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Category: chemistry – Page 11

Saturn-ring-like laser emission from chiral polymeric microspheres

Controlling light within microscopic spaces is crucial for next-generation optical devices such as photonic integrated circuits and localized sensors. Microspheres formed of luminescent π-conjugated polymers act as optical resonators that confine and amplify light via whispering gallery modes (WGMs), and they are promising candidates for microscale organic lasers and photonic applications. However, conventional microsphere resonators are geometrically isotropic and emit isotropic light, making directional control of emissions challenging.

In a new study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers from the University of Tsukuba show that microspheres formed through the self-assembly of chiral π-conjugated polymers possess a characteristic twisted bipolar molecular configuration, enabling angle-selective optical resonance and laser oscillation with distinct azimuthal directionality. Using polarization-dependent photoluminescence imaging, the research team directly visualized a vortex-like (swirling) arrangement formed by the polymer main chains on the spherical surface.

Furthermore, this vortex-like surface molecular orientation induces an azimuth-dependent refractive-index distribution along the light propagation path, resulting in angle-dependent WGM resonance wavelengths and spatially localized emission. Consequently, the microspheres exhibit directional laser oscillation, preferentially emitting amplified light along a specific azimuthal direction. The resulting emission pattern is analogous to Saturn’s rings.

Quantum computers model nine fusion fuel material configurations for first time

A team of scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Cleveland Clinic and IBM has calculated nine molecular configurations of a promising material to produce fuel for fusion energy—the first known instance of such computations on quantum computers.

Such calculations, demonstrated in a new paper published on the arXiv preprint server, are computationally challenging for classical computers to scale when working alone. They are a fundamental step toward optimizing the production and extraction of tritium—an extremely rare material in nature that is necessary to produce fusion energy with most of the proposed machines. Ensuring adequate supplies of tritium has long been a barrier to realizing the promise of clean, abundant energy from fusion power plants, and solving this issue is a key objective of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission.

Quantum computers are well-suited to computing the atomic-level chemistry of a liquid salt that contains fluorine, lithium and beryllium (FLiBe), one of the leading candidate materials for extracting tritium fuel in fusion reactors. To compute different configurations of clusters of FLiBe, the team used the same quantum-centric supercomputing techniques now being applied to 12,635-atom protein simulations with Cleveland Clinic. These methods can calculate the quantum behavior of electrons in complex materials, complementing and enhancing the capabilities of classical supercomputers and algorithms.

Quantum vacuum could help break molecular bonds with less energy, simulations suggest

A team of researchers led by Felipe Herrera, a professor at the University of Santiago and a researcher at the Millennium Institute for Research in Optics (MIRO), has identified a quantum phenomenon that enables chemical bonds to be broken using significantly less energy than is normally required.

The findings, published in Physical Review Letters under the title “Enhancing Infrared-Laser Dissociation of Molecules with the Electromagnetic Vacuum,” demonstrate that by using infrared light, the natural fluctuations present in the electromagnetic vacuum can promote molecular dissociation when molecules are confined within specially designed nanometer-scale structures known as nanocavities.

Although we often think of a vacuum as completely empty space, quantum physics shows that it is filled with tiny energy fluctuations. The researchers discovered that these fluctuations can be amplified inside a nanocavity, altering molecular vibrations and making it easier for an infrared laser to break chemical bonds.

A New Way To See Life’s Hidden Chemistry: $10 Spectrometer Could Turn Wearables Into Personal Health Labs

Researchers have developed a compact, low-cost convolutional spectrometer that delivers lab-grade precision for applications ranging from industrial quality control to non-invasive health monitoring.

New biobased polymers exhibit excellent tensile properties beyond polyolefins

The research group of Professor Kotohiro Nomura, Tokyo Metropolitan University, in cooperation with the research groups of Senior Researcher Hiroshi Hirano and Director Seiji Higashi of the Osaka Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology, and Associate Professor Hiroki Takeshita of The University of Shiga Prefecture, has developed biobased poly(ester amide)s from inedible biorenewables that can be easily chemically recycled and exhibit better mechanical (tensile) properties in film than commodity plastics.

The work has been published in JACS Au.

The development of biobased polymers that are readily chemically recyclable and derived from nonedible renewable resources has been recognized as a promising sustainable material in the circular economy. However, there have been few examples of materials with mechanical properties (e.g. tensile strength and elongation at break) that exceed those of conventional polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene.

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Researchers use AI to evaluate a systematic framework to describe molecular order in liquid water

Water is the most abundant liquid on Earth’s surface, and it is highly anomalous compared with other liquids because it expands upon freezing. The anomalies in water have been linked to how its microscopic structure changes with temperature and pressure. However, there is no systematic scheme for characterizing these structural changes.

Now, researchers at the University of Osaka have used artificial intelligence (AI) to evaluate characterization frameworks. The AI model is part of a unified framework for comparing and estimating structural descriptors for supercooled water. This discovery was reported in Communications Chemistry.

For water to freeze, molecules need to order themselves into a structured lattice such as ice. Molecules need to attach to a foundation, known as a nucleation site, to grow into a solid phase. Impurities in water or scratches inside a container can serve as nucleation sites.

A COF-graphene hybrid opens new horizons for lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries combine the abundance and affordability of sulfur with an energy storage capability far beyond that of current lithium-ion technologies. Practical deployment, however, has been slowed by a longstanding challenge known as polysulfide shuttling, whereby dissolved sulfur intermediates migrate within the battery, leading to active-material loss and premature performance decay.

Now, researchers from Tohoku University and collaborating institutions have tackled this problem by developing a molecularly designed covalent organic framework (COF)-graphene interlayer. This lightweight interface mitigates polysulfide shuttling by combining chemical trapping, rapid charge transport and sulfur-conversion promotion.

The work was published in the journal Small.

Fat cells help repair damaged nerves

Damage to the body’s peripheral nerves can cause pain and movement disorders. Researchers at Leipzig University have recently investigated how damaged nerves can regenerate better. They found that fat tissue strongly supports the Schwann cells needed for repair during the healing process. The results were published in the renowned journal “Cell Metabolism”

Our bodies are transversed by millions of nerve fibres that transmit information. This allows us to do things like control muscles and perceive sensory impressions. Peripheral nerves, like those in our arms and legs, are often damaged by acute injuries, for example, in accidents. As a result, those affected suffer from loss of muscle strength and sensory problems such as numbness. Peripheral nerves do have a strong regenerative potential, but complete recovery of nerve function is still rare for reasons that are not yet fully understood.

When a nerve is crushed or severed, the individual nerve fibres affected by the damage initially die. In principle, they have the ability to grow back and regenerate completely. This depends on the Schwann cells that surround the nerve fibres. These cells do not die after nerve damage, but instead are responsible for coordinating the breakdown and regrowth of nerve fibres in their original areas. Schwann cells therefore play a key role in the repair process. It was previously unknown how these cells cope with the enormous metabolic load associated with the breakdown and rebuilding of nerve tissue. Researchers at the University of Leipzig Medical Center have now discovered that Schwann cells receive crucial support with nerve repair from the fat tissue that surrounds nerves in the body. Using genetically modified mice, they have shown that the chemical messenger leptin plays a key role in this process.

Ultrafast scanning tunneling microscopy reaches the quantum mechanical space-time limit for the first time

Werner Heisenberg’s famous uncertainty principle describes one of the most intriguing features of quantum physics: certain pairs of physical quantities describing a particle, such as position and momentum, cannot simultaneously be determined with arbitrary precision—not because of imprecise measuring instruments, but because nature forbids it. Between position and time, however, there is no Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

A research team comprising several groups at RUN led by Profs. Jascha Repp, Rupert Huber, Franz Giessibl, and Klaus Richter, as well as a team from the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg led by Angel Rubio, has now observed for the first time that the location and time evolution of an electron cannot be measured with arbitrary precision simultaneously. This so-called space-time limit has important implications for future applications. The work is published in the journal Nature Photonics.

Many future technologies, from green tech and quantum technologies to high-performance electronics for artificial intelligence, require a precise understanding of how matter functions at the microscopic level: how chemical reactions occur, how light interacts with matter, and how electrons move through electronic components. High-resolution still images of the microscopic building blocks of matter are not sufficient for this; rather, time-resolved slow-motion movies from the nanocosmos are needed.

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