Ultrathin van der Waals materials and their heterostructures offer a simple, yet powerful platform for discovering emergent phenomena and implementing device structures in the two-dimensional limit. The past few years has pushed this frontier to include magnetism. These advances have brought forth a new assortment of layered materials that intrinsically possess a wide variety of magnetic properties

When the size of nanomaterials reduces into sub-1 nm scale, benefit from size-induced mechanical flexibility and nearly 100% exposure of surface atoms, some new physical and chemical phenomena emerge, such as flexibility, polymer-like rheology, etc. However, how to design and synthesize super-flexible and high-performance hybrid sub-1 nm superstructures remains a great challenge. Herein, by incorporating

The hydrated electron has fundamental and practical significance in radiation and radical chemistry, catalysis and radiobiology. While its bulk properties have been extensively studied, its behavior at solid/liquid interfaces is still unclear due to the lack of effective tools to characterize this short-lived species in between two condensed matter layers. In this study, we develop a novel optoelectronic

Optimizing kinetic barriers of ammonia synthesis to reduce the energy intensity has recently attracted significant research interest. The motivation for the research is to discover means by which activation barriers of N2 dissociation and NHz (z = 1-2, surface intermediates) destabilization can be reduced simultaneously, i.e., breaking the “scaling relationship”. However, by far only a single success

Carbohydrates are often utilized to provide hydrophilicity and hydroxyl-based hydrogen bonds in self-assembling glycopeptides, affording versatile scaffolds with wide applicability in biomedical research. However, how stereochemistry of carbohydrates impacts the self-assembling process remains unclear. Here we have established a dimeric tyrosine-rich glycopeptide system for probing the corresponding

Boron-dipyrromethenes (Bodipys), since first reported in 1968, have emerged as a fascinating class of dyes in the past few decades due to their excellent photophysical properties including bright fluorescence, narrow emission bandwidth, resistance to photobleaching, and environment insensitivity. However, typical Bodipys are highly lipophilic, which often results in the nonfluorescent aggregates in

Two-dimensional (2D) conjugated aromatic networks (CAN) have been fabricated by ball-milling of polymeric cobalt phthalocyanine precursors edge-functionalized with different aromatic acid anhydride substituents. The optimal CAN, obtained by using tetraphenylphthalic anhydride, consists of uniform and thin (2.9 nm) layers with a high BET surface (92 m2 g−1), resulting in well-defined Co–N4 active sites

Organic diradicals are uncommon species that have been intensely studied for their unique properties and potential ap-plicability in a diverse range of innovative fields. While there is a growing class of stable and well characterized organic diradicals, there has been recent focus on how diradical character can be controlled or modulated with external stimuli. Here we demonstrate that a diiron complex

The solution-state 13C NMR spectrum of the endofullerene [email protected] displays a doublet structure due to a J-coupling of magnitude 77.5 ± 0.2 mHz at 340K between the 3He nucleus and a 13C nucleus of the enclosing carbon surface. The J-coupling increases in magnitude with increasing temperature. Quantum chemistry calculations successfully predict the approximate magnitude of the coupling. This

A versatile method for the hydromethylation and hydroalkylation of alkenes at room temperature is achieved by using the photooxidative redox capacity of the valence band of anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2). Mechanistic studies support a radical-based mechanism involving the photoexcitation of TiO2 with 390-nm light in the presence of acetic acid and other carboxylic acids to generate methyl and alkyl

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are hybrid materials composed of metal ions and organic linkers featuring high porosity, crystallinity, and chemical tunability at multiple length scales. Recent advancement in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and its direct application to MOF structure-property relationships have changed how we consider rational MOF design and development. Herein, we provide a

Interlayer coupling plays essential roles in the quantum transport, polaritonic, and electrochemical properties of stacked van der Waals (vdW) materials. In this work, we report the unconventional interlayer coupling in vdW heterostructures (HSs) by utilizing an emerging 2D material, Janus transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). In contrast to conventional TMDs, monolayer Janus TMDs have two different

A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality available free online at natureindex.com.

A look at the inputs that result in high scientific research outputs.

The two US cities have a peerless partnership for life sciences.

Sizing up the success of the world’s science hotspots.

In a commentary on high-impact research outputs across 245 cities, György Csomós, Zsófia Viktória Vida and Balázs Lengyel explore changing patterns.

China’s powerhouse holds firm as the number one city in the Nature Index.

A large volume of charcoal sold in Europe comes from tropical forests and is often incorrectly labelled, raising questions about whether it was logged illegally.

Genetics reveals which Vikings went where during the influential Viking Age. Plus, how to get a COVID-19 vaccine to those who need it most and what happens when you read a paper every single day.

Despite our intimate familiarity with fire, we still struggle with a complete understanding of it. Plus, fast antigen coronavirus tests and increasingly impenetrable papers.

The development of enantioconvergent cross‐coupling of racemic alkyl halides directly with heteroarene C( sp 2 )–H bonds has been impeded by the commonly necessary use of base at elevated temperature that leads to racemization. We herein report a copper(I)/cinchona‐alkaloid‐derived N , N , P ‐ligand catalytic system that enables oxidative addition with racemic alkyl bromides under mild conditions.

Two‐dimensional (2D) boron nanosheet that exhibits high theoretical capacitance, around four times that of graphene, has become significant supercapacitor electrode. However, its bulk structure with low interlaminar conduction and porosity restricts the charge transfer, ion diffusion and energy density. Herein, we develop a new 2D hetero‐nanosheet made of anisotropic boron‐carbon nanosheets (ABCNs)

As a favourite descriptor, the size effect of Cu‐based catalysts has been regularly utilized for activity and selectivity regulation toward CO 2 /CO electroreduction reactions (CO 2 /CORR). However, little progress has been made in regulating the size of Cu nanoclusters at the atomic level. Here, the size‐gradient Cu catalysts from single atoms (SAs) to subnanometric clusters (SCs, 0.5−1 nm) to nanoclusters

Temperature is often not considered as a precision stimulus for artificial chemical systems in contrast to the host‐guest interactions related to many natural processes. Similarly, mimicking multi‐state volatile memory operations using a single molecular system with temperature as a precision stimulus is highly laborious. Here we demonstrate how a mixture of iron(II) chloride and bipyridine can be

Total synthesis allowed the question to be answered which of eight possible stereoisomeric compounds represents the cytotoxic marine macrolides of the formosalide family. The underlying blueprint was inherently modular to ensure that each conceivable isomer could be reached. This flexibility derived from the use of strictly catalyst‐controlled transformations to set the stereocenters, except for the

Supramolecular cages/vesicles in biology display sophisticated structures and functions by utilizing few types of protein subunits quasi‐equivalently serving on distinct geometrical locations. However, the synthetic supramolecular cages still lack comparable complexity to reach the high levels of functionality found in natural systems. Here we report the self‐assembly of giant pentagonal supramolecular

Non‐metal‐based single‐atom catalysts (SACs) feature low cost, simple synthesis methods and effective regulation for substrates, while there are few studies on this aspect. Herein, we developed a simplified pressurized gas‐assisted process, and first reported a non‐metal single‐atom phosphorus with atomic‐level dispersion on unique single‐crystal Mo 2 C hexagonal nanosheet arrays with (001) plane exposure

Due to their high specific capacities beyond 250 mAh g-1, lithium-rich oxides have been considered as promising cathodes for the next generation power batteries, bridging the capacity gap between traditional layered-oxide based lithium-ion batteries and future lithium metal batteries such as lithium sulfur and lithium air batteries. However, the practical application of Li-rich oxides has been hindered

Detrimental decompositions of electrolytes, especially the dehydrogenation of solvents, would accelerate the batteries’ degradations and hinder the development of high-energy-density lithium-metal batteries (LMBs). The nature of building classic concentrated electrolytes is to decrease the proportion of solvents, so that the solvents-related parasitic reactions can be suppressed. However, accompanied

In the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), Cu has been spotlighted as the only electro-catalyst that can produce multi-carbon molecules, but the mechanism of the selective C2+ production reaction remains elusive. Here, we directly monitored CO2RR intermediates by employing time-resolved attenuated total reflection-surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS), with particular