Researchers have developed miniature magnetic robots that mimic fish behavior, working together as coordinated swarms to deliver drugs precisely and efficiently to tissue. The breakthrough could transform treatment of conditions where individual tiny robots lack sufficient coverage area for effective therapy.

The Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts has released the most comprehensive bibliometric analysis to date of hydrothermal pretreatment—an eco-friendly technique that uses only hot compressed water or steam to fracture the stubborn lignocellulose wall and release fermentable sugars, biogas precursors and carbon-rich hydrochar. Mining 22 years of global data, the study places China at the helm (36.5 % of output), identifies “enzymatic hydrolysis”, “bioethanol” and “hydrothermal carbonization” as the dominant knowledge clusters, and forecasts the next wave of innovation will marry microwave chemistry, anaerobic microbiomes and graphitic biochar for truly circular biorefineries.

In the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, researchers show that 20 % of forest residue torrefied at 220 °C raises polylactic acid tensile strength from 58.7 to 62.3 MPa, cuts water uptake 16 % and reaches near-total biodegradation under compost conditions six percentage points faster than virgin PLA. The work delivers a scalable route to bulk-load bioplastic with zero-cost mill waste without the usual loss of mechanical performance.

Writing in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, researchers describe a continuous, glue-assisted winding line that converts flattened bamboo splits into 8-, 10- and 12-mm drinking straws with compressive strength (16–19 MPa) and wet strength (15.6 N vs 3.6 N for paper) that out-perform polypropylene, PLA and coated paper rivals. Soaking plus 60 °C ultrasonic treatment leaches colour bodies and starch, cutting later mould risk by >90 % and water absorption by roughly 40 %. Consumer acceptance among 1 500 café users topped 90 %; raw-material cost per straw is US$0.0007 and factory-gate price US$0.014—about half that of commercial paper straws. Life-cycle data suggest 0.32 g CO₂-e per straw, one-tenth the burden of PP. Authors say the route is ready for 100-million-piece annual lines serving bubble-tea chains and airlines under new plastic-ban timetables.

Professor Xiaokong Liu's team at Jilin University proposed an "activation-quenching" strategy for dynamic covalent chemistry, achieving precise and controllable "on-off" switching of dynamic bond exchange reactions in dynamic covalent polymers (covalent adaptive networks or CANs). This strategy enables the polymer network to reversibly switch between a remodelable dynamic state and a highly stable thermosetting state on demand, effectively balancing the material's remodeling processability and thermal stability, and providing a novel approach to resolving the contradiction between sustainability and stability in dynamic covalent polymers.  The article was published as an open access research article in CCS Chemistry, the flagship journal of the Chinese Chemical Society. 

Researchers in China have discovered an innovative way to improve the stability and efficiency of biogas production by using carbon materials made from lignin, a major byproduct of the paper industry. The study, published in Carbon Research, demonstrates that two lignin-derived materials, lignin hydrochar (LHC) and carbon quantum dots (CQDs), can effectively reduce ammonia inhibition, a long-standing challenge in anaerobic digestion systems.

As the planet warms and rainfall patterns shift, new research suggests that the world’s largest grassland region may become a growing source of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.