One of the most important types of chemicals in agriculture is fertilizer. This paper shows a new way to cleanly make fertilizer from a very common mineral!
Tag: Materials
Unveiling the Mystery of Nanomaterials
Ever wondered how and why the world of ‘nanomaterials’ is fueling the ‘big’ technological advances! Let us travel past the layers of sophisticated ingenious performance of nanomaterials and learn the fundamental reason behind their properties.
Novel Materials for Next-Generation LEDs: Embedding Light-emitting Quantum Dots in a Perovskite Matrix
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) already bring cheap and versatile lighting to people across the world, but the latest technological advances are even more promising, embedding nanocrystals in a perovskite matrix for better LEDs.
Nanoreactors for Enzyme Cascades
What are nanoreactors and how can they enhance multi-enzyme reactions? Let’s find out!
Rechargeable Battery Breakthrough!
Title: Rechargeable Sodium All-Solid-State Battery Authors: Weidong Zhou, Yutao Li*, Sen Xin , and John B. Goodenough* Publication Info: ACS Cent. Sci., 2017, 3 (1), pp 52–57; DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.6b00321 Publication Date : January 3, 2017 Electricity generated by photovoltaic solar panels has reached the pivotal point where it is…
Health Assessment in Your Home via Disposable Breath Analysis Sensors
Title: Diagnosis and Classification of 17 Diseases from 1404 Subjects via Pattern Analysis of Exhaled Molecules Authors: Hossam Haick et al. Publication Info: ACS Nano, 2017, 11 (1), pp 112–125 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b04930 This work reports on the development of a portable, inexpensive, and non-invasive breath analyzer that couples the use…
Listen and Grow! – The Story Behind Growing Polymers with Sound
Our bones have the ability to heal themselves when exposed to mechanical stresses by forming new polymeric material, so what’s stopping scientists from doing the same synthetically?
Electrochemical Capture and Release of Carbon Dioxide
Title: Electrochemical Capture and Release of Carbon Dioxide Authors: Joseph H. Rheinhardt, Poonam Singh, Pilarisetty Tarakeshwar, and Daniel A. Buttry* Publication Info: ACS Energy Lett., 2017, 2 (2), pp 454–461, DOI:10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00608 This article is a perspective from recognized experts in the field of CO2 capture and release.…
The Era Beyond Fluorescence and Phosphorescence – Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence
Advances in knowledge about light emission have brought breathtaking innovations in lighting and display technologies. The well-known light-emitting processes are fluorescence and phosphorescence. Let’s take a closer look into their dynamics and another light-emitting process: Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF)!
A Simple Approach for Developing Inexpensive and Sustainable Metal Catalysts
In order to keep catalyst-based industries sustainable and profitable, new catalysts need to be developed that utilize inexpensive, earth-abundant materials. The authors here present a novel method for easily forming stable earth-abundant metal catalysts, which are inexpensive and sustainable alternatives to precious-metal catalysts.
Stacks on stacks on stacks
Finding ways to create order is a common theme in science. Here researchers are trying to carefully arrange chromophores in order to create better solar cells (among other potential uses). In particular, these chemists are trying to make porphyrins stand up on a surface creating stacks of porphyrins that are a well defined distance from each other and from the surface they are attached to.
Electrocatalytically Active Graphene–Porphyrin MOF Composite for Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Title: Electrocatalytically Active Graphene–Porphyrin MOF Composite for Oxygen Reduction Reaction DOI: 10.1021/ja211433h Author: Maryam Jahan, Qiaoliang Bao, and Kian Ping Loh Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society Affiliation: Graphene Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore Take-home Importance According to the Authors: By reacting the pyridine-functionalized graphene with…
Prettier than dyed eggs?
The cocoons, the silkworm itself, and the produced silk become colored when dye is incorporated into the silkworm feed. The concentration of dye in the produced silk changes based on how hydrophobic the dye is (increasing partition coefficient).
CO2 Reduction on Tin Electrodes and Enhanced Activity for Tin/Tin Oxide Thin-Film Catalysts
Title: Tin Oxide Dependence of the CO2 Reduction Efficiency on Tin Electrodes and Enhanced Catalytic Activity for Tin/Tin-Oxide Thin Film Catalyst DOI: 10.1021/ja2108799 Author: Yihong Chen and Matthew W. Kanan Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United…
The Computer Chemist
Chemists have limited time to do chemistry because, shockingly, they need to eat, sleep, even socialize…. but computers on the other hand…
A New Look at Old Chemistry
This article is a great reminder that we should take some time to look back at chemistry reported decades ago to inspire us.
Solid-State Solvatochromism
Title: Ionic Crystals of {[Ni(phen)3]2Ge4S10}-xSol, Showing Solid-State Solvatochromism and Rapid Solvent-Induced Recrystallization Authors: Wen-Qin Mu, Qin-Yu Zhu, Li-Sheng You, Xu Zhang, Wen Luo, Guo-Qing Bian, Jie Dia Journal: Inorganic Chemistry Take Home Importance According to Blogger: A solid material which could rapidly change color depending on what solvent was introduced is…
Shrinky-Dink Science
Title: Self-folding of polymer sheets using local light absorption Authors: Ying Liu, Julie K. Boyles, Jan Genzer and Michael D. Dickey Journal: Soft Matter Affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University As a kid you may have played with Shrinky-Dinks. I remember…
Continuous in situ generation and reaction of phosgene in a microflow system
Title: Continuous in situ generation and reaction of phosgene in a microflow system Authors: Shinichiro Fuse, Nobutake Tanabe, and Takashi Takahashi* Journal: Chemical Communications Affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan. Take-Home Importance according to the Authors: Continuous in situ generation of…
Stack Exchange Strategies for the Synthesis of Covalent Double-Channel Photosystems by Self-Organizing Surface-Initiated Polymerization
Title: Stack Exchange Strategies for the Synthesis of Covalent Double-Channel Photosystems by Self-Organizing Surface-Initiated Polymerization Authors: N. Sakai and S. Matile Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society Affiliation: University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland Take Home Importance: Well-ordered polymeric ‘columns’ of different chromophores in the same polymer were prepared…
Tiny stamps make patterns with different energy levels for LEDs
Title: Spatially Modulating Interfacial Properties of Transparent Conductive Oxides: Patterning Work Function with Phosphonic Acid Self-Assembled Monolayers Authors: Kristina M. Knesting , Peter J. Hotchkiss , Bradley A. MacLeod , Seth R. Marder , and David S. Ginger Journal: Advanced Materials Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, and School of Chemistry and…
Light-Harvesting Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs): Efficient Strut-to-Strut Energy Transfer in Bodipy and Porphyrin-Based MOFs
Title: Light-Harvesting Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs): Efficient Strut-to-Strut Energy Transfer in Bodipy and Porphyrin-Based MOFs Authors: Chang Yeon Lee, Omar K. Farha, Bong Jin Hong, Amy A. Sarjeant, SonBinh T. Nguyen, and Joseph T. Hupp Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145…