Phys.org Chemistry

• Tracking forever chemicals across food web shows not all isomers are distributed equally

  When University at Buffalo chemists analyzed samples of water, fish, and bird eggs, they weren't surprised to find plenty of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). After all, these "forever chemicals" turn up nearly everywhere in the environment.

• Sunlight, water and air power a cleaner method for making hydrogen peroxide

  Cornell scientists have discovered a potentially transformative approach to manufacturing one of the world's most widely used chemicals—hydrogen peroxide—using nothing more than sunlight, water and air. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

• Chance discovery converts toxic nitric oxide into nitrogen gas at room temperature

  Nitrogen is a crucial component of proteins and nucleic acids, the fundamental building blocks of all living things, and thus is essential to life on Earth. Gaseous N2 from the atmosphere can be fixed by soil bacteria capable of converting N2 to ammonia or nitrates (NO3).

• Alcohol and ultrasonic irradiation: An effective CCl₄ decomposition tag team

  Carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) is a type of volatile organic compound (VOC) that was once widely used as a refrigerant and cleaning agent, but is now strictly regulated due to its toxic properties. However, its environmental impact remains a concern and recent reports indicate that CCl₄ emissions have been detected in some countries. Therefore, the development of CCl₄ decomposition technology is critical, and holds promise for its application in decomposing and neutralizing various VOCs.

• New palladium-gold alloy catalyst boosts methane-to-ethylene conversion with solar power

  Researchers just hit two benefits with one catalyst. They converted methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, into ethylene (C2H4), a highly demanded raw material in industrial sectors, using sunlight and a newly designed palladium–gold (PdAu) alloy cocatalyst. This process not only removed an unwanted gas from the atmosphere but also turned it into a valuable resource by harnessing solar power.

• Basic research challenges China's monopoly on rare earth elements

  Materials that are essential for the transition to a sustainable society are currently being extracted using methods that are far from sustainable or environment-friendly. Magnets based on REE are manufactured in China, which has very different legislation to Sweden, for example.

• Bird-of-paradise inspires darkest fabric ever made

  The color "ultrablack"—defined as reflecting less than 0.5% of the light that hits it—has a variety of uses, including in cameras, solar panels and telescopes, but it's difficult to produce and can appear less black when viewed at an angle. Now, a Cornell lab has devised a simple method for making the elusive color.

• From pine chips to pharmaceuticals: Lignin upcycled into amides using reusable catalyst

  An international research team from the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT) has developed a novel, environmentally friendly process for producing high-quality amides from the plant substance lignin—important building blocks for pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and modern materials.

• Durable plastics made from essential oil compounds offer easy recycling

  Cheap, strong, and versatile, plastic seemed like the perfect invention—until its staying power turned into a global headache. Now, Yokohama National University researchers have developed a plant-based alternative that could one day offer the same benefits with a cleaner way out.

• Silver-infused zeolite efficiently separates xenon from krypton for industrial use

  An international team of researchers have found a better way to separate two rare and important gases—xenon and krypton—that are often combined in chemical, petrochemical, metallurgical, and environmental processes.

• Sugar-coated sensor sniffs out look-alike molecules in the air

  Scientists have designed a new type of gas sensor that can tell apart "mirror image" versions of the same smell molecule, even at very low concentrations. By coating carbon nanotubes with custom-built sugar-based receptors, the sensor can spot tiny structural differences in common volatile compounds like terpenes.

• Tiny lead fragments in hunted meat exceed safe levels, study reveals

  This fall, when Adam Leontowich headed to southeast Saskatchewan to hunt whitetailed deer and ruffed grouse, he once again opted for lead-free ammunition—cartridges with copper bullets for his .308 rifle and shells with steel pellets for his 12-gauge shotgun. It's the fourth hunting season that he's done so.

• 'Stick and glue' method enables more precise biomolecule tracking in cells

  A team of researchers at IOCB Prague headed by Dr. Tomáš Slanina has developed a new method for labeling molecules with fluorescent dyes that surpasses existing approaches in both precision and stability. The new fluorescent label remains covalently bonded to its target molecule and does not fall apart even under demanding conditions inside living cells. This allows scientists to track labeled molecules over long periods with high reliability—an advantage for research in biology, chemistry, and medicine.

• New plastics designed to degrade on demand may help address global waste

  Yuwei Gu was hiking through Bear Mountain State Park in New York when inspiration struck. Plastic bottles littered the trail and more floated on a nearby lake. The jarring sight in such a pristine environment made the Rutgers chemist stop in his tracks. Nature makes plenty of long-stranded molecules called polymers, including DNA and RNA, yet those natural polymers eventually break down. Synthetic polymers such as plastics don't. Why?

• How phototherapy could reverse antibiotic resistance

  Lars Stevens-Cullinane works in a dark room. But he's not processing negatives and printing photographs on light-sensitive paper; he's testing whether brief flashes of light can make drug-resistant bacteria sensitive to antibiotics.

• Group 13 elements: The lucky number for sustainable redox agents?

  Researchers from The University of Osaka created a reagent for important building-block molecules with an abundant main-group element, gallium. These early findings show that an organic gallium compound can display transition-metal-like reactivity under light irradiation. Using common main-group elements like gallium offers a new way to make sustainable catalysts that do not need expensive transition metals, which are environmentally damaging and vulnerable to supply disruption.

• Watching metal crystals grow inside liquid metal: Imaging technique could boost hydrogen production

  If you dissolve sugar in hot water and then cool it down, you'll see pure sugar crystals form while impurities stay in the liquid. You can even watch the beautiful sugar crystals slowly grow in the water.

• Unstable protein linked to cancer reveals dynamic behavior

  Around 80% of proteins involved in diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative illnesses do not have a stable structure. These proteins, known as intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) can quickly adapt to the conditions in our cells. A better understanding could aid in developing new therapeutic methods.

• Eco-friendly method detects trace illicit drugs on surfaces in just 5 minutes

  The research group FQM-215—Affordable and Sustainable Sample Preparation at the University of Córdoba has developed a method that is not only faster and easier to perform but also more environmentally sustainable. It can detect illicit drugs on surfaces and determine their exact quantity in just five minutes, using everyday items such as cotton fabric swabs for sampling.

• Non-toxic solvent enables near-perfect recycling of mixed-fiber textiles

  We are producing more textiles than ever before: worldwide, well over one hundred million tons of textiles are manufactured every year—more than twice as much as in the year 2000. This makes it increasingly important not to simply throw away old textiles, but to recover them in an environmentally friendly way.

• Enzyme discovered in cyanobacteria can add phosphate groups to therapeutic peptides

  Researchers from CIIMAR and the University of Helsinki have discovered a new biochemical modification in natural cyanobacterial products, revealing an unprecedented tool with promising applications in biotechnology and drug development.

• How carbonates influence CO₂-to-fuel conversion: New insights from gold electrocatalysts

  Researchers from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (FHI) have uncovered how carbonate molecules affect the conversion of CO2 into valuable fuels on gold electrocatalysts. Their findings reveal key molecular mechanisms in CO2 electrocatalysis and hydrogen evolution, pointing to new strategies for improving energy efficiency and reaction selectivity.

• When substrates dictate the route: Deuterium source reshapes hydrogen isotope exchange pathways

  A collaboration between the groups of Professor Mónica H. Pérez-Temprano at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) and Professor Anat Milo at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has uncovered how the characteristics of specific substrates require certain reaction conditions that determine the course of a chemical reaction, in the context of C–H deuteration reactions.

• Researchers propose novel BaTiO₃-based catalyst for oxidative coupling of methane

  Perovskites—a class of compounds with a unique ABX3 structure and high temperature stability—are promising materials for energy conversion.

• Covalent organic frameworks grown through coupling reactions unlock new class of semiconducting magnets

  Chemists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a methodology to enable coupling reactions for the growth of crystalline porous covalent organic frameworks, unlocking a new class of semiconducting magnets. The work is published in the journal Nature Synthesis.