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Cosmochemists have discovered the oldest solid material known to exist on Earth. The material, stardust, consists of silicon carbide grains measuring around one micrometer in size. The grains date back approximately 7 billion years, or about 2.5…

Microplastics are raining down on national parks and other protected areas in the western United States at the rate of about 132 pieces of microplastic per square meter every day, according to a report in the journal Science (June 2020).…

If you think converting seawater to fuels that can power ships is a fantasy, think again. Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., have, in fact, accomplished this feat. In addition, the U.S. Navy has received a patent…

Fingerprint identification is a widely used forensic method for linking an individual to a crime scene. Investigators at a crime scene can find invisible (latent) fingerprints, which consist of natural skin oils, by "dusting" surfaces with carbon…

Heroin (C21H23NO5) is a white, crystalline powder synthesized from morphine, a natural alkaloid extracted from the seedpod of the Asian opium poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. It is a powerful opioid drug prepared by the addition of two acetyl groups…

A class of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) are particularly worrisome in the environment because they do not biodegrade. For this reason, scientists often refer to PFAS as “forever chemicals.” PFAS’s staying power…

Naturally ventilating a house, such as by opening doors and windows, has long been considered an effective strategy for exhausting indoor air pollutants. However, according to researchers reporting in the journal Science Advances (February 2020),…

Famously durable, diamond is the hardest natural substance that occurs in any significant abundance on Earth. Yet according to a new study, on the nanoscale—a scale size of just billionths of a meter—diamond can, in fact, be bent and deformed. This…

Researchers from Drexel University in Pennsylvania, USA, have synthesized conductive and layered 2D materials known as MXenes (pronounced maxenes) using a water-free process. In doing so, scientists have opened up potential uses of MXenes as…

The United Nations has proclaimed 2019 the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT2019). The same year also marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table, containing…

Plastic is a ubiquitous and life-saving product, but it is also rapidly becoming a significant environmental problem. Globally, less than 10 percent of plastics are recycled, about 12 percent are incinerated, and the vast majority are disposed of in…

For the first time, scientists have observed two molecules meeting and reacting to form new molecules. A team of chemists used lasers to slow down interacting molecules to temperatures far colder than outer space, enabling the team to observe a…

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid analgesic (pain reliever) that resembles morphine in its action. However, its drug potency is approximately 50 to 100 times more powerful than that of morphine, leading to high rates of both addiction and overdose…

Researchers have produced carbon chips from waste plastic bags for use in making anodes for lithium-ion batteries, according to a report in ACS Omega (December 2018). For the most part, it is very difficult to break down (depolymerize) plastics into…

Physicists have discovered a new state of matter described as a Cooper pair metal. Similar to an ordinary metal, this newfound state of matter conducts electricity with some resistance. However, the carriers of electric charge in this new state are…

Plastic shopping bags are convenient to use because they are lightweight and inexpensive, and yet they are also a major source of plastic pollution. People worldwide use an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion single-use plastic bags each year.…

Seawater desalination involves removing salts and minerals from water and discharging a higher-concentration solution, or brine, to the sea. The brine effluent may affect the water quality (for example, salinity) and organisms—particularly the…

Researchers have developed polymeric materials that are able to kill multidrug-resistant bacteria without inducing drug resistance or toxic side effects, according to a report in Nature Communications (March 2018). The polymers, known as…

In an application of green chemistry, researchers reported in the journal Biomaterials (April 2018) the caffeine-catalyzed synthesis of a new class of polymer gels for drug delivery and other biomedical applications. These caffeine-catalyzed gels…

Handheld electronic devices with plastic casings, such as cell phones, may be exposing users to toxic organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants that leach out of these products. Researchers from the University of Toronto reported in Environment…

Neonicotinoids (also termed neonics) comprise a class of insecticides and pesticides that chemically resemble nicotine. They are the most widely used insecticides in the world and are deployed by plant and crop farmers because these chemical…

Humans' contributions to global warming through burning fossil fuels and other actions (for example, detrimental land-use practices) have resulted in sharp increases in the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). These rising levels of CO2 also…

Mathematics is often referred to as the language of nature. A new study further makes this case by demonstrating that the distribution of prime numbers bears a striking similarity to the positions of atoms in materials known as quasicrystals. The…

In the historical development of spectroscopy, following the fundamental studies of crude spectra of sunlight by Isaac Newton in 1672, certain contributions and achievements are especially noteworthy. The significance of using a narrow slit instead…

Hydroxy acids are carboxylic acids that have at least one hydroxyl (OH−) group. These compounds, which are available as α-hydroxy acids, β-hydroxy acids, and polyhydroxy acids, are often used in skin care products. Hydroxy acids were first used in…

In an attempt to quantify the amount of plastics ever produced and what has happened to them, researchers produced the first global analysis using data collected from plastic industry sources. As reported in Science Advances (July 2017), 8300…

A magnitude 5.1 nuclear test was detected 376 km (234 mi) NE of Pyongyang, North Korea (DPRK) on January 6, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. local time (01:30 UTC), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The event was picked up at seismic stations around…

Cafestol, C20H28O3, is a compound, specifically a diterpene alcohol, found in coffee beans. It is extracted during the coffee-brewing process and may be present in coffee beverages, depending on the preparation method. Consumption of cafestol in…

Spectroscopy is the study of the absorption, emission, or scattering of electromagnetic radiation, ranging from x-rays to radio waves, by atoms or molecules. The spectroscopic techniques are known as spectrometry and the instruments of spectrometry…

Nerve gases, also known as nerve agents, are highly toxic organophosphorus compounds developed for use as chemical weapons. The chemical formula for the nerve agent Sarin, for example, is [(CH3)2CHO]CH3P(O)F. Nerve agents are similar in function and…

Biochar is charcoal made from biomass (organic matter used for energy). A process called pyrolysis, in which biomass is heated to high temperature in the absence of oxygen, produces biochar along with combustible gases (syngas) and oils (bio-oils).…

In an advance for soft robotics, a young technology that finds inspiration in living things, research engineers developed a promising material that imitates the extraordinary flexibility, sensitivity, and luminescence of squids, octopuses,…

Researchers from Northwestern University have developed a structural material, called sulfur concrete, that is based entirely on raw materials that are abundant on Mars. Potentially, it could be used for constructing buildings on the Red Planet.…

Internal combustion engines are very inefficient at converting chemical energy to mechanical energy. Among the energy losses are friction and heat losses. In October 2016, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, United States,…

An artificial leaf is a solar cell that uses water and an electrical current generated from sunlight to produce hydrogen (for fuel) and oxygen. It is currently in development at laboratories worldwide. If successful, the artificial leaf could serve…

For over fifty years, heat stabilizers, light stabilizers, and antioxidants have been added to polymers to maintain their material properties by preventing their degradation. This chemical adjustment is necessary to extend the life of products such…

In humans, taste buds on the tongue have sensory receptors that detect the qualities of water-soluble chemicals in food and convert (or transduce) those stimuli to electrical signals. Nerves then carry the signals to the brain, which processes them…

Defying long-held expectations, chemists from Colorado State University created a polyester biopolymer that can be decomposed back into its monomer constituents. Their accomplishment was all the more surprising because the material with which they…

Phthalates are esters of 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid (phthalic acid) [1] made by reacting phthalic anhydride (2) with alcohols. Phthalates are used mostly as plasticizers—additives to make ridged polymers flexible. Flexible poly(vinyl chloride), or…

Polyelectrolytes, also known as polymer electrolytes and polymeric electrolytes, are water-soluble polymers that contain positively or negatively charged ionic groups; that is, cations (+) or anions (–). They may be natural materials, such as…

Polymer scientists have developed a siloxane (silicone) polymer that stretches to 5000 percent of its original length and then returns to its unstretched size when released. The scientists presented their work at the 250th National Meeting &…

Advances in aluminum-air battery technology might allow electrically powered vehicles to become more realistic and competitive automotive options for many drivers.At present, most electric vehicles (EVs) are powered by lithium-ion battery packs and…

Recycling or reuse is in most instances environmentally preferable to disposal. Reuse of coal tar as an asphalt-pavement sealant for driveways and parking lots, however, has turned out to be an exception to this rule of thumb. Asphalt and asphaltite…

Over the next 10 to 20 years, capturing carbon dioxide (CO2)—a powerful greenhouse gas emitted from sources such as fossil-fuel-burning power plants, natural-gas processing plants, bioethanol plants, and cement plants—could become a significant…

Among the goals of organic synthesis are the high-yield production of target molecules with minimal unwanted by-products and the discovery of new molecules and new chemical reactions. In its simplest approach, organic synthesis is done in solution…

The very weak attractive forces between neutral atoms and molecules are known as van der Waals forces. These forces are important for holding molecules together and influencing materials properties such as boiling and melting points, solubility,…

Many parts of the world, particularly in poorer countries, need better tools for identifying unsafe drinking water. A test developed by researchers at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, seems to show potential as a low-cost technique for…

Click chemistry is a method used in chemical synthesis and polymerization processes in which molecules are interlinked by reactive groups that will only connect with one another. Developed in the laboratory of K. B. Sharpless at The Scripps Research…

A new polymer has a molecular structure and physical properties very similar to those of lubricin, a protein that lubricates the opposing bone surfaces in moving (articulating) joints of the body. Chemistry researchers from the University of…