An N-heterocyclic carbene (1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene; pictured) was selected for its high CO2 binding and activation ability together with its resistance to reduction under electrocatalytic conditions. This sorbent was found to react quantitatively with dilute sources of CO2 in the range 0.04–10%. The molecular electrocatalyst iron tetraphenylporphyrin (pictured) was able to

The team of researchers found that ATP is necessary for the MCR methane production and that it also affects the binding of subunits among the MCR activation complex. Indeed, the high-resolution cryo-EM structures confirmed that the presence of ATP molecules stabilizes the A2 subunit within the MCR complex. The A2 component binds asymmetrically to only one of the MCR heterotrimers, while a latch-like

Now, Yi-Lei Zhao, Mehdi Mobli and Xudong Qu report a polyheteroatomic Diels–Alderase that catalyses the intramolecular cycloaddition of a C=O diene with a C=O dienophile. The researchers had previously worked on the elucidation of the biosynthesis of the polyketide antibiotic (−)-anthrabenzoxocinone ((−)-ABX). However, the construction of the oxygen-bridged tricyclic acetal of (−)-ABX from phenyldimethylanthrone

Now, Dimosthenis Sokaras, Junko Yano and colleagues use modulation excitation X-ray absorption spectroscopy to capture copper’s speciation in situ at the electrode–electrolyte interface in a time-resolved manner. This technique tracks the difference in X-ray absorbance at each given incident energy between two applied potentials that are periodically interchanged, thus achieving high sensitivity to

Previous attempts to account for particle shapes employed the Wulff methodology to estimate the impact of specific particle facets. However, this method only considers nanoparticles’ equilibrium shapes and does not reflect their evolution under reaction conditions. Therefore, using a combination of density functional theory and Boltzmann statistics, the team modelled a large ensemble of nanoparticles

The team first analysed a model liquid phase system for this reaction, composed of acetic acetic-potassium acetate solution with Pd/C, and found that Pd(0) is subjected to corrosion by molecular oxygen. This allows the solubilization of the metal as Pd(II) acetate, with the Pd(II) species then reacting with ethylene to yield VA and metallic Pd(0) as precipitate. They also notice that Pd/C promotes

Now, Chris-Kriton Skylaris and colleagues, in a collaboration between the University of Southampton and Johnson Matthey, study the impact of oxidation effects on Pt nanoparticles (NPs) to the ORR by computational means. To that end, they perform grand canonical minimization Monte Carlo simulations using the recently developed MACE-MP-0 machine learning interatomic potentials, which allows the treatment

Now, Yilin Wang, Bing Liu and co-workers developed a type of emulsion, where the droplets are covered by a densely packed colloidal SiO2 ring monolayer (pictured). Besides enhancing the stability, the SiO2 rings are hollow so that the liquid–liquid interface of the droplets remains largely accessible, enabling efficient diffusion and operation of the catalysts. First, fluorescent rhodamine B was used

The use of neutron reflectometry is crucial since the light elements lithium and hydrogen are practically invisible to more commonly used X-ray techniques. A number of detailed insights about the exchange of species between the SEI and electrolyte are revealed in a series of experiments. First, the identity of the Li salt has a profound impact of the SEI formation with a more well-defined layer observed

In previous studies, a solid porous electrolyte layer was employed in order to use a flow of pure water, avoiding costly separation of salts from the final product. However, when operating in a conventional continuous flow mode, stability and selectivity were both low when a concentrated H2O2 product was produced (low water flow rate). This is attributed to product crossover and decomposition as well

The team of researchers studied the formation of hydroperoxides first from the aerobic oxidation of dimeric and trimeric PS models using N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) as a hydrogen atom transfer catalyst and azobis(isobutyronitrile) as radical initiator. After optimizing the conditions, they also observed that the trimer has a lower reactivity than the dimer, with a similar trend for higher oligomers;

Now, writing in Science, Daniel Herschlag and colleagues devised a smart plan to employ conformational ensembles to gain insights into the contributions from different catalytic effects to explain the total observed rate enhancements in serine proteases. The researchers took advantage of 1,231 structures of 17 serine proteases that are deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) to construct ‘pseudo-ensembles’

Now, Joey Disch and colleagues study eCO2R under operando conditions using high-resolution neutron radiography, focusing on water transport and distribution within a zero-gap membrane electrode assembly with an AEM. The cell, with a silver cathode catalyst for CO production, is operated at both constant current and pulsed electrolysis under either 34% or 100% relative humidity (RH), in 0.1 M KHCO3

The application of large pressures on a solid induces lattice compression. In the case of metal oxides, this process favours the shortening of metal–oxygen bonds and simultaneously increases the diffusion activation energy of atoms and ions. The team therefore developed a thermal annealing process for WO3 that relies on the application of gigapascal-range pressure — 12,000 bar — in an electrically

Until recently, attempts to regenerate SmI2 to create a catalytic cycle have been hindered by the formation of stable oxygen adducts with the conjugate bases of employed proton sources such as water and alcohols. These researchers previously developed a system with the use of non-coordinating 2,6-dimethylpyridinium as proton donor that allows electrocatalytic cycling of the samarium reducing agent