Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
Published

Chemists use oxygen, copper 'scissors' to make cheaper drug treatments possible      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have devised a way to produce chemicals used in medicine and agriculture for a fraction of the usual cost. Using oxygen as a reagent and copper as a catalyst to break organic molecules' carbon-carbon bonds and convert them into amines, which are widely used in pharmaceuticals. Traditional metal catalysis uses expensive metals such as platinum, silver, gold and palladium, but the researchers used oxygen and copper -- an abundant base metal.

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AI for perovskite solar cells: Key to better manufacturing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tandem solar cells based on perovskite semiconductors convert sunlight to electricity more efficiently than conventional silicon solar cells. In order to make this technology ready for the market, further improvements with regard to stability and manufacturing processes are required. Researchers have succeeded in finding a way to predict the quality of the perovskite layers and consequently that of the resulting solar cells: Assisted by Machine Learning and new methods in Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is possible assess their quality from variations in light emission already in the manufacturing process.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
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New method for determining the water content of water-soluble compounds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new method for the accurate determination of the water content of water-soluble compounds. This plays a significant role in various areas, including determining drug dosages.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
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Effect of aerosol particles on clouds and the climate captured better      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Global measurements and model calculations show that the complex relationship between the chemistry and climate impact of aerosol particles can be successfully captured by a simple formula.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Putting an end to plastic separation anxiety      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Bio-based plastics often end up in recycling streams because they look and feel like conventional plastic, but the contamination of these compostable products makes it much harder to generate functional material out of recycled plastic. Scientists have now developed a biology-driven process to convert these mixtures into a new biodegradable material that can be used to make fresh products. The scientists believe the process could also enable a new field of biomanufacturing wherein valuable chemicals and even medicines are made from microbes feeding off of plastic waste.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The remarkable proton and oxide-ion (dual-ion) conductivities of hexagonal perovskite-related oxide Ba7Nb3.8Mo1.2O20.1 are promising for next-generation electrochemical devices. The unique ion-transport mechanisms they unveiled will hopefully pave the way for better dual-ion conductors, which could play an essential role in tomorrow's clean energy technologies.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Pushing the boundaries of eco-friendly chemical production      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of pioneering researchers has made a significant leap forward in the complex world of molecular chemistry. Their focus? Azaarenes, unique molecular puzzle pieces crucial to many everyday products, from eco-friendly agrochemicals to essential medicines. The team developed an innovative way to modify these molecules using light-powered enzymes -- a groundbreaking discovery that holds promise for new industrially relevant chemical reactions and sustainable energy solutions.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Hydrogen fuel can be a competitive alternative to gasoline and diesel today      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Energy researchers posit hydrogen fuel can potentially be a cost-competitive and environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline and diesel, and that supplying hydrogen for transportation in the greater Houston area can be profitable today.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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No one-size-fits-all solution for the net-zero grid      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As power generation from sources like solar and wind increases, along with the introduction of devices such as heat pumps and batteries, a new optimization tool will help the UK plan for a greener electricity network.   The researchers developed an algorithm to model how these smaller networks distributed electricity -- factoring in how local grids could become unbalanced by adding too many heat pumps in a single area or generating more electricity than the grid could accept.  

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology
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Engineering bacteria to biosynthesize intricate protein complexes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Protein cages found in nature within microbes help weather its contents from the harsh intracellular environment -- an observation with many bioengineering applications. Researchers recently developed an innovative bioengineering approach using genetically modified bacteria; these bacteria can incorporate protein cages around protein crystals. This in-cell biosynthesis method efficiently produces highly customized protein complexes, which could find applications as advanced solid catalysts and functionalized nanomaterials.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Water splitting reaction for green hydrogen gas production improved      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Electrochemical catalysts used in water splitting often show poor performance due to low electrical conductance of (oxy)hydroxide species produced in situ. To overcome this challenge, researchers have now designed an electrode with Schottky Junction formed at the interface of metallic Ni-W5N4 and semiconducting NiFeOOH. The proposed electrode shows excellent catalytic activity and can facilitate industrial seawater splitting continuously for 10 days.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Ammonia fuel offers great benefits but demands careful action      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified the potential environmental risks of using ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel in order to develop an engineering roadmap to a sustainable ammonia economy.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry
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AI programs spat out known data and hardly learned specific chemical interactions when predicting drug potency      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise. Until now, AI applications generally have 'black box' character: How AI arrives at its results remains hidden. A cheminformatics scientist has now developed a method that reveals how certain AI applications work in pharmaceutical research. The results are unexpected: the AI programs largely remembered known data and hardly learned specific chemical interactions when predicting drug potency.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Fossil Fuels Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: Optics
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Solar-powered device produces clean water and clean fuel at the same time      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A floating, solar-powered device that can turn contaminated water or seawater into clean hydrogen fuel and purified water, anywhere in the world, has been developed by researchers.

Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Mathematics: Modeling Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General
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How to use AI for discovery -- without leading science astray      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the same way that chatbots sometimes 'hallucinate,' or make things up, machine learning models designed for scientific applications can sometimes present misleading or downright false results. Researchers now present a new statistical technique for safely using AI predictions to test scientific hypotheses.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Physics: Optics
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Chemists image basic blocks of synthetic polymers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new method to image polymerization catalysis reactions one monomer at a time. 

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Physics: Optics
Published

'Indoor solar' to power the Internet of Things      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

From Wi-Fi-connected home security systems to smart toilets, the so-called Internet of Things brings personalization and convenience to devices that help run homes. But with that comes tangled electrical cords or batteries that need to be replaced. Now, researchers have brought solar panel technology indoors to power smart devices. They show which photovoltaic (PV) systems work best under cool white LEDs, a common type of indoor lighting.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Liquid metals shake up century-old chemical engineering processes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Liquid metals could be the long-awaited solution to 'greening' the chemical industry, according to researchers who tested a new technique they hope can replace energy-intensive chemical engineering processes harking back to the early 20th century.