How do you destroy a forever chemical?
3M offers $10.3 billion settlement over PFAS contamination in water systems. What's next? Enlarge (credit: Andrew Brookes) PFAS chemicals seemed like a good idea at first. As Teflon, they made pots easier to clean starti.....»»
Researchers engineer viruses to kill deadly pathogens
Northwestern University researchers have successfully coaxed a deadly pathogen to destroy itself from the inside out......»»
High-performance photocatalytic water oxidation realized via ultrathin covalent organic framework nanosheets
The photocatalytic water oxidation process plays a vital role in attaining efficient solar-to-chemical process by enabling photocatalytic water splitting and CO2/N2 fixation. However, the lack of well-designed photocatalysts to overcome the sluggish.....»»
Chemical biology: A novel approach to synthesize dibenzothiophene s-oxides
Organic compounds in the field of chemistry range from simple hydrocarbons to complex molecules, with diverse functional groups added to the main carbon backbone. These functional groups impart distinct chemical properties to the compounds and partic.....»»
Enzyme for biocatalysis uses solvent as a substrate
A large number of applications in the chemical industry rely on the molecules NADH or NADPH as fuel. A team led by Professor Dirk Tischler, head of the Microbial Biotechnology working group at Ruhr University Bochum, used a biocatalyst to study their.....»»
Cosmic building blocks of life discovered through the electron microscope
A team of researchers has examined the Winchcombe meteorite and demonstrated the existence in it of nitrogen compounds such as amino acids and heterocyclic hydrocarbons—without applying any chemical treatment and by using a new type of detector des.....»»
Study shows much more pollution leaking into atmosphere from oil sands operations than thought
An international team of chemical and environmental engineers has found that oil sands operations in Canada are emitting significantly more pollutants into the air than previously thought. In their study, reported in the journal Science, the group co.....»»
Silica may influence microbial communities in hydrothermal fields
In recent years, the hydrothermal alteration of olivine has attracted the attention of geologists, biologists, and chemists. It significantly influences the physical and chemical properties of the oceanic lithosphere, and it plays an important role f.....»»
Scientists show that quantum infrared spectroscopy can achieve ultra-broadband spectroscopic measurements
Our understanding of the world relies greatly on our knowledge of its constituent materials and their interactions. Recent advances in materials science technologies have ratcheted up our ability to identify chemical substances and expanded possible.....»»
Teaching nature to break man-made chemical bonds
For the first time, scientists have engineered an enzyme that can break stubborn man-made bonds between silicon and carbon that exist in widely-used chemicals known as siloxanes, or silicones. The discovery is a first step toward rendering the chemic.....»»
Autonomous synthesis robot uses AI to speed up chemical discovery
Chemists of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have developed an autonomous chemical synthesis robot with an integrated AI-driven machine learning unit. Dubbed "RoboChem," the benchtop device can outperform a human chemist in terms of speed and accura.....»»
Chemists use blockchain to simulate more than 4 billion chemical reactions essential to origins of life
Cryptocurrency is usually "mined" through the blockchain by asking a computer to perform a complicated mathematical problem in exchange for tokens of cryptocurrency. But in research appearing in the journal Chem a team of chemists has repurposed this.....»»
As easy as counting to ten: A new rule for catalysts" design
The "ten electron rule" provides guidance for the design of single-atom alloy catalysts for targeted chemical reactions......»»
A cheap substitute for expensive metal in an industrially common chemical reaction
The chemical industry commonly uses rare, expensive metals to produce pharmaceuticals and other essential substances. Replacing these metals whenever possible with more abundant, cheaper substitutes would benefit environmental sustainability, lower c.....»»
Chemical synthesis: New strategy for skeletal editing on pyridines
A team from the University of Münster has introduced a strategy for converting carbon–nitrogen atom pairs in a frequently used ring-shaped compound into carbon–carbon atom pairs. The method has potential in the quest for active ingredients for n.....»»
Researchers design novel hollow-fiber Cu penetration electrode for efficient CO₂ electroreduction
Electrochemical conversion of CO2 into value-added chemical fuels driven by renewable electrical energy has roles in reducing net CO2 emission and in addressing energy consumption......»»
Study probes unexplored combination of three chemical elements for superconductivity
Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from MIPT and China's Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research have computationally explored the stability of the bizarre compounds of hydrogen, lanthanum, and magnesium that exist at.....»»
Glowing COVID-19 diagnostic test prototype produces results in one minute
Cold, flu and COVID-19 season brings that now-familiar ritual: swab, wait, look at the result. But what if, instead of taking 15 minutes or more, a test could quickly determine whether you have COVID-19 with a glowing chemical? Now, in ACS Central Sc.....»»
The pros and cons of oxygen mediating the performance of nickel catalysts in dry reforming of methane
Catalysis is one of the key technologies in the chemical industry and has a wide-reaching impact on various aspects of our daily lives, including plastics manufacturing, drug synthesis, and production of both fertilizers and fuels. It is estimated th.....»»
The differing olfactory worlds of female and male silk moths
A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, together with colleagues from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, has studied olfaction in female silk moths. Using electrophysiological methods, they disco.....»»
Study reveals a reaction at the heart of many renewable energy technologies
A key chemical reaction—in which the movement of protons between the surface of an electrode and an electrolyte drives an electric current—is a critical step in many energy technologies, including fuel cells and the electrolyzers used to produce.....»»