Nature Chemical Engineering最新文献

Agents intuit enzyme design 试剂直觉酶的设计

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-19 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00461-5

Thomas Dursch

引用次数: 0

Small particles but big clusters 小颗粒，大集群

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-19 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00456-2

Jesse Capecelatro

引用次数: 0

Charging up direct air capture 充电直接空气捕获

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-19 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00460-6

Mo Qiao

引用次数: 0

Elevating CO2 electrolyzer temperature accelerates the viability of chemical electrification 提高CO2电解槽温度加快了化学电气化的可行性

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-19 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00444-6

Lukas Spiekermann, Mi Gyoung Lee, Joshua Wicks, Bosi Peng, Ke Xie, Luca Bosetti, Benedikt Winter, Jan Seiler, Edward H. Sargent, André Bardow

{"title":"Elevating CO2 electrolyzer temperature accelerates the viability of chemical electrification","authors":"Lukas Spiekermann, Mi Gyoung Lee, Joshua Wicks, Bosi Peng, Ke Xie, Luca Bosetti, Benedikt Winter, Jan Seiler, Edward H. Sargent, André Bardow","doi":"10.1038/s44286-026-00444-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-026-00444-6","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change mitigation has spurred interest in producing chemicals from CO2. CO2 reduction by electrochemistry can be driven directly by green electricity, yielding even multi-carbon (C2+) products. However, the resulting processes still suffer from high electrolyzer losses and substantial energy demands. This study evaluates the environmental and economic benefits of integrating optimized electrolyzers into complete processes. For CO2 electroreduction to ethylene and dimerization to 1-butene, elevated-temperature electrolysis effectively utilizes waste heat. Challenging the ambient-temperature paradigm, this strategy achieves system-wide savings in energy (10%), climate impacts (9%) and overall cost (11%). Generalizing these findings across various CO2 electroreduction pathways identifies energy savings of up to 25% and the heating system as a key design variable affecting electrolyzer design targets. Our study demonstrates how process integration can guide CO2 electrolyzer development toward sustainable processes. Unlocking the full potential of CO2 electroreduction requires looking beyond ambient-temperature operation. By integrating elevated-temperature electrolysis to capture waste heat, this study highlights opportunities for substantial process-wide savings in energy, climate change impacts and cost. Ultimately, this study demonstrates how system-level integration guides the design of scalable, sustainable chemical production.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"3 10","pages":"597-610"},"PeriodicalIF":29.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-026-00444-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149219601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Graphite from Mars 来自火星的石墨

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-16 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00459-z

Long Chen

引用次数: 0

Simultaneous antimony recovery from and debromination of flame-retardant electronic-waste plastics 阻燃电子废塑料中锑的同时回收与脱溴

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-16 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00455-3

Leo Haoxin Ye, Yi Cheng, Karla J. Silva, Shichen Xu, Haojie Zhu, Olawale Aina, Nicholas Lowell Viscomi, Shihui Chen, Pauline Seguron, Qiming Liu, Justin Sharp, Linqi Cheng, Jess C. Tang, Ralph S. Abdel Nour, Bowen Li, Tengda Si, Julian G. West, Boris I. Yakobson, Yufeng Zhao, James M. Tour

{"title":"Simultaneous antimony recovery from and debromination of flame-retardant electronic-waste plastics","authors":"Leo Haoxin Ye, Yi Cheng, Karla J. Silva, Shichen Xu, Haojie Zhu, Olawale Aina, Nicholas Lowell Viscomi, Shihui Chen, Pauline Seguron, Qiming Liu, Justin Sharp, Linqi Cheng, Jess C. Tang, Ralph S. Abdel Nour, Bowen Li, Tengda Si, Julian G. West, Boris I. Yakobson, Yufeng Zhao, James M. Tour","doi":"10.1038/s44286-026-00455-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-026-00455-3","url":null,"abstract":"Antimony oxide is widely used as a synergist for brominated flame retardants in plastics for electronics and transportation. However, antimony is a critical metal with constrained supply, and existing recycling routes cause metal losses and toxic emissions. Here we introduce isothermal-clamped flash Joule heating (IC-FJH), which creates a spatially uniform high-temperature reaction zone within seconds and couples debromination with antimony recovery. Ultrafast heating suppresses volatilization of brominated organic intermediates, promotes H2-assisted hydrodebromination and drives reductive Sb(0) formation. IC-FJH recovers approximately 90% of antimony at over 97% purity and 83% of bromine as HBr, while reducing toxic brominated organic species by 34–51% compared with slow heating. Life-cycle assessment indicates reductions of 72% in resource consumption, 65% in climate-change burdens, 80% in water use and 100% in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation relative to conventional pathways. IC-FJH thus provides a rapid, integrated route for antimony recovery and sustainable end-of-life management of flame-retardant plastics. Isothermal-clamped flash Joule heating enables simultaneous antimony recovery and debromination of flame-retardant electronic-waste plastics. By creating a spatially uniform high-temperature reaction zone within seconds, this ambient-pressure process recovers high-purity antimony and bromine as HBr and suppresses toxic brominated emissions compared with conventional treatment pathways for electronic-waste management.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"3 10","pages":"584-596"},"PeriodicalIF":29.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149219598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Charges on the move 移动中的收费

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-14 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00458-0

Alessio Lavino

引用次数: 0

Engineering biocomputability in living and material systems 生命和物质系统的工程生物可计算性

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-12 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00433-9

Ryan Gharios, Murial L. Ross, Annabella Li, Shivani P. Kottantharayil, Cole A. DeForest

{"title":"Engineering biocomputability in living and material systems","authors":"Ryan Gharios, Murial L. Ross, Annabella Li, Shivani P. Kottantharayil, Cole A. DeForest","doi":"10.1038/s44286-026-00433-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-026-00433-9","url":null,"abstract":"From subcellular to population levels and beyond, living systems continuously sense and robustly interpret a diverse, ever-changing collection of signaling inputs and produce a near-limitless set of functional outputs. This process, referred to as biocomputation, combines information sensing, transfer and response algorithmically, using modular biological circuitry such as cells, proteins, nucleic acids and small molecules. By hijacking, evolving and repurposing these processes, biologists, chemists and engineers have exploited biocomputational frameworks in a growing number of sectors, including advanced chemical processing, additive manufacturing and tissue engineering. Here we examine the methods by which live cell and engineered biomaterial functions can now be (re)programmed with increased complexity and multiplexability. We categorize approaches based on the type of circuitry used, and highlight the resulting advances in synthetic biology and stimuli-responsive materials. We also explore how these fields have evolved independently but with similar underlying methods and goals, and discuss the exciting opportunities that are emerging from their convergence. Circuitry is increasingly being engineered into both living systems and biomaterials. This Review highlights shared biocomputational design principles across synthetic, nucleic acid and protein platforms, then explores how their convergence may enable truly living materials.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"3 10","pages":"556-572"},"PeriodicalIF":29.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149219596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Genetic encoding and mutagenesis of RNA droplet phenotypes RNA液滴表型的遗传编码和诱变

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-07 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00454-4

William Verstraeten, Mai P. Tran, Alena Taskina, Pranay Jaiswal, Ivar S. Haugerud, Claudia Helbig, Moritz Hamberger, Edward W. Green, Michael Platten, Christoph A. Weber, Kerstin Göpfrich

{"title":"Genetic encoding and mutagenesis of RNA droplet phenotypes","authors":"William Verstraeten, Mai P. Tran, Alena Taskina, Pranay Jaiswal, Ivar S. Haugerud, Claudia Helbig, Moritz Hamberger, Edward W. Green, Michael Platten, Christoph A. Weber, Kerstin Göpfrich","doi":"10.1038/s44286-026-00454-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-026-00454-4","url":null,"abstract":"RNA droplets assembled from cotranscriptionally folded nanostructures have recently emerged as a promising platform for constructing protocells and minimal synthetic cell models. A custom-designed DNA template encodes an RNA nanostar that self-assembles into droplets by kissing-loop interactions. Here we show that such RNA droplets encapsulate their DNA template, creating a genotype–phenotype link. We find that low mutation rates in the DNA template increase the phenotypical and functional complexity of the RNA droplets. Surprisingly, mutagenesis leads to the formation of long-lived vacuoles. With theory and next-generation sequencing, we explain this emergent behavior. We identify mutant nanostars that facilitate the formation of vacuoles through altered interactions between nanostars. Strikingly, vacuolated droplets exhibit micrometer-scale movement driven by internal vacuole dynamics – an emergent function resulting from mutagenesis. Beyond motility, we show that the vacuoles can be used as subcompartments to store cargo in the RNA droplets. Our findings establish RNA droplets as self-contained, evolvable systems, opening new avenues for the bottom-up evolution of synthetic cells and origins-of-life research. This study shows that genetic mutations can generate cellular-like traits in RNA droplets. By encapsulating their DNA templates, the droplets establish a genotype–phenotype link, and low levels of mutagenesis give rise to stable vacuoles that enable cargo storage and micrometer-scale motion.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"3 10","pages":"573-583"},"PeriodicalIF":29.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-026-00454-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149219597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Holistic strategies for scaling water electrolysis 扩大水电解的整体策略

IF 29.7

Nature Chemical Engineering Pub Date : 2026-10-06 DOI: 10.1038/s44286-026-00451-7

Meiquan Huang, Yingtian Chi, Yanming Wan, Congmin Liu, Jin Lin, Hua Bing Tao, Wei Liu, Nanfeng Zheng

引用次数: 0