Materials
The latest chemistry news and research on materials, including polymers, electronic materials, soft matter and porous materials, from the Royal Society of Chemistry's magazine, Chemistry World
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BusinessGreener dyes of every colour for fabric and food
Brilliant Dyes is extracting natural colours from algae to reduce energy, water and waste
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FeatureThe race to decarbonise iron and steelmaking
Steel production accounts for up to 11% of global carbon dioxide emissions, yet it remains indispensable to modern life. A wave of new technologies to decarbonise steelmaking is emerging – but the economics remain daunting
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BusinessCovestro cuts polycarbonate production in Europe
Decision attributed to high costs, weak demand and international competition
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PodcastWaterproof white inspired by nature & low-stakes mistakes
How can structural colour provide an alternative for pigments, chemicals and their environmental cost? And the Chemistry World team discusses their low-stakes mistakes.
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ResearchFifty years after he won the Nobel, Lipscomb’s insights into boranes continue to pay dividends
From fundamental bonding theory to practical applications, William Lipscomb’s influence can still be felt across chemistry
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PodcastNobel prize in chemistry 2026: predictions
We discuss our picks for this year’s chemistry Nobel prize. Plus, are there certain traits that make a Nobel laureate?
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NewsIndustry-sponsored study concludes recycling initiatives outperform cap on virgin plastic production
Cap would cost consumers more than landfill taxes but research didn’t consider health and environment under business-as-usual
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ResearchHats off for new, lower temperature route to unzip plexiglass for recycling
Hydrogen atom transfer agents key to solvent-free method to produce pristine monomers from old acrylic
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ResearchBiomimetic foaming photopolymers offer new waterproof, white material
Light-activated polymers take a leaf from nature’s book in generating structural colour and hydrophobicity which researchers say could find a host of applications
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FeatureTwisting 2D nanomaterials unlocks exotic quantum phases of matter
From superconductivity to fractional charge, strange and exotic states emerge when 2D nanomaterial bilayers are twisted into moiré superlattice structures. Chemists are joining force with physicists to explore a strange twisted world
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NewsWho will win the 2026 Nobel prize in chemistry?
Annual list of ‘citation laureates’ includes scientists behind base editing, self-assembled monolayers, and those who improved our understanding of electron transfer in proteins
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ResearchMultivariate MOFs make the case for embracing complexity
Frameworks built from multiple different metals and ligands are expanding the possibilities for materials that can do many things at once
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ResearchButterfly-inspired structural colours could replace synthetic pigments
Inspired by nature, chemists in the US are working to create vibrant, long-lasting and safer colours that could be used in food, cosmetics and paints
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NewsHideki Shirakawa, who shared chemistry Nobel for discovering conductive polymers, passes away at 90
Collaboration with Alan MacDiarmid and Alan Heeger on doped polyacetylenes ushered in new field of electronics
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PodcastAdvances in CAR-T cancer therapy & carbon materials’ hidden defects
What does recent success with bladder tumours mean for solid cancer treatment? And we discuss why scientists are rethinking how they assign peaks in spectra of carbon-based materials.
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ResearchWaste chlorine upcycled into valuable materials using simple resin
Polystyrene-based resin could capture chlorine lost in industrial waste streams
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ResearchCopper chains more than 4000 atoms long are the longest ever produced
Carbon-sheathed copper wires produced under extreme pressure
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ResearchThe twisted chemistry of Narwhal tusks
Narwhal tusks grow in distinctive shape due to opposing chiral collagen fibrils
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PodcastUK science department abolished & Ireland’s crumbling concrete
What does a new prime minister mean for UK science? Plus, why are thousands of Irish buildings falling apart?
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ResearchChemists may be misassigning defects in carbon materials, study suggests
Peaks in certain spectra are likely a combination of several defects, such as heteroatoms, different ring sizes and vacancies