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Industrial ammonia synthesis relies on complex, multi-promoted Fe catalysts that lack clear structure–activity correlations. This study reveals that promoter synergy creates stable, nanodispersed Fe catalysts with superior activity and resistance to poisoning.

Spectroscopic studies and theoretical calculations of the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction establish that reaction rates depend on the amount of charge stored in the electrocatalyst, and not on the applied potential.

The selective hydrogenation of trace acetylene to ethylene is a well-established process for purifying fossil-derived ethylene streams. Here, the authors present a self-repairing Pd-C laterally condensed catalyst that improves selectivity, prevents sub-surface hydride formation, and achieves high ethylene productivity, effectively bridging the gap between powder catalysts and single-crystal model catalysts.

Heterogeneous catalysts are often dynamic under operation. Now, the mechanism of CH₄ dry reforming on Ni is studied by in situ microscopy and spectroscopy, revealing the formation of metastable surface nickel–oxygen structures from CO₂ dissociation that exhibit different catalytic properties and induce rate oscillations.

Propylene and propylene oxide are formed over boron nitride or SiO₂ in the gas phase without yielding large amounts of CO₂. Conversion at non-specific interfaces can thus be a successful strategy for the synthesis of oxidation-sensitive products.

Inexpensive iron catalysts often exhibit low activity in ammonia decomposition due to a strong iron-nitrogen binding energy. Here the authors demonstrate that combining iron with cobalt to form a Fe-Co bimetallic catalyst overcomes this limitation, presenting a promising solution for enhancing ammonia decomposition efficiency.

The multihole mechanism of the oxygen evolution reaction on semiconductor electrodes has been hard to elucidate due to a lack of atomic-scale structural characterization of the material interface. Using pulse voltammetry and simulations of α-Fe₂O₃ photoanodes, this study predicts the chemical origin of the third-order rate dependence on holes.

Using cryo-electron tomography of human T cell leukemia virus type 1 virus-like particles, the authors reveal that the immature Gag lattice is stabilized by the capsid N-terminal domain in contrast to other retroviruses that use the C-terminal domain.

Current oxidative dehydrogenation processes are based on petroleum cracking that is indirect, environmentally unfriendly, and energy intensive. Here, the authors discover that subnanometer sized cobalt oxide clusters are active for oxidative dehydrogenation of cyclohexane at lower temperatures than reported catalysts.

How a catalyst behaves microscopically under reaction conditions, and what kinds of active sites transiently exist on its surface, is still very much a mystery to the scientific community. Here the authors report on in situ observation of a redox active copper catalyst by a combination of in situ imaging and spectroscopy tools.

The precise understanding of the active phase under reaction conditions at the molecular level is crucial for the design of improved catalysts. Now, Strasser, Jones and colleagues correlate the high activity of IrNi@IrO_x core–shell nanoparticles with the amount of lattice vacancies produced by the nickel leaching process that takes place before and during water oxidation, and elucidate the underlying structural-electronic effects.

In heterogeneous catalytic processes the Arrhenius parameters are often found to be interrelated (compensation phenomenon). Using state-of-the-art experiments and density functional theory, the origin of compensation is studied. A similar dependence on the rate-limiting surface-coverage term is found for both apparent activation energy and prefactor terms, which can be translated into surface configurational entropy contributions.

We live in a moment of profound transitions caused by the accelerating dynamics of planetary change. The digital transformation is an important driver of this dynamics which we need to better understand.

In situ studies of catalytic surface reactions are restricted to a small number of analytical techniques. Here, scanning electron microscopy is utilized to visualize the catalytic hydrogenation of nitrogen dioxide on platinum, showing its potential for monitoring reaction dynamics on surfaces.

Control over charge transfer in carbon-supported metal nanoparticles is essential for designing new catalysts. Here, the authors show that thermal treatments effectively tune the interfacial charge distribution in carbon-supported palladium catalysts with consequential changes in hydrogenation performance.

The surface chemistries of electrode materials strongly influence their faradaic and non-faradaic properties. Here, the anode material Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ is probed in the presence of different electrolytes, and surface polarons are suggested to enable a Li ion equilibrium between the bulk and the electrolyte, explaining the role of defects for intercalative pseudocapacity and fast charging properties in this material.