Themed collection 2026 Highlight article collection

This review presents a detailed analysis of recent advances in metal phosphonate frameworks (MPFs) as heterogeneous catalysts, highlighting key studies that demonstrate their potential and performance in CO₂ cycloaddition with epoxides.

This highlight review article shows how modern imaging and far-from-equilibrium experiments deepen our understanding of the kinetics of crystal growth.

Digital holography and crystallography, regarded as separate fields, are converging to tackle a challenge in materials science: capturing the dynamics of crystal growth, transformation, and defect evolution in-real-time without disturbing the system.

High pressure studies are no more a specialized niche, offering precious tools for the study of intermolecular interactions in molecular crystals. Examples are reported regarding three important classes of 1D and 2D organic molecular materials.

This work highlights the latest advances in the fast growth of high-quality perovskite single crystals in solutions and sets forth the relative methodologies, mechanisms, challenges and perspectives.

KDP crystals are a frequency-doubling material with excellent optical properties, but the large number of intrinsic defects and metal impurities in KDP crystals are the main reasons restricting their wide application.

Recent advances in MOF crystal engineering demonstrate the power of structural design in achieving tunable architectures and enhanced functionality for diverse applications.

Halogen substitution modulates intramolecular charge transfer and crystal packing of chalcones through synergistic electronic and steric effects, enabling optimized molecular ordering and enhanced nonlinear optical performance.

Several preparation processes and applications of nanoporous gallium nitride materials are introduced.

Additive-mediated regulation of calcium phosphate phase transitions is critical for synthesizing bone-like mineral structures in vitro.

We debate the role of liquid additives in liquid-assisted mechanochemistry, highlighting how minuscule amounts of liquid profoundly and mostly inexplicably affect the mechanism and outcomes of mechanochemical reactions.