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Hailin Fu found the chemical system that behaves like cell organelles with well-defined segregated areas in a water-based solution by accident. She followed the science to the end though, and she describes her and her colleagues' journey of discovery in a new paper just published in Nature. It is quite rare to see a Nature article, with all'authors on the paper coming from the same institute.

Delft researchers are developing batteries that can charge faster, offer more stable storage and are made of sustainable materials that are widely available. In doing so, they offer a cheaper alternative to lithium-ion batteries that consist of rare materials and have a high CO2-footprint. A paper was recently published in Nature Energy by Marnix Wagemaker and Alexandros Vasileiadis in collaboration with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, on fast-charging Na-ion batteries and improvements made to the negative electrode.

Nitrogen dioxide is a gas that has a high proportion of nitrogen precipitation and is hard to measure. But that could soon change: the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Open Technology Programme (OTP) has awarded €700,000 to the GELSONDE project, led by Paul Kouwer, from the Radboud University Institute for Molecules and Materials.

In a study conducted at the University of Twente, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the Open University of Israel, researchers have developed a novel approach to address the environmental challenges posed by perchlorate salts, which have been identified as persistent pollutants with potential impacts on human health.

A professor at TU/e and colleagues have found a way to improve perovskite solar cells. An electric car, heat pump, or robotic lawn mower: the world is electrifying, and so more and more roofs are full of solar panels. The Netherlands is even among the European leaders when it comes to generating solar energy.

Utrecht scientists, under the supervision of Marc-Etienne Moret, have discovered a new mechanism to build molecular catalysts. The new mechanism involves the earth-abundant metal nickel instead of precious metals that are often used as part of molecular catalysts. Moret: "This discovery initiates a new area of research that brings about a whole new concept for the design of more sustainable catalysts." In 2017, chemistry researcher Marc-Etienne Moret received an ERC Starting Grant  to study new catalysts with better properties.

Planets like our Earth, including planets with water, could form even in the harshest known star-forming environments, drenched by hard UV light from massive stars. That is a main result of analyses of new observations of such an environment with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), conducted by, amongst others, Rens Waters and student Lars Cuijpers from Radboud University.

Polyphosphoesters, molecules containing phosphorus as central element, are easily traceable without the need for contrast agents, thanks to developments by researchers of the University of Twente. Normally, these molecules display a similar molecular composition of our DNA, leading to considerable 'noise' in the image.

With the ever-increasing interest in renewable energy, scientists are continuously searching for new technologies to store energy. CO2 electrolysis is a promising way to store energy whilst recycling carbon dioxide. By applying electricity, CO2 and water react and produce more complex molecules. A study published in Nature Communications lead by Hugo van Montfort at TU Delft has presented a new design of electrodes that improves the efficiency of CO2 electrolysis.

An article by TU/e researcher Thijs de Groot and his team on the usefulness of a small cathode gap in alkaline electrolyzers appeared in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy recently. Green hydrogen is a serious contender to become a renewable energy carrier. For example, we could use it to store solar and wind energy during peaks in order to utilize the energy when the sun is no longer shining and the wind is calm.

Woody biomass and wheat straw are all sources of the natural polymer lignin with more than 50 megatons of lignin produced annually at commercial scale. However, most is burned to produce energy, which alternatively could be used to make useful chemicals. A major issue with producing chemicals from lignin though is that the properties of lignin vary from source to source and from season to season.

The Earth's warming climate is largely caused by the rise in greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. However, there are additional gases capable of warming the planet. New research from climate scientists at Utrecht University reveals that emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) from streams and reservoirs have more than tripled over the last century.

With novel calculations TU/e researchers reveal new properties of supercooled liquids that could be used in efficient optical materials and recyclable plastics. When cooled to their freezing point, most liquids become solids or crystallize. In other words, the molecules arrange themselves in a perfectly ordered fashion, which physicists call a crystal.

Utrecht University has appointed chemist Eefjan Breukink as professor of Microbial Membranes and Antibiotics. Breukink and his group are engaged in research aimed at finding new antibiotics that target bacterial cell membranes, the structures that separate the inside and outside of bacteria. Breukink: "It is my dream to discover an antibiotic that will truly aid us in combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria." Cell membranes are a fundamental component of all living cells, whether they are bacterial, animal, plant, or fungal.

New paper in the prestigious journal Science outlines a new catalyst that can purify exhaust gases at room temperature. Although passenger vehicle catalytic converters have been mandatory for over 30 years, there is still plenty of room for improvement. For instance, they only work correctly when the engine is sufficiently hot, which is not always the case, especially with hybrid vehicles.

Scientists from the Radboud University have developed synthetic molecules that resemble real organic molecules. A collaboration of researchers, led by Alex Khajetoorians and Daniel Wegner, can now simulate the behaviour of real molecules by using artificial molecules. In this way, they can tweak properties of molecules in ways that are normally difficult or unrealistic, and they can understand much better how molecules change.

How optical microscopes allow detailed investigations of nanoparticles for biosensing It sounds like trying to scan a record with a hammer: light is actually too "coarse" to image small particles on the nanometer scale. However, in their project "SuperCol"- funded by the European scientists want to achieve just that: investigate nanoparticles with light.

Eveline van Doremaele received her doctorate cum laude from the Department of Mechanical Engineering on Thursday, May 25. Current computer systems are very good at performing exact calculations. But as we are using more and more AI-based applications, we also need more efficient systems that are able to process data in real time with the same precision.

An international research team led by Bert Weckhuysen  (Utrecht University) and Sara Bals (University of Antwerp) has shown that a promising catalyst for clearing CO2 becomes significantly more active and selective if its pretreatment is modified. The scientists visualized the mechanism underlying this concept with unparalleled precision.

DNA replication is the process whereby cells make an exact copy of their DNA before cell division. A key part of the intricate DNA replication machinery is a molecular motor called CMG, which has the vital task of separating the two strands of the DNA double helix so that they can be copied. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from TU Delft has now developed a new methodology to assemble and image the motion of CMG with unprecedented resolution.