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The alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a promising avenue for producing clean fuels and storing intermittent energy. However, challenges such as excessive OH− consumption and strong adsorption of oxygen‐containing intermediates hinder the development of alkaline OER. In this study, we propose a cooperative strategy by leveraging both nano‐scale and atomically local electric fields for alkaline OER, demonstrated through the synthesis of Mn single atom doped CoP nanoneedles (Mn SA‐CoP NNs). Finite element method simulations and density functional theory calculations predict that the nano‐scale local electric field enriches OH− around the catalyst surface, while the atomically local electric field improves *O desorption. Experimental validation using in situ attenuated total reflection infrared and Raman spectroscopy confirms the effectiveness of the nano‐scale and atomically electric fields. Mn SA‐CoP NNs exhibit an ultra‐low overpotential of 189 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and stable operation over 100 hours at ~100 mA cm−2 during alkaline OER. This innovative strategy provides new insights for enhancing catalyst performance in energy conversion reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of allylic quaternary sp3‐carbon centers has long been a formidable challenge in transition‐metal‐catalyzed alkyl‐allyl coupling reactions due to the severe steric hindrance. Herein, we report an effective carbene strategy that employs well‐defined vinyl‐N‐triftosylhydrazones as a versatile allylating reagent to enable direct assembly of these medicinally desirable structural elements from low‐cost alkane feedstocks. The reaction exhibited excellent site selectivity for tertiary C−H bonds, broad scope (>60 examples and >20 : 1:0 r. r.) and good efficiency, even on a gram‐scale, making it a convenient alternative to the well‐known Trost–Tsuji allylation reaction for the formation of alkyl–allyl bonds. Combined experimental and computational studies were employed to unravel the mechanism and origin of site‐ and chemoselectivity of the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruthenium (Ru)‐based catalysts, with considerable performance and desirable cost, are becoming highly interesting candidates to replace platinum (Pt) in the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The hydrogen binding at Ru sites (Ru−H) is an important factor limiting the HER activity. Herein, density functional theory (DFT) simulations show that the essence of Ru−H binding energy is the strong interaction between the 4dz2 orbital of Ru and the 1s orbital of H. The charge transfer between Ru sites and substrates (Co and Ni) causes the appropriate downward shift of the 4dz2 ‐band center of Ru, which results in a Gibbs free energy of 0.022 eV for H* in the RuCo system, much lower than the 0.133 eV in the pure Ru system. This theoretical prediction has been experimentally confirmed using RuCo alloy‐nanosheets (RuCo ANSs). They were prepared via a fast co‐precipitation method followed with a mild electrochemical reduction. Structure characterizations reveal that the Ru atoms are embedded into the Co substrate as isolated active sites with a planar symmetric and Z‐direction asymmetric coordination structure, obtaining an optimal 4dz2 modulated electronic structure. Hydrogen sensor and temperature program desorption (TPD) tests demonstrate the enhanced Ru−H interactions in RuCo ANSs compared to those in pure Ru nanoparticles. As a result, the RuCo ANSs reach an ultra‐low overpotential of 10 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 20.6 mV dec−1 in 1 M KOH, outperforming that of the commercial Pt/C. This holistic work provides a new insight to promote alkaline HER by optimizing the metal‐H binding energy of active sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteroatom doped atomically dispersed Fe1‐NC catalysts have been found to show excellent activity toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the origin of the enhanced activity is still controversial because the structure‐function relationship governing the enhancement remains elusive. Herein, sulfur(S)‐doped Fe1‐NC catalyst was obtained as a model, which displays a superior activity for ORR towards the traditional Fe‐NC materials. 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed that incorporation of S in the second coordination sphere of Fe1‐NC can induce the transition of spin polarization configuration. Operando 57Fe Mössbauer spectra definitively identified the low spin single‐Fe3+‐atom of C‐FeN4‐S moiety as the active site for ORR. Moreover, DFT calculations unveiled that lower spin state of the Fe center after the S doping promotes OH* desorption process. This work elucidates the underlying mechanisms towards S doping for enhancing ORR activity, and paves a way to investigate the function of broader heteroatom doped Fe1‐NC catalysts to offer a general guideline for spin‐state‐determined ORR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral Pb(Sn)‐I hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites exhibit outstanding chiral‐induced spin selectivity (CISS) performance, but the nontoxic lead‐free hybrid materials with high stability are still greatly desired for spin filtering in spintronic applications. We synthesize chiral hybrid copper halides (R/S‐MBA)2CuX4 (MBA=methylbenzylammonium; X=Cl, Br) with characteristic 0D CuX4 tetrahedral structural motifs, combining the low toxicity of Cu2+ and air stability of halide ions (Cl− and Br−). Despite similar structural and electronic features, (R/S‐MBA)2CuBr4 shows much smaller chiroptical activity than the chloride counterpart. Magnetically conductive atomic force microscopy measurements display a typical spin‐polarized charge‐transport property with high efficiency up to 90 % for both copper halides. Our work expands the CISS effect into eco‐friendly and stable metal–organic halides, which is promising for applications in spintronics based on transition‐metal hybrid systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correlated cell migration in fibrous extracellular matrix (ECM) is important in many biological processes. During migration, cells can remodel the ECM, leading to the formation of mesoscale structures such as fiber bundles. However, how such mesoscale structures regulate correlated single‐cells migration remains to be elucidated. Here, using a quasi‐3D in vitro model, we investigate how collagen fiber bundles are dynamically re‐organized and guide cell migration. By combining laser ablation technique with 3D tracking and active‐particle simulations, we definitively show that only the re‐organized fiber bundles that carry significant tensile forces can guide strongly correlated cell migration, providing for the first time a direct experimental evidence supporting that matrix‐transmitted long‐range forces can regulate cell migration and self‐organization. This force regulation mechanism can provide new insights for studies on cellular dynamics, fabrication or selection of biomedical materials in tissue repairing, and many other biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single‐atom‐layer catalysts with fully activated basal‐atoms will provide a solution to the low loading‐density bottleneck of single‐atom catalysts. Herein, we activate the majority of the basal sites of monolayer MoS2, by doping Co ions to induce long‐range ferromagnetic order. This strategy, as revealed by in situ synchrotron radiation microscopic infrared spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements, could activate more than 50 % of the originally inert basal‐plane S atoms in the ferromagnetic monolayer for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Consequently, on a single monolayer of ferromagnetic MoS2 measured by on‐chip micro‐cell, a current density of 10 mA cm−2 could be achieved at the overpotential of 137 mV, corresponding to a mass activity of 28, 571 Ag−1, which is two orders of magnitude higher than the multilayer counterpart. Its exchange current density of 75 μA cm−2 also surpasses most other MoS2‐based catalysts. Experimental results and theoretical calculations show the activation of basal plane S atoms arises from an increase of electronic density around the Fermi level, promoting the H adsorption ability of basal‐plane S atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general graphene quantum dot‐tethering design strategy to synthesize single‐atom catalysts (SACs) is presented. The strategy is applicable to different metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn) and supports (0D carbon nanosphere, 1D carbon nanotube, 2D graphene nanosheet, and 3D graphite foam) with the metal loading of 3.0–4.5 wt %. The direct transmission electron microscopy imaging and X‐ray absorption spectra analyses confirm the atomic dispersed metal in carbon supports. Our study reveals that the abundant oxygenated groups for complexing metal ions and the rich defective sites for incorporating nitrogen are essential to realize the synthesis of SACs. Furthermore, the carbon nanotube supported Ni SACs exhibits high electrocatalytic activity for CO2 reduction with nearly 100 % CO selectivity. This universal strategy is expected to open up new research avenues to produce SACs for diverse electrocatalytic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer possesses normoxic and hypoxia microenvironments with different levels of oxygen, needing different efficacies of photothermal and photodynamic therapies. It is important to precisely tune the photothermal and photodynamic effects of phototherapy nano‐agents for efficient cancer treatment. Now, a series of copolymeric nanoparticles (PPy‐Te NPs) were synthesized in situ by controlled oxidative copolymerization with different ratios of pyrrole to tellurophene by FeCl3. The photothermal and photodynamic effects of semiconducting nano‐agents under the first near‐infrared (NIR) irradiation were precisely and systematically tuned upon simply varying the molar ratio of the pyrrole to tellurophene. The PPy‐Te NPs were used for cancer treatment in mice, exhibiting excellent biocompatibility and therapeutic effect. This work presents a simple method to tune photothermal and photodynamic therapies effect in semiconducting nano‐agents for cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracking membrane‐interacting molecules and visualizing their conformational dynamics are key to understanding their functions. It is, however, challenging to accurately probe the positions of a molecule relative to a membrane. Herein, a single‐molecule method, termed LipoFRET, is reported to assess interplay between molecules and liposomes. It takes advantage of FRET between a single fluorophore attached to a biomolecule and many quenchers in a liposome. This method was used to characterize interactions between α‐synuclein (α‐syn) and membranes. These results revealed that the N‐terminus of α‐syn inserts into the membrane and spontaneously transitions between different depths. In contrast, the C‐terminal tail of α‐syn is regulated by calcium ions and floats in solution in two conformations. LipoFRET is a powerful tool to investigate membrane‐interacting biomolecules with sub‐nanometer precision at the single‐molecule level. LipoFRET takes advantages of the principle of FRET between a donor‐labeled, membrane‐interacting molecule and multiple quenchers entrapped in a liposome. This single‐molecule method tracks the position of a fluorophore‐labeled residue relative to the membrane surface in real time. It is an easy but powerful tool to study the dynamics of membrane protein interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an ideal model to study the relationship between the activity and the surface properties of catalysts. Defect engineering has been extensively developed to tune the electrocatalytic activity for OER. Compared to the anion vacancies in metal oxides, cation vacancies are more challenging to selectively generate, and the insight into the structure and activity of cation vacancies‐rich catalysts are lacked. Herein, using SnCoFe perovskite hydroxide as a precursor, abundant Sn vacancies on the surface were preferentially produced by Ar plasma. Sn vacancies could be preferentially produced as confirmed by the X‐ray absorption spectra, probably owing to the lower lattice energy and weaker chemical bonds of Sn(OH)4. The Sn vacancies promoted the exposure of active CoFe sites, resulting in an amorphous surface layer, modulated the conductivity, and thus enhanced the OER performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: biological activity; collagen fiber bundles; correlated cell migration; fibrous proteins; long-range force propagation EN biological activity collagen fiber bundles correlated cell migration fibrous proteins long-range force propagation 1 1 1 05/13/21 20210517 NES 210517 B Fibrous Proteins b In their Research Article on page 11858, Yuanjin Zhao, Yang Jiao, Fangfu Ye et al. report the organization of collagen fiber bundles. Frontispiece: Dynamically Re-Organized Collagen Fiber Bundles Transmit Mechanical Signals and Induce Strongly Correlated Cell Migration and Self-Organization Biological activity, collagen fiber bundles, correlated cell migration, fibrous proteins, long-range force propagation. [Extracted from the article]