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Category: chemistry – Page 42

Chemical networks can mimic nervous systems to power movement in soft materials

What if a soft material could move on its own, guided not by electronics or motors, but by the kind of rudimentary chemical signaling that powers the simplest organisms? Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering have modeled just that—a synthetic system that on its own directly transforms chemical reactions into mechanical motion, without the need for the complex biochemical machinery present in our bodies.

Just like jellyfish, some of the simplest organisms do not have a centralized brain or . Instead, they have a “nerve net” which consists of dispersed nerve cells that are interconnected by active junctions, which emit and receive . Even without a central “processor,” the chemical signals spontaneously travel through the net and trigger the autonomous motion needed for organisms’ survival.

In a study published in PNAS Nexus, Oleg E. Shklyaev, research assistant, and Anna C. Balazs, Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and the John A. Swanson Chair of Engineering, have developed computer simulations to design a with a “nerve net” that links chemical and mechanical networks in a way that mimics how the earliest and simplest living systems coordinate motion.

Tiny droplets that bounce for minutes without bursting might be able to do so indefinitely

EPFL researchers have discovered that a droplet of liquid can bounce for several minutes—and perhaps indefinitely—over a vibrating solid surface. The seemingly simple observation has big implications for physics and chemistry.

If you’ve ever added liquid to a hot frying pan, maybe you noticed how the bubbled up and skittered across the sizzling surface, rather than immediately flattening and wetting. This happens because the pan’s heat starts boiling the undersides of the droplets, producing vapor that acts as an insulating cushion on which they can—momentarily—dance.

Previously, scientists have produced a version of this phenomenon—known as the Leidenfrost effect—by replacing the hot surface with a rapidly vibrating liquid bath. In these experiments, the vibrations produced a thin film of air on which the liquid droplets could bounce and hover perpetually.

Laser method can detect chemical weapons and bacteria in seconds

Researchers at Umeå University and the Swedish Defense Research Agency, FOI, have developed new laser methods that can quickly detect chemical weapons and harmful bacteria directly on site—without the need to send samples to a laboratory.

Hazardous chemicals can appear in many forms. They can be pollutants in waterways, pesticides in our food, or synthetic substances designed to cause harm—such as narcotics or . To reduce the risk of these substances entering our bodies, it is crucial to be able to detect them quickly and reliably.

A new doctoral thesis from Umeå University shows how can be used to do just that.

Scientists create a novel hydrogel for unclonable security tags

Encryption technologies are vital in today’s digital landscape to protect sensitive information from hackers and prevent fraud. While cutting-edge encryption has been developed for data, sophisticated protection for physical objects such as high-value products, access cards and documents has lagged behind until now.

Scientists have now developed a new hydrogel that acts as an unclonable physical tag. The work is published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Physical items are easily copied or faked because their built-in security tags are often weak or simple to clone. To solve this security gap, a team of researchers from China first mixed two chemicals together: polypyrrole, which conducts electricity; and polystyrene sulfonate, a flexible polymer. The result was a soft, conductive, jelly-like substance.

Biohybrid leaf mimics photosynthesis to turn CO₂ and sunlight into useful chemicals

Researchers have demonstrated a new and sustainable way to make the chemicals that are the basis of thousands of products—from plastics to cosmetics—we use every day.

Hundreds of thousands of chemicals are manufactured by the chemical industry, which transforms raw materials—usually fossil fuels—into useful end products. Due to its size and its use of fossil fuel feedstocks, the chemical industry is responsible for roughly 6% of global carbon emissions.

But researchers led by the University of Cambridge are developing new methods that could one day lead to the “de-fossilization” of this important sector.

Planet formation depends on when it happens: New model shows why

A new study led by UNLV scientists sheds light on how planets, including Earth, formed in our galaxy—and why the life and death of nearby stars are an important piece of the puzzle.

In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers at UNLV, in collaboration with scientists from the Open University of Israel, for the first time, modeled details about how the timing of planet formation in the history of the galaxy affects planetary composition and density. The paper is titled “Effect of Galactic Chemical Evolution on Exoplanet Properties.”

“Materials that go into making planets are formed inside of stars that have different lifetimes,” says Jason Steffen, associate professor with the UNLV Department of Physics and Astronomy and the paper’s lead author.

Chemicals may be hitching a ride on nanoplastics to enter the skin

Plastic is ubiquitous in the modern world, and it’s notorious for taking a long time to completely break down in the environment—if it ever does.

But even without breaking down completely, plastic can shed —called nanoplastics because of their extremely small size—that scientists are just now starting to consider in long-term health studies.

One of those scientists is Dr. Wei Xu, an associate professor in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology. Xu’s current work is focused on what happens when nanoplastics interact with seawater, where they can pick up some curious hitchhikers in the form of chemicals and organic components.

The Impact of Physicochemical Conditions on Lactic Acid Bacteria Survival in Food Products

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), due to their many advantageous features, have been utilized in food manufacturing for centuries. Spontaneous fermentation, in which LAB play a fundamental role, is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. LAB survival and viability in various food products are of great importance. During technological processes, external physicochemical stressors appear often in combinations. To ensure the survival of LAB, adjustment of optimal physicochemical conditions should be considered. LAB strains should be carefully selected for particular food matrices and the technological processes involved. The LAB’s robustness to different environmental stressors includes different defense mechanisms against stress, including the phenomenon of adaptation, and cross-protection.

Promising medium can capture and convert carbon dioxide, while regenerating itself for reuse

Over the past decades, energy researchers have developed various promising solutions to limit the emission of greenhouse gases and source fuels or other chemicals more sustainably. These solutions include so-called carbon capture technologies and electrolyzers, devices that can capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and convert it into other valuable products, such as carbon monoxide (CO), methanol (CH₃OH), methane (CH₄) and various other compounds.

Some recently introduced solutions for converting CO2 into compounds that can be used as fuels or in industrial settings have achieved promising results. However, most of these devices only work if CO2 is purified (i.e., separated from other gases, contaminants and impurities). This additional purification step reduces the devices’ efficiency and can increase costs associated with their deployment, preventing their large-scale implementation.

An alternative method for the capture and conversion of CO2, known as reactive CO2 capture, could be more efficient and scalable than conventional approaches. This method combines the capture and conversion of CO2 in a single process, relying on compounds containing nitrogen (i.e., amine-based absorbents) to directly convert captured CO2 into desired compounds via electrochemical reactions.

New family of fluorescent molecules glows in water, enhancing visualization of cells

A team of researchers at the Departments of Physical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry of the University of Malaga and The Biomimetic Dendrimers and Photonic Laboratory of the research institute IBIMA Plataforma BIONAND has achieved a breakthrough that combines materials science and biomedicine. They have developed a new family of fluorescent molecules with promising applications in the study of living cells and the medicine of the future. The study has just been published in Advanced Materials.

The team of researchers has created a new family of fluorescent molecules that glow in a surprising way. These types of molecules typically lose part of their intensity or change to more dull colors when dissolved in water or other biological media. However, these new molecules do just the opposite: They emit a higher fluorescence intensity because their coloration shifts to the blue region of the light spectrum.

This behavior, which scientists described as “counterintuitive,” is key because it means that dyes work better in aqueous media like the inside of a cell, something essential for biomedical applications. In other words, they do not turn off when they are needed most but rather maintain—and even enhance—their brightness in real conditions of use.

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