In the latest episode of Papers Illuminated – Člankarnica, we are joined by Nika Žibrat Kalanj from the National Institute of Chemistry, who takes us into the fascinating world of plant cells, membranes, and surprisingly clever microbial proteins. We start with the basics of what a cell membrane is and why it is much more than just a passive barrier. It’s a highly selective filter that protects the cell and controls what gets in and out. Nika explains how certain toxic proteins released into the environment by plant pathogens recognize these membranes, latch onto specific lipids, and ultimately damage plant cells.

Along the way, we explore why some of these proteins are unusually flexible, allowing them to attack a wide range of plants, and how even small differences in membrane composition can have big biological consequences. The episode also offers a behind-the-scenes look at real research life, from extracting lipids directly from vegetables to navigating long periods of failed experiments before everything finally clicks. We place these discoveries into a broader context, discussing why plant research is often overlooked, how plant diseases threaten global food production, and why understanding membrane biology at the molecular level matters for the future of agriculture. An episode for anyone curious about the hidden battles at the surface of cells and why they matter far beyond the lab.

🔬 Read the paper:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw6401

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In the Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica podcast, together with researchers from the National Institute of Chemistry, we present interesting and accessible explanations of their latest discoveries, published in prestigious scientific journals. We invite you to follow us on social media and send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

https://www.ki.si/o-institutu/podkast/clankarnica/

IIn the latest episode of Papers Illuminated – Člankarnica we are joined by Elvira Boršič Mlinarič, who walks us through her recently published paper on NLRP3 inflammasome activation. We talk about how immune sensors detect danger in the cell, why where proteins gather can matter as much as what they sense, and how clustering on membranes or protein scaffolds triggers inflammatory responses. Together, we unpack complex molecular immunology concepts and place them into a broader biological and biomedical context, from fundamental mechanisms to disease relevance. An episode for anyone curious about how cells recognize trouble and respond.

🔬 Read the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60277-4

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In the Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica podcast, together with researchers from the National Institute of Chemistry, we present interesting and accessible explanations of their latest discoveries, published in prestigious scientific journals. We invite you to follow us on social media and send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

https://www.ki.si/o-institutu/podkast/clankarnica/

In this episode of Papers Illuminated – Člankarnica, we talk with Tilen Potisk, co-author of a cutting-edge paper that develops advanced particle-based models for microbubbles and nanoscale gas vesicles, two of the most important structures used in modern biomedical ultrasound.

Tilen walks us through why encapsulated microbubbles and protein-based gas vesicles matter for imaging and drug delivery, what distinguishes them, and why modeling their mechanical behavior has been so challenging until now. This conversation opens up the nanoscale world behind ultrasound contrast agents and highlights how physics-based simulations can guide the design of next-generation therapeutic carriers. If you’re interested in soft matter physics, biomedicine, modeling, or simply enjoy clear explanations of complex science, you’ll love this episode.

🔬 Read the paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsanm.5c02783

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In the Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica podcast, together with researchers from the National Institute of Chemistry, we present interesting and accessible explanations of their latest discoveries, published in prestigious scientific journals. We invite you to follow us on social media and send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

https://www.ki.si/o-institutu/podkast/clankarnica/

What if a key breakthrough for affordable green hydrogen was sitting in a lab drawer for years, just waiting for the right team to discover it? In this episode of Papers Illuminated, we're joined by Dr. Milutin Smiljanić from the National Institute of Chemistry to explore his team's groundbreaking research on a new catalyst platform that could significantly reduce the cost of producing green hydrogen.

We dive into two of their recent papers, published in ACS Catalysis and the Chemical Engineering Journal, which detail how they engineered a solution by combining ruthenium—a much cheaper alternative to platinum—with a unique titanium oxynitride support. Their work creates a highly efficient and durable catalyst for splitting water.

🔬 Read the studies: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385894725050399

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscatal.5c02831

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In the Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica podcast, together with researchers from the National Institute of Chemistry, we present interesting and accessible explanations of their latest discoveries, published in prestigious scientific journals. We invite you to follow us on social media and send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

https://www.ki.si/o-institutu/podkast/clankarnica/

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Yufei Ma about a breakthrough in clean energy research. Their team has developed a new kind of catalyst made of single platinum atoms and a thin layer of molybdenum that makes splitting water into hydrogen much more efficient.

We explore how arranging atoms in just the right way can unlock record-breaking performance, why this matters for producing green hydrogen, and what it could mean for the future of renewable energy.

🔬 Read the study: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adma.202502989

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In the Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica podcast, together with researchers from the National Institute of Chemistry, we present interesting and accessible explanations of their latest discoveries, published in prestigious scientific journals. We invite you to follow us on social media and send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

https://www.ki.si/o-institutu/podkast/clankarnica/

In a new episode of the podcast Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica, we're talking with Dr. Matjaž Mazaj about a groundbreaking study in the field of carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture. Together with his team of authors, he published the article "Amine‐Functionalized Triazolate‐Based Metal–Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Diluted CO₂ Capture Performance" in the prestigious journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The research introduces a new material called NICS-24, specifically designed for efficient CO₂ capture at low concentrations, which is crucial for improving indoor air quality. The discovery offers new insights into how these materials function in humid environments and paves the way for the further development of carbon capture technologies under real-world conditions.

🔬 Read the study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202424747

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In the Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica podcast, together with researchers from the National Institute of Chemistry, we present interesting and accessible explanations of their latest discoveries, published in prestigious scientific journals. We invite you to follow us on social media and send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

https://www.ki.si/o-institutu/podkast/clankarnica/

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Sara Drvarič Talian from the Department of Materials Chemistry at National Institute of Chemistry about how operando impedance spectroscopy is transforming battery research. We explore her team’s recent Nature Communications study demonstrating how real-time impedance measurements in three-electrode cells can reveal the dynamic processes inside lithium metal batteries, from lithium diffusion and surface changes to dendrite formation. Sara explains how this approach overcomes the limitations of conventional equilibrium-based impedance techniques and why tracking these processes operando is critical for understanding failure mechanisms such as internal short circuits and lithium pitting. From innovative experimental design to perspectives on safer, high-performance batteries, this conversation connects electrochemistry, materials science, and next-generation energy storage.

🔬 Read the study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57256-0

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In the Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica podcast, together with researchers from the National Institute of Chemistry, we present interesting and accessible explanations of their latest discoveries, published in prestigious scientific journals. We invite you to follow us on social media and send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

https://www.ki.si/o-institutu/podkast/clankarnica/

V tej epizodi odkrivamo, kaj se dogaja z natrijevimi ioni v notranjosti negrafitiziranega ogljika med delovanjem natrij-ionskih baterij. Z gostom Matejem Gabrijelčičem razložimo, kako raziskovalci s pomočjo napredne operando NMR spektroskopije spremljajo premikanje in nalaganje natrija v realnem času. Pri raziskavah za članek je sodelovalo 8 sodelavcev iz Odseka za kemijo materialov in Odseka za anorgansko kemijo in tehnologijo na Kemijskem inštitutu.

🔬 Članek je bil objavljen v znanstveni reviji Journal of Materials Chemistry A: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2025/ta/d4ta07135b

__________ In the Papers Illuminated - Člankarnica podcast, together with researchers from the National Institute of Chemistry, we present interesting and accessible explanations of their latest discoveries, published in prestigious scientific journals. We invite you to follow us on social media and send us your questions, comments, and suggestions.

https://www.ki.si/o-institutu/podkast/clankarnica/