While heterogeneous hydrogenation processes are widely employed industrial reactions, there is a murky understanding of how heterolytic hydrogenations operate. Now, interfacial polarization is shown to have a profound impact over catalysis by platinum surfaces, demonstrating the hidden role of electrochemistry in thermal catalysis.
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Xu, Y., Xu, B. Electrochemistry lurks beneath the surface of thermocatalytic hydrogenations. Nat. Chem. 18, 10–11 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-025-02024-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-025-02024-2
