Carbon nanostructure stronger than diamonds

15-Apr-2020 - Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions have architecturally designed plate-nanolattices - nanometer-sized carbon structures - that are stronger than diamonds as a ratio of strength to density. In a recent study in Nature Communications, the scientists report ...

Fine organic particles in the atmosphere are more often solid glass beads than liquid oil droplets

Glassy solid particles can facilitate long-distance atmospheric transport of hazardous organic pollutants

25-Apr-2017 - Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) are formed upon oxidation of volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. They account for a large fraction of fine particulate matter and have a strong influence on regional and global air quality. Traditionally, SOA particles were assumed to be oily liquid ...

Chemists find new way to recycle plastic waste into fuel

23-Jun-2016 - A new way of recycling millions of tons of plastic garbage into liquid fuel has been devised by researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC) in China. "Synthetic plastics are a fundamental part of modern life, but our use of them in ...

All powered up

22-Apr-2016 - University of California, Irvine researchers have invented nanowire-based battery material that can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times, moving us closer to a battery that would never require replacement. The breakthrough work could lead to commercial batteries with greatly lengthened ...

Economic slump, not natural gas boom, responsible for drop in CO2 emissions

23-Jul-2015 - The 11 percent decrease in climate change-causing carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. between 2007 and 2013 was caused by the global financial recession - not the reduced use of coal, research from the University of California Irvine, the University of Maryland, and the International Institute ...

Ocean plankton sponge up nearly twice the carbon currently assumed

Famed marine principle refuted by UCI-led study

19-Mar-2013 - Models of carbon dioxide in the world's oceans need to be revised, according to new work by UC Irvine and other scientists published online Sunday in Nature Geoscience. Trillions of plankton near the surface of warm waters are far more carbon-rich than has long been thought, they found. Global ...

Sky-high methane mystery closer to being solved, UCI researchers say

Commercial natural gas was likely major factor in late-20th century stabilization

24-Aug-2012 - Increased capture of natural gas from oil fields probably accounts for up to 70 percent of the dramatic leveling off seen in atmospheric methane at the end of the 20th century, according to new UC Irvine research published in the journal Nature. "We can now say with confidence that, based on our ...

Strychnine in six steps

08-Feb-2011 - Strychnine can now be synthesised in just six steps, say US scientists. Christopher Vanderwal and his team from the University of California, Irvine created four new carbon–carbon bonds and a carbon–oxygen bond in four steps on the way to making strychnine.‘Until recently, the fastest synthesis ...

UCI chemistry center awarded $20 million from NSF

Scientists seek to video the inner workings of single molecules

19-Aug-2009 - A UC Irvine center that aims to make real-time videos of single molecules in action has been awarded $20 million over five years from the National Science Foundation. UCI's Chemistry at the Space-Time Limit is one of three NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation. Its scientists hope to become the ...

UCI scientists discover ozone-boosting chemical reaction

Newfound chemistry should be added to atmospheric models, researchers say

22-Jul-2009 - Burning of fossil fuels pumps chemicals into the air that react on surfaces such as buildings and roads to create photochemical smog-forming chlorine atoms, UC Irvine scientists report in a new study. Under extreme circumstances, this previously unknown chemistry could account for up to 40 parts ...