Desalination can offer a relief in probably trillions of dollars of savings for countries even when drought comes.
Water desalination plants could replace expensive chemicals with new carbon cloth electrodes that remove boron from seawater, an important step of turning seawater into safe drinking water.
A study describing the new technology has been published in Nature Water by engineers at the University of Michigan and Rice University.
Global plastics production is concentrated in oil-producing countries with advanced petrochemical industries, while plastics disposal has shifted from landfill to incineration, with recycling consistently low, according to a global trade-linked material flow analysis of plastics for the year 2022.
A growing body of work suggests that cell metabolism — the chemical reactions that provide energy and building materials — plays a vital, overlooked role in the first steps of life.
The manufacturing and deployment of hybrid and electric vehicles is on the rise, contributing to ongoing efforts to decarbonize the transport industry. While cars and smaller vehicles can be powered using lithium batteries, electrifying heavy-duty vehicles, such as trucks and large buses, has so far proved much more challenging.
Fuel cells, devices that generate electricity via chemical reactions, are promising solutions for powering heavy-duty vehicles. Most of the fuel cells employed so far are so-called proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), cells that generate electricity via the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, conducting protons from their anode to their cathode utilizing a solid polymer membrane.
Despite their potential, many existing fuel cells have limited lifetimes and efficiencies. These limitations have so far hindered their widespread adoption in the manufacturing of electric or hybrid trucks, buses and other heavy-truck vehicles.
As the demand for innovative materials continues to grow—particularly in response to today’s technological and environmental challenges—research into nanomaterials is emerging as a strategic field. Among these materials, quantum dots are attracting particular attention due to their unique properties and wide range of applications. A team of researchers from ULiège has recently made a significant contribution by proposing a more sustainable approach to the production of these nanostructures.
Quantum dots (QDs) are nanometer-sized semiconductor particles with unique optical and electronic properties. Their ability to absorb and emit light with high precision makes them ideal for use in solar cells, LEDs, medical imaging, and sensors.
In a recent study, researchers at ULiège developed the first intensified, scalable process to produce cadmium chalcogenide quantum dots (semiconducting compounds widely used in optoelectronics and nanotechnology) in water using a novel, biocompatible chalcogenide source (chemical elements such as sulfur, selenium, and tellurium).
A surprising link between the immune system and brain behavior is emerging, as new research reveals how a single immune molecule can affect both anxiety and sociability depending on which brain region it acts upon.
Scientists found that IL-17 behaves almost like a brain chemical, influencing neuron activity in ways that alter mood and behavior during illness. These findings suggest the immune system plays a much deeper role in shaping our mental states than previously thought, opening new doors for treating conditions like autism and anxiety through immune-based therapies.
Immune Molecules and Brain Behavior.
Proteins are the building blocks of life. They consist of folded peptide chains, which in turn are made up of a series of amino acids. From stabilizing cell structure to catalyzing chemical reactions, proteins have many functions. Their diversity is further increased by modifications that take place after the peptide chains have been synthesized.
One form of modification is protein splicing. The protein initially contains a so-called “intein,” which removes itself from the peptide chain to ensure the correct folding and function of the final protein.
A team led by protein chemist Prof Henning Mootz and Ph.D. student Christoph Humberg from the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Münster has now answered a long-standing research question: Why does a special variant of the inteins, the “split inteins,” often encounter problems in the laboratory that significantly lower the efficiency of the reaction? The researchers were able to identify protein misfolding as one cause and have developed a method to prevent it.
Chemists are investigating the bizarre properties of certain materials that could be used to develop oxygen safety systems and support future space travel. Chemistry students at the University of Cincinnati are studying lab-grown crystals that react in remarkable ways when exposed to light. Th
A container of oil and water separated by a thin skin of magnetized particles has intrigued a team of chemical engineers by taking on an unexpected ‘Grecian urn’ shape upon agitation.
“I thought ‘what is this thing?’,” graduate student Anthony Raykh from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recalled, after doing what all chemistry students love to do, mixing materials with intriguing properties just to see what would happen.
“So, I walked up and down the halls of the Polymer Science and Engineering Department, knocking on my professors’ doors, asking them if they knew what was going on.”
Ironmaking could be on the edge of a major upgrade. Scientists have developed a cleaner, electrochemical method to extract iron that could one day rival traditional blast furnaces in cost while slashing pollution.
By customizing iron oxide particles and optimizing electrical conditions, the team achieved efficient, low-temperature metal production—paving the way for greener steelmaking on an industrial scale.
Rethinking Ironmaking with Electrochemistry.
