Search

Quantum low-density parity-check error correction codes are anticipated to deliver high performance, but require long-range qubit–qubit interactions. Two of these error correction codes have now been successfully implemented on a superconducting device.

Converting carbon dioxide into valuable multi-carbon products remains challenging under acidic conditions. Here, the authors develop a covalent organic framework–modified copper nitrate catalyst that enables stable ethylene production at high current densities.

Surface reconstruction during reactions often generates unique active sites that boost catalytic performance. Here, the authors show that supported Ni₃InC₀.₅ nanoparticles undergo CO₂-induced surface oxidation, forming defective In₂O₃₋ₓ layers and inverse In₂O₃₋ₓ/Ni interfaces during CO₂ hydrogenation.

A certified flexible perovskite/crystalline silicon tandem solar cell has efficiencies rivalling its rigid counterparts and demonstrates exceptional mechanical robustness and stability.

The valorization of glycerol to propylene glycol is economically attractive but involves high hydrogen pressures. Here, the authors report a thermo-electroreduction strategy using a cobalt-cluster-on-copper catalyst, which enables propylene glycol production even at ampere level current density.

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.

This work investigates crystallinity-dependent structural evolution mechanisms of CoS2 during the oxygen evolution reaction, showing that CoS2 with lower crystallinity enhances the transformation of the bulk phase into sulfur-stabilized oxyhydroxide, improving performance.

One challenge for spin-based electronics is the controlled and reliable switching of magnetization without magnetic fields. Here, Liu et al investigate a variety of compositions of CoPt, and determine the specific composition to maximize switching performance, potentially simplifying device design.

An electron transfer mechanism that involves a light-triggered geometric conversion between metal and oxygen redox chemistry shows superior performance compared with approaches that use either metal or oxygen redox chemistry.

Circumventing linear scaling relationships in multi-step catalytic reactions is meaningful but challenging. Here, the authors report a method to break this scaling relationship in the oxygen evolution reaction through dynamic regulation of the active site in a Ni-Fe molecular complex catalyst.

The fabrication of singly dispersed metal cluster catalysts with atomic-level control of dopants is a long-standing challenge. Here, the authors report a strategy for the synthesis of a precisely doped single cluster catalyst which shows exceptional activity for electrochemical dinitrogen reduction.

A dynamic Cu–Pt dual-atom catalyst supported on 1Tʹ-MoS₂ can be electrically switched between single- and dual-atom configurations, enabling on-demand control for alkyne semi-hydrogenation.

A versatile hydrothermal approach in an operando acidic environment created ferromagnetic single-atom spin catalysts (SASCs). Ni-based SASC exhibits a giant magnetic field enhancement of OER activity, boosting both water and saline water electrolysis.

A predictive descriptor to guide spinel catalyst design for Li–S batteries is still lacking. Here, authors use a series of metal chromites to investigate the effect of t2 orbital occupancy on the polysulfide conversion activity of spinel oxides, and reveal a volcano-shaped relationship between them.

Co-deposition of copper thiocyanate with perovskite on textured silicon enables an efficient perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with a certified power conversion efficiency of 31.46% for 1 cm² area devices.

Immobilized cobalt phthalocyanine shows promise in CO₂ electroreduction to methanol. However, the reaction mechanism remains unclear. This study reveals that cathodic potential critically influences methanol production by altering the symmetry and binding properties at the cobalt active center.

The mechanical stability of interfaces in perovskite solar cells is not well understood. Chen, Wang, Wang et al. investigate the strength of the bonds between layers and the corresponding effects on the chemical and mechanical stability of perovskite solar cells.

Cobalt-based subsurface dopants induce a shift in the rate-determining step of electrochemical CO₂ reduction on copper to the chemical step: OCCO* + H* → OCCHO* + *. Electrochemical production of ethylene over the optimized catalyst is achieved at low voltage and high current in a membrane electrode assembly system.

Revealing catalyst structural evolution during catalysis is critical. Here, authors reveal that a Cu-Ag oxide precursor undergoes a transformation during CO electroreduction to a composite consisting of Ag nanoparticles enveloped by thin layers of amorphous Cu, which is likely the real active phase.

Copper catalysts are widely studied for electrochemical CO2 conversion, but their structural changes during reactions require further investigation. Here the authors propose that Cu undergoes transformation through alkali cation-induced cathodic corrosion when exposed to sufficiently negative potentials in the presence of alkali cations in the electrolyte.

Regulating spin state of metal cations in catalysts is recognized as a strategy to improve water oxidation. Herein, the authors constructed high-spin cobalt ions in cobalt oxyhydroxides, experimentally demonstrating accelerated electron transfer ability and thereby superior water oxidation performance.

A strategy for engineering photon-avalanche nanoparticles is proposed such that they exhibit an unprecedentedly strong nonlinear optical response and their emissions scale by more than 500th power of the pump intensity.

Traditional oxime synthesis involves hazardous, energy-intensive processes, highlighting the need for greener alternatives. Here, the authors report anode-cathode cascade electrosynthesis that sustainably and efficiently produces various oximes from hydroxyl compounds and nitrate.

A general versatile approach combining wet-chemistry impregnation and two-step annealing is devised for the scalable synthesis of a library of ultra-high-density single-atom catalysts with drastically enhanced reactivity.

While water-splitting provides a renewable means to generate fuel, the water-oxidation half-reaction is considered a bottleneck process. Here, authors tune lattice oxygen reactivity and scaling relations via alkali metal ion mediation in NaMn₃O₇ for oxygen evolution electrocatalysis.

In existing soft robotic sensing strategies, additional components and design changes are often required to sense the environment. Zou et al. introduce a retrofit self-sensing strategy for soft pneumatic actuators, utilizing internal pressure variations arising from interactions.

Heterogeneous single-atom catalysts (SACs) offer high atom utilization and well-defined active sites but face challenges in multi-stage cross-couplings due to limited coordination and reactivity. Here, the authors introduce SACs on reducible carriers, enabling adaptive coordination to bypass oxidative addition in cross-couplings.

Heterogeneous geminal-atom catalysts, which pair single-atom sites in specific coordination and spatial proximity, offer a new avenue for the sustainable manufacture of fine chemicals.

Controlling the kinetics and thermodynamics of electrochemical processes is essential to achieve high-performance multielectron reduction. Here, the authors report laser-induced copper bipyramids with abundant nanograins and controlled tip angles for enhanced multielectron CO₂ and nitrate reduction.

We report the production of MoS₂ nanosheets with high phase purity, showing that the 2H-phase templates facilitate epitaxial growth of Pt nanoparticles, whereas the 1T′ phase supports single-atomically dispersed Pt atoms.

Coupled oxygen evolution mechanism provides an optimized electron transfer route during oxygen evolution process, but the underlying structure-activity relationship is still unclear. Here the authors investigate the role of eg* band broadening on the coupled oxygen evolution mechanism-based activities for Fe-doped NiOOH materials.

Development of suitable methanol oxidation reaction catalysts for direct methanol fuel cells is challenging due to sluggish kinetics. Herein, authors show that four-coordinate nickel atoms form charge-transfer orbitals near the Fermi energy level, leading to remarkable methanol oxidation activity.

Large potentials required for C(sp³)-H bond activation and low water solubility make electrochemical functionalization of alkanes challenging. Here, the authors report that Pt/IrO_x enables selective generation of Cl free radicals for chlorination of cyclohexane at industrially relevant rates.

Electroreduction of CO₂ to fuels and chemicals is promising but hindered by its low energy efficiency. Here, the authors develop Cu/Ga bimetallic catalysts with reduced activation energies to mitigate the high concentration overpotential, thereby achieving high energy efficiency for CO₂ reduction.

Precise control of water oxidation activity calls for the mastery of surface reconstruction of electrocatalysts. Here, the authors identify the structural origin of surface reconstruction on spinel oxides and report a criterion to evaluate the reconstruction degree, which enable the design of spinel pre-catalyst with controlled reconstruction ability.

A general method for the synthesis of high-purity crystals of metastable 1T′-phase transition metal dichalcogenides is reported, providing a source of phase-engineered materials that can be used to systematically explore their intrinsic properties.

Non-thermal plasma enables direct methane conversion to valuable C₂ hydrocarbons, but selectivity is hindered by C₂H₆ formation and over-dehydrogenation. Here, the authors present a shielded bifunctional nanoreactor with a hollow, mesoporous design that curbs CH₄ overactivation and enhances selective C₂H₂ and C₂H₄ production under plasma activation.

A family of two-dimensional transition metal oxychalcogenides is synthesized from bulk transition metal dichalcogenides by tetrabutylammonium intercalation. The stoichiometry and properties of the two-dimensional transition metal oxychalcogenides can be tuned, enabling high stability and catalytic activity for oxygen evolution in acid.

An electrocatalyst mediator system in which CoO_x-cluster-decorated IrO₂ activates the NO₃^- mediator into a reactive radical that abstracts a hydrogen atom from benzylic C-H is presented. This approach enables the electrochemical conversion of toluene to benzaldehyde with high Faradaic efficiency.

Designing catalysts with uniform, site-specific selectivity and activity is a significant challenge. This study introduces design principles for topological-single-atom catalysts that utilize electronic shielding to protect surfaces and control reaction pathways, achieving high selectivity without compromising activity.

While challenging, controlling H₂O/CO₂ concentrations at the reaction interface is critical for achieving efficient electrochemical CO₂ reduction. This work demonstrates that polymer coatings on the catalyst surface can effectively tune local H₂O/CO₂ concentrations, leading to selective, energy efficient and robust CO₂ electroreduction.

Next-generation proton exchange membrane electrolyzers rely on high-performance anodes. Here, the authors report a metal-oxide-based molecular self-assembly strategy toward a support-free iridium hydroxide catalyst for an advanced anode with low-iridium loading and enhanced mass transport.

STING agonist-based endoplasmic reticulum-targeting molecules can be conjugated directly onto antigens to deliver them to the cross-presentation pathway, improving CD8⁺ T cell responses against tumours and viruses.

Maximizing the electromechanical response is crucial for developing piezoelectric devices. Here, the authors demonstrate a giant electric-field-induced strain and its origin in alkali niobate epitaxial thin films with self-assembled planar faults.

Metal anodes promise next-gen energy storage but face challenges with reversible plating due to dendrites and side reactions. Here the authors combine dual-salt and co-solvent approaches to address these issues in zinc metal battery, achieving 99.95% Coulombic efficiency.

The unconventional hexagonal phase CuCo PBA with open structure, large pore size, and high specific surface area is synthesized, and it delivers much better small molecular gas adsorption performance than the traditional cubic counterpart.