The goal of turning carbon dioxide into useful fuels is to make energy more sustainable. One popular route uses electricity to reduce CO2 into methane while keeping the solution neutral. But making this process efficient at high power is tough because the usual steps need many proton‑electron moves,
Scientists have found a way to make chemicals used in medicine more efficiently, using a common plant compound as a starting point. They created tiny metal complexes that act like specialized tools, helping reactions happen in a controlled way. These tools are made from a substance found in pine tre
A recent study shows how nickel can join two different chemical parts using a simple reduction step. The trick is to mix xanthate esters—compounds that contain sulfur and oxygen—with iodides that carry either an aromatic ring or a double bond. The process works well even when the molecules have othe
A new study shows that adding amine groups to the surface of a mixed‑metal sulfide can make it much better at producing hydrogen from water. The material contains zinc, cadmium, cobalt, copper and manganese in a single crystal. By attaching ‑NH₂ ligands to the surface, scientists selectively activat
A new study shows that combining two carbon‑based materials can turn sunlight into both a fuel and a valuable product. The researchers built a junction of graphdiyne (GDY) and polymeric carbon nitride (PCN). In this arrangement, the GDY layer acts as a highway for positive charges, while PCN keeps n
Scientists have found a new way to make hydrogen peroxide directly from water using tiny metal atoms. The trick is to arrange the atoms in a special pattern before heating them up, so that when the metal (cobalt) sits next to three nitrogen atoms and one oxygen atom it works best. This pattern is ca
A team of researchers has built a new catalyst that can break down the pain‑killer acetaminophen from water more efficiently than before. The trick is to stick two different metal atoms – cobalt and copper – onto a thin sheet called Ti₃C₂Tₓ MXene. By balancing the two metals at a 1:1 ratio, they cre
Scientists have found a clever way to make hydrogen fuel more efficiently by mixing two metals in a smart way. They combined tiny bits of palladium (a rare metal) with molybdenum dioxide (a cheaper, more common material) to create a powerful combo for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. The tr
Scientists often struggle to watch how tiny catalysts behave in tough acidic environments. These catalysts help speed up chemical reactions, like splitting water into oxygen, but their structures can shift unpredictably. A team found a way to track the same iridium nanocatalysts over long periods us
Scientists have figured out exactly which parts of a cobalt‑based material make it good at turning glycerol into useful energy. Instead of guessing, they built three similar crystals that differ only in the tiny details around cobalt atoms. The key discovery was that the reaction happens mainl
