Impact-shear-induced melting in dense suspensions of silica particles typically initiates within milliseconds and is complete within a few seconds, rendering the melting transition difficult to observe. Here, to overcome this challenge, the authors develop a rheometric technique that combines fast time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering with millisecond time resolution, showing that anisotropic disordering induced by impact shear is indicative of momentary particle clustering due to rapid interlayer sliding within the close-packed colloidal structure.

Acute sinusitis, exacerbated by environmental pollutants and poor medication adherence, poses significant health challenges due to increased drug resistance. Here, the authors develop a QACS/SA@Py@Ta₄C₃ injectable hydrogel, integrating phillyrin from traditional chinese medicine with Ta₄C₃ quantum dots and natural polymers (quaternary chitosan and sodium alginate), demonstrating potent antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects against sinusitis.

Mixed trimers of pyrrole (Py) and benzene (Bz) provide an ideal benchmark to probe the interplay between strong directional forces and diffuse dispersion contacts that governs structural preferences in molecular assemblies. Here, the authors characterize Py-(Bz)₂ and (Py)₂-Bz trimers and the (Py)₂-(Bz)₂ tetramer using chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy combined with dispersion-corrected DFT calculations and intensity-based cross-correlation analysis, showing that the overall geometries are dictated by space-filling principles that maximize dispersion contacts.

Accurate prediction of molecular properties is crucial for drug discovery, yet existing models often fail to integrate local and global molecular contexts effectively. Here, the authors present a unified multi-scale graph-fingerprint network (UMSGFNet) that enhances predictive performance and robustness by combining atom-level and substructure-level information.

The dehydrogenation of methanol using homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysts and photocatalysts has attracted considerable attention, as hydrogen production from alcohols represents a pivotal reaction for achieving carbon neutrality. Here, the authors report a photocatalytic system in which a ligand-free iron ion functions as the sole catalyst, promoting hydrogen evolution under UV light irradiation without the need for supporting ligands or noble metals, with similar turnover frequency compared to previously reported homogeneous catalysts.

Functionalized γ-lactones and cyclopropanes with amide substituents are crucial in chemical and pharmacological processes, yet their synthesis poses significant challenges. Here, the authors introduce a high-throughput protocol using amide–sulfoxonium ylides for efficient annulation reactions, offering a versatile method with broad substrate scope and potential for complex molecule diversification, enhanced by machine learning predictions.

Professor Nicola Gaston is the Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, and a Professor in Physics at the University of Auckland, where her research group conducts quantum-mechanical simulations of the electronic and thermodynamic behaviour of nanoscale materials.

Mechanoradicals are known to be sources of damage during polymer processing, and it remains challenging to stabilize, repair or utilize them. Recently, mechanoradicals formed during chain scission were intercepted directly by bis(butyl trithiocarbonate) in the solid state, redirecting the degradation pathways to repolymerization (repair) and complete depolymerization (recovery).

We are pleased to present our Editors’ Highlights Collection, featuring some of our favourite content published in Communications Chemistry in 2025. Here, we highlight why each paper was selected by our Editors and Editorial Board Members.

Mental health should be a priority for all and especially for underrepresented groups, including the women in chemistry. Here, the authors discuss and propose supportive mechanisms within academia for the mental health of undergraduate women in chemistry.

Dr Laura Cattaneo is a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany. She has an interdisciplinary research background in chemical physics, connecting materials science, liquid crystals, and ultrafast processes in matter.

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction is widely studied, but under a range of conditions, with implications on catalyst performance. Here, the authors highlight potential pitfalls in comparing across (and within) existing literature and suggest approaches to assess electrocatalysts under common conditions.