Catalytic switch-ON by light

What if some molecule would work as both the inhibitor and catalyst in a controlled way?

09-Jan-2023 - Catalysts boost chemical reactions from our bodies to the industrial production of compounds and controlled fuel combustion in the car. From solid to gaseous, no matter their formula, their role is to enhance the rate of chemical reactions making many processes easier. What if some molecule would ...

It’s not just diamonds that shine, so shine bright like nitrogen-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Novel molecules for application as OLED emitters

24-Jun-2022 - Electronic visual displays have come a long way since the early days of cathode-ray tubes. Modern display devices, based on organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), are compact enough to accompany us wherever we go, in portable devices such as smartphones and smartwatches. Still, there is a need ...

Interactive size control of catalyst nanoparticles

10-Dec-2018 - 5, 10, or maybe 15? How many nanometers should nanoparticles of a catalyst be to optimize the course of the reaction? Researchers usually look for the answer by laborious, repetitive tests. At the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, a qualitatively new ...

Smog laid bare: Precise analysis of the composition of particulate matter

22-May-2018 - Smog is a problem. But the knowledge about its constituents - no longer. Researchers from several leading Warsaw scientific institutions have joined forces and developed a new, extremely precise method for the chemical analysis of suspended particulate matter. The method, easily adaptable in many ...

A super resolution view of chemical reactions

14-Feb-2018 - Researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences have demonstrated, using a super resolution microscopic technique, how to follow chemical reactions taking place in very small volumes. The method of analysis developed by the Warsaw physicists in collaboration ...

In atomic propellers, quantum phenomena can mimic everyday physics

01-Jun-2017 - In molecules there are certain groups of atoms that are able to rotate. This movement occurs under the influence of random stimuli from the environment and is not continuous but occurs in jumps. It is generally believed that such jumps occur in a manner that is typical of classical objects, such ...

With more light, chemistry speeds up

08-May-2017 - Light initiates many chemical reactions. Experiments at the Laser Centre of the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the University of Warsaw's Faculty of Physics have for the first time demonstrated that increasing the intensity of illumination some reactions can ...

Expanding when it shouldn't

New material with exceptional negative compressibility

09-Sep-2016 - Our intuition tells us that a sample of material compressed uniformly from all sides should reduce its dimensions. Only a few materials subjected to hydrostatic compression exhibit the opposite behaviour, expanding slightly in one or two directions. At the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the ...

Quantum dots with impermeable shell: A powerful tool for nanoengineering

15-Aug-2016 - Unique optical features of quantum dots make them an attractive tool for many applications, from cutting-edge displays to medical imaging. Physical, chemical or biological properties of quantum dots must, however, be adapted to the desired needs. Unfortunately, up to now quantum dots prepared by ...

Exotic quantum effects can govern the chemistry around us

11-Apr-2016 - Objects of the quantum world are of a concealed and cold-blooded nature: they usually behave in a quantum manner only when they are significantly cooled and isolated from the environment. Experiments carried out by chemists and physicists from Warsaw have destroyed this simple picture. It turns ...