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Ruthenium-based catalysts for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction under high current exhibit poor stability. Here, authors develop a doped ruthenium oxide nanocrystal, which improves water splitting performance by stabilizing lattice oxygen and limiting the ruthenium site valence oscillation.

The structural stability is challenging for 1T-MoS2 based catalysts. Here, authors report that p-block In-O atoms stabilize the 1T-MoS2 matrix via interface orbital coupling. In-O also enables epitaxial growth of Ru nanoparticles from the MoS2 lattice, enhancing performance in Li | |O2 batteries.

Long-term stability is a key challenge for ruthenium-based oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. Here, the authors present a RuO2/LiCoO2 catalyst with dynamic Li dissolution, which weakens the covalency of the Ru-O bond to prevent the lattice oxygen mechanism, thereby ensuring stable acidic OER.

Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction offers a sustainable and efficient pathway for ammonia synthesis. Here, the authors report a unique K+ ions repelling effect on electron-deficient Ru electrocatalyst to realize efficient nitrate conversion under ampere-level current density.

A product-oriented strategy that leverages the reactivities of different functional groups in real-life plastic mixtures can be used to obtain valuable products, opening a path for managing end-of-life plastic mixtures.

Enhancing corrosion resistance is crucial for efficient electrocatalysts in the acidic oxygen evolution reaction. Here, the authors report the strategic manipulation of local compressive strain to improve the anti-corrosion properties of Co3O4, demonstrating stability for over 400 hours at 30 mA cm^-2.

The synthesis of well-defined heterostructure interfaces can be leveraged to design advanced catalysts. Now a catalyst consisting of carbon-supported Janus particles with crystalline Ru and amorphous CrO_x sides is shown to achieve high performance for both alkaline hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions due to the synergy between both sides.

The one-pot hydrotreatment of phenols to cyclohexyl ethers is crucial but difficult to achieve for fine chemical synthesis. Here, the authors prepare surface oxygen-doped carbonsupported Pd nanoparticles and demonstrate tandem hydrogenation–acetalization–hydrogenolysis of phenol to cyclohexyl methyl ether with high yield.

Water electrolysis can produce clean hydrogen, but it is limited by the slow anodic oxygen evolution reaction. Now, a local electronic manipulation strategy for stabilizing high-valence Ru single site catalysts has been developed. The catalyst demonstrates efficient bifunctional activity for water electrolysis.

Nitrate electroreduction to ammonia offers a sustainable route, but designing efficient catalysts remains challenging. Here, the authors develop a pulsed discharge strategy to synthesize dual atom catalysts with asymmetric active sites, achieving high ammonia production efficiency and stability.

Despite the high intrinsic activity of Ru for hydrogen oxidation reaction, the surface oxidation-induced deactivation limits the application. Here, the authors report the introduction of Pt atoms could prevent the surface oxidation-related interfacial water network damage, preventing the deactivation of Ru.

Local shear stress from an atomic force microscope tip can control the crystal directions in thin oxide films. This approach enables the manipulation of local magnetic anisotropy in ferromagnetic metals.

Electrochemical water splitting is promising for sustainable energy, but relies on development of electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution. Here the authors report nitrogen- and ruthenium-codoped carbon nanowires in which ruthenium atoms in a carbon matrix drive electrocatalysis of hydrogen evolution

Here, the authors report a study exploring surface lattice-confined single-atom ruthenium sites which demonstrate remarkable stability and exceptional catalytic performance for auto-exhaust purification, making them a promising alternative to costly Pt/Pd-based catalysts.

Nitrate, a common pollutant in wastewater and groundwater, has been efficiently converted into valuable ammonia products via an electrochemical method using Ru-dispersed Cu nanowire as the catalyst.

The role of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in liver injury is elusive. Here the authors identify that MAIT cells frequency and TCR activation are associated with degree of liver injury and prognosis of liver transplantation.

Establishing optimal metal-support interactions is crucial for creating efficient catalysts for water splitting. Here, stable Ti–O–Ru interface formation and minimal work function difference between Ru nanoparticles and non-stoichiometric Ti4O7 lead to exceptional bifunctional activity of Ru/Ti4O7 for both HER and OER across pH-universal environments, maintaining stable operation for 500 h.

Although ammonia synthesis represents a major chemical industry, developing highly effective non-iron catalysts is a challenging task. Now it has been shown that anchoring fullerene onto non-iron transition metals separates and activates catalytic sites for hydrogen and nitrogen intermediates, boosting ammonia synthesis rates.

Water splitting provides an appealing route to generating carbon-neutral fuel, however the scarcity and cost of platinum, often used as a catalyst, necessitates a search for alternatives. Here, authors show cobalt atoms in ruthenium nanosheets to afford excellent hydrogen production activities.

Realizing an efficient turnover frequency by modifying the reaction configuration is crucial in designing single-atom catalysts. Here, authors report a “single atom–double site” concept, which involves activating inert atom redox chemistry.

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.

To overcome low intersystem crossing efficiency and exciton instability in organic photosensitizers, amphiphilic polymer hosts self-assemble phosphorescent molecules. This stabilizes triplet states, enabling efficient CO₂ photoreduction to CO.

A navigation and positioning strategy is proposed for the scalable synthesis of a series of heteronuclear dual-atom catalysts via irradiation. It is shown that photo-induced electron accumulation at the M₁ site can attract an M₂ metal cation, forming heteronuclear dimers with high purity.

Study of coacervates can give insights into biomolecular condensates, but peptide-based systems generally form microdroplets which evolve into rigid nanostructures. Here, the authors report programmable coacervates from binary mixtures of diphenylalanine-based short peptides.

The modulation of single-atom catalyst properties for industrial applications remains challenging. Here, authors use strain engineering to amplify the synergistic effect between MoS₂’s sulphur vacancies and single-atom Ru sites and accelerate H₂ evolution electrocatalysis.

Peptidoglycan fragments derived from gut bacteria modulate aspects of the host’s health. Here, Li et al. profile peptidoglycan fragments in the host gut and show that one of them, the disaccharide GlcNAc-MurNAc, acts as a mild TLR4 agonist and protects against gut inflammation.

RuO₂ is a promising anode catalyst for proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers but suffers from poor catalytic stability. Here the authors present a rhenium-doped RuO₂ with a unique dynamic electron accepting-donating that adaptively boosts activity and stability in acidic water oxidation.

Ru nanoparticles on HZSM-5 catalysed solvent- and hydrogen-free upcycling of high-density polyethylene into a separable distribution of linear (C₁ to C₆) and cyclic (C₇ to C₁₅) hydrocarbons.

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is challenged by the trade-off between enhancing C-C coupling and suppressing further hydrogenation of olefins. Here the authors break this challenge by developing a universal strategy to synthesis extra-heavy olefins from carbon monoxide and water via the sustained release of hydrogen and selective extraction of olefins.

Ruthenium is the cheapest platinum-group metal, yet active hydrogen evolution catalysts with low amounts of ruthenium have yet to be designed. Here, the authors report the preparation of a ruthenium–cobalt nanoalloy and demonstrate its potential as an effective hydrogen evolution catalyst in basic media.

Ring-expanding carbon-atom insertion reactions are currently limited to the installation of few functional groups. Now researchers show the use of a radical carbyne precursor for the insertion of carbon atoms bearing varied functional groups to access 2-substituted naphthalenes from indene.

Hydrogen is a potential fuel source, but its low energy density when stored under pressure and potential safety issues present problems. Here, the authors report a cheap, abundant organic liquid which can generate hydrogen by formation of a cyclic peptide and be catalytically regenerated upon hydrogenation.

Due to its stability nitrogen is often employed as an inert gas during catalytic reactions. Now, a study shows that N₂ can act as promoter for the catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of p-cresol on supported ruthenium catalysts through the formation of hydrogenated nitrogen species acting as a source of protic hydrogen.

Efficient storage of crude hydrogen, through toluene hydrogenation to methylcyclohexane, is often inhibited by CO impurities. Here, the authors develop a RuNi/TiO₂ catalyst which avoids deactivation through promoting simultaneous CO methanation.

Iridium-based electrocatalysts are traditional anode catalysts for proton exchange membrane water electrolysis but suffer from high cost and low reserves. An alternative, nickel-stabilized ruthenium dioxide catalyst with high activity and durability in acidic oxygen evolution reaction for water electrolysis is reported.

It remains challenging to integrate topological insulators (TI) with magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) for spintronics applications. Here, the authors achieve a large tunneling magnetoresistance ratio and a low switching current density in a TI-MTJ device at room temperature, very promising for TI-driven magnetic memory.

Electric polarization is well defined for insulators but not for metals. Electric-like polarization is now realized via inhomogeneous lattice strain in metallic SrRuO₃, generating a pseudo-electric field. This field affects the material’s electronic bands.

Developing recyclable circular plastics is a viable approach to reshape the currently unsustainable plastics consumption pattern. Here the authors show a design to obtain recyclable polyolefin plastics with a tailored macromonomer–polymer–tailored macromonomer circular lifecycle.

Water electrolysis is considered a key reaction for future sustainable fuel generation. Here, authors report a three-dimensional RuIrOx nano-netcage catalyst that shows high activities and efficiencies for pH-universal overall water splitting.

The interaction between perovskite oxides and water can have a significant influence on practical performance. Here the authors study the dynamics of surface water adsorption and hydroxide formation during monolayer formation on a ruthenate.

Regioselective arene C−H bond alkylation is a powerful tool in synthetic chemistry, yet subject to many challenges. Here, the authors report the meta-C−H bond alkylation of aromatics bearing N-directing groups using (hetero)aromatic epoxides as alkylating agents.

Electrosynthesis of acetate from CO using renewable electricity faces low selectivity. Here, the authors report a cerium single atom modulated copper catalyst, where cerium atoms tailor the interfacial water structure, enabling highly selective CO-to-acetate conversion under pulsed electrolysis.

The V1-V2 loops of the HIV envelope protein play an important role in HIV vaccine development. Here, Rahman et al. demonstrate in macaques that the efficacy of V1-deleted envelope vaccines, abrogated by oral delivery of control nanoparticles, is rescued by nanoparticles carrying V2 scaffold peptide strengthening the mucosal V2-specific response.

Chen and colleagues report that the third enzyme in the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), 6PGD, controls cancer cell proliferation by regulating LKB1–AMPK signalling. Inhibitors of 6PGD decrease tumorigenesis in mouse xenografts.

The hydrogen evolution and oxidation reactions on Pt electrocatalysts exhibit much more favourable kinetics in acidic than in alkaline electrolytes. Now, by combining theoretical simulations and spectroscopic measurements, it is demonstrated that the different connectivity of hydrogen-bond networks in the electric double layer is responsible for such an effect.

The authors find subtype-specific influenza cross-reactivity patterns, including rapid declines for A(H3N2) within 6 years, sustained responses for A(H1N1)pdm09 and increased cross-reactive responses in humans after repeated A(H3N2) exposure.

Organolead halide hybrids are promising materials but are often unstable under moisture and/or light irradiation. Here, metal-organic frameworks containing lead halide secondary building units are shown to be stable for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction with water vapor.

The authors report a flow-cell system equipped with highly-electrolyte permeable Rh diffusion cathode for electrocatalytic hydrogenation of important bio-oil aromatic molecules at industrial-scale current densities.

Asymmetric catalysis plays a crucial role in the synthesis of optically active organic molecules, but its application to stereogenic-at-metal complexes is more challenging. Here, the authors report the asymmetric synthesis of stereogenic-at-iridium complexes through kinetic resolution via a Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction.