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Top 25 Chemistry and Materials Sciences Articles of 2022
We are pleased to share with you the 25 most downloaded Nature Communications articles* in chemistry and materials science published in 2022. Featuring authors from around the world, these papers highlight valuable research from an international community.
While obtaining H2 from water splitting offers a promising strategy for renewable fuel production, current technologies rely on liquid freshwater. Here, authors use a hygroscopic electrolyte to achieve electrocatalytic water vapor splitting driven by renewable resources without liquid water.
Microporous organic nanotubes (MONs) hold considerable promise for designing molecular-sieving membranes because of high microporosity, customizable chemical functionalities, and favorable polymer affinity. Here, the authors report the usage of MONs derived from covalent organic frameworks to engineer 15-nm-thick microporous membranes via interfacial polymerization.
Extracting atmospheric water is a sustainable strategy to enable decentralized access to safely managed water but remains impractical due to its limited daily water output at low relative humidity. Here, the authors demonstrate a hygroscopic polymer composed of renewable biomass which allows high water uptake at low relative humidity
Boronic acids are useful reagents in organic synthesis and thus methods to prepare these compounds under mild conditions are desirable. Here, the authors synthesize boronic acids via photocatalytic decarboxylation of benzoic acids followed by borylation; guanidine-type additives are used to assist the process.
Multimaterial 3D printing using digital light processing (DLP) is challenging because multimaterial switching methods require direct contact onto the printed part to remove residual resin. Here, the authors report a DLP-based centrifugal multimaterial 3D printing method to generate large-volume heterogeneous 3D objects where composition, property and function are programmable at voxel scale.
The formation of ternary degrader-protein complexes is a key step in the targeted degradation of proteins of interest. Here, the authors explore the structure and dynamics of such complexes applying high-performance computer simulations augmented with experimental data.
2D MXene hydrogels are promising for diverse applications. Here, the authors report a universal 4D printing technology to manufacture MXene hydrogels with customizable geometry, high conductivity, and efficient pseudocapacitive energy storage ability.
An E(3)-equivariant deep learning interatomic potential is introduced for accelerating molecular dynamics simulations. The method obtains state-of-the-art accuracy, can faithfully describe dynamics of complex systems with remarkable sample efficiency.
3D printed composites with hierarchically arranged fillers have been challenging to fabricate. Here, the authors make use of magnetically assisted droplet-based printing to 3D print voxelated structures with high filler content, localized control of filler material, and orientation.
The rational design of PROTACs is difficult due to their obscure structure-activity relationship. Here the authors present a deep neural network model - DeepPROTACs - for predicting the degradation capacity of a proposed PROTAC molecule.
High extraction capacity with precise selectivity to trace amounts of gold over a wide range of co-existing elements remains a challenge for effective e-waste recycling. Here, authors demonstrate the excellent performance of rGO for gold extraction from e-waste leachate, even at minute concentrations.
Syntheses of quinine have fascinated organic chemists for over a hundred years. Here, the authors developed an organocatalyst-mediated pot-economical enantioselective total synthesis using five reaction vessels.
The development of a nitrogen fixation process that relies on the renewable energy, such as visible light, is an important goal in sustainable chemistry. Here, authors establish an iridium and molybdenum-catalysed ammonia formation from dinitrogen driven by visible light under ambient reaction conditions.
Virtual screening of huge libraries is successful in identifying drug leads. Here, the authors describe a computational strategy, Chemical Space Docking, which combines docking with a reaction-based search of compounds, thereby enabling the exploration of billions of compounds and beyond.
Biomarkers of age and frailty may aid in understanding the aging process, predicting lifespan or health span and in assessing the effects of anti-aging interventions. Here, the authors show that combining physics-based models and deep learning may enhance understanding of aging from big biomedical data, observe effects of anti-aging interventions in laboratory animals, and discover signatures of longevity.
The industrial application of two-dimensional (2D) materials strongly depends on the large-scale manufacturing of high-quality 2D films and powders. Here, the authors analyze three state-of-the art mass production techniques, discussing the recent progress and remaining challenges for future improvements.
A crystalline hetero-metallic cluster catalyst based on a covalent organic framework strategy is reported. The catalyst can facilitate both photocatalytic oxidative and reductive reactions leading to efficient production of HCOOH from CO2 and H2O.
Bioactivity-guided isolation of specialized metabolites is an iterative process. Here, the authors demonstrate a native metabolomics approach that allows for fast screening of complex metabolite extracts against a protein of interest and simultaneous structure annotation.
Improving fuel cell technologies based on Pt-based alloys is important for efficient fuel cells. Here, the authors report a hybrid PtCo alloy electrocatalyst for acidic oxygen reduction at high current densities and H2/air fuel cell power densities.
Development of high-performance polymer electrolyte fuel cells has historically focused on designing new catalysts and ionomers. Here, the authors present a bottom-up approach for designing catalyst support that achieves superior oxygen reduction activity and low local oxygen transport resistance in a membrane electrode assembly.
The direct electrocatalytic synthesis of urea via C–N coupling is of great significance. The authors report a diatomic catalyst with bonded Fe–Ni pairs to improve the efficiency of electrochemical urea synthesis from nitrate and CO2.
Recent development of analytical techniques – capable of characterizing physicochemical properties during electrochemical measurements – enables new pathways for improving the fundamental understanding of battery systems. This editorial highlights recent research efforts showcasing operando approaches published in Nature Communications.
While water-splitting electrolysis offers a potential renewable means to store energy, the oxygen evolution half-reaction’s sluggish kinetics limits performances. Here, authors incorporation boron into nickel-iron hydroxide catalysts to promote electrocatalytic water oxidation activities
The development of new classes of isosteres and building blocks is crucial to the advancement of medicinal chemistry programs. Here, the authors report the synthesis and development of ladderanes to act as replacements for meta-substituted aromatic rings and cyclohexanes.
While metal-organic frameworks offer a diverse array of structural motifs for electrocatalysis, poor conductivity and mass permeability limit performances. Here, authors confine low-conductivity metal-organic frameworks between graphene multilayers to enhance oxygen evolution performances.