News & Comment

Combining the superior photovoltaic performance of three-dimensional perovskites and the intrinsic durability of two-dimensional perovskites, the construction of 3D/2D perovskite bilayer heterojunctions is a promising strategy to realize efficient and stable perovskite solar cells, but it is still a challenge to control the phase purity, film thickness, orientation, and crystal structure of 2D perovskites. Now, a solution-processing strategy has overcome this challenge by directly coating a tailored single-crystal 2D perovskite ink on as-prepared 3D perovskite films, resulting in effective, ultra-stable and phase-pure 3D/2D perovskite bilayer heterojunctions.

Professor Jun Lu talks about the driving force for his career pathway and his academic journey from chemical physics to materials science and electrochemistry, as well as his experience of being an Editorial Board Member for Communications Chemistry.

The Editors and Editorial Board of Communications Chemistry are pleased to launch an Editors’ Highlights Collection featuring some of our favorite Articles published in the journal in 2022. Here we highlight each Article and outline why it was selected.

To reach a net-zero energy economy by 2050, it is critical to develop negative emission technologies, such as CO₂ reduction electrolyzers, but these devices still suffer from various issues including low utilization of CO₂ because of its cross-over from the cathode to the anode. This comment highlights the recent innovative design of membrane electrode assembly, utilizing a bipolar membrane and catholyte layer that blocks CO₂ cross-over and enables high CO₂ single-pass utilization.

Pinpointing double bond (C=C) positions in native lipid extracts is beyond the capabilities of standard mass spectrometry-based approaches. This article highlights a novel untargeted workflow supported by the open-source software MS-RIDD, that allows for semi-automated annotation of C=C locations with high confidence.

Organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites are highly promising materials for solar cell devices, but their widespread commercialization is hindered by their poor environmental stability. Now, porous organic cages are shown to stabilize methylammonium lead iodide films under hot and humid conditions.

Professor Kristin Wustholz answers questions on her scientific career, scientific developments she is excited about and directions the spectroscopy and photochemistry communities should focus on, as well as her experience of being an Editorial Board Member for Communications Chemistry.

The role of selenium in proteins and nucleic acids is well-established, but the pathway for incorporating selenium into small molecules remains unknown. Now, using bioinformatics tools, a selenium-incorporating gene cluster is discovered from immense genomic data, leading to the identification of selenoneine from microorganisms and the elucidation of a selenium incorporation pathway.

Hear from Professor Nathalie Katsonis on her academic journey and passions, her thoughts on the future directions of chemical research, and her experience of being an Editorial Board Member for Communications Chemistry.

Adiabatic state preparation (ASP) represents an efficient way of generating correlated wave functions on quantum computers for subsequent quantum simulation. Here, the author discusses recent work that numerically studied the performance of ASP on strongly correlated molecules and presented several approaches of improving the quality of prepared ground state wave functions.

[n]cycloparaphenylenes feature extensive para-conjugation that leads to useful electronic and optoelectronic properties, but their strained topology prevents their conversion into planar macrocycles. Now, on-surface coupling of cleverly designed precursors affords planar π-extended [12]cycloparaphenylene.

It has been a great joint achievement of astronomy, laboratory spectroscopy and quantum chemistry to identify interstellar molecules in various astronomical environments and piece together their origins story from the fragmented evidence. Here the authors provide a sketch of what we know and motivate the asking of open questions on carbon-based molecules in space.

Strong emergence is the main form of emergence that has been defended with respect to chemistry, and in particular molecular structure. Here, the author spells out this form of emergence, proposes new ways in which one can further explore the question of emergence, and explains why investigating emergence should be of interest not only to philosophers but to chemists as well.

Interfacing ultrasmall metal nanoclusters (NCs) with proteins can present a dual opportunity: proteins can be used for protecting NCs, and the surface ligands of NCs may interact with proteins. Here, the authors identify and discuss remaining open questions surrounding the bio-NC interface that call for future research efforts.

Tooth enamel possesses outstanding viscoelasticity as well as stiffness — a combination of properties often considered a trade-off. Now, a bi-directional freezing method affords a biomimetic composite with mechanical properties superior to those of enamel.

The cluster approach is a very valuable technique for elucidating reaction mechanisms of enzymes. Here, the authors discuss the current status of this methodology, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, and argue that it should be the method of choice for investigating enzymatic reaction mechanisms.

This International Women’s Day, the editors of Communications Chemistry reflect on the responsibilities that journal editors have towards promoting gender equity in STEM, and outline some of the ways in which editors can show up for women in chemistry.

Emerging experimental techniques combined with theoretical advances allow unprecedented studies of the dynamics of gas phase molecules and clusters induced in interactions with photons, electrons, or heavy particles. Here, the authors highlight recent advances, key open questions, and challenges in this field of research with focus on experimental studies of dynamics of ions stored on millisecond timescales and beyond, and its applications in astrochemistry and astronomy.

Electrically conductive two-dimensional metal–organic frameworks have emerged as promising materials for electronic and energy storage devices, but their stacked nature offers limited accessibility to the framework pores. Now, pillaring a conductive 2D MOF is shown to enhance gravimetric capacitance by more than double.

Recent high-pressure studies have uncovered many types of chemical bonds present in noble gas compounds. Here, by extrapolating what has been found so far, the authors discuss which future discoveries can be expected and recommend further avenues of exploration.