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Contaminants such as CO₂ and H₂S present in natural gas and biogas streams must be removed before use; existing strategies to do so can be rather complex. Here, the authors use a fluorinated porous metal–organic framework to remove CO₂ and H₂S from CH₄-rich feeds in a single step, potentially simplifying the process.

Chlorine electrosynthesis from seawater is limited by poor selectivity and stability under industrial-scale conditions. Here atomic-step-enriched ultrafine high-entropy alloy nanowires enable highly efficient chlorine evolution at 10 kA m⁻² for over 5,500 h through dynamic Pt–O active sites, reducing electricity consumption and feedstock costs for next-generation chlor-alkali processes.

Producing valuable hydrocarbons electrochemically from carbon monoxide (CO) is an energy-efficient pathway, but reliance on costly pure CO as a feedstock limits its economic viability. This article shows that abundant CO-rich syngas can be directly used to synthesize ethylene.

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.

The electronic behaviour of complex oxides such as LaNiO₃ depends on many intrinsic and extrinsic factors, making it challenging to identify microscopic mechanisms. Here the authors demonstrate the influence of oxygen vacancies on the thickness-dependent metal-insulator transition of LaNiO₃ films.

The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not deterministic. Here, the authors show that common genetic variation changes how APOE-ε4 influences cognition.

Understanding the electric double layer of liquid–electrode interfaces is essential for understanding electrochemical processes. Now it has been shown that structure-dependent water dissociation and hydroxyl adsorption at step sites dictate the double-layer capacitance and potential of zero charge, directly linking model single crystals with practical platinum electrodes.

The lowest-frequency gravitational wave background may be shaped by supermassive black hole binaries that scatter nearby stars or dark matter. In this case, the NANOGrav 15-year dataset favours dense galactic centres with 10⁶ solar masses per cubic parsec.

Symmetry breaking is key to numerous notable effects, for instance, the emergence of a Rashba interaction at interfaces between two materials. Here, Zhang, Ding, and coauthors succeed in breaking in-plane mirror symmetries via crystallographic engineering, and observe a giant non-linear Hall effect and current induced magnetization at room temperature.

Authors utilise a metabolomics approach to identify microbial-derived metabolites that synergistically inhibit urease activity in Proteus mirabilis, a cause of urease-induced kidney stones. They reveal that two metabolites prevented urinary catheter encrustation and improved antimicrobial efficacy against catheter biofilm.

This study identifies status dystonicus as a distinct brain state characterized by excessive beta-band activity with implications for the diagnosis and treatment of this poorly known neurological emergency

Surface controls nanocrystal growth, but atomic-scale hard-soft interfaces are hard to measure. Here, the authors develop electron microscopy methods to reveal the position of metal adatoms and surfactant counterions on gold nanocuboid surfaces.

Spintronics requires materials in which most of the spins at the Fermi edge are aligned with each other at room temperatures. Jourdan et al. observe such a spin polarization of 93% in Co₂MnSi—a Heusler alloy amenable to many spintronic applications; evidence of the material’s half-metallicity.

Water interactions with 2D materials shape sensing and fluid control. Here, the authors show that water diffuses on hexagonal boron nitride with distinct rotational dynamics and lower friction than on graphene, revealing substrate effects on interfacial water.

When doubly-degenerate band crossings known as Kramers nodal lines intersect the Fermi level, they form exotic three-dimensional Fermi surfaces composed of massless Dirac fermions. Here, the authors present evidence that the 3R polytypes of TaS₂ and NbS₂ are Kramers nodal line metals with open octdong and spindle-torus Fermi surfaces, respectively.

An Fe^III/V redox mechanism in Li₄FeSbO₆ on delithiation without Fe^IV or oxygen formation with resistance to aging, high operating potential and low voltage hysteresis is demonstrated, with implications for Fe-based high-voltage applications.

Acetyl-CoA synthetases have been proposed as targets for development of new antimicrobial drugs. Here, Jezewski et al. identify isoxazole-based compounds with activity against the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, and describe their mechanism of action as inhibitors of fungal acetyl-CoA synthetases.

Automated organic synthesis is often limited to making simple molecules, requiring a small number of synthetic steps, because of the complexity and variety of organic molecules. Now, a robotic platform has been instructed to build complex structures, such as the core fragment of (+)-kalkitoxin, in a stereochemically controlled and iterative manner.

Authors unveil how strain precisely tailors octahedral tilts, charge transfer, and orbital–spin reconstruction in LSMO/LCO bilayers, enabling robust interfacial Mn–Co antiferromagnetism and tunable magnetism.

We examine the historical development and underlying principles of foundation models realized in language and vision, and propose how physics-infused machine learning interaction potentials could dramatically transform at scale to create transformative foundation models for chemistry and materials science.

The electrooxidation of ethylene to ethylene glycol (EG) offers a sustainable pathway for chemical manufacturing, but demands selective non-precious-metal electrocatalysts. Here, the authors report a class of (111)-rich Mn₂O₃ nanoarray electrode, which achieves a high selectivity of 52.6% for for ethylene-to-EG conversion in aqueous electrolytes.

Electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction is typically studied at laboratory scale under ambient conditions; however, temperature and pressure may have a profound impact on the mechanism of this reaction and on its relevance to industrial applications. This study uses a custom temperature- and pressure-adjustable cell to reveal a chain growth mechanism emerging on copper electrodes at elevated temperatures and pressures.

Concrete durability is crucial for infrastructure longevity. Here the authors use atomistic simulations to show how aluminum alters the bonding and surface energetics of cement hydrates, explaining its paradoxical dual role in durability.

Solar hydrogen peroxide production is hampered by a chemical conflict: the high oxygen levels needed for one reaction inhibit the other. Here, the authors assemble nanoscale oxygen traps selectively on reduction sites, creating ideal local environments to boost H₂O₂ yield.

A transverse Peierls transition can occur when transverse acoustic phonons couple with conducting p-orbital electrons. Here, the authors observe an incommensurate transverse Peierls transition and signatures of a chiral charge density wave in EuAl₄.

Electrochemical hydrogenation drives a reversible conductor–insulator transition in graphene. Authors show that it is 10⁶× faster than other methods and tunable by isotope effects and lattice corrugations, enabling ionic control of 2D electronics.

Efficient nuclear delivery of DNA remains a major challenge in non-viral gene therapy. Here the authors present an improved workflow for generating DNA oligonucleotide-peptide conjugates which are ligated to linear DNA and achieve nuclear localization.

This study shows that the nodal loop topology in LaSb_xTe_2−x can be controlled by chemical substitution and electron doping. The reversible opening and closing of a gap larger than 400 meV in the nodal loop enables on-demand switching of topology.

A metallic p-wave magnet with commensurate spin helix and anisotropic electronic properties is experimentally realized and shows a giant anomalous Hall effect when distorted by a tiny spontaneous magnetization.

If single molecules are to be used in spintronic devices, it is necessary to interlink molecular spin states and charge transport. Here, the authors approach this goal by directly accessing highly spin-polarized hybrid states of a molecular complex of an early lanthanide on a metal surface.

Investigating crystalline materials often requires calculations for many variations of a system, substantially increasing the computational burden. By training a transferable neural wavefunction across these variations, the cost can be reduced by approximately 50-fold for systems such as graphene and lithium hydride.

A dual interfacial hydrogen-bond passivation strategy and a hybrid copper–iodide are used to fabricate deep-blue light-emitting diodes with excellent external quantum efficiency and lifetime.

This work challenges the view of nucleation governing halide perovskite grain morphology, showing that most additives act post-nucleation by boosting ion mobility across grain boundaries, triggering grain coarsening, similar to post-processing effects.

The thin film realization of quantum spin liquid candidates has remined elusive. Here, the authors synthesize thin films of the quantum spin liquid candidate TbInO3 and characterize the magnetic and electronic properties.

A hybrid exciton is observed at the interface between an organic semiconductor and a transition metal dichalcogenide. This suggests engineering the exciton wavefunction can lead to efficient charge and energy transfer processes in such structures.

Single molecular layers of TiSe₂are promising for advanced electronic applications, and it is therefore important to characterize their phases. Here, the authors use ARPES to detect a charge density wave transition without Fermi surface nesting and that takes place at a temperature higher than in bulk.

Garnet-type LLZO electrolytes are considered among the most promising solid-state electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries; however, numerous challenges need to be addressed before they are integrated into a cell. By precipitating amorphous zirconium oxide onto grain boundaries, increased ionic conductivity is observed and dendrite growth is suppressed.