Building better batteries
The next generation of battery technologies might pack significantly more power into the electric cars and mobile devices of the future. James Mitchell Crow reports
The lithium rush
Move over, gold; lithium is now the metal in global demand. Kit Chapman untangles the global politics around the sought-after resource
The long-term energy storage challenge
In a renewably powered future, how will the grid cope when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing? Rachel Brazil looks at the options
The messy chemistry that led to life
To understand how chemistry became biology, some chemists are eschewing simple reactions to study complex systems with many reactants and products. Rachel Brazil peers through the tangle
The complex chemistry of making paper
Renewable, recyclable and biodegradable, paper is the ultimate sustainable material. Victoria Atkinson looks at the clever chemistry that turns trees into sheets
