Chemistry News - September 2009 Archives

Desalination technology increases naval capabilities (9/30/2009)

The next generation of technology to turn saltwater into a fresh resource is on tap for the Navy. The Office of Naval Research is sponsoring the development of an innovative solution for generating potable water at twice the efficiency of current production for forces afloat, Marine Corps expeditionary forces and humanitarian missions ashore. ...> Full Article

New technique to use banana plants in the production of plastic products (9/29/2009)

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast are pioneering a new technique for the use of banana plants in the production of plastic products.The Polymer Processing Research Center at Queen's is taking part in a €1 million ($1.46 million) study known as the Badana project. The project will develop new procedures to incorporate by-products from banana plantations in the Canary Islands into the production of rotationally molded plastics. ...> Full Article

Engineers track bacteria's kayak paddle-like motion for first time (9/28/2009)

Yale engineers have for the first time observed and tracked E. coli bacteria moving in a liquid medium with a motion similar to that of a kayak paddle. The findings will help lead to a better understanding of how bacteria move from place to place and, potentially, how to keep them from spreading. ...> Full Article

University lab demonstrates 3-D printing in glass (9/27/2009)

Less than a year ago a UW engineering lab was the first to generate ceramic objects in a conventional 3-D printer. Now the lab has done it again, for glass. ...> Full Article

Catalytic Catamarans: Common industrial catalyst sports rafts made of platinum (9/26/2009)

Catalysts convert useless or unwanted chemicals into useful or more desirable ones. Research in this week's Science reveals new, important details about a common catalyst: chemically reactive platinum atoms group into rafts that float above the supporting surface, providing ample space for catalytic reactions. The new work from DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory yields insights into how to improve the industrial catalyst for oil refining, chemicals processing and environmental uses. ...> Full Article

Smart memory foam made smarter (9/25/2009)

Researchers from Northwestern University and Boise State University have figured out how to produce a less expensive shape-shifting "memory" foam, which could lead to more widespread applications of the material, such as in surgical positioning tools and valve mechanisms. They have created easily processable polycrystalline foams of a nickel-manganese-gallium alloy that changes shape when exposed to a magnetic field. These shape-changing properties resemble those of the much more expensive single crystals. ...> Full Article

Paper battery may power electronics in clothing and packaging material (9/24/2009)

Imagine a gift wrapped in paper you really do treasure and want to carefully fold and save. That's because the wrapping paper lights up with words like "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Holidays," thanks to a built in battery -- an amazing battery made out of paper. That's one potential application of a new battery made of cellulose, the stuff of paper, being described in the Oct. 14 issue of ACS' Nano Letters, a monthly journal. ...> Full Article

Scientist using low-gravity space station lab to study crystal growth (9/22/2009)

Ames Laboratory metallurgist Rohit Trivedi will soon be studying how crystals grow in the low-gravity on board the International Space Station. Trivedi will use a mini lab known as DECLIC -- DEvice for the study of Critical LIquids and Crystallization -- to gain insight into how crystals form as the material goes from liquid to solid. ...> Full Article

Smaller isn't always better: Catalyst simulations could lower fuel cell cost (9/19/2009)

Imagine a car that runs on hydrogen from solar power and produces water instead of carbon emissions. While vehicles like this won't be on the market anytime soon, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are making incremental but important strides in the fuel cell technology that could make clean cars a reality. ...> Full Article

Graphene and gallium arsenide: 2 perfect partners find each other (9/18/2009)

Scientists of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt have made graphene visible on gallium arsenide. Previously it has only been possible on silicon oxide. Now that they are able to view with a light optical microscope the graphene layer, which is thinner than one thousandth of a light wavelength, the researchers (and experts for precision measurements) want to measure the electrical properties of their new material combination. ...> Full Article

New X-ray technique illuminates reactivity of environmental contaminants (9/17/2009)

A chemical reaction can occur in the blink of an eye.Thanks to a new analytical method employed by researchers at the University of Delaware, scientists can now pinpoint, at the millisecond level, what happens as harmful environmental contaminants such as arsenic begin to react with soil and water under various conditions. ...> Full Article

Green tea component may help preserve stored platelets, tissues (9/16/2009)

Using EGCG, a polyphenol component in green tea known to have anti-oxidative properties, two teams of Japanese researchers found that EGCG enhances the shelf life of stored blood platelet cells and also helps preserve cryopreserved skin grafts longer than current procedures allow. ECGC is thought to be able to help maintain and protect PC surface proteins and lipids and preserve skin grafts by its anti-oxidant properties following its absorption into membrane lipids and proteins. ...> Full Article

Opto-electronic nose sniffs out toxic gases (9/15/2009)

Imagine a polka-dotted postage stamp that can sniff out poisonous gases or deadly toxins simply by changing colors. As reported in the September 13 issue of the journal Nature Chemistry, Kenneth Suslick and his team at the University of Illinois have developed an artificial nose for the general detection of toxic industrial chemicals that is simple, fast and inexpensive -- and works by visualizing odors. ...> Full Article

Looking deeply into polymer solar cells (9/14/2009)

Researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Ulm have made the first high-resolution 3-D images of the inside of a polymer solar cell. This gives them important new insights in the nanoscale structure of polymer solar cells and its effect on the performance. The findings were published online in Nature Materials on Sunday, Sept. 13. ...> Full Article

Cement's basic molecular structure finally decoded (9/13/2009)

Robustness comes from messiness, not a clean geometric arrangement ...> Full Article

Dividing cells 'feel' their way out of warp (9/12/2009)

Every moment, millions of a body's cells flawlessly divvy up their genes and pinch perfectly in half to form two identical progeny for the replenishment of tissues and organs -- even as they collide, get stuck, and squeeze through infinitesimally small spaces that distort their shapes. ...> Full Article

Troublesome green algae serve as coating substrate in record-setting battery (9/11/2009)

Unwanted blooms of Cladophora algae throughout the Baltic and in other parts of the world are not entirely without a positive side. A group of researchers at the Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University have discovered that the distinctive cellulose nanostructure of these algae can serve as an effective coating substrate for use in environmentally friendly batteries. The findings have been published in an article in Nano Letters. ...> Full Article

50 millionth unique chemical substance recorded in CAS Registry (9/11/2009)

Novel analgesic marks major milestone in scientific discovery ...> Full Article

Using microbes for the quick clean up of dirty oil (9/11/2009)

Microbiologists from the University of Essex have used mixed consortia of bacteria to break down and remove toxic compounds from crude oil and tar sands. These acidic compounds persist in the environment, and can take up to 10 years to break down. By using this microbial mixture, complete degradation of specific compounds was achieved in only a few days. ...> Full Article

Technology strikes a chord with algal biofuels (9/10/2009)

Award-winning acoustic focusing technology will help create 'green gold' ...> Full Article

Using waste to recover waste uranium (9/9/2009)

Using bacteria and inositol phosphate, a chemical analogue of a cheap waste material from plants, researchers at Birmingham University have recovered uranium from the polluted waters from uranium mines. The same technology can also be used to clean up nuclear waste. Professor Lynne Macaskie, this week presented the group's work to the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. ...> Full Article

Making more efficient fuel cells (9/8/2009)

Bacteria that generate significant amounts of electricity could be used in microbial fuel cells to provide power in remote environments or to convert waste to electricity. Professor Derek Lovley from the University of Massachusetts, USA isolated bacteria with large numbers of tiny projections called pili which were more efficient at transferring electrons to generate power in fuel cells than bacteria with a smooth surface. ...> Full Article

Learn how the study of surfaces advances fields as diverse as archaeology and food science (9/3/2009)

Inaugural International Conference on Surface Metrology will bring scientists and engineers from more than 10 disciplines to WPI between Oct. 26 and 28 to explore how studying the roughness of surfaces can reveal a wealth of useful information ...> Full Article

Silk-based optical waveguides meet biomedical needs (9/1/2009)

Researchers at Tufts and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrate a new way to make silk-based optical waveguides that are biocompatible, biodegradable and readily functionalized with active molecules. This opens up opportunities in biologically based modulation and sensing and ability to integrate light delivery in living tissue. ...> Full Article