High-entropy materials leverage phase stabilization through mixing several elements and are primarily known for their mechanical strength and high toughness. This Review explores their use as a platform for multifunctional material design, in which several, even conflicting, properties can be reconciled because of the compositional tolerance inherent in the high-entropy concept, including electronic, magnetic, mechanical, catalytic, thermal expansion and hydrogen storage properties.

Sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting offers a potential solution to address global water scarcity. This Review provides a framework for guiding future designs of sorbent materials through understanding key sorption characteristics — capacity, enthalpy, kinetics and stability — derived from the thermodynamic analysis of the interactions among hygroscopic salts, water and salt solutions.

Inorganic lithium superionic conductors are central to the development of solid-state batteries, but the availability of practical superionic conductors is still limited. This Review highlights structural and chemical strategies to enhance ionic conductivity and maps a strategic approach to discover, design and optimize fast lithium-ion conductors for safe and high-energy-density all-solid-state batteries.

To meet the physical demands of a new environment, organisms evolve morphological and behavioural adaptations that specialize their locomotor performance to that niche. This Perspective discusses how robots can emulate — and perhaps even exceed — biological levels of adaptability through shape-morphing mechanisms and complementary control strategies to achieve compressed, rapid and reversible ‘evolution on demand’.

Plants are vital to future long-term space missions as a renewable food source and ecological system for producing essential substances. NASA has been developing special chambers to grow fresh vegetables in space, and printed electronics may be the key to monitoring the health and growth of these plants with minimal human effort, resources and energy.

Sorbent materials that capture and release water molecules are key to technologies that turn the Earth’s ambient moisture into drinkable water and energy.

High-mobility emissive organic semiconductors integrate efficient charge transport and strong emission features. The development of these materials, which have the potential to overcome performance bottlenecks in organic electroluminescent and photoelectric conversion devices, is opening up new research directions in organic optoelectronics.

An article in Advanced Functional Materials uses a photothermal bridge to improve the desorption performance of a metal–organic framework sorbent.

An article in Chemical Communications clarifies an important role of hydrogen-bonding sites in metal–organic framework sorbents.

An article in Advanced Materials designs a sorbent-based cooling system that can dissipate the heat produced by heavy-load power equipment.