Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

The STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider tracks thousands of particles produced in collisions of heavy ions such as gold, as shown in the colorful particle tracks on the right-hand side of the image. In collisions of polarized protons at RHIC, STAR is also seeing hints of an effect of a different kind of color — the “color” charges of the quarks that make up the colliding protons. Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

The proton sounds like a simple object, but it’s not. Inside, there’s a teeming microcosm of quarks and gluons with properties such as spin and “color” charge that contribute to the particle’s seemingly simplistic role as a building block of visible matter...

Afsaneh Rabiei examines a sample of metal foam. A new study by Rabiei finds that novel light-weight composite metal foams are significantly more effective at insulating against high heat than the conventional base metals and alloys that they’re made of, such as steel. The finding means the CMF is especially promising for use in storing and transporting nuclear material, hazardous materials, explosives and other heat-sensitive materials, as well as for space exploration. Credit: North Carolina State University

Novel light-weight composite metal foams are more effective at insulating against high heat than the conventional base metals and alloys that they’re made of, such as steel...

Interfacial Donor–Acceptor Nanofibril Composites for Selective Alkane Vapor Detection

Alkane fuel is a key ingredient in combustible material such as gasoline, airplane fuel, oil – even a homemade bomb. Yet it’s difficult to detect and there are no portable scanners available that can sniff out the odorless and colorless vapor. But University of Utah engineers have developed a new type of fiber composite for a handheld scanner that can detect small traces of alkane fuel vapor, a valuable advancement that could be an early-warning signal for leaks in an oil pipeline, an airliner, or for locating a terrorist’s explosive. It involves two nanofibers transferring electrons from one to the other.

“These are 2 materials that interact well together by having electrons transferring from one to an...

Phenanthroline ligands used in the borylation of methane. Credit: IBS

Using a new hybrid breed of computational and experimental chemistry, an international team of chemists was able to solve a puzzle that has been dubbed a ‘Holy Grail reaction’ and devise a method for catalyzing reactions with methane. As organic chemistry evolved, techniques for catalyzing hydrocarbons advanced and one by one a method was created for their manipulation. Ethane, propane, butane, pentane – all the alkanes followed a similar pattern and their reactions had predictable results. Only one alkane-methane- refused to follow suit and this confounded chemists for decades. Methane had been just too difficult to work with; its C-H bond could not be manipulated...