Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Thermoelectric materials can generate electricity from waste heat but can also use electricity for cooling. This Perspective discusses coefficients of performance for these systems and the state-of-the-art for materials, and suggests strategies for the discovery of improved thermoelectric materials.
Although low-temperature water electrolysers are crucial for decarbonizing the industrial sector, substantial improvements in performance and deployment rates are needed. Recent developments in devices with modified architectures and designs, and practical challenges hampering large-scale deployment are discussed.
Lewis acid aluminium sites in zeolites enable some industrially relevant catalytic reactions, such as biomass valorization. This Perspective explores the origin and interpretation of these species, and discusses characterization techniques that can close knowledge gaps.
Chiral surfaces are fundamental materials for the preparation of enantiomerically pure pharmaceuticals. This Perspective discusses the recent advances in the fabrication of chiral surfaces and the progress towards scalable, high-surface-area, enantiomerically pure surfaces.
Semimetal photodetectors provide high-speed and broadband operation but suffer from serious drawbacks such as high dark currents. This Perspective discusses the opportunities offered by topological effects to overcome these issues and improve their performance.
The carbon dioxide reduction reaction can enable renewable energy storage by producing valuable products such as ethylene. This Perspective provides an overview of strategies that use molecular enhancement of heterogeneous catalysts to improve activity, efficiency and selectivity.
