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Catalysts synthesized by current methods for CO₂ electroreduction to CO exhibit limited activity and selectivity over broad potentials. Here, the authors report an in situ etching method to create NiN₂ sites with uniform-large vacancies that achieve high activity across a wide potential window.

Transferring molecular motion to macroscopic shape change of a crystal has potential application in actuators, or ‘artificial muscles’. Now, a single crystal of a Ni complex has been shown to exhibit a large, abrupt, temperature-induced crystal expansion/contraction near room temperature. The crystal deformation is induced by a collective 90° rotation of oxalate anions in the complex.

Although transition metal-based complexes featuring metal atoms in formally negative oxidation states are known, their stabilization without an organic ligand remains challenging. Now, lanthanide–nickel intermetallic complexes featuring an organic-ligand-free Ni²⁻ ion bound to electropositive lanthanides have been stabilized in fullerenes.

Allylic amines are versatile building blocks in organic synthesis and exist in bioactive compounds, but efficient catalytic systems for hydroaminoalkylation of alkynes are needed. Here, the authors report a late transition metal‐catalyzed hydroaminoalkylation of alkynes with N‐sulfonyl amines, providing a series of allylic amines in up to 94% yield.

The authors report a study increasing hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis kinetics over a Ni(OH)₂/CNT material. They show that the catalyst enhances H₂O dissociation and proton transfer in neutral media.

Commercially viable catalytic CO₂ electroreduction to CO would enable many green technologies, yet it is impeded by the initial hydrogenation step of CO₂. Here, the authors report Ni-Cd dual atom catalysts with complementary properties of favorable adsorption of CO₂ and H to overcome this barrier.

Propane oxidative dehydrogenation offers a promising path for propylene production, but selective propylene formation with minimal COx remains challenging. Here, the authors introduce dual-atom catalysts achieving just 5.2% COx selectivity at 46.1% propane conversion (520 °C) with stable performance for over 1000 hours.

While many catalytic modes of palladium have been able to be supplanted by nickel catalysis, which is more Earth-abundant, enantioselective nickel-catalysed C–H activation remains unexplored. Here, the authors report an enantioselective C–H activation of metallocenes via a nickel–1′-bi-2-naphthol catalytic system.

Fan et al. describe DF-003, an alpha-kinase 1 (ALPK1) inhibitor that targets the root cause of the rare genetic disease ROSAH syndrome, demonstrating the ability of DF-003 to inhibit ocular inflammatory pathology in ROSAH model mice.

Artificial photosynthesis to produce CH₃OH holds promise but faces selectivity challenges. Here, the authors report a defect-phase synergetic NiTi-TiO₂ system that achieves almost 100% CH₃OH selectivity in pure H₂O by successfully controlling the evolution of key reaction intermediates.

Low-temperature CO₂ methanation processes have potential for improved energy efficiency due to high equilibrium conversion but are generally limited by poor catalyst activity. Here the authors report an inverse CeZrO_x/Ni catalyst that realizes high low-temperature (200 °C) methanation activity at ambient pressure.

Understanding the sustained stability of alkaline hydrogen evolution at high current densities is crucial. Herein, the authors synthesize Ni single atoms, modified with ultra-small Ru nanoparticles with a defective carbon bridging structure, capable of running steadily for 100 h at 3 A cm⁻².

The authors develop a miniaturized Mg3Bi2-based thermoelectric cooler, achieving a high cooling power density of 5.7 W cm-2 and a cooling speed of 65 K s-1, demonstrating great promise for localized thermal management in electronics.

An inverse CeAlO_x/Ni/Ni-foam structured catalyst with high thermal stability and water resistance is shown to be effective at CO₂ methanation across a wide temperature range because of efficient heat/mass transport.

Pt-based catalysts are the state of the art for the oxygen reduction reaction. Now the three-dimensional local atomic structure of PtNi and Mo-doped PtNi nanoparticles is revealed via atomic electron tomography, and a local environment descriptor of catalytic activity is put forwards.

Employing appropriate catalysts in room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries can significantly enhance performance. Here, authors utilize natural language processing techniques in conjunction with a binary descriptor to screen preferrable single-atom catalysts to achieve high specific capacity.

Light-driven synthesis of hydrocarbons could be an attractive route to fuels, but approaches towards this have typically needed H₂ as a reactant. Here the authors report that a TiO_2−x/Ni catalyst can produce hydrocarbons from CO and water at atmospheric pressure in a light-driven process.

The oxidative dehydrogenation of propane by CO₂ (CO₂-ODHP) can potentially fill the gap of propylene production while consuming a greenhouse gas. Here, the authors identify non-precious FeNi and precious NiPt catalysts supported on CeO₂ as promising catalysts for CO₂-ODHP and dry reforming, respectively, in flow reactor studies.

The authors show that the endoplasmic reticulum-phagy receptor FAM134B interacts with SCAP to regulate cholesterol biosynthesis, sequestering SCAP when endoplasmic reticulum cholesterol is high but dissociating upon low cholesterol levels, allowing SCAP to activate cholesterol synthesis.

Local structure control is challenging in high entropy alloy (HEA) catalysts. Here, the authors report finely tailoring the local clustering in HEA catalysts through rational composition design and sequential pulse annealing, achieving enhanced activity and stability for ethanol electrooxidation.

Urea electrooxidation often produces harmful cyanates and nitrites instead of N2, limiting its use in wastewater denitrification. Here, the authors develop an asymmetric Ni–O–Ti catalytic sites on Ti foam that reduce these byproducts, achieve 99% N2 selectivity, and boost H2 evolution.

An electrostatic-repulsion-enabled advanced transfer technique based on ammonia solution is introduced for separating van der Waals thin-film materials from their substrates, demonstrating suitability for its use in the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) industry.

Considerable attention has been drawn to tune the geometric and electronic structure of interfacial catalysts via modulating strong metal-support interactions (SMSI). Here the authors report the remarkable catalytic performance of CO hydrogenation over an interfacial TiO_2−x/Ni catalyst by means of SMSI.

Indian dwarf wheat (Triticum sphaerococcum) is thermotolerant, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here, the authors report the cloning of the heat tolerance gene encoding a STKc_GSK3 kinase and its variation affects phosphorylation level of downstream TaPIF4 in determining thermotolerance.

The catalytic asymmetric synthesis of axially chiral alkenes remains a challenge due to the lower rotational barrier, especially for longer stereogenic axis. Here the authors report a nickel-catalyzed atroposelective radical relayed reductive coupling reaction of ethynyl-azaborines with alkyl/aryl halides through a boron-stabilized vinyl radical intermediate.

Single-metal-atom chains (SMACs) possess unique quantum properties yet suffer from structural instability. Here, the authors develop a computational protocol to screen transition metals capable of forming SMACs that are coherently confined in MoS₂ twin boundaries and stabilised by surrounding lattices. Their theoretical predictions are validated by experimentally synthesised Co, Ni, Pd, and Pt atomic chains.

Reversing the thermal induced sintering phenomenon and forming high temperature stable fine dispersed metallic centers is one of the ever-lasting targets in heterogeneous catalysis. Here the authors report the dispersion of metallic Ni particles into under-coordinated two-dimensional Ni clusters over γ-Mo₂N.

Real-time monitoring of the structural evolution of catalysts is essential for uncovering catalytic mechanisms and enhancing performance. Here, the authors report a time-resolved measurement that reveals the reconstruction of NiFe-based (oxy)hydroxides, facilitating highly active oxygen evolution.

Using laser powder bed fusion and a tailored heat treatment, the authors produce NiTi shape memory alloys with improved strength, ductility, and superelasticity enabled by high-density of Ni-rich local chemical inhomogeneity entities.

There is tremendous ongoing effort in the development of electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution. Here, the authors report that single nickel atoms dispersed on graphitic supports are formed by carbonization of metal-organic frameworks and that they are highly active hydrogen evolution catalysts.

Dual-scale chemical ordering in CoNiV-based alloys improves the synergy of strength and ductility at cryogenic temperatures, providing an approach for obtaining high-performance metallic materials for cryogenic applications.

Urea electrooxidation reaction is of great importance in energy related applications and devices but is limited by competing oxygen evolution reaction. Here, the authors report oxyanion-engineered nickel catalysts that can achieve efficient urea oxidation while suppressing oxygen evolution reaction.

Radiation-induced malignantly transformed cells undergo multi-scale 3D genome reorganization. TP63 acts as a key mediator, creating accessible chromatin sites that form tumour-specific loops activating the MYC oncogene during malignant transformation.

An in-built fluoropolyether-based quasi-solid-state polymer electrolyte enables high-capacity lithium-rich manganese-based layered oxide cathodes with stable interfaces, achieving 604 Wh kg⁻¹ pouch-cell energy density.

The role of cations in the CO₂ electroreduction is crucial, but elusive. Here, the authors combine electrokinetic on a well-defined single-atom catalyst with grand canonical potential kinetics simulations to provide an in-depth study of the interaction of K ⁺ -ions with adsorbed CO₂⁻.

Typical quantum error correcting codes assign fixed roles to the underlying physical qubits. Now the performance benefits of alternative, dynamic error correction schemes have been demonstrated on a superconducting quantum processor.

Multicomponent, nanoscale heterostructures may exhibit notable catalytic properties imparted by the various building blocks. Here, the authors fabricate metal/sulfide heterostructures via direct sulfurization of segregated platinum-nickel nanowires, and assess their hydrogen evolution performance.

Artificial organelles can potentially be used support cellular functions, but there is a trade-off between cellular uptake and cellular retention. Here, the authors report the dynamic assembly of DNA-ceria-based artificial peroxisomes in cells, and show they can be used to reduce intracellular ROS.

Monocytes derived from bone marrow leucocytes are chemically conjugated with a Tau-specific aptamer via bioorthogonal chemistry, enabling systemic delivery across the blood–brain barrier and targeted clearance of extracellular Tau in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models.

Lithium cobalt oxide is widely studied for electrocatalytic applications. Here, the authors develop a technique for delithiating the material in organic electrolyte, and demonstrate that the oxygen evolution catalytic activity is significantly improved after the treatment.

Azetidine is a pharmacophore present in drug-related molecules. Here the authors unveil a two-metalloenzyme cascade leading to the azetidine-containing polyoximic acid, in which PolE functions as an Fe²⁺/pterin-dependent l-isoleucine desaturase, while PolF is a haem-oxygenase-like diiron oxidase, orchestrating the sequential desaturation and cyclization. These findings expand our knowledge of metalloenzymes.

Seawater electrolysis at ampere-level current densities demands durable anodes for practical hydrogen production. Here, the authors report that a single non-oxygen anion enables dual modulation of surface and interlayer structures, stabilizing layered double hydroxide anodes for over 5,000 hours.

Recently, superconductivity near 80 K was observed in La3Ni2O7 under high pressure, but the mechanism is debated. Here the authors report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements under ambient pressure, revealing flat bands with strong electronic correlations that could be linked to superconductivity.

The ability to form pores in the plasma membrane of host airway epithelial cells is a common feature of many structurally diverse allergens that induce type 2 immune responses by stimulating IL-33 release and causing Ca²⁺ influx.

The working temperature of boron-based catalysts reduces their thermodynamic advantages in the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP). Here the authors demonstrate encapsulated Ni nanoparticles as effective subsurface promoters to enhance the low temperature activity and selectivity of the boron oxide overlayer in ODHP.

A miniaturized ultraviolet spectral imager based on a cascaded AlGaN/GaN photodiode with a compositionally graded active region enables spectral imaging in the 250–365 nm range. The device allows the classification of different types of organics, such as oils and milk, in a single-shot imaging modality.

Urea oxidation could be a lower-energy alternative to water oxidation in hydrogen-producing electrolysers, but improved catalysts are required to facilitate the reaction. Geng et al. report nickel ferrocyanide as a promising catalyst and suggest that it operates via a different pathway to that of previous materials.

Migratory alkene isomerizations and cross-coupling reactions are both possible under nickel catalysis, but usually require different conditions. Here the authors show a combined protocol to isomerize a double bond and then, via an in-situ exchange of ligands, perform an enantioselective C(sp2)–C(sp3) cross-coupling.

Hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells are promising as an energy conversion technology, but require platinum group metal electrocatalysts for their application. A Ni-based hydrogen oxidation reaction catalyst is now shown to exhibit unprecedented electrochemical performance.

Designing superelastic materials with high critical stress, large recovery strain and temperature-independent modulus is desired but challenging. Here, the authors achieve these properties in a high-entropy alloy with multi-scale heterogeneities.