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For electrochemical CO₂ reduction to CO, there exists a trade-off between selectivity and activity for noble metal catalysts. Here, authors report a Cu-based trimetallic catalyst that is selective to CO, challenging the monopoly of noble metals in CO₂-to-CO conversion.

The elevation and high heat flow of Southern South Africa has controversially been attributed to a mantle plume. Here, the authors link degassed CO₂ to a non-degassed mantle source rather than the convecting upper mantle, confirming plume-related mantle melting.

Barium tagging is a key ingredient for future detectors of neutrinoless double beta decay in low-background environments. Here, the authors demonstrate fluorescence imaging of single Ba2+ ions in high pressure Xenon gas, by comparing activity between Ba2+ chelated and unchelated samples of crown-ether chemosensors.

While inducing strain to noble metal nanomaterials can modulate catalytic activities, the strain is often spatially dependent. Here, authors manipulate the planar strain in noble metal nanosheets for hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis by constructing amorphous–crystalline phase boundaries.

Developing high-current-density catalysts is key to efficient water splitting. Here, the authors report a single-atom Ru-doped amorphous Ni–Mo oxide that dynamically self-reconstructs to retain high activity at industrial current densities in an anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzer.

Noble gas concentrations in the deep North Pacific indicate that sea-level pressure in Antarctic Bottom Water formation regions has changed over the past 2,000 years.

2023 CX1 is the only L-chondrite-like asteroid analysed from space to ground. It catastrophically fragmented in the atmosphere, depositing 98% of its energy in one burst—an unusual, high-risk fragmentation mode with implications for planetary defence.

The temporal characterization of few-femtosecond vacuum ultraviolet pulses bring new opportunities for investigating ultrafast light-matter interactions.

In this study, a new analytical technique is employed to measure Kr and Xe isotopes in groundwater at high precision. These measurements indicate that gravitational signals of past water-table depth are preserved in ancient groundwater, representing a novel proxy for past terrestrial hydroclimate.

The model alloy of Au–Ag is studied to decouple the role of stress and corrosion in intergranular cracking caused by metal dissolution. Nanoporous corrosion layers can mechanically inject a crack into grain boundaries of the parent phase.

How noble gases are recycled from the atmosphere back into the mantle has been unclear. High-pressure experiments demonstrate that noble gases are highly soluble in an important hydrous mineral in altered oceanic crust, suggesting that subduction of this type of crust may be a significant pathway for noble gas flux back into the mantle.

Bennu comprises components of intra- and extra-Solar System origins. The parent bodies of Bennu, Ryugu and CI chondrites likely formed from a shared but heterogeneous reservoir in the outer parts of the solar protoplanetary disk.

The nuclear spins of noble gases are isolated from sources of decoherence but also from external control fields. Optically addressable alkali-metal atoms can couple strongly to noble-gas spins, potentially providing a mechanism for coherent control.

The sub-continental lithospheric mantle passively degasses volatiles to Earth’s surface, including from regions unaffected by volcanism, according to a study of helium and argon isotopes in young groundwater.

The triple synergy of oxygen, proton, and electron supply is crucial for hydrogen peroxide photosynthesis. Here, the authors report a squaric-acid zwitterionic covalent organic framework that achieves this synergy, boosting hydrogen peroxide yield and enabling solar-driven continuous-flow production.

Genomes evolve with time but the molecular mechanisms that underlie this process are poorly understood. Gontijoet al. describe a protein that was generated by the retention of an intron in the Drosophila melanogaster Rieske iron sulphur proteingene and show that the resulting protein is translated.

Enzymatic reductions catalyzed by reductases generally depend on reduced nicotinamide cofactors as a hydride source. In this work, the authors report a hybrid photo-biocatalyst system based on infrared light, responsive reductive graphene quantum dots and cross-linked aldo-keto reductase for performing the direct transfer of hydrogen from water to prochiral substrates.

The kinetic pathways driving morphological changes in core-shell metallic nanowires are crucial for their functional properties. Here authors reveal a three-step deposition process, and influence nanoparticle size and surface roughness.

Developing efficient catalysts that resolve the activity-stability trade-off remains challenging for hydrogen production. Here, the authors report a steam-assisted, machine-learning-screened synthesis of self-healing Ru/TiMnO_x electrodes that resolve this challenge.

Alkaline hydrogen production needs stable catalysts, but the electrical double layer is overlooked. Here, the authors report a dense epitaxial hydroxide layer that strengthens the double layer, prevents catalyst leaching, and enhances material stability for 1,400 h in an industrial electrolyzer.

Developing durable catalysts for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction is crucial for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers. Here, the authors report incorporating high-entropy atoms (Co, Ni, Cu, Mn, Sm) into RuO₂ via annealing, achieving stable operation at 1 A cm⁻² and 50 °C for 1500 h.

Copper-based organic light-emitting diodes are low-cost alternatives to precious metal-based counterparts. Here, the authors develop copper(I) thermally activated delayed fluorescent emitters with colors spanning from blue to near infrared, and achieve device lifetime close to 3700 h at 1000 cd/m².

Photoactive transition metal complexes usually feature 4d6 and 5d6 precious metals with charge transfer excited state lifetimes exceeding hundreds of nanoseconds, while complexes with earth abundant 3d6 metals exhibit lifetimes of less than 1–2 ns. Here, the authors report a tetracarbene manganese(I) complex with an excited state lifetime of 190 ns.

It is highly desired to explore cheap, non-toxic transition metals catalysts for semihydrogenation of acetylene. Here, isolated Cu atoms anchored onto a defective nanodiamond-graphene support exhibit robust catalytic performance in acetylene semihydrogenation in comparison with supported Cu clusters.

Direct photocatalytic oxidation of methane into valuable oxygenated products remains highly challenging due to the inevitable overoxidation of the desired products. Here the authors report TiO₂ anchored with subnanometric MoO_x clusters for efficient oxidation of methane to C1 oxygenates with a high yield and selectivity.

Proton transfer plays a key role in fuel-producing reactions, but directly monitoring these processes in heterogeneous electrocatalysts is challenging. Now it has been shown that shifts in the Tafel slope in protic versus deuteric electrolytes can elucidate the rate-determining step during water splitting and reveal pH- and structure-dependent proton transfer behaviours.

Harsh reaction pathways make transition metal nitride (TMN) grains susceptible to sintering. Here, the authors report a general route to synthesize multilayered TMN hollow spheres with high specific surface area from a single-source precursor.

The reductive coupling of alcohols and nitro compounds typically yields amine products. Here the authors show that MgO nanoclusters catalyse this reaction, giving unsaturated C = N containing products.

Limited charge separation is a major challenge in creating efficient semiconductor photocatalysis. This work introduces a superlattice interface and S-scheme heterojunction for ultrafast charge separation and transfer in photocatalytic H₂ evolution.

Mitigating the deactivation of noble metal-based catalysts caused by self-oxidation and toxic adsorption poses a considerable challenge in organic electro-oxidation. This study addresses the issue by employing a pulsed potential electrolysis approach to selectively electrocatalyze the oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid using a Pt-based catalyst.

Reducing platinum use is vital for sustainable hydrogen production via proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Here, the authors report a Mo₂TiC₂ MXene-supported platinum nanocluster catalyst that requires minimal platinum content and operates efficiently for over 8700 h.

Cobalt–iron–lead oxide electrocatalysts show promise for the low-pH oxygen evolution reaction—an essential reaction in proton-exchange water electrolysis—but can suffer from corrosion. This study uncovers that the mechanism of cobalt site corrosion is decoupled from the oxygen evolution reaction, paving the way for more stable catalyst designs.

Developing non-noble-metal heterogeneous catalysts with high efficiency in HCOOH dehydrogenation is significant for the acquisition of hydrogen, but remains a great challenge. Here, the authors modulate oxygen coverage of Ti₃C₂T_x MXenes to boost the catalytic activity toward HCOOH dehydrogenation.

Mt Fuji’s freshwater springs were believed to be fed exclusively by shallow groundwater aquifers. Using a newly developed combination of tracer techniques, this study finds widespread vertical exchange between shallow and deeper aquifers and shows evidence of a substantial deep groundwater contribution to the springs.