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Category: chemistry – Page 15

Alkali and alkaline earth metal hydrides hold great promise for hydrogen storage and hydrogen-involved chemical transformations due to the unique properties of hydridic hydrogen (H-). However, bulk hydrides often suffer from high lattice energy and limited exposure of active sites, hindering their catalytic performance.

In a study published in Nature Communications, a research group led by Prof. Guo Jianping and Prof. Chen Ping from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, collaborating with Prof. Chang Fei from Yongjiang Laboratory and Prof. Rao Li, from Central China Normal University, developed atomically dispersed barium catalysts for the synthesis of deuterated alkylarenes.

Researchers synthesized atomically dispersed barium hydride catalysts on (BaH/MgO) using a convenient impregnation-hydrogenation method. This (sub)nanostructured hydride material acted as an efficient, transition metal-free heterogeneous catalyst for hydrogen activation and hydrogen isotope exchange reactions across a range of nonactivated alkylarene substrates.

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Two new research studies explore how a stellar nursery in the heart of the Milky Way is affected by the region’s strong magnetic fields. Despite decades of research, the process of how stars form is still filled with unanswered questions. Because stars create nearly all the chemical elements in the

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Those who climb indoors are doing something for their health. But climbing shoes contain chemicals of concern that can enter the lungs of climbers through the abrasion of the soles.

In a recent study, researchers from the University of Vienna and EPFL Lausanne have shown for the first time that high concentrations of potentially harmful chemicals from climbing can be found in the air of bouldering gyms. In some cases they are higher than on a busy street. The results have been published in the journal ACS ES&T Air.

A climbing hall is filled with a variety of smells: sweat, chalk dust and a hint of rubber. A research group led by environmental scientist Thilo Hofmann at the University of Vienna has now discovered that rubber abrasion from climbing shoes can enter the lungs of athletes. The shoes contain rubber compounds similar to those used in car tires—including additives suspected of being harmful to humans and the environment.

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The presence of cellular defects of multifactorial nature can be hard to characterize accurately and early due to the complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. With this study, by bridging optically-induced dielectrophoresis (ODEP), microfluidics, live-cell imaging, and machine learning, we provide the ground for devising a robotic micromanipulation and analysis system for single-cell phenotyping. Cells under the influence of nonuniform electric fields generated via ODEP can be recorded and measured. The induced responses obtained under time-variant ODEP stimulation reflect the cells’ chemical, morphological, and structural characteristics in an automated, flexible, and label-free manner.

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New research has revealed the fundamental mechanisms that limit the performance of copper catalysts—critical components in artificial photosynthesis that transform carbon dioxide and water into valuable fuels and chemicals.

In a study co-led by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, researchers have used sophisticated X-ray techniques to directly observe how change during the .

By applying small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)—a technique traditionally used to study soft materials like polymers—to this catalyst system, the team gained unprecedented insights into catalyst degradation that has puzzled scientists for decades.

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Scientists and engineers are developing from eco-friendly sources like plant waste. A key component, lignocellulose—found in and many plants—can be easily collected and chemically modified to improve its properties.

By using these kinds of chemical changes, researchers are creating and new ways to design and build sustainably. With about 181.5 billion tons of wood produced globally each year, it’s one of the largest renewable material sources.

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Plants are susceptible to a wide range of pathogens. For the common potato plant, one such threat is Pectobacterium atrosepticum, a bacterium that causes stems to blacken, tissues to decay, and often leads to plant death, resulting in significant agricultural losses each year.

In 2012, researchers isolated a new virus that infects and kills this bacterium—a bacteriophage named φTE (phiTE). Now, for the first time, scientists have uncovered the atomic structure of φTE, revealing a possible mechanism of infection that may be more complex than previously thought.

The study, published earlier this month in Nature Communications, is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and the University of Otago. It brings together expertise across several fields, including virology, , , protein engineering, biochemistry, and biophysics.

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Criegee intermediates (CIs)—highly reactive species formed when ozone reacts with alkenes in the atmosphere—play a crucial role in generating hydroxyl radicals (the atmosphere’s “cleansing agents”) and aerosols that impact climate and air quality. The syn-CH3CHOO is particularly important among these intermediates, accounting for 25%–79% of all CIs depending on the season.

Until now, scientists have believed that syn-CH3CHOO primarily disappeared through self-decomposition. However, in a study published in Nature Chemistry, a team led by Profs. Yang Xueming, Zhang Donghui, Dong Wenrui and Fu Bina from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has uncovered a surprising new pathway: syn-CH3CHOO’s reaction with is approximately 100 times faster than previously predicted by theoretical models.

Using advanced laser techniques, the researchers experimentally measured the reaction rate between syn-CH3CHOO and water vapor, and discovered the faster reaction time. To uncover the reason behind this acceleration, they constructed a high-accuracy full-dimensional (27D) potential energy surface using the fundamental invariant-neural network approach and performed full-dimensional dynamical calculations.

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