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Category: chemistry

A new form of aluminum unlocks sustainable and cheaper catalysts

A research team at King’s College London has isolated a new form of aluminum—a highly abundant metal, that could provide a far cheaper and more sustainable alternative to commonly used rare earth metals. Dr. Clare Bakewell, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, and her lab developed highly reactive aluminum molecules able to break apart tough chemical bonds. Published in Nature Communications, their work has also unlocked molecular structures that have never been observed before, which creates the potential for new kinds of reactive behavior.

The team reported the first example of a cyclotrialumane, a compound comprising three aluminum atoms arranged in a trimeric—triangular—structure. The trimeric molecule carries unprecedented reactivity as the structure is retained when dissolved into different solutions, making it robust enough for use in a range of chemical reactions. These include splitting dihydrogen and the stepwise insertion and chain growth of the 2-carbon hydrocarbon, ethene.

Metals are vital for making a whole range of commodity and fine chemicals produced in industry. However, many processes, especially catalytic ones, use expensive precious materials like platinum, which are environmentally damaging to extract.

Ultra-efficient optical sensors can keep light circulating longer inside a microscopic chip

CU Boulder researchers have built high-performing optical microresonators, opening the door for new sensor technologies. At its simplest form, a microresonator is a tiny device that can trap light and build up its intensity. Once the intensity is high enough, researchers can perform unique light operations.

“Our work is about using less optical power with these resonators for future uses,” said Bright Lu, a fourth-year doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering and a lead author on the study. “One day these microresonators can be adapted for a wide range of sensors from navigation to identifying chemicals.”

For this endeavor, published in Applied Physics Letters, the team focused on “racetrack” resonators, named for their elongated shape that resembles a running track.

Sunray-like ripples emerge on a frozen reaction front

Researchers in Belgium have unveiled a striking chemical reaction in which ripples along a frozen reaction front resemble the rays of a shining star. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, Anne De Wit and colleagues at the Université Libre de Bruxelles have shed new light on the patterns that emerge in reaction–diffusion systems, offering fresh insight into how similar structures arise in the natural world.

From forest fires to the spread of infectious diseases, many natural processes involve a “front” forming between two distinct states: be they burned and unburned forest, infected and healthy individuals, or any number of other examples in which one state spreads by consuming another.

Such behavior is often described using reaction–diffusion systems, where local reactions are coupled to transport processes such as diffusion. In the lab, this mechanism can be recreated by injecting a chemical compound into the center of a circular chamber filled with another reactant. If the chemistry is autocatalytic —where one of the reaction products catalyzes its own formation—a circular reaction front will form around the injection point.

Core–Shell Engineering of One-Dimensional Cadmium Sulfide for Solar Energy Conversion

Fabricating efficient photocatalysts that can be used in solar-to-fuel conversion and to enhance the photochemical reaction rate is essential to the current energy crisis and climate changes due to the excessive usage of nonrenewable fossil fuels.

Frontiers: Biological membranes are complex, heterogeneous, and dynamic systems that play roles in the compartmentalization and protection of cells from the environment

It is still a challenge to elucidate kinetics and real-time transport routes for molecules through biological membranes in live cells. Currently, by developing and employing super-resolution microscopy; increasing evidence indicates channels and transporter nano-organization and dynamics within membranes play an important role in these regulatory mechanisms. Here we review recent advances and discuss the major advantages and disadvantages of using super-resolution microscopy to investigate protein organization and transport within plasma membranes.

The mammalian plasma membrane (PM) is a complex assembly of lipids and proteins that separates the cell’s interior from the outside environment (Ingolfsson et al., 2014). The multiple collective processes that take place within membranes have a strong impact not only on the cellular behavior but also on its biochemistry. Understanding these processes poses a challenge due to the often complex and multiple interactions among membrane components (Stone et al., 2017). Moreover, the PM surface accommodates different types of lipid and protein clusters (Saka et al., 2014; Owen et al., 2012; Sezgin, 2017), even though the functional role of the clustering on the membrane surface has not yet been fully understood.

First-principles approaches and concepts to simulate electrochemical interfaces

State-of-the-art approaches for modelling electrified solid–electrolyte interfaces are critically discussed, highlighting key challenges in incorporating thermodynamic open-boundary conditions, large electrostatic potentials and their dynamic fluctuations into realistic ab initio simulations.

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE — Welcome To The Perfect Prison

Gore Verbinski’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Dont Die hits like a nasty mirror held up at the worst possible angle. On paper, the setup sounds almost playful: a “Man From the Future” drops into a diner in Los Angeles and has to recruit the exact combination of disgruntled strangers for a one-night mission to stop a rogue AI. But the horror isn’t metal skeletons and laser fire. It’s the idea that the end of humanity doesn’t arrive with an explosion. It arrives with an upgrade. A perfectly tuned stream of algorithmic entertainment that doesn’t merely distract people—it replaces them. A manufactured paradise so frictionless, so gratifying, so chemically rewarding, that the messy, strenuous, inconvenient act of being human starts to feel obsolete.

#goodluckhavefundontdie #samrockwell #ai #algorithm.

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