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An electrothermal fluorination methodology has been developed to transform granular activated carbon-sorbed aqueous film-forming foam waste into graphene and a fluorinating reagent, subsequently enabling lithium recovery from brine sources.

Natural gas is a widely used fossil fuel, but its extraction results in the venting of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Here, the authors demonstrate that nucleophilic porous carbons can store this carbon dioxide as a polymer, and that the polymerization requires lower pressures than previously observed.

A microwave-assisted process is developed for the rapid and scalable manufacture of pure-phase metallic MoS₂ nanosheets, enabling practical electrochemical devices for energy applications.

Graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes have high electrical conductivities and large specific surface areas. Here, these properties are extended into three dimensions by producing a seamless carbon nanotube graphene hybrid material.

On the electrocardiogram, the PR interval reflects conduction from the atria to ventricles and also serves as risk indicator of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Here, the authors perform genome-wide meta-analyses for PR interval in multiple ancestries and identify 141 previously unreported genetic loci.

Coal is widely used for energy generation, but has not been considered for possible functional materials. Here, the authors report the one-step formation of graphene quantum dots from coal at yields of up to 20%, which is advantageous when compared with their syntheses from sp²-type carbon structures.

Flexible electronic devices are widely considered to have significant potential for a range of applications. Here the authors present a bendable and transparent memory based on graphene electrical contacts and silica as the memory element.

The controllable modification of graphene by chemical functionalization can modulate its optical and electronic properties. Sunet al. devise a functionalisation-based method to pattern graphane/graphene superlattices within a single sheet of graphene.

The orientation of a molecule on a surface affects many processes, so the ability to control single-molecule rotation could be powerful. Here, the authors use the electric field from a scanning tunneling microscope tip to precisely induce unidirectional rotation of a polar molecule, allowing visualization of the molecule’s internal dipole moment.

Carbon-based structures are being intensively investigated for their use in electronic devices. A pronounced non-volatile switching is now observed in two-terminal devices made from graphitic sheets. The highly reliable switching mechanism is explained by the local breaking and rejoining of atomic bonds in the sheets.

A carbon revolution has occurred — carbon atoms can be coaxed into several topologies to make materials with unique properties. Nanotubes are the vanguard of this innovation, and are on the cusp of commercial exploitation as the multifunctional components of the next generation of composite materials.

Whereas transitions from solid- to fluid-like states in systems of active particles have received much attention, the characterization of phase transitions in active fluids with self-organized vortices so far has remained elusive. James et al. take us on a numerical tour de force from active turbulence to active vortex crystals.

The scalable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly production of solid-state materials is crucial for next-generation material synthesis. Now an efficient and gram-scale synthesis of transition metal dichalcogenides, group XIV dichalcogenides and non-transition metal dichalcogenides has been achieved using the flash-within-flash heating technique, a non-equilibrium, ultrafast heat conduction method.

The tourism carbon footprint grew 2.3 times faster than the rest of the economy, reaching nearly 9% of global emissions by 2019. Rapid tourism demand growth (3.8% per year) has outpaced energy efficiency gains among businesses (0.3% per year).

Activated carbon has been widely used for PFAS adsorption, but this method generates secondary solid wastes. The flash Joule heating approach realizes mineralization of PFAS and generation of useful flash graphene in waste granular activated carbon.

Flash recycling method can achieve nondestructive cathode regeneration effectively with higher environmental and economic benefits over traditional destructive recycling processes.

Sustainable end-of-life management strategies for fibre-reinforced plastics are urgently needed from a sustainability perspective. Here the authors develop a solvent-free flash upcycling method, enabling ultrafast and efficient upcycling of fibre-reinforced plastics to fulfil such a need.

In contrast to photothermal therapy requiring high powers over extended times and photodynamic therapy being abrogated by inhibitors of reactive oxygen species, actuation of vibronic modes in single molecules—molecular jackhammers—can now induce efficient cancer cell death. Here, the mechanical disassembly of cell membranes is characterized as the underlying mechanism by which this vibronic-driven action promotes necrotic cell death.

Therapeutic resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment is incompletely understood in adolescent and young-adult (AYA) patients with melanoma. Here, the authors demonstrate that AYA patients exhibit a unique stroma-infiltrating T cell immunogenomic profile compared with adults, which impacts on their responsiveness to immunotherapy.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent and bioaccumulative pollutants in soil. Here, the authors developed a rapid electrothermal mineralization method that can efficiently mineralize PFAS while maintaining soil properties.

Exciton-polaritons are part-light part-matter states in semiconductors. Here the authors leverage momentum-resolved optical microscopy to image ballistic and diffusive propagation of exciton-polaritons on femtosecond scales.

In the popular nineteenth century fairy tale and perhaps among the first tales of upcycling, Rumpelstiltskin spun waste straw into gold. Now, researchers convert straw and other cellulosic waste biomass into reduced graphene oxide, a valuable and prized nanomaterial, through a simple reaction.

Here, a combined experiment-theory framework based on different nano-imaging techniques and first-principle calculations is used to analyse the shapes of moiré patterns in twisted van der Waals structures, enabling an accurate description of the coupling between the atomically thin layers.

Soil contamination is a pressing environmental concern due to increasing anthropogenic activity. Here, the authors developed a rapid and energy-efficient electrothermal process that simultaneously removes heavy metals and organic pollutants in soil.

Intercellular calcium waves drive numerous biological processes. Here light-activated molecular machines that—via nanomechanical action—stimulate ICW are reported, opening up avenues for the modulation of downstream biological processes using molecular-scale devices.

There is ongoing interest in the development of non-precious metal catalysts for hydrogen evolution. Here, the authors fabricate a cobalt catalyst in which the cobalt is dispersed as single atoms on nitrogen-doped graphene, and report its high activity and stability for water reduction in acidic media.

Metal recycling plays a crucial role in mitigating the shortage of critical metals. Here the authors develop an electrothermal chlorination process incorporating direct electric heating into chlorination metallurgy for rapid and selective recovery of metals that are critical in electronics.

The straightforward and scalable synthesis and patterning of graphene-based nanomaterials remains a technological challenge. Here, the authors use a CO₂infrared laser, under ambient conditions, to directly produce and pattern porous graphene films with three-dimensional networks from commercial polymer films.

Nanoscale carbides provide access to ultra-strong ceramics and show activity as high-performance catalysts. Here, the authors report a flash Joule heating process for the ultrafast, general synthesis of various transition metal carbides nanocrystals with phase controllability.

High-surface-area corundum are used in ceramics and catalyst supports, yet the synthesis is hampered by high energy barrier and aggregation. Here the authors report the ultrafast synthesis of corundum nanoparticles via the resistive hotspot triggered phase transformation in electric heating process.

CO₂ is often found alongside CH₄ in natural gas wells; therefore, separation of the gases is an important industrial process. Jalilov et al. demonstrate that the adsorption selectivity for CO₂ over CH₄ can be significantly enhanced through introduction of water into the pores of a high-surface-area carbon.

In the field of multiferroic thin films, attaining low-temperature epitaxy has been a long-standing problem. In this work, authors propose a pathway to significantly reduce the BiFeO₃ thin film growth temperature using the BaBiPbO₃ template.