What only a decades ago seemed impossible for chemists, determining the chemical structure of molecules directly from experimental images, is now routinely done. Not only that, the information about bond order, intermediates, and products of on-surface chemical reactions or charge distribution within molecules can also be quantified from those images. Two main techniques have made […]
Mimicking natural processes has been a recurrent strategy for the development of new technologies, from velcro to bullet trains. Thanks to the advances in scientific knowledge and technological tools achieved over the last decades, biologically inspired research has evolved from the macroscale to the nanoscale. This poses an interdisciplinary challenge, involving fields such as molecular […]
There are compounds, called isomers, that have the same molecular formulae but different molecular structures or different arrangements of atoms in space. In the so-called cis-trans isomerism, isomers have different positions of groups or specific atoms with respect to a double bond, a ring or a central atom. For example, the numbers in the name […]
Author: Giovanna D’Angelo is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universitet Stockholm ”Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” is the title of a late XIX century famous painting by Paul Gauguin. Even if, to date, Science has not provided a complete answer to all these questions, we are still trying […]
What is the closest two beryllium atoms in the electronic ground state can be in a molecule? Well, we may think that that is a relatively easy question to answer. If you know some chemistry it is likely you will be inclined to check the literature for the strength of Be-Be bonds in different compounds […]
Author: Jelle Vekeman is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universitat de València For a long time now, we have mainly been using fossil fuels to satisfy our increasing needs for energy. Resources, however, are limited and waste products destructive for the environment. As researchers and companies are exploring alternatives, hydrogen gas (H 2 ) seems […]
Author: Neus Aguilera-Porta is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Medicines are a mixture of pharmaceutically active molecules with excipients, designed with the aim of healing, relieving the pain with as minimal side effects as possible. Having this in mind, could the properties of a molecule be modified when absorbing a light […]
Author: Andi Cuko is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Université Pierre et Marie Curie Oxides are inorganic compounds that contains at least one oxygen atom which is bounded to one or more other elements and they are the most abundant solids in the earth crust. In our society they are playing a very important role […]
Author: Martina De Vetta is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid The increasing number of types and subtypes of cancer and their incidence have triggered research to develop more selective alternative and less painful treatments compared to conventional therapies. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an innovative treatment against certain types of cancer and […]
Author: Francesco Talotta is a Ph.D. student (ITN-EJD-TCCM) at Université Toulouse III A molecular switch consists in a molecular device able to change its physical or chemical properties (as its color for example) in a well definite way. In the best cases changing can be fully controlled, normally by an external chemical or physical factor […]