Adam Weingarten

Cover of the journal Nature Chemistry with the cover line "Every MOF you make"

If you've not got The Police/Sting in your head at the moment then you've clearly never seen this cover before.

Magnets may help astronauts breathe easier. A study in @natchem.nature.com shows they can boost water-splitting efficiency in microgravity by up to 240%, offering a simpler way to produce oxygen in space. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@natureportfolio.nature.com #chemsky #chemisky

Interfacial solvation pre-organizes the transition state of the oxygen evolution reaction - Nature Chemistry The oxygen evolution reaction proceeds over a surface that undergoes (frustrated) phase transitions to accommodate bias-dependent excess charge. Now it has been shown that this excess charge is intima...

There's been a major push to understand water oxidation electrocatalyst materials, but the interface with water is also crucial. Congrats to Cuenya, Oener, and team for their work @natchem.nature.com examining interfacial solvation's impact on the transition state! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Stable single-site organonickel catalyst preferentially hydrogenolyses branched polyolefin C–C bonds - Nature Chemistry Selective chemical upcycling of polyolefin mixtures remains challenging due to the structural similarity of their backbones. Now it has been shown that a single-site nickel catalyst can preferentially...

Plastics have been incredibly useful, but we've got too much now! We need better ways to break them down. Congrats to Miller, Kratish, Marks, and team for their work @natchem.nature.com on a single-site nickel catalyst that prefers to cut branched polyolefin C–C bonds! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reversible self-assembly of small molecules for recyclable solid-state battery electrolytes - Nature Chemistry Battery recyclability presents a sustainability challenge in materials design. Now it has been shown that aramid amphiphile self-assembly yields solid-state electrolytes with fast ion conductivity and...

Battery research involves a multitude of competing interactions, such balancing cycling stability with material recyclability! So congrats to Cho, Ortony and team for their work @natchem.nature.com examining aramid amphiphile self-assembly for recyclable batteries! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Lattice O–O ligands in Fe-incorporated hydroxides enhance water oxidation electrocatalysis - Nature Chemistry While the ligand coordination microenvironment surrounding catalytic centres influences reactivity, dynamic oxygen reconstruction during water oxidation electrocatalysis complicates structure-based me...

O2 evolution is a crucial half-reaction to figure out for electrolysis, especially when using (hydr)oxide-based catalysts. Congrats to Li, Zhang and colleagues for their work @natchem.nature.com elucidating the role of lattice O–O ligands in water oxidation! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ultrafast charging of two-dimensional polymer cathodes enabled by cross-flow structure design - Nature Chemistry Electrochemical energy-storage devices require rapid charge–discharge profiles, but the dense electrode packing required to achieve high energy densities results in sluggish ion-transport kinetics. No...

Moving ions and charge around involves cooperation on multiple scales! Congrats to Peng, Chen and team for their work @natchem.nature.com on polymer cathodes! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Magnetically induced convection enhances water electrolysis in microgravity - Nature Chemistry Electrochemical devices producing oxygen in space face limited buoyancy, hindering gas bubble removal and increasing reaction overpotentials. Now, it has been shown that commercial magnets can enhance...

Chemistry is not just about the past. It should also look to the future. And so we take one step closer to the stars: congrats to Romero-Calvo, Brinkert, and team for their work @natchem.nature.com using magnets to enhance water electrolysis in microgravity! doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Cooperative spin alignment enhances dimerization in the electrochemical ammonia oxidation reaction - Nature Chemistry Ammonia represents a promising fuel resource, but its efficient conversion to dinitrogen faces high energy barriers. Now magnetic domain structures of Co/Pt thin films have been engineered to facilita...

Magnetic fields can impact catalysis involving reactants/products with unpaired electrons. But intermediates can also have unpaired electrons! Congrats to Xu and team for their work @natchem.nature.com showing magnetic spins to alter electrochemical ammonia oxidation! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nucleation processes at interfaces with both substrate and electrolyte control lithium growth - Nature Chemistry Lithium-metal batteries require the controlled growth of lithium for reliable operation, but it has been challenging to understand which factors impact and determine lithium nucleation and growth. Now...

So many factors impact lithium growth (electrolyte, temperature, etc), so it's hard to gain clear insights. Congrats to Liu and team for their work @natchem.nature.com connecting lithium nucleation/growth to interfaces with the surface and electrolyte! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Polymer connectivity governs electrophotocatalytic activity in the solid state - Nature Chemistry The combination of electricity and light can provide a sustainable route to drive challenging synthetic transformations, but current catalysts are plagued by poor stability and mechanistic ambiguity. ...

It's not just our singular abilities that make big changes, but the connections between us. At least, that's how it can be in chemistry. Congrats to Musser, Milner and team for their work @natchem.nature.com on electrophotocatalysis! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@runofthephill.bsky.social

An accurate and efficient framework for modelling the surface chemistry of ionic materials - Nature Chemistry Simulating molecular adsorption on surfaces presents considerable challenges, as computational methods typically suffer from either insufficient accuracy or prohibitive computational costs. Now, with ...

A tough call? Cost vs speed. So congrats to Michaelides and all for their modelling work @natchem.nature.com that asks 'Why not both?' www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@benshi.bsky.social
@andrewrosen.bsky.social @tschaefer-sc.bsky.social @zenandrea.bsky.social @ice-group-cam.bsky.social

Reversible fluorenol photobases that perform CO2 capture and concentration from ambient air - Nature Chemistry Current CO₂ capture strategies often suffer from high thermal regeneration costs. Now a photobase has been shown to reversibly capture and release CO₂ from ambient air using visible light, offering a ...

I enjoy seeing creative ways to harness light for CO2 capture! So congrats to Liu and team for their recent work @natchem.nature.com using photobases to grab and store CO2 from air! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Solid solvation structure design improves all-solid-state organic batteries - Nature Chemistry Organic electrode materials offer a versatile and sustainable route for lithium-ion batteries, but their application is hindered by low working voltages and poor cycling stability. Now, it has been sh...

Solid-state 'solvation' provides an intriguing handle to modulate electrolyte chemistry. Congrats to Wang and Sun on their recent work @natchem.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Flame synthesis achieves compositionally tailorable high-entropy metal-containing nanomaterials - Nature Chemistry High-entropy nanomaterials, which incorporate multiple homogeneously dispersed elements, are promising for energy conversion, but typically require complex, high-temperature synthesis. Now a scalable ...

Fire is wonderful and does so much for us. So congrats to Guo, Caruso, Pan and team for the work on the flame-synthesis of high-entropy nanomaterials! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Alrighty Chemists, putting this out there: I'll be attending my first ACS Meeting #ACSFall2025, so if you're around and want to chat with an @natchem.nature.com editor, let me know! I've still got slots in my schedule, so happy to discuss science, ideas, and whatnot. See you there!

Transition state tuning with concentrated electrolytes - Nature Chemistry Electrochemical CO2 and CO reduction are promising for the sustainable synthesis of multi-carbon products. However, the kinetics that govern the activity and selectivity of the interface between catal...

And thank you Dr Oener for clarifying @natchem.nature.com what it means for concentrated electrolytes to tune transition states www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Disordered interfacial H2O promotes electrochemical C–C coupling - Nature Chemistry The structure of interfacial water plays a key role in the electrochemical reduction of CO to multi-carbon products on copper electrodes. Now it is shown that highly concentrated electrolytes modulate...

Enthalpy and entropy are pretty critical in chemical reactions, but (for some reason) don't get enough attention in some big-picture reactions. Congrats to Zhang, Raciti, and Hall for work @natchem.nature.com examining interfacial H2O on C-C coupling for CO reduction! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Expedient access to methylamine with potential - Nature Chemistry Traditional methylamine synthesis from methanol and ammonia relies on high-temperature and high-pressure reaction conditions, resulting in byproducts and challenging purification. Now, electrochemical...

Methylamine electrosynthesis has potential! Thank you Münchow & Ackermann for your engaging examination @natchem.nature.com on a recent work using electrochemistry to push nitromethane all the way to methylamine www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Strong dipole-promoted N–O bond hydrogenolysis enables ampere-level electrosynthesis of methylamine - Nature Chemistry Nitromethane electroreduction offers a sustainable route for methylamine synthesis, but poor N–O activation yields low selectivity. Now N-methylhydroxylamine adsorption on low-coordination copper has ...

While we all love industrial chemistry, there's probably ways to make some molecules in a more sustainable way. Congrats to Prof Zhang and team for their work in @natchem.nature.com on methylamine electrosynthesis! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Metal-centred states control carrier lifetimes in transition metal oxide photocatalysts - Nature Chemistry Efficient sunlight-to-fuel conversion requires materials that produce long-lived charges, but increasing carrier lifetimes in visible-light-active photocatalysts has proven difficult. Now it has been ...

I had thought ligand field states more relevant for molecules, than for materials. Wrongo! Congrats @msachs.bsky.social @durrant-group.bsky.social @aronwalsh.github.io for their recent work @natchem.nature.com on transition metal oxide photocatalysts! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Linked in with lignin - Nature Chemistry Moses Dike and Shudipto Konika Dishari explore lignin’s historic journey alongside human civilization and showcase its game-changing potential to drive sustainability without compromising performance.

Some molecules have a special role in our civilization. They have been a part of our history, provide a rich source of modern research, and may meet our future energy and materials needs. Come read about the superhero molecule lignin @natchem.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Oxidation of interfacial cobalt controls the pH dependence of the oxygen evolution reaction - Nature Chemistry Transition metal oxides serve as important electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction, although Co-based oxides typically undergo pH-dependent dynamic surface reconstruction under catalytic co...

Just like this presently late post, oxygen evolution catalysts need an extra push to work! But why? Congrats to Huang, Fabbri and team for their latest @natchem.nature.com work examining OER (not why I'm late to post, that's a smaller question) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Super-dry reforming of methane using a tandem electro-thermocatalytic system - Nature Chemistry Although dry reforming of methane can convert CO2 to valuable chemicals, the reaction requires near-equivalent amounts of CH4. Now it has been demonstrated that an electro-thermocatalytic CH4 reformin...

Years of watching Voltron/Power Rangers-type shows has primed me to believe in the power of cooperativity (+big 'bots). Congrats to Profs Xiao, Wang, and team for their work on super-dry methane reforming via tandem electro-thermocatalysis @naturechemistry.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Light-driven propane dehydrogenation by a single-atom catalyst under near-ambient conditions - Nature Chemistry Propane dehydrogenation is challenging to perform under mild conditions due to the reaction’s endothermic nature. Now, near-ambient propane dehydrogenation has been shown using copper single-atom cata...

Who's ready for summer at the beach? Just soak up the sun and enjoy the water. Funny enough, the same strategy helps heterogeneous catalysts avoid harsh reaction conditions! Congrats Profs Yao, Yang, Liu, and team for their new work @naturechemistry.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

High-pressure pump–probe experiments reveal the mechanism of excited-state proton-coupled electron transfer and a shift from stepwise to concerted pathways - Nature Chemistry Chemical energy conversion and storage rely on the selective movement of protons and electrons, thus understanding these processes is important for applications. Now experiments at elevated pressures ...

We behave differently under pressure, and so do photocatalysts! Congrats to Ivanović-Burmazović, Guldi & team for their latest work @naturechemistry.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Chemistry
#PCET
#ReactionMechanisms
#PhotoinducedReactions
#ExcitedStateReactions
#HighPressure

Progress and pitfalls in designing heterogeneous catalysts with molecular precision - Nature Chemistry Atomically dispersed heterogeneous catalysts impact diverse areas of chemistry through the design of active sites with molecular precision, but this vision is not fully realized. This Perspective pres...

"Single atom catalysis" promises the precision of molecular chemistry and the practicality of heterogeneous catalysis. Congrats to Prof Bates for the latest Perspective on the progress and pitfalls of this area! www.nature.com/articles/s41... @naturechemistry.bsky.social

Anion vacancies activate N2 to ammonia on Ba–Si orthosilicate oxynitride-hydride - Nature Chemistry N2 reduction to ammonia typically requires transition metal catalysts, proceeding via a strong metal–nitrogen interaction. Now a Ba–Si orthosilicate oxynitride–hydride has been shown to function as a ...

Our flaws and defects, not just our strengths, define us as valuable individuals. So too (sorta) with catalysts! Congrats to Tada, Hisono, Kitano and team for their work showing anion vacancies to be rather active for N2 conversion! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Surface-localized phase mediation accelerates quasi-solid-state reaction kinetics in sulfur batteries - Nature Chemistry Lithium–sulfur batteries are a promising electrochemical energy storage technology; however, they are limited by the dissolution of polysulfide intermediates. Now, it has been shown that sparingly sol...

Polysulfide solubility is a finicky thing. We want enough solubility to ensure quick kinetics, but the shuttling between electrodes hurts stability. Congrats to Zou, Pang and team for finding an interesting balance in their new work! @naturechemistry.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Isotopic labelling of water reveals the hydrogen transfer route in electrochemical CO2 reduction - Nature Chemistry CO2 electroreduction to higher-value carbons can occur through adsorbed hydrogen or through proton-coupled electron transfer from water. Understanding the impact of each route on product selectivity i...

One of the tricky bits about CO2 conversion is how many products are possible, especially using copper. Congrats to Wang, Lum, and team for their work delving into mechanisms and identifying how each contributes to the products obtained:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...