Chemistry

A recent study, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has developed a tiny micro supercapacitor (MSC), being small as the width of a person's fingerprint.

A recent study, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has unveiled 2D material-based ultrasensitive surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensor by synthesizing uniform large-area ReOxSy thin films.

Eight faculty members, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) have been honored with the 2019 Outstanding Faculty Award.

Scientists at The University of Tokyo use a two-state model based on the formation of tetrahedral structures to explain water’s anomalous properties and the surprising liquid–liquid transition of water.

Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) scientists have invented a novel contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which enables real-time visualisation and detection of the size and number of amyloid-beta in the brain, a main hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The invention offers hope for early detection and large-scale routine screening of AD. It can also help to assess the efficacy of drugs used to treat it.

The trick to extremely thin supercapacitors with improved performance is spraying graphene ink at an angle.

Scientists have found an ingredient that makes a vaccine more effective through an approach more often seen in materials science – testing molecules that self-assemble into larger structures.

A Hokkaido University research group has successfully demonstrated that carbon-carbon (C-C) covalent bonds expand and contract flexibly in response to light and heat. This unexpected flexibility of C-C bonds could confer new properties to organic compounds.

China’s success in improving air quality by cutting polluting emissions may have a negative knock-on effect on climate change overall, a new study has found.

Researchers at Osaka City University produce malic acid, which contains 4 carbon atoms, through artificial photosynthesis by simply adding metal ions like aluminum and iron. This solves a problem with current artificial photosynthesis technology of only producing molecules with 1 carbon atom and paves the way to exploring the use of CO2 as a raw material.

Researchers at Osaka City University create a quantum algorithm that removes spin contaminants while making chemical calculations on quantum computers. This allows for predictions of electronic and molecular behavior with degrees of precision not achievable with classical computers and paves the way for practical quantum computers to become a reality.

An Ehime University group led by Dr. Ishibashi and Prof. Asahi reported that when a nanosecond laser pulse was irradiated to diarylethene nanoparticles which show the photo-induced isomerization reaction from the colored closed-form to the colorless open-form, the ring-opening reaction was at most 80 times more effective than that in the solution phase. The amplification could be well explained as a ‘photosynergetic effect’ coupled with nanoscale photothermal conversion and a photochemical reaction. There are very few reports of such a nanosecond laser pulse induced amplified photochemical reaction in nanoparticles, indicating a new photoenergy conversion method.

This study selected the Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) as a model animal for the fetal transfer of OH-PCBs in humans, and revealed OH-PCB concentrations and their relationships in the maternal and fetal brains. The key finding from this study is that OH-PCBs can reach the developing brain of the fetus as early as the first trimester of pregnancy. These OH-PCBs may exceed the levels that induce adverse effects on neurodevelopment.

Measuring the temperature of objects at a nanometer-scale has been a long challenge, especially in living biological samples, because of the lack of precise and reliable nanothermometers. An international team of researchers has realized a quantum technology to probe temperature on a nanometer-scale, and have observed a ‘fever’ in tiny nematode worms under pharmacological treatment. This strengthens the connection between quantum sensing and biology and ushers in novel thermal imaging technologies in biomedical research.

Scientists at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, develop a novel “heterostructured” photocatalyst using titanium and copper, two abundant and relatively inexpensive metals. Their cost-effective synthesis procedure, coupled with the high stability of the photocatalyst, provides an economically feasible way to convert waste carbon dioxide and water into useful hydrocarbon fuels using endless sunlight.

Scientists at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) in Korea have found a way to improve the efficiency of betavoltaic devices, a type of power source that uses an internal radioactive material. This study opens up a new horizon in the field of nuclear batteries for powering set-and-forget electronic devices.

A team at Tohoku University has succeeded in growing large single crystals of tin monosulfide, a material used in next generation solar cells.

A new catalyst design enables unprecedented control over the modification of fatty acid derivatives that opens the door to creating useful substances in a green and efficient manner.

In catalytic reactions with organocatalysts, it is difficult to control radical reactions. We designed a thiazolium-type N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst having an N-neopentyl group. This catalyst was found to actively control radical reactions and enabled production of more than 35 species of bulky dialkyl ketones from an aliphatic aldehyde and an aliphatic carboxylic acid derivative through a radical relay mechanism. This catalyst is expected to open the way for acceleration of drug discovery research.

Researchers have found electrons that behave as if they have no mass, called Dirac electrons, in a compound used in rewritable discs, such as CDs and DVDs. The discovery of “massless” electrons in this phase-change material could lead to faster electronic devices.

The research team directed by H. Shimomoto and E. Ihara in Ehime University synthesized pH-responsive dendronized polymers by C1 polymerization of dendron-containing diazoacetates, and demonstrated a unique pH-responsive behavior of the resulting polymers. These achievements will contribute to progress in the field of polymer chemistry and will allow us to develop new types of smart soft materials.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in ACS Nano a high-speed atomic-force microscopy study of the formation of protein fibrils (amyloids) associated with pathologies in collaborated research with Showa University. Mixing different variants of a single protein and changing the acidity of its environment is shown to result in significant variations in amyloid structure and elongation rates.

Hokkaido University researchers have found a soft and wet material that can memorize, retrieve, and forget information, much like the human brain. They report their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

A hemispherical vanadium oxide cluster has a cavity that can accommodate a bromine molecule. It was found that a bromine molecule trapped in the cavity was polarized and that an alkane molecule like pentane, butane and propane could be brominated with the bromine molecule in the cavity with a selectivity differing from ordinary bromination. The present findings are expected to be useful for polarization of small molecules and design of highly functional catalysts.

Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Biomaterials a high-speed atomic-force microscopy study of protein filaments in the nuclear pore complex. The visualization in real-time of the filaments’ dynamics is an important step in our understanding of molecular transport mechanisms between a cell nucleus and its surrounding medium.

Most common thin-film solar panels consist of expensive rare-earth elements like indium and gallium, or highly toxic metals like cadmium. Environment-friendly solar panels consisting of the abundant materials Cu, Zn, Sn offer attractive alternatives, but are hindered by their low practical efficiency compared to their theoretical potential. Researchers from DGIST have now discovered a way to overcome these hurdles.

Scientists are looking for ways to make millions of molecule-sized robots swarm together so they can perform multiple tasks simultaneously.

Hokkaido University scientists have succeeded in synthesizing an α,α-difluoroglycine derivative, a type of α-amino acid, based on a reaction path predicted by quantum chemical calculations. This novel method, combining experimental chemistry and computational chemistry, could innovate the development of new chemical reactions.

A group of Japanese scientists has developed an ultrastable, selective catalyst for dehydrogenate propane – an essential process to produce the key petrochemical substance of propylene – without deactivation, even at temperatures of more than 600°C.

Scientists from the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, develop a novel silica-based cathode for lithium–sulfur batteries, thereby enabling the realization of batteries that can last for over 2000 charge/discharge cycles. The possibility of successfully using the unconventional silica could spark a paradigm shift in rechargeable battery designs.