Synthetic chemicals: Ignored agents of global change

Despite a steady rise in the manufacture and release of synthetic chemicals, research on the ecological effects of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and industrial chemicals is severely lacking. This blind spot undermines efforts ...

How nanoparticles give electrons away

Whether it is in catalytic processes in the chemical industry, environmental catalysis, new types of solar cells or new electronic components, nanoparticles are everywhere in modern production and environmental technologies, ...

New catalyst to create chemical building blocks from biomass

University of Tokyo researchers have developed a novel selective catalyst that allows the creation of several basic chemicals from biomass instead of petroleum. This discovery may lead to the use of plant biomass as a basic ...

Copper foam turns carbon dioxide into useful chemicals

A catalyst made from a foamy form of copper has vastly different electrochemical properties from catalysts made with smooth copper in reactions involving carbon dioxide, a new study shows. The research, by scientists in Brown ...

The key to the treasure in wood

(Phys.org) —In future, it could be easier to break down wood, as a source of raw materials, into its constituent parts. Chemists at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr have found an efficient ...

US Congress acts to avert helium shortage

The US Congress, entrenched in a titanic budget battle, managed to come together Thursday to pass legislation that prevents a market shortage of helium.

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