A series of epoxy resins has been synthesised by a team of chemists from Germany, who used renewable starting materials for a more environmentally friendly approach than conventional methods.
The resulting epoxy resins have highly desirable mechanical properties, such as high stiffness, that have not been seen before in bio-based resins. This makes the materials suitable for structural bonding applications and challenges the common perception that adhesives are too difficult to make from renewable resources because of poor performance issues.
Electrospun polymer fibres better than non-woven polymer fibres at mopping up oil from oil spills
Electrospun polystyrene shell/polyurethane core fibres made by scientists in China have absorption capacities 2-3 times higher than reported for non-woven polypropylene fibres (widely used to clean up oil spills). Electrospun fibres are an ideal candidate for soaking up oil, as their struct ... more
Cheap, simple and efficient molybdenum carbide electrocatalysts for hydrogen production
US scientists have made an efficient catalytic system to split water that uses molybdenum carbide nanoparticles on a carbon nanotube support. Molybdenum and carbon are both low cost and abundant elements. Water splitting using sustainable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, has be ... more
Researchers from France have developed a new type of sunscreen. The sunscreen is made from latex that traps a UVB filter chemical within its structure. The team designed the sunscreen to protect wounded skin, which conventional sun creams are ineffective for. The sun-shielding films were ab ... more
Chemical sensing with 2D materials
During the last decade, two-dimensional materials (2DMs) have attracted great attention due to their unique chemical and physical properties, which make them appealing platforms for diverse applications in opto-electronic devices, energy generation and storage, and sensing. Among their vari ... more
Atomic hydrogen interactions with gas-phase coronene cations: hydrogenation versus fragmentation
Sequential hydrogenation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) cations drives a gradual transition from a planar to a puckered geometry and from an aromatic to an aliphatic electronic structure. The resulting H-induced weakening of the molecular structure together with the exothermic nat ... more
An intramolecular annulation strategy has been developed for the synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[e]pyrano[4,3-c][1,2]thiazine derivatives by means of coupling of aldehydes with 2-(4-hydroxybut-1-yn-1-yl)-N-arylsulfonamides using a catalytic amount of silver hexafluoroantimonate in toluene at 8 ... more
Scientist Discovers New Oxidation State of Rhodium
Mayara da Silva Santos, doctoral candidate at the University of Freiburg’s Institute of Physics, has discovered a new oxidation state of rhodium. This chemical element is one of the most catalytically important platinum-group metals and is used, for example, in catalytic converters for auto ... more
Important milestone on the way to transition metal catalysis with aluminum
The chemists Philipp Dabringhaus, Julie Willrett and Prof. Dr. Ingo Krossing from the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Freiburg have succeeded in synthesizing the low-valent cationic aluminum complex [Al(AlCp*)3]+ by a metathesis reaction. The team presen ... more
Chemists develop new reagent for deelectronation
Chemists from Freiburg have succeeded in converting polynuclear transition metal carbonyls into their homoleptic complex cations using typical inorganic oxidants. In their work, the research team of Malte Sellin, Christian Friedmann and Prof. Dr. Ingo Krossing from the Institute of Inorgani ... more
