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Ammonia cracking for H₂ is vital, but inexpensive Ni catalyst needs high temperatures due to slow N–N coupling. A photothermal Ni–CeO₂₋x/CNT with defect-rich interfaces speeds N–H cleavage, eases N–N coupling, delivering high H₂ rates and 50 h stability.

A Ni single-atom catalyst on CdS efficiently converts polylactic acid bioplastic into hydrogen and valuable chemicals using sunlight, offering a sustainable strategy for bioplastic waste recycling.

Contaminants such as CO₂ and H₂S present in natural gas and biogas streams must be removed before use; existing strategies to do so can be rather complex. Here, the authors use a fluorinated porous metal–organic framework to remove CO₂ and H₂S from CH₄-rich feeds in a single step, potentially simplifying the process.

Ni-catalysed multicomponent reductive cross-coupling of aziridines, thiourea dioxide and alkyl halides enables the ligand-controlled synthesis of β-amino sulfides and disulfides. A planar ligand facilitates the oxidative addition of Ni^I–SR to Ni^III for monosulfurating, whereas a non-planar ligand promotes Ni^I–SR dimerization into a sulfido-bridged species for disulfurating.

Intramolecular proton relays are proposed to enhance oxygen evolution for heterogeneous (hydro)oxide electrocatalysts, but molecular-level evidence remains limited. Now it has been shown, using an aza-fused microporous polymer with Ni–Fe sites, that adjacent Ni³⁺–OH sites relay protons from Fe⁴⁺=O, accelerating the water nucleophilic attack pathway and achieving high turnover frequencies with pH-tunable kinetics.

Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

Li and colleagues describe a monocyte-specific transcriptional state along with a persistent elevation of inflammatory markers specifically found in individuals with long COVID who had mild-to-moderate disease during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Molecular scaffolds bearing 1,1-diaryl-substituted four-membered rings remain difficult to access using traditional synthesis. Now it has been shown that a modular, nickel-electrocatalytic sequence enables the programmable, scalable and chemoselective synthesis of these high-value motifs, offering broad utility across drug discovery and showcasing strategic applications to patented intermediates.

An outstanding question about the iron-based superconductors has been whether or not their magnetic characteristics are dominated by itinerant or localized magnetic moments. Absolute measurements and calculations of the magnetic response of undoped and Ni-doped BaFe₂As₂ indicate the latter.

This study demonstrates how CO₂ directs defect control during the synthesis of Mn-rich sodium layered oxides, improving the stability and performance of earth-abundant positive electrode materials in non-aqueous sodium-based rechargeable batteries.

Controlled dislocation self-assembly is demonstrated in discontinuous-columnar Bi(Fe,Mn)O₃ thin film. Guiding dislocations along grain boundaries tailors polarization homogeneity, revealing a microstructure-driven design principle for ferroelectrics.

A dynamic interconversion of three nickel states in lithium nickel oxide is demonstrated using evidence from x-ray spectroscopic data and first-principles calculations, which explains many physical properties of this and similar materials.

Here the authors report NiGa₂O_4–x(OH)_y for light-driven CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol. The surface Lewis acid–base pairs and -OH groups act as conduits for H^- /H⁺ transport to active sites, enhancing photocatalytic methanol production.

Bulk superconductivity has been observed up to 96 K in pressurized bilayer nickelate single crystals which were synthesized under ambient pressure.

Proving sustainable chemical plastic recycling must rely on realistic feedstocks and sustainability-driven catalyst design. Here, the authors report titania-supported Ru–Ni alloy nanoparticles achieving up to 55% liquid (C6 to C45) products for low-carbon and profitable polyethylene hydrogenolysis and determine a metric for sustainable product distributions.

Biological system for stable object manipulation is facilitated by a unified tactile memory system. Here, GenForce enables transferable force sensing across diverse tactile sensors using a unified representation, enhancing robot manipulation through cross-sensor transfer and multi-sensor coordination.

Developing new transformations of bulky chemicals is an important approach to expand the horizons of current chemistry. Instead of traditional hydroarylation of dienes, the authors herein demonstrate a nickel-catalyzed arylative telomerization of isoprene with high chemo- and regioselectivities.

A non-coplanar axially chiral molecular contact favours the crystalline growth of perovskite film and improves interfacial stability in perovskite solar cells. Small-area devices yield a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.44% and maintain 98% of it after 2,000 hours of operation.

Viral ribonucleoprotein–viral protein networks form pre-replication centres that nucleate viral factories and drive respiratory syncytial virus replication.

Large-scale computational and in vitro analyses identify commensal type III secretion systems and substrates in the human gut microbiome that can interact with human proteins to modulate immune pathways.

The distinct architecture of the Escherichia coli membrane transporter LetA mediates lipid trafficking across the bacterial envelope in partnership with the tunnel-like complex LetB.

A martensitic alloy with a tensile strength exceeding 3 GPa and a fracture elongation of 5.13% is developed. These mechanical properties arise from interface complexes interacting with dense dislocation networks, which is a mechanism shown to be applicable to other compositions.

Wafer bonding has allowed the synthesis of twisted interfaces which support polar discontinuities in ferroelectric lithium niobate. Two-dimensional sheet conductivity arises but is suppressed when twist angles lead to interfacial lattice aperiodicity.

The development of seawater electrolysis for green hydrogen production is crucial to addressing energy shortages. Here, the authors report that integrating NiFe sulfides with MXene enhances oxygen evolution reaction efficiency and stability, achieving 1000 hours of durability in seawater electrolysis.

Engineered mucus-tethering bispecific nanobodies neutralize and entrap viruses to enhance mucosal immunity, preventing influenza infection and limiting SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

A combination of biochemical, cell biological and electron microscopy analyses reveal a ‘nucleotide code’ that coordinates Lis1–dynein binding stoichiometry, which in turn governs Lis1’s ability to relieve dynein autoinhibition.

The mechanisms underlying increased cardiometabolic risk from cancer treatment in childhood cancer survivors remain to be explored. Here, epigenome-wide analysis in childhood cancer survivors identified DNA methylation sites that mediate treatment-related cardiometabolic risks and are associated with inflammatory and metabolic pathways.

Natural antimicrobial peptides and enzymes are good candidates for application but suffer from low stability. Here, the authors report on biomimetic self-assembling peptides which mimic both antimicrobial peptide and enzyme functionality, demonstrating application against fungal infection.

An Ni-electrocatalytic system can couple two different carboxylates using doubly decarboxylative cross-coupling, tolerating a range of functional groups, being scalable, used for the synthesis of 32 known compounds and reducing overall step counts by 73%.

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.

High-entropy nanocarbides (HENCs) containing 5–22 metal elements are synthesized through a nanoconfined impulse synthetic strategy enabled by Joule heating-induced in situ reactions in carbon nanotube films. These HENCs exhibit multi-element effects and enhanced electrocatalytic activities due to their nanoscale size and modified catalytic sites.

Large-effect variants in autism remain elusive. Here, the authors use long-read sequencing to assemble phased genomes for 189 individuals, identifying pathogenic variants in TBL1XR1, MECP2, and SYNGAP1, plus nine candidate structural variants missed by short-read methods.

The industrial viability of alcohol electrooxidation is hindered due to low reaction rates. Here, the authors report a synergistic approach that integrating an active electrode (Ni_0.67V_0.33-layered double hydroxide) and aminoxyl radical to enhance the oxidation of alcohols at high current densities.

The authors combine multiscale simulations with electrochemical and surface characterization to investigate the formation and dissolution kinetics of passivating oxides on Ni-Cr alloys, probing the interdependent effects of alloy composition, temperature, pH, and applied voltage.

Li-ion cathode active materials are transitioning from poly- to single-crystal structures. However, the performance of high Ni-content single-crystal cathodes remains below expectations. Here, via Al/Zr co-doping, the authors propose a strategy to mitigate structural degradation in this class of materials.

Metal–sulfur motifs are commonly found in enzymatic active sites and heterogeneous catalysis, but they remain underexplored in porous solids. Now, sulfur-based ligands have been incorporated into metal–organic frameworks through post-synthetic modifications. The resulting sulfide MOFs exhibit enhanced catalytic performance in the selective hydrogenation of nitroarenes compared with their parent MOFs containing terminal or bridging chloride and hydroxyl groups.

The mismatched bilateral bond strength between NiO_x and perovskite hinders the development of inverted perovskite solar cells. Here, authors adsorb 1-(benzothiaxole-2-ylthio)succinic acid on NiO_x surface for passivating bilateral defects and achieve maximum efficiency close to 27% in stable devices.

Taveneau et al. leverage artificial-intelligence-driven protein design to create inhibitors that control RNA-targeting enzymes in cells, revealing a strategy to rapidly design off-switches for RNA-editing systems.

Predictive electrocatalyst design is challenged by uncontrollable precatalyst reconstruction during operation. Here, informed by operando spectroscopies, activation protocols are developed to stabilize surfaces and improve catalyst reliability.

Electrochemical CO reduction to multi-carbon products offers a carbon-negative approach to produce chemicals, but the intricate reaction pathways lead to a broad spectrum of products. Now it has been shown that alkali cations alter the mechanistic pathways that govern the reaction selectivity involved in the formation of hydrocarbons versus oxygenates.

PCNA–PAF15 has a key role in determining replisome dynamics during genome replication and protecting against genome instability.

In targeted protein degradation, a degrader molecule brings a neosubstrate protein proximal to a hijacked E3 ligase for its ubiquitination. Here, pseudo-natural products derived from (−)-myrtanol—iDegs—are identified to inhibit and induce degradation of the immunomodulatory enzyme indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) by a distinct mechanism. iDegs prime apo-IDO1 ubiquitination and subsequent degradation using its native proteolytic pathway.

Anion-exchange membrane water electrolysers have the potential to rival more costly acidic proton-exchange membrane electrolysers, but their performance and efficiency commonly still fall short. Now an anion-exchange membrane water electrolyser is prepared with a NiFe layered double hydroxide catalyst-coated membrane that achieves high current densities above 2 A cm⁻² at 1.8 V and operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy is used to track the formation of the catalytically active γ-LDH phase.