Primers and PrimeViews

This PrimeView highlights the key considerations for the practical application of photocatalytic CO2 reduction approaches.

Light can be used to power CO₂ conversion into value-added chemicals and fuels. In this Primer, Fang et al. provide a guide for the experimentation of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, including catalyst synthesis and characterization, reactor construction, photocatalytic testing and exploration of mechanism.

This PrimeView highlights the robustness and reproducibility of sulfur fluoride exchange click transformations.

Sulfur fluoride exchange (SuFEx) is a click reaction used to rapidly synthesize and discover functional molecules. In this Primer, Homer et al. discuss the essential elements of SuFEx operation, catalysis and SuFExable connective hubs and explore applications of SuFEx in drug development, polymer science and biochemistry.

This PrimeView highlights the therapeutic and diagnostic applications of extracellular vesicle analysis, which are fueled by fundamental biological insights into their biogenesis, composition, release and uptake.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have vital functions and promise diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this Primer, Hendrix and colleagues discuss tools for isolating and characterizing EVs obtained from various sources, including the body and the environment.

This PrimeView highlights the main steps of a typical systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) experiment and key considerations when designing SELEX experiments.

Aptamers offer the specificity and affinity normally expected of antibodies but in small, chemically synthesized molecules free from cell culture-derived contaminants. In this Primer, DeRosa et al. provide guidance on the experimental design and data analysis of aptamers as well as considerations for improving reproducibility in experiments.

This PrimeView highlights the range of applications benefiting from the use of containers for reproducibility of computational data analysis.

Containers are increasingly used in scientific projects to ensure reproducibility and promote collaboration. In this Primer, Moreau et al. explain containers, their use for scientific research and across various fields.

This PrimeView highlights how inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry can be used for quantitative analysis of major, minor and trace elements or isotopes.

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) uses a plasma to ionize samples, followed by detection with mass spectrometry. This Primer discusses the major analytical variants of ICP-MS and how they can be used for trace elemental and isotopic analysis.

This PrimeView highlights how to access the terahertz band in a time-domain experiment.

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy employs short electromagnetic pulses to simultaneously measure the refractive index and the absorption coefficient of a material in a broad spectral range near a frequency of one terahertz. This Primer summarizes common techniques for generating and detecting terahertz pulses, which can be used to study physical, chemical and biological phenomena.

This PrimeView highlights the techniques involved in light-based vat-polymerization bioprinting, including two-photon lithography, digital light processing and volumetric additive manufacturing.

Light-based vat-polymerization bioprinting is used to create 3D cell-laden structures via vats filled with photoactivatable bioresins. In this Primer, Levato et al. discuss the experimental design for point-by-point, layer-by-layer and volumetric variations of the technique.

This PrimeView highlights the various applications of upcycled chlorinated plastics with added value and versatility.

The upcycling of chlorinated plastics into value-added products is an effective method to reduce plastic pollution. In this Primer, Xu et al. describe upcycling strategies for the conversion of chlorinated waste plastics into value-added products and potential applications for these upcycled plastics.

This PrimeView highlights the experimental considerations for water splitting by heterogeneous photocatalysts under visible and UV light.

Photocatalytic water splitting produces clean H₂ gas by converting light to chemical energy. In this Primer, Nishioka et al. describe reliable methods for conducting experiments and the proper characterization and evaluation techniques to improve reproducibility in this field.