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Electroreduction of CO is an emerging route to produce multicarbon molecules, but achieving this efficiently in solid-state devices is challenging. Here the authors develop a cation-functionalized layer using polyacrylate in a solid-state electrolyser that produces ethylene stably and efficiently from syngas.

Electrified CO₂ capture from air could lead to net-negative emissions, yet current methods face high energy costs and sensitivity to oxygen. Here the authors introduce an electrochemical approach using MnO₂ as a stable, redox-active sorbent, achieving CO₂ capture with promising energy consumption and minimal oxygen sensitivity.

Multielectron molecular CO₂ reduction in acid is challenged by weak CO binding and competing hydrogen evolution. Here a methanol Faradaic efficiency of 62% is achieved in acid by tuning the microenvironment with cationic, hydrophobic and aerophilic layers.

Polymers cross-linked with dynamic bonds can switch the phase from solid to fluid upon stimulus but return quickly to the solid state once the stimulus is removed. Here the authors report a light triggered permanent solid to fluid transition at room temperature with inherent spatiotemporal control in either direction

A fundamental mechanism for singlet fission, a process that may govern instances of multi-exciton generation, has yet to be described. Sophisticated calculations now show that singlet fission in pentacene proceeds through the conversion of a photoexcited state into a dark state of multi-exciton character that subsequently splits into two triplets.

The formation of 2D perovskites in inorganic perovskite solar cells is hindered by the strong binding affinity of caesium ions. Liu et al. engineer the functional groups of a large organic cation to facilitate its exchange with caesium ions and form a stable 2D perovskite.

Selective electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂RR) in strong acids remains challenging due to competition with the hydrogen evolution reaction. Now it is reported that peripheral functionalization of immobilized molecular complexes with quaternary ammonium groups can regulate the mass distribution surrounding the active sites, enabling selective CO₂RR in strong acids.

While strain engineering via support modification is a powerful strategy to tune catalytic properties, it is complex to control for immobilized molecular complexes. Now the curvature of carbon nanotubes is leveraged to induce strain to metal phthalocyanine complexes and boost their electrocatalytic activity

Electrochemically mediated CO₂ capture is a developing alternative to conventional temperature and pressure-swing processes but faces challenges of stability and selectivity. Here, authors develop redox-tunable Brønsted acids to enable electrochemical CO₂ capture in nonvolatile organic solvents.

Materials databases currently neglect the temperature effect on compound thermodynamics. Here the authors introduce a Gibbs energy descriptor enabling the high-throughput prediction of temperature-dependent thermodynamics across a wide range of compositions and temperatures for inorganic solids.

Sensitivity to O₂ hinders the application of some electrochemically mediated carbon capture technologies under ambient air conditions. Here the authors report electrochemical CO₂ capture via non-aqueous proton-coupled electron transfer, employing alkoxides as active sorbents, in which all species involved are highly air stable.