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The conversion of carbon dioxide to higher-value chemicals is an industrially important reaction. Here, the authors report a hybrid catalyst manganese oxide nanoparticle supported on mesoporous cobalt oxide, which catalyses the conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol at high yields.

The development of high-performance ‘smart’ catalysts will rely on the rational design of nanoscale metal–metal oxide interfaces. A tandem catalyst that has both CeO₂-Pt and Pt-SiO₂ interfaces is now reported, and is capable of catalysing sequential reactions to convert methanol into ethylene.

Colloidal synthesis can help to precisely control the shape and composition of catalytic metal nanoparticles, but it has so far proved difficult to use these particles in high-temperature reactions. Core–shell structures capable of isolating Pt-mesoporous silica nanoparticles have now been shown to be catalytically active for ethylene hydrogenation and CO oxidation at high temperature.

Heterogeneous catalysis: just as for enzymes, flexibility and mobility are emerging as key features of catalytically active metal surfaces.

Developing highly efficient and reversible hydrogenation-dehydrogenation catalysts shows great promise for hydrogen storage technologies. Here the authors develop a highly efficient and reversible de/rehydrogenation single-site platinum catalyst which exhibits great promise for hydrogen storage technologies with cyclic alkanes/aromatics as liquid organic hydrogen carriers.

Heterogeneous catalysts are generally more readily recycled than homogeneous catalysts, but the latter are more easily modified to tune reactivity and selectivity. Here, the dendrimer coating of gold nanoparticle catalysts is shown to be a surrogate for the ligands of homogeneous catalysts. Tuning of product distribution and reaction selectivity is possible when these catalysts are employed in a fixed-bed flow reactor.

Combining the benefits of homogeneous and heterogeneous processes may lead to important advances in catalysis. This has now been achieved using selectively oxidized and supported electrophilic platinum nanoparticles that catalyse a range of π-bond activation reactions previously only catalysed homogeneously.

Designing catalysts with atomically synergistic sites shows great promise as a pathway for advanced catalyst development. Here the authors report Zn-Cr catalyst with atomically binuclear active sites for iso-stoichiometric co-conversion of ethane and CO₂ through proximal atomic synergy.

Long-term durability is crucial for heavy-duty usage of lithium ion batteries; however, electrode failure mechanisms are still unknown. Here, the authors reveal the fracture mechanisms of single crystal silicon electrodes over extended cycling, and show how electrolyte additives can heal electrode cracks.

The complex, multi-component environments found in enzymes induce high catalytic specificity, but are difficult to achieve in synthetic catalysts. Now, researchers report a catalyst comprising a dynamic, ordered layer of ligands above a nanoparticle surface that creates a pocket to facilitate CO₂ electroreduction.

Solid acid heterogeneous catalysts are widely used in industrial chemical processes, but understanding the exact molecular structures responsible for catalytic activity has proved difficult. Now, the structure of the strong Brønsted acid site for a sulfated zirconium-based metal–organic framework has been shown to consist of a specific arrangement of adsorbed water and sulfate moieties on the zirconium clusters.

Anisotropic phase segregation and migration of Pt in nanocrystals is important in designing enhanced catalysts. Insight into the mechanism of Pt–Ni rhombic dodecahedra growth may provide a way to produce nanocatalysts with improved performance.

Homogeneous, heterogeneous and enzyme catalysts each provide distinct advantages and disadvantages. This Perspective discusses important approaches, benefits and challenges of constructing hybrid catalysts, revealing their potential to improve various catalytic processes.