Insects as mini molecule-making factories, marking a breakthrough in chemical engineering

Caterpillar factories produce fluorescent nanocarbons

10-Jun-2025 - Researchers led by Kenichiro Itami at the RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute (PRI) / RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) have successfully used insects as mini molecule-making factories, marking a breakthrough in chemical engineering. Referred to as “in-insect synthesis,” this ...

How mosquito larva guts could help create highly specific insecticides

Did you know that the world’s deadliest animal is the mosquito?

10-Apr-2024 - Aedes aegypti is one of the most dangerous mosquito. This bug spreads viruses that cause dengue fever, which was recently declared as an epidemic in Puerto Rico. Research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports new molecules that label proteins in the unique, alkaline ...

Bright and tough: A material that heals itself and glows

New material could pave the way for new materials such as organic solar cells

28-Feb-2024 - A research team at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) has succeeded in developing a self-healing material that is also capable of emitting a high amount of fluorescence when absorbing light. The research, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could lead ...

Tracking down Environmental Toxins

Detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by interrupted energy transfer

02-Nov-2023 - PFAS, a family of highly fluorinated substances, represent a danger for humans and the environment. Particularly problematic members of this family, such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) appear to cause organ damage and cancer, as well as disrupting the ...

Anti-counterfeiting fluorescent marker developed - Sweet code with laser printing

07-Jun-2023 - A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPICI) has developed a method that could make it more difficult to counterfeit products in the future. The new and patented method makes it possible to produce unique, non-copyable fluorescent patterns quickly, ...

BAM spin-off develops lightweight explosives trace detector for mobile use

Novel detection chemistry based on chemical-optical measurement technology

16-May-2023 - The detection of explosives is important for civil security. Previous sensors are heavy, expensive and complex to maintain. A team of founders from the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) wants to bring a mobile explosives trace detector to market that detects explosives ...

Researchers find access to new fluorescent materials

Significantly increased efficiency of fluorescence - Wide range of applications in everyday life

14-Mar-2023 - Fluorescence is a fascinating natural phenomenon. It is based on the fact that certain materials can absorb light of a certain wavelength and then emit light of a different wavelength. Fluorescent materials play an important role in our everyday lives, for example in modern screens. Due to the ...

New corrosion protection that repairs itself

An extraordinary corrosion protection was created from a chance find: It glows in places where it is not damaged, repairs itself – and can be reused multiple times

22-Feb-2023 - Skyscrapers, bridges, ships, aeroplanes, cars – everything humans make or build sooner or later decays. The ravages of time are known as corrosion; nothing is safe from it. This makes the fight against corrosion expensive. All countries together invest around 3.5 percent of annual global gross ...

Entire colour palette of inexpensive fluorescent dyes

ETH researchers create novel security inks - including red, which was previously difficult to produce

06-Jan-2023 - ETH researchers have developed a modular system for the simple and inexpensive production of security inks. It is based on polymers and could also be used in solar power plants and screens in the future. Novel fluorescent dyes developed by ETH researchers are relatively simple and inexpensive to ...

Long-Lasting, Intense Afterglow

Organic dyes with persistent delayed fluorescence and ultralong phosphorescence

20-Dec-2022 - A team of researchers from Lithuania has developed organic dyes showing a particularly long afterglow after being excited by light. Doping a polymer with newly synthesized diboraanthracene dyes resulted in an intense red or blue–green dual afterglow, which was composed of persistent thermally ...