Search

Zhang et al. report an entropy engineering approach to design water-resistant oxide catalysts, (Ni_0.2Mg_0.2Cu_0.2Zn_0.2Co_0.2)Cr₂O₄. This material shows excellent water resistance (>100 h) for C₃H₆ oxidation while other binary oxides deactivate within 20 h.

The development of Ni-rich layered lithium transition metal oxides is plagued by their voltage and capacity fading on battery cycling. Here, the authors demonstrate an effective approach to treat these problems by infusing a solid electrolyte into the grain boundaries of the secondary particles of these layered materials.

Organic nitrogen (N) sources management is critical to achieve high rice yield and carbon (C) neutrality. This study scaled up the field findings using machine learning and showed that the co-benefits of improved rice yield and reduced net C emission can be realized with integrated management of organic N and water on a global scale.

Ultracold atomic gases provide a playground for exploring exotic quantum phases, like superfluids with staggered orbital currents. Li et al.show that thermal fluctuations can destroy such a state in two stages, revealing a new intermediate chiral Bose liquid with a striking dynamical fingerprint.

Ultracold atoms in optical lattices exhibit many exotic phenomena. Using interacting spinor Bose gases as a model, Li et al.show how spin-valley degeneracy arising in a multivalley band is broken by quantum fluctuations, resulting in a counterintuitive chiral spin order and a spontaneous spin Hall effect.

The distribution and uptake of siderophores across a meridional section of the eastern Pacific Ocean suggests that iron availability limits microbial metabolism in the upper mesopelagic in several large ocean basins.

Ruthenium (Ru(II)) compounds are of interest as platinum drug replacements but have suffered from suboptimal therapeutic efficiency. Here, the authors design a Ru(II) metallacycle with NIR excitation and emission wavelengths and demonstrate application for deep tumour imaging and chemo-photo therapy.

Mechanical metamaterials can be engineered with properties not possible in ordinary materials. Here the authors demonstrate and study an active metamaterial with self-sensing characteristics that enables odd elastic properties not observed in passive media.

This study analyses radio observations of the jet in galaxy M87, from which the existence of a spinning black hole that induces Lense–Thirring precession of a misaligned accretion disk is inferred.

In this study, Qin et al. present a murine-adapted SARS-CoV-2 strain, MASCp36, as a model for studying the pathogenicity, evolution and adaptation of the virus to human and animal hosts.

Because open-circuit voltage deficit is greater in wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells, the authors introduce diammonium molecules to modify perovskite surface states and achieve a more uniform spatial distribution of surface potential, enabling record voltage all-perovskite tandem solar cells.

The authors study monolayer FeSe via scanning tunneling microscopy and simultaneous micron-scale-probe-based transport. They observe distinct superconducting phases in domains and on boundaries between domains, with different superconducting gaps and pairing temperatures.

Here, the authors experimentally demonstrate abilities of a mechanical Willis meta-layer, in beams and plates, for independently engineering transmission and reflection coefficients of flexural waves in both amplitude and phase and nonreciprocal wave propagation.

Differential spectrometers recognise different wavelength via their differential photodetector responsivity. The authors combine an 8-pixel hemispherical perovskite photodetector with neural network algorithms to realise 3D trajectory tracking and 2D location tacking with colour classification.

Low energy density and limited cyclability are preventing the commercialization of aqueous Zn–MnO₂ batteries. Here, the authors combine the merits of operating Zn anodes in alkaline conditions and MnO₂ cathodes in acidic conditions, via an electrolyte-decoupling strategy, to realize high-performance batteries.

Using a specialized tip as a detector, the fingerprints of a single atom of iron and terbium are observed in synchrotron X-ray absorption spectra, allowing elemental and chemical characterization one atom at a time.

Cross-hatch impressions from Ediacaran rocks in China are interpreted as having been left by a crown-group sponge fossil, Helicolocellus cantori gen. et sp. nov., characterized by an organic latticework skeleton.

Topologically associating domains (TADs) are critical structural units in 3D genome organization, and their reorganization between health and disease states is associated with essential genome functions. However, computational methods for identifying reorganized TADs are still in the early stages of development. Here, the authors present an algorithm leveraging random matrix theory to identify reorganized TADs.

Here authors present water molecular gating in nanofiltration membranes featuring graphene capillaries, which exhibit hindered osmotic diffusion while enabling swift water transport similar to Newton’s cradle-like Grotthus conduction.

Star motifs are ubiquitous throughout nature and in man-made architectures, but their molecular level design remains challenging. Here the authors present a stepwise approach to self-assemble pentagonal and hexagonal star-shaped metallo-architectures through the careful design of metallo-organic ligands.

3D imaging of catalyst nanoparticles during reactions is important but challenging. Here, the authors provide atomic-scale details of compositional and structural changes of 10 nm sized Co-Fe spinel nanoparticles during oxygen evolution reactions.

Sun et al. uncover a conserved mechanism by which ribosomes function in defining the position of pachytene piRNA formation on long single-stranded RNAs during spermatogenesis.

Precise assembly of heterometallic complexes is a challenge. Here, the authors design a heterometallic triangular necklace through a highly efficient threading-and-ring-closing approach driven by metal-ligand coordination, which shows strong bacterium-binding and cell wall/plasma membrane-disrupting capacity for killing bacterial cells.

By selectively erasing the nonlinear coefficients in a lithium niobate crystal using a femtosecond laser, a 3D nonlinear photonic crystal, with an effective conversion efficiency comparable to that of the typical quasi-phase-matching processes, is demonstrated.

Identifying and quantifying the biodistribution of synthetic polymeric nanoparticles in biological milieu is crucial for biomedical applications. Now, it has been shown that encoded polymeric amphiphiles with discrete molar masses undergo sequence- and length-dependent self-assembly into precise digital micelles that can be used in direct sequence reading and ex vivo label-free quantification assays.

The NLRP3 inflammasome plays a pivotal role in clearing viral respiratory infection, but the molecular mechanism is not fully known. Here authors show that acetate, produced by gut bacteria, may enhance NLRP3-mediated type I interferon production following influenza infection in mice.

Mechanically interlocked molecules are extensively applied as artificial molecular machines but rotaxane-branched dendrimers are rarely explored because of synthetic challenges. Here the authors present the construction of dual stimuli-responsive rotaxane-branched dendrimer which can be stimulated by DMSO or acetate ions.

Nested structures are common throughout nature and art, yet remain challenging synthetic targets in supramolecular chemistry. Here, the authors design multitopic terpyridine ligands that coordinate into nested concentric hexagons, and show that these discrete supramolecules display potent antimicrobial activity.

Thermally conductive polymers can be used for advanced thermal management applications but the transport mechanisms have yet to be elucidated. Here the authors report the synthesis of polyethylene films with high thermal conductivity, which is attributed to the amorphous regions of the nanofibers.

Studying the single-molecule behavior of host-guest complexes can provide fundamental insights into their supramolecular interactions. Here, the authors use the scanning tunneling microscopy break junction technique to show that encapsulation of a C₆₀ molecule significantly enhances the conductance of an organoplatinum metallocycle; mechanical stretching of the junction releases the guest, returning the conductance to free-host level.

Conflicts are known to disrupt agriculture, food supply chains and the economy at large. Mapping and quantifying such disruptions, although key for aid planning, remains a challenge in war zones. This study uses daytime and night-time satellite data from Syria over 1998–2019 to assess the link between war-induced impacts on infrastructure and urban areas with cropland dynamics.

The authors report a controllable third-order cusp singularity in the phase-tracked closed-loop oscillation of two coupled mechanical modes. This finding addresses the challenge of constructing and controlling higher-order singularities.

Here, the authors show that PDHE1α accumulates at DNA double-strand breaks, in a PARylation-dependent manner, where it locally supplies acetyl-CoA for histone acetylation. These events facilitate remodeling of the chromatin landscape and efficient repair.

While heat modification is ubiquitous in biologic systems, it remains a significant challenge in artificial systems. Here the authors demonstrate thermal regulation of conversion between different rigid macrocycle atropisomers and related self-assemblies.

Metal coordination of multitopic ligands is a powerful approach to building complex, functional architectures. Here, the authors construct three generations of fluorescent supramolecular rosettes by coordination of aggregation-induced emissive ligands, including a 2nd-generation macrocycle that emits pure white light.

Intermetallic nanoparticles comprised of early transition metals are attractive for fuel cell applications, but are generally limited to noble metal-based systems. Here, authors report non-precious early transition metal intermetallic nanoparticles with promising electrocatalytic performance for the hydrazine oxidation reaction.

While water splitting offers a carbon-neutral means to store energy, water oxidation is sluggish and corrosive over earth-abundant electrocatalysts. Here, authors show single ruthenium atoms over cobalt-iron layered double hydroxides to be effective and stable oxygen evolution electrocatalysts.

Fluorescent supramolecular coordination complexes are of interest for chemical sensing and optical devices. Here the authors synthesize nine organoplatinum metallacycles with high quantum yields, whose fluorescence wavelengths are tuned through manipulation of their photoinduced electron transfer and intramolecular charge transfer properties.

The authors investigate junctions made of two flakes of the cuprate superconductor Bi₂Sr_2-xLa_xCuO_6+y (Bi2201) twisted by 45 degrees. They find evidence for an isotropic pairing component, and call into question theoretical predictions of d+id superconductivity in this system.

Most cases of craniofacial microsomia are sporadic but familial cases have been reported. Here the authors report that variants in FOXI3 can cause a small fraction of cases with different modes of inheritance including autosomal dominant with reduced penetrance.

Controlling the self-assembly of large coordination cages is challenging owing to entropic costs and difficulties in error correction. Now an array of large cages prepared by the rational design of alterations that allow for the tuning of the dihedral angle between pentagonal subunits is reported.