Lewis-paired dopants are a promising way to achieve strong, stable doping in organic semiconductors, but their high reactivity makes precise control over doping levels difficult. In a recent study, researchers from Korea tackled this issue by showing that solvent polarity can regulate dopant reactivity during processing. Using this new strategy, they achieved finely tunable, efficient, and stable doping across multiple organic semiconductors, supporting the development of next-generation flexible and sustainable organic electronics.

That is the idea behind accelerated carbonation. Crushed recycled concrete can be exposed to CO₂-rich gas, allowing carbon dioxide to react with the old cement paste and become locked into stable mineral compounds. In principle, this could help reduce the environmental impact of construction while giving demolition waste a second life.

The challenge is that concrete does not behave like a simple sponge for CO₂. Inside the material, the reaction depends on a fragile balance between gas, water, pores and minerals. If the pores are too dry, carbonation slows. If they contain too much water, CO₂ struggles to move through them.

At the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), researchers used neutron imaging on NeXT to follow water inside cement paste during carbonation, while X-rays tracked structural changes and cracking. This real-time view showed that carbonation actively reshapes the material as it progresses: it releases water, changes the pore network, slows CO₂ transport and creates cracks that later partly close.

The result is a clearer picture of what controls CO₂ storage in recycled concrete. This is an important step toward designing better carbonation treatments for recycled concrete and turning a major waste problem into a more circular route for lower-carbon construction.

Batteries are part of everyday life, powering everything from phones and laptops to electric cars. Most rechargeable batteries use a liquid to help lithium ions move during charging and discharging. But this liquid can create safety issues and limit how far battery performance can improve.

Solid-state batteries replace the liquid with a solid material. They could lead to safer, more compact and more powerful batteries. But making them work reliably remains a challenge. Unlike in a liquid, lithium ions must move through solid materials and if this movement is uneven, some parts of the battery may charge faster than others, reducing performance.

For the first time, a team at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and its partners have watched the lithium movement in real time using neutron diffraction, the only technique sensitive enough to track lithium deep inside a thick, working battery.

Their results revealed unexpected structural complexity in the electrode, showing that lithium movement inside the battery was not as uniform as expected. Understanding this hidden behaviour could point the way toward smarter battery designs.

A research team from South China University of Technology has discovered that water molecules within sub-nanometer porous organic nanocages (POCs) act not merely as fillers, but as a critical "switch" regulating material properties. This study reveals how water drives the transition of POCs from a brittle glassy state to a flexible rubbery state, demonstrating immense potential for applications in biomimetic anti-freeze materials and high-performance solid-state lithium-ion battery electrolytes.

A cutting-edge mini-review published in the inaugural issue of Targetome elaborates on the value of proteome-wide dose-response measurements as a powerful strategy to unravel drug mechanisms of action (MoA). This work was jointly completed by a research team led by Prof. Bernhard Kuster from the Technical University of Munich and collaborating scholars from multiple German institutions. The paper constructs a systematic framework for system-level dose-response profiling, addresses key analytical challenges in large-scale omics research, sorts out mainstream experimental workflows, and demonstrates how dose-resolved proteomics can bridge the gap between cellular phenotypes and underlying molecular events. This work advocates replacing conventional single-concentration assays with full dose-response experiments to deliver more actionable insights for modern drug discovery and pharmacological research..