Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Gold compounds can surpass nickel and palladium-based catalysts in common reactions + often demonstrate novel types of reactivity compared to well-established catalysts. This allowed chemists to discover new chemical reactions and predetermined a fascinating boom in gold catalysis that we have observed in the recent years.

Professor Ananikov’s team introduced gold into well-known catalytic system which led to dramatic change of the reactivity and furnished the formation of novel gold-containing complexes. They appeared to be air stable and were isolated in the individual state. A single crystal Xray diffraction study ascertained the existence of a unique structural motif in the molecule, which cannot be explained within a conventional mechanistic framework.

The study used both theoretic...

Approaching its 3rd anniversary of Mars landing, the rover has found a target unlike anything it has studied before – bedrock with surprisingly high levels of silica. Silica is a rock-forming compound containing silicon and oxygen, commonly found on Earth as quartz. This area lies just downhill from a geological contact zone the rover has been studying near “Marias Pass” on lower Mount Sharp.

>>Curiosity team decided to back up the rover 151 feet from the geological contact zone to investigate the high-silica target dubbed “Elk.” The decision was made after they analyzed data from 2 instruments, the laser-firing Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) and Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN), which show elevated amounts of silicon and hydrogen, respectively...

Electroluminescence from vertically stacked GaN–Al2O3–MoS2–Al2O3-graphene heterostructures.

1st demo of electroluminescence from multilayer molybdenum disulfide, or MoS2, a discovery that could lead to a new class of materials for making LEDs. In its single-layer form, Mos2 is optically active, meaning that it emits light when electric current is run through it or when it is shot with a nondestructive laser. Multilayer molybdenum disulfide, by contrast, is easier and less expensive to produce, but it is not normally luminescent. In the new study, Duan and Dehui, created the 1st multilayer device that shows strong luminescence when electrical current is passed through it.

“It was rather surprising for us to discover that similar vertical devices made of multilayer MoS2 somehow showed ...

A team of chemists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has introduced a new fuel cell catalyst approach that uses a molecular catalyst system instead of solid catalysts.
Credit: Stahl Group/University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Instead of expensive platinum etc, a metal-free alternative catalyst for fuel cells may be at hand. A team of chemists from University of Wisconsin-Madison introduces a new approach that uses a molecular catalyst system instead of solid catalysts. Although molecular catalysts have been explored before, earlier examples were much less efficient than the traditional platinum catalyst.

A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electricity by reacting H2 and O2 at 2 different electrodes. A catalyst makes the reaction more efficient.
Prof Stahl and scientist Gerken took...