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Solar energy can supply the global energy demand. This Review describes how photoelectrochemistry principles in natural photosynthesis can be exploited in advanced solar utilization technologies, and discusses related developments, challenges and opportunities.
The kinetics resulting from catalyst inhibition can be confused with reactions involving two catalytic species reacting together. This Review highlights common misconceptions, offers advice and good practices to avoid potential pitfalls, and provides critical analyses of 100 literature examples.
Optical and electrochemical sensing techniques have been used to detect real-time chemical signals in living plants in response to biotic and abiotic stress. Through modelling of data, pathogenic infection of plants can be identified and predicted.
Stereochemical editing is a strategy to access three-dimensional skeletons, where the stereochemistry-defining steps are decoupled from the major connectivity-forming reactions. This Review highlights recent advances in the area of light-driven contra-thermodynamic stereochemical editing.
Wearable chemical sensors are effective tools for exploring novel non-invasive biomarkers in alternative body fluids. This Review introduces criteria, strategies and technologies involved in biomarker discovery using wearable chemical sensors coupled with data analysis towards precision medicine.
While antibodies have a remarkable track record in therapeutics, achieving sufficient specificity remains an issue. This Review discusses the physicochemistry of non-specificity, with a focus on surface patches as a key challenge, and outlines future opportunities to improve protein binding.
Linkage chemistry is crucial for controllable synthesis and the physicochemical properties of covalent organic frameworks. This Review describes linkage chemistry for the derivation of the imine bond by covalent and noncovalent bonding in two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks.
Hybrid bilayer membranes (HBMs) are an advanced organic–inorganic platform for energy catalysis and biomimicry. This Review highlights the design principles, key developments, major achievements and prospects of HBM technologies.
Metal single-atom cocatalysts with a well-defined and tunable electronic structure maximize the interaction between photocatalyst and cocatalyst, facilitating the enhanced separation/transfer of photogenerated charge carriers and high-efficiency surface catalytic reactions.
Racemic natural products display a wealth of bioactivities and chemical diversity. Their derivation from intriguing racemization processes, through enzymatic or non-enzymatic pathways, are discussed here, as well as their pharmacological properties and the analytical techniques developed for their identification, resolution and characterization.
Multiscale ab initio simulations enable the accurate simulation of the spin dynamics of magnetic molecules. Together with machine learning, computer simulations will soon be able to assist the design of new compounds for spintronics and quantum technologies.
Photoredox catalysis has emerged as an indispensable platform for de novo synthesis and modification of complex biologically relevant molecules. This Review highlights photoredox-mediated C–H and C–C bond activation of carbohydrates leading to non-conventional C-functionalized sugars and rare sugar isomers.
This Review discusses progress in organizing the spatial arrangement and motion of molecular machines within solid frameworks such that they might be able to perform useful macroscopic work. We conclude with a discussion of a new non-equilibrium adsorption phenomenon, dubbed mechanisorption.
Hydrogels are important biomaterials for cell culture systems. This Review highlights the design criteria for engineering hydrogels to mimic the natural extracellular matrix, and provides an overview of chemical strategies used to fabricate hydrogels for cell culture and dynamically control their properties.
Molecularly thin water films host carbon mineralization reactions with anomalously high reaction rates and unique pathways. We examine the underlying reaction mechanisms that operate in water-limited environments relevant to permanent carbon storage and quasi-2D interfacial chemistry.
The prediction of interatomic potentials by machine learning is a well developed method; however, interatomic potentials account for only the energies and atomic forces and neglect other essential chemical properties. This Review showcases how other properties of interest, such as atomic charges, dipole moments, long-range effects, bond orders and parameters of reduced Hamiltonians, can also be accurately predicted using machine learning models.
Biomass and plastic share structural similarities in their composition and types of bond linkage between their monomeric units. Reviewing their catalytic conversion technologies in a unified angle provides new insights and opportunities for future advances.
Fused-ring electron acceptors are excellent n-type organic semiconductors with outstanding optoelectronic conversion and electron transport abilities. This Review highlights the fundamental principles, design strategies and versatile applications of fused-ring electron acceptors in photovoltaics, electronics and photonics.
Hydrogels have been found to replicate the gel-like properties of many intracellular environments and are thus of great interest in the construction of artificial cells. This Review highlights how hydrogels are currently used and explores avenues for their use in the construction of next-generation artificial cells.
