Nature Sustainability

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 22 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01872-1 Efficient air purification is essential to improve air quality and safeguard human health. Inspired by the human respiratory system, the authors develop an electrostatic open-microfluidics air filter system for the efficient removal of airborne pollutants.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 18 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01867-y Pollination services are crucial for crop cultivation worldwide but pollinators face detrimental effects from insecticide exposure. Here, the authors develop a broad-spectrum insecticide detoxification technology that has the potential to protect managed pollinators such as bumblebees.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 19 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01870-3 The growing market for soft electronics largely relies on fossil fuel-based polymer substrates. This work points towards a more sustainable future for the field by presenting a bio-based substrate for metal-on-polymer soft sensors that are degradable, recyclable, interfacially robust, mechanically tough and self…

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 22 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01887-8 Traditional synthetic textiles for radiative cooling often rely on additives that risk releasing harmful microplastics and toxic nanoparticles. This work shows an all-silk nanotextile that achieves superior personal thermal management while ensuring full biodegradability and a minimal environmental footprint.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 22 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01860-5 Cement, concrete and aggregates dominate global resource use, but it is unclear whether future efficiency gains will come mainly from production- or demand-side changes. A study now analyses the concrete aggregates cycle across 184 economies, showing that demand-side drivers dominate efficiency changes.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 23 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01871-2 This work identifies dynamic solvent exchange as the governing kinetic descriptor for desolvation, enabling a dual-anion electrolyte design that overcomes traditional trade-offs to achieve fast-charging, all-climate battery performance.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 23 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01838-3 Meeting the increasing demand for water, energy and food of the global population in a just and sustainable manner is an urgent challenge. A study now maps how these essential, interdependent systems are leveraged in international trade, quantifying both physical and virtual flows across countries.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 19 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01880-1 Combining carbon capture and storage (CCS) with enhanced water recovery could be a viable solution to improve the sustainability of the energy–carbon–water system. With a high-resolution CCS source–sink matching model for coal-fired power plants, this study analyses this synergistic approach in China.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01841-8 Climate change may shift where crops can grow, but it will not determine who farms the land. A modelling study suggests that shrinking agricultural workforces could leave climatically suitable large areas practically unavailable for cultivation.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 02 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01853-4 Renewable wind energy can aid decarbonization efforts; however, the impacts of wind turbines on migrating birds remain unclear. The authors study the potential risks of wind energy installations on migrating bird populations across Western Europe and assess potential trade-offs between wind energy and conservati…

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 03 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01848-1 Decarbonizing aviation is critical for global sustainability. The authors show a circular hydrothermal refinery transforming food waste into a 100% drop-in sustainable aviation fuel rich in cycloalkanes.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01824-9 Future food demand is expected to drive cropland expansion, but emerging agricultural workforce shortages, contributing to local cropland abandonment, might limit food production. This study models the future impacts of labour constraints on cropland use under socioeconomic and climate scenarios.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 28 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01856-1 As a low-cost by-product of biodiesel production, glycerol is an attractive feedstock for the sustainable manufacturing of high-value chemicals. This study demonstrates a method to convert glycerol into sorbose, a valuable sugar used in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 28 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01844-5 This Review shifts the focus of research on perovskite solar cells from efficiency to industrial reliability, scalability and circularity, providing a strategic roadmap for sustainable manufacturing by analysing life-cycle impacts and fail-safe scaling strategies.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 04 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01849-0 Electrochemical carbon monoxide (CO) reduction offers a viable approach to sustainable ethylene production, but remains challenging under low CO availability. This study shows how to achieve efficient and selective ethylene synthesis in a CO-starved environment.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 01 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01840-9 As materials with highly versatile and tunable architectures and functionalities, metal–organic frameworks offer precise control over catalyst structures. We discuss how their sustainable and economically viable use depends on balancing activity, stability and scale through improved metrics and informed material…

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 12 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01822-x The fabrication of silk materials typically requires large amounts of solvents. Now, a simple thermomechanical strategy enables natural silk fibres to be directly fused into strong, multifunctional materials without solution processing. By preserving silk’s hierarchical structure, this approach, which is amenable…

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 12 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01828-5 Coastal nitrogen pollution is a critical sustainability challenge with environmental, social and economic consequences. Upstream ‘sweet spots’ where interventions will have maximum mitigation effectiveness and social buy-in are attractive but may prove difficult to implement in urban stream networks.

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 15 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01836-5 Solar power is critical to the energy transition, but aerosols emitted from co-located coal plants suppress solar power production, diminishing realized energy gains. Although stricter emissions controls can partially mitigate these effects, a phase-out of coal-fired power would more effectively remove this perfo…

Nature Sustainability, Published online: 11 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41893-026-01775-1 For decades, phosphorus recovery from wastewater has largely relied on organic carbon supplementation, which affects the sustainability of the recovery process. Research has now found a methanotrophic polyphosphate-accumulating organism capable of low-carbon phosphorus recovery.