https://phys.org/chemistry-news/analytical-chemistry en-us The latest science news on analytical chemistry Duct tape found at crime scenes can provide forensic scientists with important information, but no standardized protocol for analyzing it has ever existed. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-duct-tape-evidence-court-method.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 02 Aug 2023 14:30:34 EDT news610205428 Steric zippers are a specific type of hydrophobic packing structure that form between two adjacent layers of peptide β-sheets in amyloid and similar fibrils. These structures play a crucial role in the stability and propagation of amyloid fibrils, and can aid in designing new peptide-based materials. However, creating artificial steric zippers is challenging owing to the strong aggregation tendency of β-sheet peptides. This often leads to the formation of gels and fibrils, making it difficult to obtain structures in their crystalline form. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-steric-zipper-interactions-artificial-crystalline.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 02 Aug 2023 14:30:10 EDT news610205406 The selective extraction of specific gas molecules from gaseous mixtures is a complex chemical challenge, with success offering significant commercial and environmental rewards. Capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial exhaust gases or the atmosphere, for example, could help mitigate climate change. Researchers at Kyoto University, with colleagues in China, report a new and energy efficient option in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-interactive-networks-capturing-gas-high.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 02 Aug 2023 08:50:51 EDT news610185046 Rotaxanes are interlocked molecular structures with a linear 'axle' molecule penetrating one or more cyclic 'wheel' molecules. Bulky groups at the end of the axle prevent the wheels from coming off. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-multicyclic-molecular-wheels-polymer-potential.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Wed, 02 Aug 2023 08:20:01 EDT news610182650 The use of electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction for the production of high value-added multicarbon fuels (ethylene, ethanol, acetic acid, n-propanol) is hampered by low selectivity and conversion rates, and its performance has not yet met the requirements for industrial production. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-electrocatalytic-co2-reduction-enrichment-reactants.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 01 Aug 2023 13:13:25 EDT news610114365 Para-cresol is an aromatic compound with a strong horse stable-like odor. It contributes to the off-flavor of some foods, but it is also detectable as a characteristic odorant in whiskey and tobacco, as well as in the urine of various mammals. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-team-human-odorant-receptor-horse.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:31:01 EDT news610111859 Since ancient times, gemstones have been mined and traded across the globe, sometimes traveling continents from their origin. Gems are geologically defined as minerals celebrated for beauty, strength, and rarity. Their unique elemental composition and atomic orientation act as a fingerprint, enabling researchers to uncover the stones' past, and with it, historical trade routes. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-gemstones-unique-characteristics-uncover-ancient.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 01 Aug 2023 11:00:01 EDT news610098640 Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Research Science (CSRS) and the University of Toronto have discovered a new way to attack fungal infections. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-treatment-fungal-infections.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Tue, 01 Aug 2023 10:14:03 EDT news610103641 Whether they're made from soybeans, almonds, oats, or just sourced straight from the cow, milk products must go through heat treatment to prevent harmful bacterial growth and keep them safe. But understanding how these processes affect new, plant-based milk formulations could make the beverages more pleasant to drink as well. Researchers reporting in ACS Omega have discovered how pasteurization and sterilization affects the look and feel of one such drink made from coconut and rice. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-treatment-affects-alternative-rice-coconut.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Mon, 31 Jul 2023 17:07:37 EDT news610042055 For decades, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been captivating researchers because of their wide range of applications: gas absorption, water harvesting, energy storage and desalination. Until now, quickly and inexpensively selecting the top performing MOFs for specific tasks has been challenging. Enter MOFormer, a machine learning model that can achieve higher accuracy on prediction tasks than leading models without explicitly relying on 3D atomic structures. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-metal-organic-frameworks-problems-self-supervised-property.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 31 Jul 2023 16:46:03 EDT news610040762 Until the late 19th century, the success of criminal investigations largely hung on witness reports and (often extorted) confessions. A lack of scientific tools meant investigators needed advanced deductive reasoning abilities—and even then they'd often hit a dead end. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-secrets-fabric-decomposing-piglet-bodies.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:30:01 EDT news610028933 Automating the construction of three-dimensional structures that are 10s of millimeters in size would revolutionize manufacturing of devices for optical, electrical and biomedical applications. An economical process for constructing such 3D microstructures would be to "program" the constituent parts to spontaneously come together and build the structures themselves. Driving micron to mesoscale components (roughly between 0.1 to 100 millimeters) to line up and dynamically assemble into the desired structures, however, remains an elusive goal. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-stick-to-itiveness-self-organization-sticky-micron-to-mesoscale-3d-1.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:23:31 EDT news610028586 Hydrogen has become the beacon of clean energy owing to its high energy density and carbon-free emissions. Despite these advantages, hydrogen fuel is still far from being commercialized. Liquefying hydrogen requires a huge amount of energy and extremely low temperatures, making its large-scale production and transportation over long distances quite challenging. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-water-durable-perovskite-oxynitride-nickel-catalysts-ammonia.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:42:23 EDT news610022541 DNA sequencing technology, i.e., determining the order of nucleotide bases in a DNA molecule, is central to personalized medicine and disease diagnostics, yet even the fastest technologies require hours, or days, to read a complete sequence. Now, a multi-institutional research team led by The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (SANKEN) at Osaka University, has developed a technique that could lead to a new paradigm for genomic analysis. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-quantum-circuit-nucleotides.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Mon, 31 Jul 2023 09:57:03 EDT news610016222 Using the full capabilities of the Quantinuum H1-1 quantum computer, researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory not only demonstrated best practices for scientific computing on current quantum systems but also produced an intriguing scientific result. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-quantum-molecular-candidate-efficient-solar.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 28 Jul 2023 13:55:10 EDT news609771299 In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers appear to have discovered a way to produce a true structure of the rare but naturally-occurring anti-HIV compound Lancilactone C from start to finish. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-advances-anti-hiv-compound-lancilactone.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Fri, 28 Jul 2023 12:03:52 EDT news609764630 Enantioselection with neither chiral catalysis nor chiral ingredients (absolute enantioselection) has been one of the most active topics in biology, but its experimental realizations have been challenging. A team led by researchers at the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS) have demonstrated the enantioselectivity of helical supramolecules consisting only of achiral molecules solely by exploiting chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-effect-molecular-chirality-universal-applications.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 28 Jul 2023 10:35:04 EDT news609759301 Polystyrene, the main material in plastic tableware and insulating materials, is a widely used polymer but is currently difficult to recycle. Reporting in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, a team of U.S. researchers has now developed a thermochemical approach, making it possible to recover valuable chemicals from polystyrene waste in a simple two-step process. This new approach could enable the recycling of insulating and packaging materials for a truly circular plastics economy. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-recovering-valuable-chemical-blocks-polystyrene.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Fri, 28 Jul 2023 09:24:51 EDT news609755053 Introduced in 2004, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) are alloys composed of multiple principal elements in nearly equiatomic proportions. Their unique chemical composition results in a high degree of chemical disorder, i.e., entropy, and produces remarkable properties such as high strength, ductility, and strong wear-and-tear resistance even at high temperatures. Scientists have dedicated a significant amount of attention to developing novel HEAs to help improve the performance of various electrocatalyst materials. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-reveal-powerful-platform-high-entropy-alloy.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 28 Jul 2023 08:48:54 EDT news609752931 Circularly conjugated compounds with 4n+2 pi-electrons are known as aromatic compounds. They are generally stable and are found in our surroundings. Conversely, anti-aromatic compounds with 4n pi-electrons have been conventionally considered unstable, and the creation of stable anti-aromatic compounds has been one of the challenging issues in organic chemistry. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-substituent-effects-anti-aromatic-compounds.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:32:03 EDT news609690722 When considering ways to sustainably generate environmentally friendly products, bacteria might not immediately spring to mind. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-imaging-solar-powered-microbes-carbon-dioxide.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:33:06 EDT news609683582 Chemotherapy and radiotherapy aim to destroy cancer cells by inducing DNA double-strand breaks—damage that, once inflicted, usually causes the cells to die. But damage to a cell's genetic material also activates a signaling pathway called IKK/NF-κB that helps prevent cell death, thus limiting the success of these treatments in patients. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-compounds-cancer-cells-route.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:33:00 EDT news609683577 The structure of semicrystalline polymers largely depends on how strongly their molecular chains are entangled. This has been shown in a new study by researchers from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). https://phys.org/news/2023-07-molecular-entanglements-polymers.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:35:51 EDT news609676549 Investigators led by Shana Kelley, Ph.D., the Neena B. Schwartz Professor of Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, and of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, have developed a novel approach for identifying sequences of artificial DNA with differing levels of binding to other small molecules. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-dna-identification-approach-chronic-diseases.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:34:03 EDT news609676441 Single-molecule DNA detection using nanopore technology offers real-time analysis of DNA and RNA strands. It is a low-cost and flexible technique that can be used in clinical and research settings when samples need to be analyzed quickly and efficiently. However, this is new technology that still has some drawbacks, such as sample contamination. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-contamination-single-molecule-dna-nanopore-technology.html Biochemistry Analytical Chemistry Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:05:58 EDT news609609955 Charged atomic and molecular species are ubiquitous in environments such as planetary atmospheres, interstellar medium and plasma. The collisions between charged ions and neutral molecules play vital roles in determining the chemical evolution and energy transfer in these complex gaseous environments. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-high-resolution-imaging-reveals-vibrational-state-specific-mechanisms.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 26 Jul 2023 14:26:58 EDT news609600416 Now, here is a strange thing. One of the most important drivers of perhaps the largest industrial chemical reaction has never been observed in over 100 years of study. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-scientists-driver-chemical-reaction-plastics.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Wed, 26 Jul 2023 11:20:03 EDT news609589201 How high are concentrations of microplastics in the environment, in our drinking water or in foods? Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed an automated analysis method for the identification and quantification of particles. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-scientists-automated-analysis-method-identification.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:52:53 EDT news609587569 The near-infrared (NIR) spectrum contains characteristic vibrational absorption bands of numerous organic functional groups. NIR phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) have gathered increasing interests in fields including non-destructive testing and night vision. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-intervalence-cr-cr-aggregation-nir-ii-luminescence.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:39:13 EDT news609586750 Researchers at Tohoku University have unraveled the reasons behind the underperformance of a promising field of catalysis known as dual atom catalysts (DACs). Their findings shed light on the challenges faced by DACs in converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable multicarbon products. Results were published in the journal ACS Catalysis on July 10, 2023. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-bottleneck-dual-atom-catalysts-reduction.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:30:47 EDT news609586228