Progress toward decarbonizing the chemical industry

Positive interim results for the Air2Chem project

25-Jul-2025 - The Air2Chem project is developing an integrated process that combines direct air capture with electrolytic conversion of the carbonate-containing absorber solution into platform raw materials for the chemical industry. The aim is to provide a sustainable source of carbon dioxide for chemical ...

Frozen light in graphene

Basis for extremely sensitive infrared and terahertz detectors much smaller than existing ones, with similar absorption efficiency

24-Feb-2022 - Scientists from University of Regensburg, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Moscow institute of Physics and Technology, and University of Kansas have discovered abnormally strong light absorption in graphene. The effect arises from the conversion of ordinary electromagnetic waves into ...

New light shed on intensely studied material

21-Jan-2019 - The organic polymer PEDOT is probably one of the world's most intensely studied materials. Despite this, researchers at Linköping University have now demonstrated that the material functions in a completely different manner than previously believed. The result has huge significance in many fields ...

Antilaser for Bose-Einstein condensate

20-Aug-2018 - An international team of scientists developed the world's first antilaser for nonlinear Bose-Einstein condensate of ultracold atoms. For the first time, scientists demonstrated that it is possible to absorb the selected signal completely, even though the nonlinear system makes it difficult to ...

Effective and cheap sound-absorbing nanofoam

28-Jun-2018 - The breakthrough material reduces a noise level by 100% more efficient comparing to standard analogs, cutting the level of noise transmission by 20-22 dB. The new foam reacts to sound waves not only of high but also of low frequencies, which can damage human health. A young scientist from the Far ...

Color Change Unmasks Lead

Triplex-signal chemosensor for naked eye and spectrometric lead detection

29-May-2018 - Environmental lead exposure is one of the most significant public health threats worldwide. Consequently, reliable, quick, inexpensive, and easy-to-handle lead assays are urgently needed. Scientists have now presented a novel chemosensor for lead. It offers a triplex signal upon binding of lead ...

Graphene on toast, anyone?

15-Feb-2018 - Rice University scientists who introduced laser-induced graphene (LIG) have enhanced their technique to produce what may become a new class of edible electronics. The Rice lab of chemist James Tour, which once turned Girl Scout cookies into graphene, is investigating ways to write graphene ...

A new spin to engineer better absorptive materials

15-Nov-2017 - A team of University of Illinois bioengineers has taken a new look at an old tool to help characterize a class of materials called metal organic frameworks - MOFs for short. MOFs are used to detect, purify and store gases, and could help solve some of the world's most challenging energy, ...

Tiny chip-based methane spectrometer could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions

30-Oct-2017 - The process of extracting natural gas from the earth or transporting it through pipelines can release methane into the atmosphere. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a greenhouse gas with a warming potential approximately 25 times larger than carbon dioxide, making it very ...

Chemical treatment improves quantum dot lasers

18-Oct-2017 - One of the secrets to making tiny laser devices such as opthalmic surgery scalpels work even more efficiently is the use of tiny semiconductor particles, called quantum dots. In new research at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Nanotech Team, the ~nanometer-sized dots are being doctored, or ...