Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 06 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00845-8Materials researchers are trained to innovate and create. But now that it is clear the world has too much stuff, what is the path forward?

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 06 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00846-7Despite transformative advances in materials discovery, real-world performance still hinges on an often-overlooked variable: processing. To bridge the gap between discovery and deployment, processing must be elevated from an afterthought to a central pillar in design frameworks, data generation and machine learning.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 30 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00844-9The inability to observe the rapid, initial transformations that dictate nanomaterial fate constitutes a fundamental scientific gap, forcing risk assessments to rely on retrospective, incomplete data. A paradigm shift to real-time, operando characterization is vital to build the predictive understanding required for the development of safe and sustainable nanomaterials and applications.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 24 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00840-zTwo-dimensional framework materials offer atomic-level control over electronic properties and enable novel quantum phenomena and tunable functionality. This Review highlights how structural design, doping and measurement techniques influence conductivity, and it underscores key strategies for optimizing transport properties, with broad implications for electronics, energy and quantum technologies.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 24 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00841-yAirway mucus complicates treatment of respiratory disease by both defending the lungs and hindering inhaled drugs to cross the barriers. This Review explores translational advances in inhalable materials and biologics that enhance mucus protection or drug penetration.

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Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 19 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00838-7Accurate, spatiotemporally resolved monitoring of environments and ecosystems serves as the starting point to both identify and remedy natural or anthropogenic environmental hazards. This Review covers materials science advances supporting a new paradigm in environmental sensing: distributed networks of sensing elements capable of system-level profiling with the possibility of harmless environmental resorption after a predetermined recording period.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 16 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00839-6Zeolites are widely used in catalysis and separation, yet their crystallization process remains poorly understood. Emerging tools have the potential to enable a multiscale understanding of how crystallization influences the structural features of zeolite materials, unlocking their precise control.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 12 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00842-xThe construction industry consumes more than 40% of Earth’s raw material resources. It is time to rethink not just what we build, but how we value what is already built. Digital materials passports can help us to reuse and repurpose materials in the built environment, driving a shift towards a circular construction industry.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 12 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00832-zThe van der Waals MA2Z4 materials are a rapidly growing class of 2D materials with diverse electronic phases. This Review explores the structure, synthesis, properties and diverse applications of the emerging MA2Z4 family, highlighting their potential across electronics, catalysis and energy storage.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 09 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00843-wAlbumin nanoparticles deliver mRNA on target

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 08 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00831-0Discovering lipid nanoparticles for unmet clinical needs relies heavily on the screening of unique formulations incorporating distinct lipids and nucleic acid cargos. This Perspective highlights how automation and parallelization have accelerated the rate of lipid nanoparticle discovery and discusses how coupling these advances with machine learning enable the predictive design of new therapeutic candidates.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 26 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00833-yCoordination chemistry has a pivotal role in advancing redox-active electrolytes for energy technologies. This Review examines how ligand properties and coordination effects shape electrolyte thermodynamics, kinetics and electrochemical performance, guiding the rational design of next-generation aqueous redox flow batteries.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 18 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00835-wDeaf and hard-of-hearing scientists face invisible barriers throughout their scientific journeys, often shaped by pervasive attitudinal bias questioning their competence. Fostering mutual understanding and implementing actionable strategies help to dismantle unjust judgements based on physiological differences and create more inclusive scientific workplaces globally.

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Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 13 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00836-9An article in Nature Communications reports a polymer coating with oil-repellent properties comparable to that of short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, but featuring single perfluorocarbon groups rather than longer and more toxic fluorocarbon chains.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 13 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00837-8An article in Nature Sustainability reports a strategy that improves the sustainability of ammonia recovery compared with conventional methods.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 12 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00834-xThe transformation of municipal sludge into high-entropy single-atom catalysts offers not just a new materials synthesis route, but a new framework for how we conceive of waste, resource recovery and circularity.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 11 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00829-8High-entropy nanomaterials are characterized by the incorporation of five or more principal elements in nearly equal proportions. This Review highlights how different synthetic methods for these nanomaterials can facilitate control of phase and particle size and shape for applications such as catalysis.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 04 August 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00830-1Perovskite and organic photodiodes are gaining traction for ultraviolet–visible and near-infrared photodetection owing to their tunable properties and low-cost fabrication potential. In this Review, we discuss recent progress in this area, focusing on specific detectivity, charge recombination and key performance metrics, while outlining future directions for real-world application and commercial viability.

Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 29 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00828-9Shape-morphing metamaterials use geometric design to achieve advantageous properties, enabling innovations in fields from robotics to wearable devices. This Review proposes a unified classification of the design principles underlying shape-morphing behaviour, discusses available design tools and highlights emerging challenges in the development of shape-morphing metamaterials.

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Nature Reviews Materials, Published online: 24 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41578-025-00824-zHidden orders involve phase transitions without obvious order parameters, challenging experimental detection and conventional theories. This Review summarizes recent advances in modelling hidden-order phases in correlated insulators, highlighting the role of material-specific theories in the interpretation and prediction of the experimental signatures of hidden orders.