Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 01 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00864-5The chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect offers a unique approach to control and manipulate electron spin properties. In this Review, we summarize how the CISS effect is being leveraged to improve efficiency in energy science technologies.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 01 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00863-6Potentiometric immunoassays using field-effect transistors offer ultrasensitive protein detection for point-of-care and early diagnostics. This Perspective introduces a framework distinguishing a double-layer regime active at nanomolar antigen concentrations and a ΔpH-enabled regime active at sub-femtomolar concentrations, and examines the potential underlying mechanisms.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 28 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00865-4The emergence of super wood, transparent wood, mouldable wood and wood–geopolymer hybrids is redefining the structural and functional performance of bioinspired engineered wood products. Meanwhile, the advance of these materials towards industrial deployment faces challenges relating to regulation and environmental impacts, as well as opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.

Protein-based biomaterials are becoming increasingly prevalent in biomedical applications that treat and prevent disease. This Perspective examines the evolution of techniques used to build and design...

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 24 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00871-6An article in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B investigates the random walking dynamics of a DNA nanorobot on a two-dimensional nanopore track.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 24 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00870-7An article in Science Robotics reports a modular DNA origami nanorobot design that uses spring-loaded arrays to execute programmable, multistep operations in response to diverse molecular signals.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 24 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00869-0An article in Advanced Materials introduces a soft hydrogel microrobot that assembles 3D cell spheroids, delivers localized photothermal stimulation and provides real-time temperature sensing.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 21 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00868-1An article in Science Robotics examines how scaling laws enable high-speed, high-precision performance in miniaturized 3D robotic mechanisms.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 21 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00867-2An article in Science presents a magnetically guided microrobot platform that integrates navigation, therapeutic delivery and imaging under clinical conditions.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 21 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00861-8Protein-based biomaterials are becoming increasingly prevalent in biomedical applications that treat and prevent disease. This Perspective examines the evolution of techniques used to build and design these protein-based biomaterials, including fibres, nanoparticles and hydrogels, and explores how the field will be impacted by the newest tools in de novo protein design.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 19 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00862-7The project Hiveopolis reimagines beehives as biohybrid superorganisms by introducing living fungal materials and digital technologies into one living architecture — a buzzing honeybee colony. It pioneers a transdisciplinary approach to multispecies resilience and sustainable co-habitation by adapting shape and function, utilizing bio-inspired algorithms to negotiate material costs, time, energy and structural performance.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 27 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00847-6The implementation of low-dimensional perovskite capping layers is a promising strategy for enhancing the performance of perovskite solar cells; however, their thermal stability and reproducibility remain inadequately understood. This Review examines these underlying challenges, emphasizing ligand design and fabrication techniques to achieve high-quality, high-purity capping layers.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 22 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00854-7An article in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces reports a 3D-printed, metal–organic framework-coated respiratory filter that both allows airflow and catalytically destroys chemical warfare agents.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 22 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00848-5Graphite is a vital component of lithium-ion batteries, but it is challenged by supply-chain vulnerabilities and sustainability issues. This Perspective explores innovative synthesis and recycling methods, emphasizing the need for supportive policy frameworks to enable an economically viable and environmentally responsible graphite economy.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 21 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00855-6An article in Nature Communications presents a digital platform that integrates the design, fabrication and optimization of catalytic reactors, combining machine learning and 3D printing.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 21 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00853-8An article in Nature Communications reports a versatile platform for creating slippery surfaces with precise control over their structural topologies.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 21 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00856-5An article in Nature Communications presents an irregular growth strategy that generates disordered architected materials with excellent static mechanical cloaking and camouflage capabilities.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 21 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00851-wExtended producer responsibility is a policy approach that makes companies accountable for their products’ end of life. Nature Reviews Materials speaks with industrial ecologist Reid Lifset about how extended producer responsibility schemes work in practice, and whether they truly incentivize sustainable materials design, as intended.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 17 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00852-9mRNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles have gained recognition as a promising therapeutic platform against a wide range of diseases. However, a key component of mRNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles, the polyethylene glycol-conjugated lipid, presents inherent barriers to their therapeutic success. Emerging strategies are now offering potential ways to overcome these limitations.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00850-xThe development of safer, cheaper and more durable all-solid-state batteries demands a fundamental rethinking of composite cathode design. All-in-one cathode materials that integrate ionic conductivity, electronic conductivity and redox activity within a single phase redefine battery architecture by unifying electrochemical roles in one material.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 10 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00849-4Horizon scanning is a strategic tool used by regulatory bodies to identify emerging technologies and guide decision-making. In its latest report on nanomedicines, the European Union Innovation Network presents key recommendations that illustrate the current dynamics between researchers and regulators and how strengthening this relationship could accelerate the translation of nanotechnology-based medicines into patient benefit.