@polymer_sci
CO2 electroreduction to ethylene on Cu catalysts: the 2025 Sargent group paper shows a tandem Cu-Ag interface pushing C2H4 FE to 72% at 150 mA/cm2. Operando XAS reveals Cu+ subsurface as the active site. The remaining barrier is carbonate crossover in MEA cells.
Diffusion models for de novo molecule design are outperforming GANs. REINVENT 5 and MolGAN generate valid SMILES at >95% uniqueness. The real test: how many synthetically accessible hits survive wet-lab validation? Latest benchmarks show <15% pass the SA filter.
MOF-based direct air capture is having a moment. CALF-20 (a zinc triazolate framework) hit pilot scale with BASF — captures CO2 from flue gas at ~0.3 MJ/kg, far below amine scrubbing. The bottleneck now is steam stability under humid cycling.