A simple, easy-to-use method to break down pollutants in water

08-Feb-2018 - Chemists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have found out how stubborn pollutants in water can be disintegrated easily and cost-effectively. To do so researchers only need a green LED light, a catalyst and vitamin C. In this way, they can produce special types of electrons that ...

UV laser photolyses to enhance diamond growth

26-Jan-2018 - Energy influences the rates of chemical reactions dramatically. Simply heating a gas-phase reaction system deposits energy indiscriminately in internal and translational motions of precursor and intermediate molecules. More specific excitations of energy states in the molecules can control the ...

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 ...

Pinball at the atomic level

30-Mar-2017 - Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at CFEL (Center for Free-Electron Laser Science) in Hamburg and of the University of Edinburgh have currently discovered a new intermediate state for the photodissociation of triiodide anion, a classic ...

Semiconductor-free microelectronics are now possible, thanks to metamaterials

09-Nov-2016 - Engineers at the University of California San Diego have fabricated the first semiconductor-free, optically-controlled microelectronic device. Using metamaterials, engineers were able to build a microscale device that shows a 1,000 percent increase in conductivity when activated by low voltage ...

Efficient low-cost method for hydrogenation of graphene with visible light

10-Oct-2016 - An environmentally friendly, efficient and low-cost method for hydrogenation of graphene with visible light has been developed by researchers at Uppsala University and AstraZeneca Gothenburg, Sweden. The study shows that the two-dimensional and atom-thin carbon material graphene reacts with ...

Seeing energized light-active molecules proves quick work for Argonne scientists

12-Sep-2016 - For people who enjoy amusement parks, one of the most thrilling sensations comes at the top of a roller coaster, in the split second between the end of the climb and the rush of the descent. Trying to take a picture at exactly the moment that the roller coaster reaches its zenith can be difficult ...

Discovery of sunlight-driven organic chemistry on water surfaces

16-Aug-2016 - Fatty acids found on the surface of water droplets react with sunlight to form organic molecules, a new study reports, essentially uncovering a previously unknown form of photolysis. The results could affect models that account for aerosol particles, including models related to ...

Chemists find new way to do light-driven reactions in solar energy quest

The more efficient method opens another possible pathway to harness sunlight for energy

10-Aug-2015 - Chemists have found a new, more efficient method to perform light-driven reactions, opening up another possible pathway to harness sunlight for energy. The journal Science is publishing the new method, which is based on plasmon - a special motion of electrons involved in the optical properties of ...

HX-splitting photocatalysis for solar fuels

07-May-2013 - Photochemical HX splitting reactions (X = halogen) provide a route for solar-to-fuel energy conversion and halogen photoelimination is a critical step in the process. Scientists in the US have investigated the photoreduction mechanism of a pair of valence-isomeric dirhodium phosphazane complexes ...