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The story of a structural sage","authors":"Brian Kobilka, Stephanie Greed","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00731-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00731-5","url":null,"abstract":"Ahead of his 70th birthday, Brian Kobilka, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University, discusses his life from growing up as a baker’s son in a small town to receiving a call from Stockholm having been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, as well as his continuing work around G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":36.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144165174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rings make more room","authors":"Anna K. Patterson","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00723-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00723-5","url":null,"abstract":"Ring-shaped colloidal particles can be used to form Pickering emulsions, just as solid particles, but their shape means that a larger portion of the emulsion interface remains open, which is critical for application performance.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":36.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143979487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Element sets for schools","authors":"Stuart R. Batten","doi":"10.1038/s41570-025-00724-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00724-4","url":null,"abstract":"The Element Sets project created more than 1,600 sets of 37 pure elements that were sent free to schools all over Australia. This outreach project was able to target very remote and under-resourced schools, and support students and teachers indefinitely without requiring a continual pipeline of funding, consumables and planning.","PeriodicalId":18849,"journal":{"name":"Nature reviews. Chemistry","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":36.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143979488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}