Publications

Y. Xia, J. Song, J. Xu, J. Li, Y. Liang, J. Shi, and R. N. Zare, “Inter-Droplet Electrostatic Interactions Contribute to Dark Oxidation in Nighttime Sea Sprays,” ES&T (in press).

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. (in press).

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).

D. Wei, H. Qian, J. Liu, N. Wu, S. Li, X. Song, F. Yang, M. Willatzen, J. Shao, V. Shankar, D. Chu, R. N. Zare, and Z. L. Wang, “A triboelectric radical generation route to chlorine disinfectants from brine,” Nature Communications (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), rather than 2025.

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).

S. Bose, M. Mehrgardi, and R. N. Zare, “Selective Photochemical Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Formic Acid at Gas-Water Interface of Microbubbles,” J. Am. Chem. Soc.  147, 27449−27457 (2025).

R. Wang, S. Wang, C. Zhu, J. Zhang, R. N. Zare, C. Zhu and X. Zhang, “Increased Acidity of Nitrogen Heterocyclic Compounds on Water Microdroplets Facilitates CO₂ Capture,” Chinese Chemical Letters 37, 111547 (2026).

N. Malkoti, Y. Meng, R. N. Zare, and E. Gnanamani, ” Synthesis of Benzoquinone Compounds by a Microdroplet-Accelerated Retro-Diels-Alder Reaction,” Chem. Sci. 16, 14109 –14114  (2025).

S. Bose, M. Mofidfar, R. N. Zare, and E. Gnanamani, “Cross-Coupling Between Arylboronic Acids and Terminal Alkynes in Water Microdroplets,” J. Am. Chem. Soc 147,25779−25786 (2025).

H. Liu, Y. Tian, R. Wei, Y. Meng and R. N. Zare, “Imprint Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Imaging (IDESI-MSI) Reveals Absorption of Triclopyr-Based Herbicide in Plants and Mouse Organs,” Metabolites 15, 437 (2025).

Y. Meng, E. Gnanamani, and R. N. Zare, “Water Droplet Microlightning Sparks Alkyne Ozonolysis,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147, 23399−23404 (2025).

Y. Tian, Y. Meng, and R. N. Zare, “Simultaneous Detection of Polar and Nonpolar Molecules by Nano-ESI MS with Plasma Ignited by an Ozone Generator Power Supply,” Molecules 30, 2546 (2025).

X. Gao, P. Zhou, X. Yuan, X. Li, B. Li, Y. Xia, Y. Meng, R. N. Zare, T. Zheng, and X. Zhang, “Peeling Tape Produces Strong Electric Fields via Stick-Slip Friction That Drive Chemical Reactions,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 122, e2510504122 (2025).

Y. He, X. Chen, L. Lyu, R. N. Zare, and G. Huang, “Nondestructive Metabolic Monitoring of Living Organisms by Water-Droplet Extraction and Contact-Free Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry,” Anal. Chem. 97, 11678-11684 (2025).

S. Bose, J. Xu, K. Lee, and R. N. Zare, “Catalyst-Free Production of Urea from Nitrate and Carbon Dioxide in Water Microdroplets,” Environmental Science & Technology 59, 10944-10954 (2025).

X. Song, L. Lyu, J. Xu, D. Xing, X. Zhang, and R. N. Zare, “Clarifying the Identity of the m/z 36 Ion in Water Microdroplet Mass Spectra,” J. Phys. Chem. A 129, 4529–4534 (2025).