Graphene is a key two-dimensional material that continues to reveal intriguing properties when stacked into just a few layers. But the interesting point is that it is not just a question of a layer sitting on another layer randomly, but how exactly their atoms are positioned in relation to each other. In this vein, for […]
A model of a physical system that can be solved exactly and the dynamics of which are characterized by regular rather than chaotic motion is called an integrable model. Integrable models can occur in Newtonian mechanics and quantum mechanics, with the harmonic oscillator being an example of such a model in both cases. Integrability has […]
When you collect vast amounts of data, most of them will likely be irrelevant or uninteresting. But, hidden in all that noise, you may find a jewel. The data where one scientific jewel, a supernova, has just been found is the collection of observations by the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) project. HFF drew on the […]
Nanothreads are one-dimensional covalently bonded materials, with all “backbone” bonds saturated in the organic sense, the first of which was made from polymerization of benzene in the solid state. Nanothreads are thicker than conventional hydrocarbon polymers such as polyethylene and thinner than traditional nanowires: as ladder polymers, they are examples of the thinnest possible rigid […]
Usually, optical activity is understood as the ability some substances have to change the handedness of polarized light when it goes through them. Molecules that show optical activity have no plane of symmetry. So-called chiral matter broadly describes structures for which left- or right-handed mirror images are non-superimposable, or, equivalently, that lack improper rotation axes […]
Catalysis • Chemistry • DIPC Biochemistry • DIPC Photochemistry
When we consider the concepts metal and catalysis, we tend to assume quite matter-of-factly that the metal will be the catalyst. This assumption is based on the fact that metals can be found in reactions where they act as catalysts or co-catalysts in the form of coordination and organometallic compounds, nano-sized or bulk materials and […]
In the last decades, a new synthetic approach has been developed, generally termed as “on-surface synthesis” that substantially departs from standard chemistry in solution. Instead of the three-dimensional space of solvents in the latter, the environment of the reactants in this new approach are well-defined two-dimensional solid surfaces that are typically held under vacuum conditions […]
Cyclic polymers present a topology that differ significantly from their linear counterparts due to their circular structure and, therefore, the lack of chain ends. These simple characteristics are responsible for important unique properties (e.g. lower intrinsic and melt viscosity, lower hydrodynamic volumes, slower degradation profiles, increased blood circulation times and more selective bioaccumulation) thanks to […]
Spintronic devices are based on the inherent spin magnetic moment of the electron, the same way electronic ones are on just its charge, to store and process information. These devices should, in theory, operate faster and at lower temperatures than their current electronic-only counterparts because an electron’s spin can be flipped much quicker than its […]
The band theory of metals has been experimentally tested many times and is now the accepted model of the behaviour of conductors and insulators. Electrical resistance is due to collisions of the electrons (whether treated as particles or waves) with impurities, imperfections, and especially the lattice vibrations of the metal crystal. The lattice vibrations of […]