Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) products contain highly complex mixtures of chemical components, making rapid and reliable quality assessment a major analytical challenge. A new review published in the journal Biomedical Analysis provides a comprehensive assessment of how direct mass spectrometry is being applied to address this challenge. Researchers from institutions including Tianjin University of Commerce have synthesized more than a decade of scientific literature to evaluate the technology’s current capabilities and future potential. The review examines how these rapid analytical techniques, which require little to no sample preparation, can provide immediate chemical insights into herbal products, from raw materials to finished decoctions.

Researchers at Shaanxi Normal University have developed a flexible electrode with atomically tuned Ti_xCr_1−xN solid-solution nanoparticles for lithium-sulfur batteries. The catalyst enhances polysulfide trapping and conversion via d-band electronic regulation, achieving high rate capacity (801 mAh g⁻¹ at 3 C) and ultralow decay (0.012% per cycle at 2 C). This work provides a practical strategy for high-energy Li-S batteries.Researchers at Shaanxi Normal University have developed a flexible electrode with atomically tuned Ti_xCr_1−xN solid-solution nanoparticles for lithium-sulfur batteries. The catalyst enhances polysulfide trapping and conversion via d-band electronic regulation, achieving high rate capacity (801 mAh g⁻¹ at 3 C) and ultralow decay (0.012% per cycle at 2 C). This work provides a practical strategy for high-energy Li-S batteries.

The synthesized MXene-PVDF textile exhibits synergistic multifunctional properties, including absorption-dominated electromagnetic protection, Joule heating, and infrared thermal shielding. Such integrated characteristics expand the application potential of MXene-based multifunctional textiles in extreme temperatures, maintaining a human-comfortable temperature (10-40°C) in extremely cold and hot environments.

UC Davis researchers tested 54 avocado oil chips, mayo and dressings. Nearly 9 in 10 were adulterated with cheaper oils despite label claims.

An international research collaboration has developed a new molecular strategy for controlling one of the most critical interfaces in perovskite solar cells. The resulting solar cells reached a power conversion efficiency of 26.19% in the n i p architecture, together with strong operational stability under prolonged illumination and elevated temperature. The results have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

A novel measurement cell allows, for the first time, soft and hard X-ray investigations under high pressures of up to 20 bar and temperatures of up to 400°C. This provides new insights into thermocatalytic processes, such as the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for producing synthetic fuels. The development of the measurement cell is considered a significant achievement within the Care-O-Sene project.

Textile properties often depend as much on yarn entanglement as on the material itself, with these underlying patterns influencing mechanical behavior. Researchers have developed a mathematical framework that classifies periodic textile structures and identifies the features that define knittable textiles through the propagation of defects. The findings could help design fabrics with tailored mechanical properties and provide insights into how the underlying structure affects the properties of other entangled materials, from polymers to soft robotics.

Driving an electric current through a molecule can create a magnetic field. Yet in practice, such fields are often too weak to be detected experimentally. Through theoretical modeling, researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) show how quantum effects can turn single molecules into effective magnets—including one shaped like a microscopic soccer ball, just in time for the FIFA World Cup final. The findings were published in Nature Communications.