In recent years, global environmental concerns have prompted a significant shift toward eco-friendly manufacturing processes in organic synthetic chemistry. One such advancement is the use of photoredox catalytic reactions, which leverage light to drive redox reactions via a photoredox catalyst. This method reduces the reliance on harsh and toxic reagents, utilizing visible light as a … Read more
A team of scientists led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has found an unconventional way to improve catalysts made of more than one material. The solution demonstrates a path to designing catalysts with greater activity, selectivity and stability. A catalyst normally uses a support to stabilize nanometer-sized metal particles that speed … Read more
Cellulose, which helps give plant cell walls their rigid structure, holds promise as a renewable raw material for biofuels—if researchers can accelerate the production process. Compared to the breakdown of other biofuel materials like corn, breaking down cellulose is slow and inefficient but could avoid concerns around using a food source while taking advantage of … Read more
Biochemistry is the branch of science that explores the chemical processes and molecules within living organisms. It delves into the structure, function, and interactions of biomolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and metabolites, elucidating fundamental principles of life, cellular functions, biochemical pathways, and molecular mechanisms underlying biological processes. Proteins Proteins are essential biomolecules … Read more
In most industrial chemical reactions, catalysts combine with the starting materials and accompany them through intermediate stages to the product. In chemistry, this pathway is known as the reaction mechanism, and it is a kind of black box: nobody knows what is happening at the molecular level at first. If the reaction result in the … Read more
Researchers led by Ryuhei Nakamura at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan have improved on their green and sustainable method of extracting hydrogen from water by using a custom-made catalyst for the chemical reaction. Published in Nature Catalysis, the study details how they manipulated the catalyst’s 3D structure, which led to improved stability and … Read more
Researchers from Skoltech and their colleagues have improved the properties of a carbon-based electrode material by exposing it to air plasma. Such treatment turned out to enhance electrode performance, which is the limiting factor for high-tech energy sources—particularly fuel cells. These are a promising technology for cleaner and more efficient electrical power generation. Published in the Journal of … Read more
The selective oxidation of aromatic C-H bonds has drawn significant attention in both industrial and fine chemistry due to its crucial role in converting readily- and cheaply-available aromatic hydrocarbons into high-value-added oxygenated products for diverse fields such as biology, medicine, fragrance, and agriculture. The traditional methods of acetophenone (ACP) production suffer from numerous limitations, such … Read more
The periodic table is a tabular arrangement of chemical elements, organized by their atomic number, electron configuration, and recurring chemical properties. It provides a systematic way to categorize and understand the behavior of elements based on their shared characteristics. Dmitri Mendeleev is credited with developing the first periodic table in 1869, arranging elements by their … Read more
Solar-driven photocatalytic or photoelectrochemical water splitting holds great promise for direct solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion, especially in the context of the carbon-neutral initiative, while its practical applications hinge on significant advances in the scalable production of robust and efficient photoactive films. A research team led by Prof. Liu Gang from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) … Read more
Single-atom catalysts (SACs), due to their excellent catalytic activity, have been a hot topic in the field of energy catalysis. In SACs, the metal atoms are able to directly interact with the supports, thus maximizing the metal-support interface. The metal-support interactions (MSIs) largely affect the electronic properties of single-atom catalysts and catalytic performance. Currently, the … Read more
Although you may never have heard of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes, these proteins play diverse and critical roles in humans through the metabolic processing of drugs, pesticides, fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins, and chemical carcinogens and the biosynthesis of essential steroids, including sterols. Sterols are a family of chemical compounds that share a central, … Read more
A discovery in the field of catalysis has emerged from the laboratories of Professor Jaeheung Cho and his team in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST. Their pioneering work has led to the development of a copper(II)–alkylperoxo complex that could revolutionize the realms of synthetic chemistry and industrial applications. The study is published in ACS Catalysis. The … Read more
Professor Jian He, from the Department of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has spearheaded a research endeavor aimed at revolutionizing organic synthesis. His research team has successfully developed a novel heterogeneous copper photocatalyst that enables the efficient formation of cyclobutane rings, a crucial structural element in a vast array of bioactive molecules. … Read more
In a study published in the journal Science China Chemistry and led by Prof. Rengui Li (State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences), a distinct charge separation difference has been found via rationally tailoring the morphology symmetry of BiVO4 photocatalyst. Interestingly, for octahedral BiVO4 crystals, photogenerated electrons and … Read more
Intense research efforts have been directed toward studying the electrochemical conversion of CO2, a major greenhouse gas, into platform chemicals and fuels. The success of this technology can enable the decarbonization of some of the largest CO2 emitters, including steel, cement, and chemical manufacturing industries. Copper is unique in its ability to convert CO2 at … Read more
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered profound similarities and surprising differences between humans and insects in the production of the critical light-absorbing molecule of the retina, 11-cis-retinal, also known as the “visual chromophore.” The findings deepen understanding of how mutations in the RPE65 enzyme cause retinal diseases, especially Leber congenital amaurosis, a … Read more