Publications

Y. Dai, L. Lyu, Z. Li, S. Zedlitz, J. Cottingham, J. Moran, A. Hyman, and R. N. Zare, “Non-enzymatic Chemistry of Biomolecular Condensates,” Nat. Rev. Chem. (in press).

R. N. Zare, L. Lyu, J. Xu, N. Qian, B. Zhang, W. Min, and X. Song,  “Water–Organic Interfaces Drive Molecular Evolution from Squalene to Steroids,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. (in press).

X. Li, R. N. Zare,  and J. Ge, Editing Enzymes with Multiscale Metal-Based Components,” Accounts of Chemical Research (in press).

R. N. Zare, J. Xu, L. Lyu, X. Song, and Y. Xia, ” Reactive Oxygen Species at Water-Hydrophobic Interfaces: How Controversy Advanced Understanding,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2026).

Q. Liu, X, Zhao, J. K. Lee, and R. N. Zare, “Interfacial Microenvironments Enable Abiotic Ribonucleoside Formation in Micro/nanoscale Compartments,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (in press).

X. Song, J. Xu, D. W. Deamer, and R. N.  Zare, “Strong Hydration and Salt Association Complicate Nucleotide Oligomer Analysis by Mass Spectrometry,” Anal. Chem. (in press).

R. N. Zare, “Can Water Act as a Catalyst?” Molecular Frontiers Journal (2026).

J. Xu, Y. Xia, Y. Meng, and R. N. Zare, “Collective Microbubble Interactions Drive Sulfur Transformation in Seawater,” Environ. Sci. Technol. (2026).

Y. Xia, J.  Song, J. Xu, J. Li, Y. Liang, J. Shi, and R. N. Zare, “Interdroplet Electrostatic Interactions Contribute to Dark Oxidation in Nighttime Sea Spray,”  Environ. Sci. & Tech. 60, 21992-21999 (2026).

X. Zhao, R. M. Feitzinger, J. Na, X. Yan, A. Erickson, K. Contrepois, O. Y.  Zhou, F. Vallania, M.  Ellenberger, C. M. Kashiwagi, S. D. Gagnon, C. J. Siebrand,  M. Cabruja, G. M. Traber, A. McKay, D. Hornburg, P. Khatri, M. P. Snyder, R. N. Zare, and A. Brunet, “Lipidomic profiling reveals age-dependent changes in plasma membrane lipids that affect neural stem cell aging,” Sci. Adv. 12, eaeh9771 (2026).

X. Song , J. Xu, C. Basheer, and R. N. Zare, “Synthesis of Aspirin at the Gas-Water Interface with Phenol and Carbon Dioxide,” Chem. Eur. J. e71518 (2026).

M. W. Chen, X. Guo, M. Farag, N. Qian, X. Song, A, Ni, V. Liu,, Y. Xia, Y. Ma, L. Yang, W. Yu, M. R. King, J. Lee , R. N. Zare, W. Min , R. V. Pappu, and Y. Dai, “Biomolecular Condensates can Function as Inherent Catalysts,” Mol. Cell 86, 1-22 (2026).

R. Saito, H. Tsuruda, C.  Zhu, J. Zhang, X. Zhang, K. Takahashi, R. N. Zare, X. Zhang, and Q.-Y. Li, “3D Electron Microscopy Reveals Strong Electric Fields at Nanoconfined Air–Water Interfaces,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 148, 30689–30696 (2026).

K. Li, G. Yuan, Y. Cao, J. Wang, Z. Jin, X. Zhou, F. Hao, K. Liu, Z. Jia, K.-L. Xi, C. Liang, and R. N. Zare, “Selective Gold Recovery via Thermally Generated Water Microdroplets at Oil-Water Interfaces,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2026).

R. N. Zare, “Interfacial Chemistry as a Foundation for Future Iontronics,” Iontronics 2, 21 (2026).

H. Qian, J. Liu, N. Wu, S. Li, X. Song, F. Yang, M. Willatzen, J. Shao, V. Shankar, D. Chu, R. N. Zare, Z. L. Wang, and D. Wei, “A Triboelectric Radical Generation Route to Chlorine Disinfectants from Brine.” Nat. Commun. 17, 8377 (2026).

M. Yu, Y.  Xia, R. N. Zare, Z. Yu , J. Shi, J. Li , and Y. Liang ,  “Revealing Oxidative Chemistry at the Water–Air Interface Using a Levitated Water Droplet,” Talanta 309, 130014 (2026).

X. Song, L. Lyu, J. Xu, C. Li, A.  A. Alzamil, R. Bakdash, M. N. Younis, M. Kamran, C. Basheer, and R. N.  Zare, “Synthesizing Boron Nitride Quantum Dots in Microdroplets,” Nano Lett. 26, 7248–7256 (2026).

S. Bose, K. Lee, S. Choi, and R. N. Zare, “Harnessing Oil-Water Microinterfaces for the Catalyst-free Oxidative Degradation of Toxic Organic Pollutants,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 148, 22209–22218 (2026).

S. Madani, R. N. Zare, and A. Hatamie, “Single-Rain Droplet Amperometry Reveals Spontaneous and Regulated H₂O₂ Formation on Leaf Surfaces,” Langmuir 42, 15023–15034 (2026).

M. R. Rezayat, S. M.  Shadman, M. A.  Mehrgardi, and R. N. Zare, “Dual Role of Gas–Water Microbubbles as Interfacial Reactors and Optically Active Scatterers for Photochemical Synthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide,” Chemical Engineering Journal Advances 26, 101198 (2026).

Y. He, J. Xu, L. Lyu, Y. Xia, R. N. Zare, and Y. Meng , “Water Droplet Microlightning Enables Catalyst-Free Alkane Dehydrogenation under Ambient Conditions,” ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 14, 7092−7098 (2026).

Y. Tian, R. Wei, Y. Meng , and R. N. Zare, ” Comparison of Mass Spectrometry Imaging by Desorption Electrospray Ionization (DESI) and Desorption Electro-flow Focusing Ionization (DEFFI),” Metabolites 16, 219  (2026).

A. M. Sama, S. B. Cahill, S. Luo, A. L. Tripka, Y. Meng, S. E. Noll, R. N. Zare, P. Shah, and A. Dickinson. “Computational Method to Analyze Linear Developmental Gradients Reveals Specific Metabolite Enrichment Patterns in Stress Tolerant Maize,” Development 153, dev205350 (2026).

X. Kang, Q. Yang, S. X. Tang, Z. Chen, S. Budhathoki, R. Paneru, S. Kim, Y. Bai, Q. Li, Z. Chen, A. Goroncy, R. N. Zare, and M. Fan, “Sustainable Solar-Driven Synthesis of High-Purity Carbon Quantum Dots from Corn Stover for Efficient H₂O₂ Production from Water,” Green Chemistry 28, 6758 – 6768 (2026).

X. Song, L. Lyu, C. Li, Y. Ma, Y. Zhou, Y. Dai, and R. N. Zare, “Biomolecular Condensates Power Nitrogen Cycling via Concurrent Redox Activities,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 148, 10315-10320 (2026).

S. Li, D. Wei, H. Qian, J. Xu, Z. L. Wang, and R. N. Zare, “Bromophenol Blue Degradation by Contact-electro-catalysis,” Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 1007, 119942 (2026).

X. Song, Y. Ma, M. W. Chen, W. Yu, X. Yan, J. Xu, and R. N. Zare, “Biomolecular Condensates Mediate C-N Bond Formation,” Nat. Chem. Biol. 22, 1165–1175 (2026).

X. Song, J. Xu, C. Sun, L. Lyu, H.  Kui, R. Zhang, Z. Abliz, and R. N. Zare, “Dark Reactions in Microdroplets Explain Widespread Artifacts in Metabolomic Profiling,” ACS Measurement Science Au 6, 311-323 (2026).

X. Song, J. Jallow, C. Basheer, U. Baig, A. Alaliwi, R. S. Bakdash, and R. N. Zare, ” Aqueous Microdroplet Chemistry Enables Sustainable, Scalable Synthesis of Polyaniline,” Mol. Phys. (2026).

Y.  Zheng, B. Chen, C. Bao, Y. Xia, C. Zeng, M. Song, J. Shi, L. Hu, Y. Yin, X. Cui, J. Auverlot, J.-P. Reichheld, G. Jiang, Y. Liang, D. Zhou, and R. N. Zare, “Foliar Dewdroplet-induced Redox Cascades Promote Early Flowering in Brassicaceae Plants,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 123, e2527021123 (2026).

S. Bose, S. Bahadorikhalili, Y. He, H. Samouei, and R. N. Zare, “Highly Efficient Production of Nitrite and Nitrate from Air at the Gas-Water Interface of Nanobubbles,” Science Advances 12, eaec4225 (2026). 

J. Xu, X. Song, Y.-L. Lu, L. Lyu, C. Basheer, and R. N. Zare, ” Intrinsic Electric Field Triggers Phenol Oxidative Degradation at Microbubble Interfaces,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 148, 43–49 (2026).

J. Xu, X. Song, L. Lyu, X. Zhang, and R. N. Zare,  “Comment on An Alternative Explanation for Ions Put Forth as Evidence for Abundant Hydroxyl Radicals Formed Due to the Intrinsic Electric Field at the Surface of Water Droplets ,” Anal. Chem. 97, 17687−17695 (2025).

Y. Xia, X. Gao, J. Li, R. N. Zare, B. Chen,  and X. Zhang, “Droplet-on-Demand Mass Spectrometry Reveals Curvature-Dependent Interfacial Reactivity in Aqueous Microdroplets,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 122, e2519491122 (2025).

Y. Xia, X. Li, F. Chen, J. Xu, X. Gao, B. Chen, X. Zhang, and R. N. Zare, “Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species in Water Droplets Levitated in Air,” Chem. Sci.,17,1051- 1057 (2026).

Y. Cao , W. Qiao, C. Zhang, M. Zhu, Q. Wu, W.-Y. Lou , I. Willner, R. N. Zare and J. Ge, “Programmable Enzyme Catalysis Based on Multiscale Confinements,” Nature Synthesis 4, 1338–1348 (2025).

X. Song, C. Basheer, J. Xu, and R. N. Zare, “The Air-Water Interfacial Nitrogen Cycle Produces Irrigatable-Level Ammonium Nitrate,” Chem. Sci.  16, 21815 – 21824 (2025).

Y. Meng, W. Hang, and R. N. Zare, “Microlensed Fiber Allows Subcellular Imaging by Laser-Based Mass Spectrometry,” Nature Protocols 18, 2558-2578 (2023). 

R. Tian, J. Li, Y. Xia,  J. Li, L. Hu, and R. N. Zare, “A 3D-Printed Field-Free Ionization Source for Mass Spectrometry,” Anal. Chem. 97, 22390−22396 (2025).

Y. Yang, M. Tanim-Al Hassan, J. P. Sanchez, Q. A. Young, R. N. Zare, and H. Chen, “Ultrafast PFAS Degradation Using Oxidant-Containing Microdroplets,” Chem. Comm. 61, 17629 – 17632 (2025).

G. Yuan,  J. Wang,  Y. Cao,  Z. Jin,  F. Hao,  K. Liu,  Y. Li,  H.-M. Schulz,  J. Gluyas,  and R. N. Zare, “Oil–Water Interfaces Drive Gold Precipitation via Microdroplet Chemistry in Thermal Geological Systems,” Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA)  122, e2508673122 (2025).

J. Xu, Y. Xia, and R. N. Zare, “Catalyst-Free Microbubble System for Removing Nitrous Oxide from Air,” Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.  12, 1354−1358 (2025).

X. Song, J. Jallow,  C. Basheer, R. S. Bakdash, A. Alaliwi, A. A. Alzamil, and R. N. Zare,“Microdroplet-Driven Synthesis of a Metal–Organic Framework Catalyst,” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 64, e202515006 (2025).

K. Lee, M. A. Mehrgardi, and R. N. Zare, “Interfacial Curvature, not Simply Size, Controls Spontaneous Hydrogen Peroxide Formation in Water Microdroplets,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147, 33240−33247 (2025).

Y. Xia, Y. Meng, J. Shi, and Richard N. Zare, “Unveiling Ignis Fatuus: Microlightning Between Microbubbles,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 122, e2521255122 (2025).

X. Ren, X. Song, L. Lyu,  M. W. Chen, R. N. Zare, and Y. Dai, “Anion-π Interaction-Induced Phase Separation as a Prebiotic Pathway to Oxygenation,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 122, e2508804122 (2025).

S. Bose and R. N. Zare, “Electric Field-Driven Interfacial Reduction of Metal Ions in Microdroplets: Gold, Silver, and Nickel,” Chem. Sci. 16, 15455 – 15461 (2025).

Y. He, Y. Meng, and R. N. Zare, “Positively Charged Water Microdroplets Ionize Surrounding Gas Molecules,” J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 36, 1856-1859 (2025). 

F. Zhang, Y. Tian, H. Wei, T. Yue, Y. Gao, X. Li, R. N. Zare, X. Zhang, and Z. Wang, ” Interfacial Electric Fields Modulate Redox Reactions in Abiological Coacervates,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147, 27213−27218 (2025).