News by Subject Chemistry & Physics

Researchers have been working for decades on improving the anti-icing performance of functional surfaces and work published in AIP Advances investigates a unique nanostructure, modeled on moth eyes, that has anti-icing properties. Moth eyes are of interest because they have a distinct ice-phobic and transparent surface. The researchers fabricated the moth eye nanostructure on a quartz substrate that was covered with a paraffin layer to isolate it from a cold and humid environment.

A small device, called "Smart Stirrer", performed a function of a conventional laboratory stir bar, has an integrated microprocessor and various sensors capable of wireless and autonomous report the conversion of properties of a solution. Results are sent to a computer over Bluetooth, and any changes notify the user wirelessly.

An efficient in situ pathway to generate and attach oxygen functional groups to graphitic electrodes for supercapacitors by inducing hydrolysis of water molecules within the gel electrolyte.

More durable prosthetics and medical devices for patients and stronger parts for airplanes and automobiles are just some of the products that could be created through a new 3D printing technology invented by a UMass Lowell researcher.

Kyoto University researchers develop a safer and more efficient way to produce dicarboxylic acid. Using an iridium catalyst bound to a bipyridonate ligand, researchers were able to synthesize dicarboxylic acids from aqueous diols, with the added benefit of generating hydrogen as a byproduct.

A new microchip that enables continuous monitoring of pH and chlorine levels in swimming pools will vastly improve water safety and hygiene for more than 2.7 million Australians as new research shows it can deliver consistent and accurate pool chemistry for reliable pool management.

Nanoengineers at UC San Diego developed a new method to fabricate perovskites as single-crystal thin films, which are more efficient for use in solar cells and optical devices than the current state-of-the-art polycrystalline forms of the material. Their fabrication method--which uses standard semiconductor fabrication processes--results in flexible single-crystal perovskite films with controlled area, thickness, and composition.

Materials scientists at Rice University and the University of Pennsylvania are calling for a collective, global effort to fast-track the mass production of 2D materials like graphene and molybdenum disulfide.