New type of sensor material developed

29-Mar-2017 - Hokkaido University scientists have succeeded in developing a nickel complex that changes color and magnetism when exposed to methanol vapor. The new material can potentially be used not only as a chemical sensor, but also with future rewritable memory devices. The phenomenon of color changes in ...

How solvent molecules cooperate in reactions

10-Oct-2016 - Molecules from the solvent environment that at first glance seem to be uninvolved can be essential for chemical reactions. This has been shown by researchers studying the formation of an ether in pure solvents and in their mixtures. They explained the underlying mechanisms in detail using ...

Measuring chemistry: local fingerprint of hydrogen bonding captured in experiments

21-Mar-2016 - A team from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has been able for the first time to measure how new bonds influence molecules: they have reconstructed the “energy landscape” of acetone molecules using measurement data from the Swiss Light Source (SLS) of the Paul Scherrer Institut, and thereby empirically ...

A breakthrough for organic reactions in water

01-Jul-2014 - Green-chemistry researchers at McGill University have discovered a way to use water as a solvent in one of the reactions most widely used to synthesize chemical products and pharmaceuticals. The findings mark a potential milestone in efforts to develop organic reactions in water. Chao-Jun Li and ...

Secrets of enzyme used to make popular anti-cholesterol drug

15-May-2014 - In pharmaceutical production, identifying enzyme catalysts that help improve the speed and efficiency of the process can be a major boon. Figuring out exactly why a particular enzyme works so well is an altogether different quest. Take the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin. First marketed ...

Help from the Dark Side

Using “dark channel” fluorescence, scientists can explain how biochemical substances carry out their function

09-Aug-2010 - Spectroscopic techniques are among the most important methods by which scientists can look inside materials. They exploit the interaction of light waves with a given sample. Now, using X-ray absorption spectroscopy, researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB) have ...

Boron-Oxygen Triple Bonds stabilized for the first time ever

20-Apr-2010 - World first: chemists from the University of Würzburg have, for the first time ever, succeeded in creating a stable triple bond between the elements boron and oxygen. This success is reported in the journal "Science". Why is this renowned scientific magazine so enthusiastic about the work of the ...

Chemist monitors nanotechnology's environmental impact

31-Mar-2010 - Interest in 'green' innovation means not just thinking big but also very, very, very small. At least that's the way Omowunmi Sadik, director of Binghamton University's Center for Advanced Sensors and Environmental Systems, sees it. She's working to develop sensors that would detect and identify ...

UGA researchers achieve breakthrough in effort to develop tiny biological fuel cells

23-Jun-2009 - University of Georgia researchers have developed a successful way to grow molecular wire brushes that conduct electrical charges, a first step in developing biological fuel cells that could power pacemakers, cochlear implants and prosthetic limbs. The journal Chemical Science calls the technique ...

Engineers develop method to disperse chemically modified graphene in organic solvents

02-Apr-2009 - A method for creating dispersed and chemically modified graphene sheets in a wide variety of organic solvents has been developed by a University of Texas at Austin engineering team led by Professor Rod Ruoff, opening the door to use graphene in a host of important materials and applications such ...