http://phys.org/chemistry-news/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on chemistry, biochemistry, polymers, materials science Two researchers at the University of Rochester have discovered the chemical that makes naked mole rats cancer-proof. Their research paper will be published this week in the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news290858276.html Chemistry Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:00:05 EST news290858276 (Phys.org) —Chemical researchers D K Abdullah and Ahmad Shamsuri of University Putra Malaysia have found a way to synthesize vanillin from sawdust in an environmentally friendly way. In their paper they've uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, the two describe how they used an ionic liquid to dissolve lignin found in rubber tree sawdust to produce vanillin. http://phys.org/news290852606.html Chemistry Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:00:01 EST news290852606 (Phys.org) —In adding steam to benzene, C6H6, to generate hydrogen, the step that determines the reaction's speed is not the benzene's absorption onto the catalyst, but rather the first benzene bond that breaks, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The team further explored increasing the speed of the hydrogen-producing reaction by evaluating rhodium and iridium catalysts on a magnesium aluminum spinel support. Through experimental and computational studies, they found that small rhodium particles had a higher turnover efficiency than either larger rhodium particles or iridium. This research graced the cover of ACS Catalysis. http://phys.org/news290847991.html Chemistry Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:20:02 EST news290847991 Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have found an effective solution for collecting sunlight for artificial photosynthesis. By combining self-assembling DNA molecules with simple dye molecules, the researchers have created a system that resembles nature's own antenna system. http://phys.org/news290846179.html Chemistry Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:36:56 EST news290846179 All our cells wear a coat of sugar molecules, so-called glycans. ETH Zurich and Empa researchers have now discovered that glycans rearrange water molecules over long distances. This may have an effect on how cells sense each other. http://phys.org/news290785232.html Chemistry Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:00:02 EST news290785232 (Phys.org) —A new study confirms directly what scientists previously knew only indirectly: The poisonous "rotten egg" gas hydrogen sulfide is generated by our body's growing cells. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is normally toxic, but in small amounts it plays a role in cardiovascular health. http://phys.org/news290780881.html Chemistry Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:28:08 EST news290780881 (Phys.org) —A new study confirms directly what scientists previously knew only indirectly: The poisonous "rotten egg" gas hydrogen sulfide is generated by our body's growing cells. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is normally toxic, but in small amounts it plays a role in cardiovascular health. http://phys.org/news290780881.html Chemistry Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:28:08 EST news290780881 (Phys.org) —Taking a page from computer-aided drug designers, Rice University researchers have developed a computational method that chemists can use to tailor the properties of zeolites, one of the world's most-used industrial minerals. http://phys.org/news290754192.html Chemistry Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:03:23 EST news290754192 Home remodelers understand the concept of improving original foundations with more modern elements. Using this same approach—but with chemistry—researchers in the University of Pittsburgh's Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences have designed a family of materials that could make drug delivery, gas storage, and gas transport more efficient and at a lower cost. The findings were reported in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). http://phys.org/news290692008.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:47:44 EST news290692008 Mannitol, a sugar alcohol produced by fungi, bacteria, and algae, is a common component of sugar-free gum and candy. The sweetener is also used in the medical field—it's approved by the FDA as a diuretic to flush out excess fluids and used during surgery as a substance that opens the blood/brain barrier to ease the passage of other drugs. http://phys.org/news290687626.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:33:54 EST news290687626 Researchers working to design new materials that are durable, lightweight and environmentally sustainable are increasingly looking to natural composites, such as bone, for inspiration: Bone is strong and tough because its two constituent materials, soft collagen protein and stiff hydroxyapatite mineral, are arranged in complex hierarchical patterns that change at every scale of the composite, from the micro up to the macro. http://phys.org/news290686417.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:13:48 EST news290686417 Due to the fluctuating availability of solar energy, storage solutions are urgently needed. One option is to use the electrical energy generated inside solar cells to split water by means of electrolysis, in the process yielding hydrogen that can be used for a storable fuel. Researchers at the HZB Institute for Solar Fuels have modified so called superstrate solar cells with their highly efficient architecture in order to obtain hydrogen from water with the help of suitable catalysts. This type of cell works something like an "artificial leaf." But the solar cell rapidly corrodes when placed in the aqueous electrolyte solution. http://phys.org/news290682762.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:12:49 EST news290682762 Efficient, robust and economic catalyst materials hold the key to achieving a breakthrough in fuel cell technology. Scientists from Jülich and Berlin have developed a material for converting hydrogen and oxygen to water using a tenth of the typical amount of platinum that was previously required. With the aid of state-of-the-art electron microscopy, the researchers discovered that the function of the nanometre-scale catalyst particles is decisively determined by their geometric shape and atomic structure. This discovery opens up new paths for further improving catalysts for energy conversion and storage. The results have been published in the current issue of the respected journal Nature Materials. http://phys.org/news290682099.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:02:06 EST news290682099 The harder you pull, the quicker it goes. At least, that used to be the rule in mechanochemistry, a method that researchers apply to set chemical reactions in motion by means of mechanical forces. However, as chemists led by Professor Dominik Marx, Chair of Theoretical Chemistry at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum now report in the journal Nature Chemistry, more force cannot in fact be translated one to one into a faster reaction. http://phys.org/news290675420.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:10:29 EST news290675420 MIT chemical engineers have devised a cheaper way to synthesize a key biofuel component, which could make its industrial production much more cost-effective. http://phys.org/news290673148.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:32:38 EST news290673148 Chemists at Indiana University Bloomington have created a symmetrical, five-sided macrocycle that is easy to synthesize and has characteristics that may help expand the molecular tool box available to researchers in biology, chemistry and materials sciences. http://phys.org/news290588152.html Chemistry Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:00:01 EST news290588152 (Phys.org) —A team of chemists with members from Sweden and the United States has succeeded in capturing the process by which yeast aquaporin transport water across cell membranes while preventing unwanted protons to pass through. In their paper published in the journal Science, they describe how they used ultra-high resolution microscopy to reveal the transportation process. http://phys.org/news290419074.html Chemistry Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:33:48 EST news290419074 (Phys.org) —Viruses are masters of minimalist design. With only a simple genome and a handful of proteins, a virus can hijack much more sophisticated cells and mimic many of the intra- and inter-cellular machinery built by their much more complex hosts. Using these same building blocks, many viruses—like Hepatitis C—can also make us dangerously ill. http://phys.org/news290411925.html Chemistry Fri, 14 Jun 2013 06:58:54 EST news290411925 DNA-coated colloids have been used to create novel self-assembling materials in a breakthrough experiment by EPFL and University of Cambridge scientists. http://phys.org/news290339671.html Chemistry Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:54:45 EST news290339671 (Phys.org) —What would you do with a camera that can take a picture of something and tell you how new it is? If you're Berkeley Lab scientists Katherine Louie, Ben Bowen, Jian-Hua Mao and Trent Northen, you use it to gain a better understanding of the ever-changing world of metabolites, the molecules that drive life-sustaining chemical transformations within cells. http://phys.org/news290328166.html Chemistry Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:43:01 EST news290328166 Research by Indiana University environmental scientists shows that air-pollution-removal technology used in "self-cleaning" paints and building surfaces may actually cause more problems than they solve. http://phys.org/news290317666.html Chemistry Thu, 13 Jun 2013 04:48:10 EST news290317666 Life-threatening bacterial infections cause tens of thousands of deaths every year in North America. Increasingly, many infections are resistant to first-line antibiotics. Unfortunately, current methods of culturing bacteria in the lab can take days to report the specific source of the infection, and even longer to pinpoint the right antibiotic that will clear the infection. There remains an urgent, unmet need for technologies that can allow bacterial infections to be rapidly and specifically diagnosed. http://phys.org/news290267138.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:45:45 EST news290267138 New research shows that exposing polymer molecular sieve membranes to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation in the presence of oxygen produces highly permeable and selective membranes for more efficient molecular-level separation, an essential process in everything from water purification to controlling gas emissions. http://phys.org/news290250294.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:05:02 EST news290250294 (Phys.org) —Pixie dust may be the stuff of fanciful fiction, but for scientists at UC Santa Barbara's Department of Materials, a commonly used sugar-based additive has been found to have properties that are near magical. By adding minute amounts of it during the fabrication of organic semiconductors, they have been able to dramatically increase yield and control crystallization, which could, in the near future, make the technology not only cheaper and more accessible, but also enhance its performance. Results of their study are published in the recent issue of the journal Nature Materials. http://phys.org/news290248546.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:35:53 EST news290248546 (Phys.org) —The long search for the location of a rare element within nuclear fuel particles has ended. Researchers have finally pinpointed where silver congregates inside irradiated particles of a new type of nuclear fuel. http://phys.org/news290247516.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:18:46 EST news290247516 (Phys.org) —University of Wollongong scientists have developed a novel way to turn sea water into hydrogen, for a sustainable and clean fuel source. http://phys.org/news290246731.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:05:39 EST news290246731 (Phys.org) —Polymer brushes are polymers in which individual polymer chains stand side by side on a surface, causing the chains to stick out like bristles on a brush. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, American scientists have now presented a new simple method for making three-dimensional nanostructures in a controlled fashion from polymer brushes. http://phys.org/news290243449.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Jun 2013 08:11:01 EST news290243449 A protein secreted by the chlamydia bug has a very unusual structure, according to scientists in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. The discovery of the protein's shape could lead to novel strategies for diagnosing and treating chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease that infects an estimated 2.8 million people in the U.S. each year. http://phys.org/news290183597.html Chemistry Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:33:25 EST news290183597 (Phys.org) —Rice University researchers have for the first time detailed the molecular mechanism that makes a particular combination of cement and polymer glue so tough. http://phys.org/news290157151.html Chemistry Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:12:44 EST news290157151 (Phys.org) —Conditions such as celiac disease, phenylketonuria, lactose intolerance and exocrine pancreatic disease involve abnormal enzyme activity. Enzymes administered orally could help sufferers. However, because enzymes, like all proteins, break down in the stomach and small intestine, they cannot usually survive in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract long enough to be effective. In a study published in Nature Chemistry, Jean-Christophe Leroux and his colleagues at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology report they have found polymers that, when attached to enzymes, will prevent the enzymes from degrading in the GI tract. The research paves the way for new medical treatments. http://phys.org/news290090708.html Chemistry Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:10:01 EST news290090708