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Category: chemistry – Page 16

Magnetic dopants help quantum dots use light for chemical reactions

Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have demonstrated a new quantum-dot mechanism that could significantly expand the reach of light-driven chemistry. By introducing magnetic manganese dopants into semiconductor quantum dots, the team created an ultrafast spin-exchange pathway that captures hot-electron energy before it is lost as heat and uses it to drive chemical reduction.

The work, published in Nature Communications, provides a direct demonstration that magnetic dopants can enable efficient hot-electron reduction in quantum dots. Using methyl viologen as a model molecular acceptor, the researchers showed that manganese-doped quantum dots can transfer electrons significantly faster than undoped particles and can drive reduction even when conventional band-edge energetics are unfavorable.

“Our study shows that magnetic dopants can do much more than modify the optical properties of quantum dots,” says Victor Klimov, laboratory fellow at Los Alamos and principal investigator on the project. “They can capture hot-exciton energy on ultrafast time scales and redirect it into useful chemistry, which opens a fundamentally new route to high-energy photoreduction.”

Linkerology in PROTACs: learnings for proximityinducing therapeutics

Targeted protein degradation has rapidly evolved from a chemical biology concept into a therapeutic modality, with the first proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) degrader now approved as a medicine. Linkers play a central role in governing ternary complex formation and conferring drug-like properties on bifunctional compounds. However, linker optimisation remains one of the least rationalised steps in degrader design. In this review, we introduce a linkerology framework that integrates a data-driven analysis of PROTAC linker chemotypes with historical context, representative case studies, emerging proximity-based modalities, and clinical-stage trends. We reveal persistent biases in the explored linker space and identify linker features that are preferentially retained in clinical-stage degraders.

Ultrafast X-ray flashes partially reverse the damage they cause, enabling brighter, more accurate imaging

The interaction between X-rays and matter can be actively controlled, according to an international research team led by the University of Hamburg and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory that has succeeded in producing bright X-ray images with significantly less damage. In an article published in Nature Communications, the researchers report using ultrafast pulses that partially reverse the damage they generate.

X-rays are ionizing radiation and can damage virtually all matter. That is why radiologists strive to keep the X-ray dose in imaging as low as possible. At the same time, they must ensure the image is bright enough and contains sufficient detail for diagnosis. This trade-off has shaped X-ray imaging for decades.

Researchers who want to image chemical reactions in individual molecules and nanoparticles face a far more extreme version of the same problem. To capture something as small and fleeting as a reaction within a cluster of atoms, they must illuminate the sample with a large number of X-ray photons in an extremely short burst. The most advanced tools for this—X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs)—produce flashes short enough to “outrun” the physical destruction of the sample.

New strategy for designing ultra-fast charging batteries could prevent hazardous lithium plating

A redesigned lithium-ion anode retained 86% of its initial capacity at a demanding 10C charge rate and stayed stable for more than 250 cycles, while aiming to reduce hazardous lithium plating during fast charging.

The rapid progress in electric vehicles and high-power electronics has increased the demand for ultra-fast-charging lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. However, during fast charging, current Li-ion rechargeable batteries suffer from severe degradation in power and potential catastrophic failure, increasing safety risks. This is mainly due to electrochemical instability at the anode–electrolyte interface, causing hazardous Li metal plating on their surface and poor thermal stability.

Recently, high-voltage anode materials have emerged as promising alternatives because they prevent excessive lithium plating and the formation of unstable solid-electrolyte interface layers. Despite these advantages, current state-of-the-art materials are limited by poor ionic conductivity and thermal stability, reducing power output and long-term reliability.

To address these issues, a research team led by associate professor Dongwook Han from Seoul National University of Science and Technology in South Korea developed a novel strategy.

Smart sensor identifies present molecules by remembering the past

Most sensors are designed to do only one thing: detect what passes through them. But what if a sensor could do more? To create a new generation of technology, researchers have looked to living systems for inspiration. If a sensor could detect molecules, could it also remember previous interactions and selectively respond to them?

Researchers have developed a device that does exactly that on a tiny scale, laying the groundwork for a new generation of smart molecular sensors.

In an article recently published in ACS Nano, researchers from SANKEN at the University of Osaka and collaborating institutions created an autonomous solid-state nanopore that can sense molecules, generate electrical signals and retain memories of recent events without external control. Unlike conventional nanopores, which act as passive channels, the new device continuously changes its own structure through chemical reactions, creating a dynamic sensing environment that responds to molecules passing through it.

PRX Intelligence publishes its first papers

The American Physical Society’s newest highly selective, open access journal, PRX Intelligence, has published its inaugural papers. The studies demonstrate how artificial intelligence and machine learning methods can be used to advance scientific knowledge and capabilities across the physical sciences — from neural networks that streamline molecular simulations to data-driven learning schemes that accelerate quantum embedding workflows.

As AI and machine learning transform the physical sciences, PRX Intelligence is designed to provide a multidisciplinary platform for research pioneering the development and application of these approaches. Building on the foundation of Physical Review X, the journal publishes open access articles expected to have substantial and lasting impact. It welcomes studies that apply AI and machine learning across theory, simulation, and experimentation in physics and related fields — including computer science, mathematics, engineering, materials science, chemistry, biology, and earth and environmental sciences. Relevant topics include discovery and synthesis, physics-informed learning, data-driven approaches, machine learning pipelines for observational platforms, and more. Articles have flexible formats and lengths and may include research papers, perspectives, roadmaps, tutorials, and more.

PRX Intelligence will waive article publication charges for manuscripts submitted or transferred before Jan. 1, 2027. And like all other APS journals, it will always waive these charges for researchers in low-and middle-income countries. Sign up for email updates to keep up with the latest news from the journal.

Oil droplets remodel themselves, swallow their surroundings like living cells

NYU researchers have made microscopic oil droplets in water do something usually reserved for living cells: change shape in complex, controllable ways and even engulf their surroundings.

The findings, published in Nature Communications, show that some of life’s signature behaviors—like morphing into complex shapes and capturing material—can emerge from physics and chemistry alone, without genes, proteins or active cellular machinery.

One of life’s defining features is morphogenesis—the ability of cells and tissues to reshape themselves, form compartments and engulf material from their surroundings. These remarkable transformations normally rely on a sophisticated molecular toolkit.

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