https://phys.org/chemistry-news/materials-science en-us The latest news on chemistry and materials science 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 Photothermal catalysis, fueled by clean solar energy, offers an efficient solution for converting waste plastic into valuable chemicals. This catalytic process harnesses the power of solar energy and converts it into chemical energy. However, the development of photothermal catalysts that exhibit high conversion efficiency and catalytic activity poses significant challenges. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-solar-driven-conversion-plastics-blocks.html Materials Science Wed, 02 Aug 2023 12:45:07 EDT news610199103 Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power smartphones, electric vehicles and storage for solar and wind energy, among other technologies. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-true-lithium-revealed.html Materials Science Wed, 02 Aug 2023 12:33:20 EDT news610198393 Shales in sedimentary basins are natural nanopore media, and the formation and development of natural gas and associated special gases, such as helium, are affected by mud shale formations. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-reveals-differential-gas-shale-nanochannels.html Materials Science Wed, 02 Aug 2023 10:26:18 EDT news610190775 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 A team led by scientists from the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Department of Biological Sciences in collaboration with the French Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has successfully synthesized a special protein-mimic that can self-assemble into a pore structure. When incorporated into a lipid membrane, the pores permit selective transport of water across the membrane while rejecting salt (ions). https://phys.org/news/2023-08-scientists-class-artificial-channels-efficient.html Biochemistry Materials Science Wed, 02 Aug 2023 07:51:18 EDT news610181474 AMOLF researcher Christiaan Van Campenhout has found a new, simple method to create a material with a regular pattern of crystalline bands. The pattern formed by the crystals is not a coincidence. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-low-tech-high-tech-materials.html Materials Science Wed, 02 Aug 2023 07:50:12 EDT news610181406 It created something of a stir back in 2022, when researchers from Aarhus University announced a new and inexpensive way of breaking down polyurethane (PU) plastic into its original components, which can then be recycled into new PU material instead of ending up in landfills or incinerators. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-mattresses-simple-chemistry-recycle-polyurethane.html Polymers Materials Science Tue, 01 Aug 2023 16:54:03 EDT news610127641 Concrete is the most important building material on Earth, but its production causes a MASSIVE amount of global carbon emissions. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-video-bio-concrete.html Materials Science Tue, 01 Aug 2023 15:24:03 EDT news610122230 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 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 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 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 Using energy from light to activate natural enzymes can help scientists create new-to-nature enzymatic reactions that support eco-friendly biomanufacturing—the production of fuels, plastics, and valuable chemicals from plants or other biological systems. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-exploring-eco-friendly-enzyme-key-chemical.html Biochemistry Materials Science Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:39:03 EDT news610022341 New chemistry, new enzymology. With a new method that merges the best of two worlds—the unique and complementary activities of enzymes and small-molecule photochemistry—researchers at UC Santa Barbara have opened the door to new catalytic reactions. Their synergistic method allows for new products and can streamline existing processes, in particular, the synthesis of non-canonical amino acids, which are important for therapeutic purposes. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-scientists-unveil-synergistic-method-non-canonical.html Materials Science Sat, 29 Jul 2023 04:20:01 EDT news609819185 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 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 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 Imagine a plastic that is harder than common plastics, non-flammable, and even has self-healing properties. But that is not all—it can be produced at room temperature in water, which is very energy-efficient and does not require toxic solvents. Before hardening, you can shape the plastic in any way you want—like chewing gum. By adding water, it can also be converted back to its "chewing gum" form at any time, reshaped and thus recycled as often as desired. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-chemists-next-generation-self-healing-plastic-biodegradable.html Polymers Materials Science Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:18:03 EDT news609679082 The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) has developed a renewable adhesive that allows for repeated bonding and debonding, and can reset the substrate and adhesive to their original state when needed. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-renewable-adhesive-effective-adhesion-underwater.html Polymers Materials Science Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:36:22 EDT news609676579 Scientists have developed a novel method for storing biological materials such as RNA and proteins in a solid-state. The storage in solid-state resembles the form of a pill or a tablet, which dissolves in water for on-demand use. The innovation provides a new way to overcome current limitations in the storage and handling of products derived from living cells used for a variety of health care and scientific research purposes. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-breakthrough-solid-state-storage-biological-materials.html Biochemistry Materials Science Wed, 26 Jul 2023 18:15:07 EDT news609614090 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 The wings of a butterfly are made of chitin, an organic polymer that is the main component of the shells of arthropods like crustaceans and other insects. As a butterfly emerges from its cocoon in the final stage of metamorphosis, it will slowly unfold its wings into their full grandeur. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-butterfly-flight-electricity.html Polymers Materials Science Tue, 25 Jul 2023 16:44:52 EDT news609522278 A new method for recycling colored plastics has been developed by scientists at Cardiff University. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-method-recycling-plastics-solution-huge.html Polymers Materials Science Tue, 25 Jul 2023 16:41:07 EDT news609522063 Cutting-edge materials science and engineering play a key role in clean energy conversion. Sustainable development sets the goal for researchers across disciplines, requiring active collaborations to optimize impacts. Dr. Xiao Zhang, Assistant Professor of Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), is leading research efforts focused on advanced materials and electrochemical reactors for clean energy conversion. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-harnessing-materials-mechanics-science-sustainable.html Materials Science Tue, 25 Jul 2023 15:30:34 EDT news609517829 Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are now widely used. For use in displays, blue OLEDs are additionally required to supplement the primary colors red and green. Especially in blue OLEDs, impurities give rise to strong electrical losses, which could be partly circumvented by using highly complex and expensive device layouts. A team from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has now developed a new material concept that potentially allows efficient blue OLEDs with a strongly simplified structure. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-molecular-highway-electrons-light-emitting-diodes.html Polymers Materials Science Tue, 25 Jul 2023 12:37:03 EDT news609507421