Feature Channels: Chemistry

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To shield stainless-steel spent nuclear fuel canisters from the corrosive threats posed by sea air, Sandia National Laboratories researchers tested a variety of nickel mixtures as protective coatings on stainless steel. The researchers found that the specific material applied, and the specific application process used, impacted the properties of the coating, including how protective it was against corrosion. Their results were published recently in the scientific journal Frontiers in Metals and Alloys.

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The demand for precious metals and rare earths is expected to continue increasing in the future. Due to limited production areas, recycling from precision equipment and recovering from seawater and hot spring water are needed to ensure a stable supply.

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While the wheel does not need to be reinvented, there are benefits to the development of new nano-wheels, according to a multi-institute research team based in China.

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Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. A new invention by NUS researchers could help improve the treatment of this cancer by enhancing the precision of radiotherapy, which is commonly used in combination with treatment options such as surgery, chemotherapy or immunotherapy.

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ORNL scientists combined two ligands, or metal-binding molecules, to target light and heavy lanthanides simultaneously for exceptionally efficient separation.

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Researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed a new testing platform that encapsulates B cells — some of the most important components of the immune system — into miniature “organoids” to make vaccine screening quicker and greatly reduce the number of animals needed for testing.

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Some polymers can expand and contract — acting like artificial muscles — but only when stimulated by high voltages. Researchers in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces report a series of thin, elastic films that respond to lower electrical charges, representing a step toward artificial muscles.

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The SLAC-Stanford team pulled hydrogen directly from ocean waters. Their work could help efforts to generate low-carbon fuel for electric grids, cars, boats and other infrastructure.

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As a Distinguished Staff Fellow in the Chemical Sciences Division focused on energy storage and conversion, Andrew Ullman of Oak Ridge National Laboratory is using chemistry to devise a better battery.

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The Journal of Chemical Physics is pleased to announce Bingqing Cheng and Katrin Erath-Dulitz as the 2022 winners of the JCP Best Paper by an Emerging Investigator Awards. Cheng was selected for research that exploits machine learning to understand and predict material properties and Erath-Dulitz was recognized for developing a method that controllably prepares chemical reactions to explore their quantum nature. Each winner will receive a $2,000 honorarium and is invited to write a perspective article for JCP.

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With its Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Center (Q-NEXT) and its quantum research team, Argonne is a hub for research that could change the way we process and transmit information.

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Aerosols particles in the atmosphere are an important factor in the Earth’s climate, but researchers lack information on these aerosols’ molecular composition, especially for aerosols during the day and night above agricultural fields. In this research, scientists examined secondary organic aerosols over agricultural fields in the Southern Great Plains in Oklahoma. They found that the aerosols’ composition and structure differ from day to night and that some aerosols are ultimately from urban sources.

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After nearly a century of scientific inquiry, scientists have at last been able to characterize a key component in the substance responsible for giving countless living organisms their color.

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Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago explore the possibility of solving the electronic structures of complex molecules using a quantum computer.

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Human activities emit many kinds of pollutants into the air, and without a molecule called hydroxide (OH), many of these pollutants would keep aggregating in the atmosphere. How OH itself forms in the atmosphere was viewed as a complete story, but in new research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team that includes Sergey Nizkorodov, a University of California, Irvine professor of chemistry, report that a strong electric field that exists at the surface between airborne water droplets and the surrounding air can create OH by a previously unknown mechanism.

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Researchers at Binghamton University led research partnering with the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory—to get a better look at how peroxides on the surface of copper oxide promote the oxidation of hydrogen but inhibit the oxidation of carbon monoxide, allowing them to steer oxidation reactions.

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In an advance they consider a breakthrough in computational chemistry research, University of Wisconsin–Madison chemical engineers have developed model of how catalytic reactions work at the atomic scale.

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To manage atmospheric carbon dioxide and convert the gas into a useful product, Cornell University scientists have dusted off an archaic – now 120 years old – electrochemical equation.

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A wax that is derived from a commonly grown marine microalga could be the next big thing in cosmetics and personal care products, thanks to a recent license agreement between the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Western Washington University (WWU)—which jointly own the patents—and Upwell Cosmetics, a start-up materials company founded in Woods Hole, Mass.

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Researchers have developed a novel synthetic substance that has the potential to be a more effective and safer way of delivering drugs around the body.

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Smart surfaces mimic elusive photonic time crystals

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Dr. Yu Lei, associate professor and interim chair, Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, has been named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar. He will continue his research into developing new catalysts at the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry at the Czech Academy of Science in Prague, Czech Republic.

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PNNL-developed catalytic process and catalyst to upgrade ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel wins American Chemical Society award.

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In the United States alone, drug-resistant bacteria and fungi infect almost 3 million people per year and kill about 35,000.

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The scope and scale of threats facing coral reefs demand new ways of approaching the questions that need to be answered in order to ensure the future of reefs worldwide. That’s the conclusion of a paper released in print today by a multi-disciplinary scientists and engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

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The key to insect success may be their wings. That’s what West Virginia University researcher Terry Gullion, professor of chemistry in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has learned by studying the chemical composition of insect wings — something that has not been examined in detail until now.

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An interdisciplinary research team of the Institutes of Physical Chemistry and Physics of the University of Freiburg and the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt-am-Main has discovered a new, direction-dependent friction in proteins called anisotropic friction.

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The U.S. Department of Justice is supporting the Musah Lab at the University at Albany with a $401,988 grant to develop and validate the test through December 2024.

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Hydrogen production powered by wind and solar energy is still too expensive if it is to play a role in the clean transition via energy storage and to help decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors.

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Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have produced the first atomic-level structure of an enzyme that selectively cuts carbon-hydrogen bonds—the first and most challenging step in turning simple hydrocarbons into more useful chemicals. The detailed atomic level “blueprint” suggests ways to engineer the enzyme to produce desired products.

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A new nano-optical bioimaging technology in development at PNNL enables researchers to watch climate-bellwether microbes exchange metabolites and other essential signals.

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The Institute for the Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP) is helping to address the plastic waste accumulation problem by developing the science needed to turn used plastic into valuable materials.

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Recordings of media briefings will be posted by 10 a.m. Eastern Time on each day. Watch recorded media briefings at: www.acs.org/ACSSpring2023briefings.

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Fermentation could bring a fruity taste to your morning cup of coffee. This new beverage has a raspberry-like taste and aroma, but what causes this has been a mystery. Today, scientists report six compounds that contribute to the unique experience. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2023.

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Imagine getting the benefits of gastric bypass surgery without going under the knife. A new class of potential treatments has done that in lab animals, reducing weight dramatically and lowering blood glucose without side effects, scientists report. They will present their results at ACS Spring 2023.

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The fruit of the cocklebur plant, which grows worldwide and is often considered a noxious weed, has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory components that could make it useful as a skin protectant, according to new research.

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New research has revealed important information about how aspirin works. The new findings could pave the way to safer aspirin alternatives and might also have implications for improving cancer immunotherapies.

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A new study has revealed insights into how cells sense and respond to the weightlessness experienced in space. The information could be useful for keeping astronauts healthy on future space missions.

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The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) kicked off National Cleaning Week (March 26 - April 1) by launching a redesigned database for the Cleaning Chemistry Catalog (C3), a resource that provides information related to the safety of ingredients used in household cleaning products.

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Chemist Jeff Foster, an Alvin M. Weinberg Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is looking for ways to control sequencing in polymers that could result in designer molecules to benefit a variety of industries, including medicine and energy.

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A team of scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory designed a molecule that disrupts the infection mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and could be used to develop new treatments for COVID-19 and other viral diseases.